The Sheikh Akl of the Unitarian Druze Community, Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, sponsored on Saturday the opening of the "First Beirut Rural Products Exhibition," held in coordination with the Ministry of Culture and organized by the Social and Administrative Committees of the Confessional Council in cooperation with the Association of Women’s Societies in the Mountain, at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, with the participation of Minister of Culture Judge Mohammad Wissam Al-Mortada, Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam, a representative of Mr. Walid Jumblatt and head of the Progressive Socialist Party MP Taymour Jumblatt, MP Marwan Hamadeh, a representative of His Eminence Sheikh Judge Naim Hassan, Sheikh Nazih Saab, MP Faisal Al-Sayegh, and former ministers and MPs: Naji Boustani, Henry Helou, Wadih El-Khazen, and Antoine Saad.

Also participating were the ambassadors: the Papal Nuncio to Lebanon Paolo Borgia, the Ambassador of Sudan, Deputy Saudi Ambassador Fares bin Hassan Amoudi, Palestinian Embassy representative Nivine Ali, Father Elie Kiwan representing Bishop Maroun Ammar, Druze judges, political, economic, social, civic, and spiritual figures, committee heads, members of the Confessional Council, a crowd of sheikhs, notables, mayors, and heads of bodies, alongside institutions and associations.

Following the Lebanese national anthem and an introduction by Abdullah Malaeb, Minister of Culture Judge Mohammad Wissam Al-Mortada spoke, saying:

My Sheikh, Your Eminence the Sheikh Akl, when I say 'my Sheikh', I do not use the words lightly. Your Excellencies, your honors, the venerable sheikhs, and all of you, esteemed individuals and holders of status.

Your Eminence, you never cease to amaze us. We know you as a venerable sheikh, master of poetry and literature, and keen on ethics, values, and heritage. And today, you grace us by being a guardian of Lebanese artisanal heritage. Your mastery of poetry and literature is on the sidelines—and this is said with humility—this is a testimony from the Minister of Culture. Your keenness on values and ethics is extraordinary. What I mentioned alone makes the Minister of Culture ask: As long as Sheikh Sami is who he is, why is there a Ministry of Culture and a Minister of Culture? Sheikh Sami has always given culture its true, actual, and realistic dimension—its logical and useful dimension. Culture is first and foremost, and above everything, the dissemination of awareness in this society regarding its values. What is useful is today's occasion and event. What is happening in this place under these circumstances is the best evidence that Sheikh Sami is as we see him and know him to be. May God bless you. Sheikh Sami said to me a little while ago: 'We thank you for the cooperation,' and I told him: 'As long as you are who you are, we are not just cooperating, we are entirely at your disposal.'

Then the Minister of Economy, Amin Salam, spoke, saying:

"His Eminence the Sheikh Akl of the Unitarian Druze Community, Sheikh Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, ladies and gentlemen, esteemed attendees, I begin by thanking you for inviting me to participate in the first annual exhibition of rural food, artisanal, and artistic products.

I must also express my appreciation to the Ministry of Culture for supporting this exhibition and encouraging locally made products. Thanks are also due to the Association of Women’s Societies in the Mountain, and everyone who participated and contributed to the success of this exhibition,"

He added: "Essentially, rural products in all their forms and types are an essential part of our daily lives. They play a primary role in supporting the local economy and local products on the one hand, and employing and developing the Lebanese labor force on the other. In addition, they spread the culture of the local heritage community and seek to convey that culture to the interior, cities, and abroad, becoming a focus of great interest for citizens and tourists. Today in Lebanon, in light of the circumstances we are going through, we are in greater need of such exhibitions. I affirm our support and standing in the Ministry of Economy alongside the owners of these products, given its importance in supporting the national economy on the one hand, and improving Lebanon's image internally and externally on the other. We must always strive to urge the Lebanese to encourage rural products of all kinds, promote local products, in addition to enhancing the producers' capabilities, improving production conditions, developing local rural tourism and traditional rural industrial activities, and exporting them abroad."

He concluded: "I wish you success and prosperity, and more development and progress for our beloved homeland, Lebanon."

 

Sheikh Akl

Finally, the patron of the event, His Eminence the Sheikh Akl, Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, spoke, saying:

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon the Master of the Messengers, his chosen family and companions, and the pure prophets of God...

 

Your Excellency, Minister of Culture, Judge Mohammad Wissam Al-Mortada,

Your Excellency, Minister of Economy, Mr. Amin Salam,

Representative of His Excellency Mr. Walid Bey Jumblatt and the head of the Democratic Gathering, MP Mr. Taymour Bey Jumblatt,

Representative of our esteemed predecessor, His Eminence Sheikh Naim Hassan, our advisor, brother Sheikh Nazih Saab,

His Excellency the Papal Nuncio, Monsignor Paolo Borgia,

Your Excellencies, MPs, ambassadors, and directors-general, Your Eminences and Veneration, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, members of the Confessional Council and the Association of Women’s Societies in the Mountain, the dear families and children participating in the exhibition, associations and individuals, O loved ones...

The Almighty said in His Holy Book: "And a sign for them is the dead earth. We have brought it to life and brought forth from it grain, and from it they eat. And We placed therein gardens of palm trees and grapevines and caused some springs to gush forth therein, That they may eat of His fruit and of what their hands have worked, will they not then give thanks?" And the Messenger (PBUH) said: "No one has ever eaten food better than that which he eats from the work of his hands. Indeed, the Prophet of God David (peace be upon him) used to eat from the work of his hands."

From this premise, linked to faith, the revealed word, and the noble Hadith which urges the revival of the dead earth by the work of hands, diligence, and striving to earn a lawful living and participating in the sustenance of life, before it being linked to the current troubled situation and the deepening economic collapse in our country—from this premise and that, the idea of the exhibition came from the Administrative and Social Committees of the Confessional Council of the Unitarian Druze Community. We blessed it, and it made its way to implementation, in coordination with the Ministry of Culture, always a pioneer in embracing good initiatives, and under the joint sponsorship of the esteemed Minister, our friend and partner, who supported holding this exhibition and is a permanent contributor to cultural activities and ethical, social, and national trends. This aims to support small producers and craftsmen by helping them market their products and develop their work, hoping they will reach a point of doubling the volume of this work, expanding the scope of their interest, and increasing their production rate. This will inevitably help provide more job opportunities in the Mountain and rural areas, in addition to what embracing this type of project means in terms of encouraging a return to the village, attachment to the land and investing in it, activating the economic cycle in rural areas, and consequently increasing green spaces and protecting the environment.

We are not the only ones in this field; we have witnessed several exhibitions in the Mountain and Lebanese regions this summer, but the exhibition committee chose the capital, Beirut, to be a final stop in the season of provisioning and preparation for winter, and a forum that culminates what local associations and bodies have done in the regions of Chouf, Aley, Matn, Rashaya, and Hasbaya. The choice of UNESCO Palace was for two reasons: firstly, the shared vision that brings us together with the esteemed Minister of Culture, and the facilitating cooperation that we always feel from the Ministry. Secondly, because we wanted this work to be as cultural as it is economic. We are not far in our economic orientation from the esteemed friend and Minister and the Ministry of Economy, but we wanted to consolidate in our society a culture of work and producing the best by taking the initiative and mastering good planting and organized watering, following the saying of the Messenger (PBUH): "Indeed, God Almighty loves if one of you does a work, he should master it," and the saying of Imam Ali (AS): "Know that for every work there is a growth, and every growth cannot do without water. And waters are different. So that whose watering is good, its growth is good and its fruit is sweet, and that whose watering is corrupt, its growth is corrupt and its fruit is bitter."

We are concerned with striving to harvest sweet fruits, not bitter ones, and that cannot be except through toil, diligence, and perseverance to earn a lawful living, affirming what was said in the Holy Scripture: "He who works with a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes one rich," and in our certainty that "money of injustice dissipates quickly," while "money saved from the toil of the hand increases."

Therefore, we are patrons of this trend, striving to achieve this goal, stemming from our spiritual, ethical, social, and national responsibility. As we have always called and continue to call from our position for integration and partnership on the spiritual and national level to save Lebanon of diversity and richness, and for the advancement of the homeland, we also always call for partnership and integration on the level of work, development, and maintenance of society. And just as the homeland needs dialogue, meeting, prioritizing national interest, and political solidarity to confront the Israeli aggression if it persists, and to face existential challenges and fortify state institutions by filling the presidential vacancy first, by the required administrative appointments, protecting people's money, and addressing the economic situation before the greater collapse, likewise, the living reality needs solidarity, dialogue, and meeting around the best ways to support livelihood, enhance the culture of self-reliance, fortify local society, and fill the youth vacuum in remote areas resulting from internal and external migration due to shrinking job opportunities and the accumulation of crises.

O loved ones,

We are here today to bless this collective work, which came as a culmination of the training projects organized by the Administrative Committee in more than one village during the past two years in the fields of agricultural work, handicrafts, and food processing, and to emphasize the interest of the Social Committee in the Council in social matters and its care, and the importance of coordination and cooperation it handles with the Association of Women’s Societies in the Mountain to empower women and encourage limited-income earners to work and produce.

We are here to bless and encourage this cooperative work, which is resistant to economic, living, and political crises, and which rejects the state of chaos, corruption, inertia, stagnation, despair, and running forward that dominates the country despite some appreciated attempts, and which defies the state of inability to produce solutions and initiatives to restore people's confidence in their state and the outside world's confidence in a prosperous Lebanon.

It is a call to the Lebanese, all the Lebanese, to remain steadfast on their land and strengthen their confidence in themselves and their ability to face challenges together, by stimulating the productive energies of farmers, craftsmen, and small industrialists, making them feel secure, cared for, and looked after, helping to market their products, expand their fields of work, and create an atmosphere of cooperation between the people of mountain villages and rural towns, and finding motives for them to organize their situation by establishing small associations and cooperatives that embrace their production and help them expand and innovate.

And a final salute to our dear people in Beirut, as we intended through this initiative to connect the mountain to the coast and the village to the city, through exhibitions that provide people in rural areas with the marketing of their products, and the people of the city with provisioning from the fruits of the earth and the products of the rural people, and consequently, strengthening the relationship between the Lebanese. There will be periodic reciprocal exhibitions in rural areas and cities that bring people together, make them feel national unity and sincere belonging to one land, so their ranks are unified and their energies are integrated in facing the challenge of war and its possibilities with more persistence on the culture of life, work, and social solidarity.

This collective exhibition is a first experience that we hope will succeed and bear fruit, and it will succeed with God's help, and with the presence and participation of all of you, to continue in the future and expand year after year, and season after season.

Thank you for attending, thank you to everyone who contributed, sacrificed, followed up, worked, and cooperated, thank you to the committee supervising the exhibition, thank you to the management of the UNESCO Palace and the Ministry of Culture, and thanks also go to all the contributors; by donation, volunteering, and cooperation, this is how work becomes pleasant and success is achieved, and this is how we confront death and preserve the honor of life.

 

And we said one day:

The honor of life is that we give and strive,

Not by lethargy, for that is a kind of ruin.

Work for your spacious world, striving,

As if your life in its protection is eternal.

And work for an afterlife, whose beauty exceeds,

As if your death is happening truly tomorrow.

This is the approach, the straight path,

So whoever wants victory, let them strive and arm themselves.

He who fashioned from the sweat of the brow pearls,

And with blood, he watered the earth and attained martyrdom.

Whoever strives for the sake of life, it is as if,

He performed the duty sincerely and worshipped.

May God grant you success, and peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.

 

After that, His Eminence the Sheikh Akl and Ministers Al-Mortada and Salam and MP Hamadeh cut the ribbon for the opening of the exhibition, in which about 80 institutions from the Mountain region participated, including various products and handicrafts.