On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of its branch in Souk El Gharb, the University of Balamand held a celebration at the Souk El Gharb campus, where speeches were delivered by President Walid Jumblatt, Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X Yazigi, and University President Dr. Elias Warrak.
The celebration was attended by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab, Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh Al-Shami, Sheikh Akl of the Druze Unitarian Community Sheikh Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, Metropolitan Elias Audi, Bishop Silwan Moussa, Ministers of Information Ziad Makary, Education and Higher Education Abbas Halabi, Displaced Issam Sharafeddine, Culture Mohammad Wissam Mortada, Defense Maurice Sleem, Head of the Progressive Socialist Party MP Taymour Jumblatt leading a delegation of party leadership and commissioners, MPs Akram Chehayeb, Hadi Aboul Hosn, Wael Abou Faour, Razi El Hajj, Cesar Abi Khalil, Mark Daou, and Nazih Matta, former Minister Abbas Khalaf, former MPs Ghazi Aridi and Anis Nassar, leader Toufic Sultan, Mrs. Nora Jumblatt and Mrs. Diana Jumblatt, and a crowd of partisan, academic, and educational figures.
On this occasion, Jumblatt said: “Ten years ago, we gathered here in Souk El Gharb to mark the opening of the University of Balamand’s Souk El Gharb campus under the patronage of Mar Ignatius IV Hazim, accompanied by Bishop Elias Audi and the director of the University of Balamand at the time, my friend Professor Elie Salem, my teacher at the American University during my studies.” He added, “After 10 years, we gather again in Souk El Gharb, under the patronage of Patriarch John X, accompanied by His Eminence Bishop Elias Audi and in the presence of the current President of the University of Balamand, Professor Elias Warrak.”
Jumblatt continued: “We meet having succeeded, together with the good and virtuous, in establishing a comprehensive institution in the heart of Mount Lebanon, in Souk El Gharb, confirming that this historic monument, which dates back to the Nahda (Renaissance) era in 1855, was and will remain a beacon of diversity, science, and knowledge.”
He added: “At that time, the Souk El Gharb school was known as the ‘Collège’ school, and in the twentieth century, it was supervised by the great educator Jean Akl, brother of MP Wadih Akl, whom the National Struggle Front was honored to accompany through this long journey. My goal, after acquiring the land—thanks to my friend Sheikh Wajdi Abu Hamza—was for Souk El Gharb and its school to continue the mission of science and diversity.” Jumblatt asked: “Why Balamand? Perhaps due to the coincidences of history and the whims of time. I was educated at the American University by Kamal Salibi and Yusuf Ibish, and Elie Salem remained among them; I chose Balamand, this beautiful campus, and today we continue the journey of science with Dr. Elias Warrak.”
Jumblatt concluded: “In Souk El Gharb, there were wars where East and West struggled, and we were from the ‘East’ group, and this is part of the history of this stage, and the history of Lebanon, I would almost say of its heritage. Today, above the storms and the cold and hot wars everywhere, especially in Palestine, congratulations to us and to you on this great university institution.”
In turn, the President of the University of Balamand, Dr. Elias Warrak, said in his speech: “Our meeting today in this region of Lebanon has a special character and many meanings. Our presence today confirms time and again the rootedness of our people in their land and their adherence to the spirit of coexistence, which, even if the conspiracy to destroy it intensifies and the conspirators to end it multiply, remains alive in our hearts, burning in our consciences, and rooted in our convictions that this homeland remains eternal only through the coexistence of its children. It is distinguished only by its plurality, bringing together sects and religions, and the fusion of its people's beliefs to create a diverse, cohesive society that is resilient in the face of crises and adversity. This is what we are witnessing and testifying to today in light of these successive crises, where the homeland has preserved its existence through the cohesion of its people and their gathering for its love.”
He added: “In the darkest circumstances, the university insisted on bearing the financial burdens alone for more than two years without weighing down the students and their families, and insisted on exerting its utmost effort to preserve its professors and staff, out of conviction that in times of crisis, those responsible must take the path of righteousness, no matter how rugged, to be an example to be emulated in building a good society in a sound homeland.” He emphasized that “homelands are not built by generations that abandon them in times of adversity only to return for leisure and recreation in times of prosperity.” Warrak recalled a quote by Kamal Jumblatt: (The future is built only by science and work, protected only by freedom and equality, reason is what liberates man from the shackles of ignorance, and knowledge is what opens the doors of the future).
The closing speech was by Patriarch John X Yazigi, who said: “The Orthodox Church wanted to have an institution that summarizes part of its mission, so the University of Balamand was established, resting on the hill overlooking Tripoli. On that day, Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim was told, ‘Are you building a university while destruction surrounds Lebanon from every side?’ He replied, ‘If it is the destiny of some to destroy, then it is our destiny to build.’” Yazigi continued: “Ten years ago, the Church of Antioch reaffirmed its role, and this branch in Souk El Gharb was established in cooperation with His Excellency Walid Bey Jumblatt, who donated the land in understanding with the late Patriarch of blessed memory, Ignatius IV Hazim.”
He said: “We are here to confirm that we are staying because we love this land and that we are molded by the love of Lebanon and kneaded with the grandeur of its mountain that supplicates the face of the Dweller of Heaven. Today, from Souk El Gharb, which was a frontline, we look out in this anniversary, in the glow of a meeting and coming together, to tell the history of the University of Balamand and narrate some of its mission, which encapsulates our living and our philosophy of existence in these lands. We look out to say that we are children of the meeting and children of that existentialism that sees in the other the face of God. We look out from Mount Lebanon to supplicate our brothers of all denominations. We are here to tell the story of the Christian Antioch that dyed the world with the title of ‘Christians’ and spoke to the universe with the good news of joy on the tongue of that evangelist who said: ‘In the beginning was the Word.’”
Yazigi recalled words by Patriarch Gregory IV Haddad, which he said in Zahle in 1911: “I love the people of my homeland of all sects equally, and there is no difference between them to me. Are we not all children of one father and one mother? Are we not all the creation of one Creator? Do we not inhabit one land, are we not enlightened by the light of one sun, are we not shaded by one sky, and does not one flag flutter over us, which is the flag of the dear homeland?”
Yazigi continued: “We look out today to emphasize our mission, which transcends reconciliation and reaches the values of coexistence and citizenship in a time when there is much talk of deadly factionalism, disguised federalism, and isolationism. We look out today to say that we, as Orthodox, are spread everywhere, and we have the best relationships with everyone; we know no path to isolation, nor a road to factionalism, while fully maintaining our authenticity, which rejects introversion and refuses to melt away. By virtue of this position of ours, we were, are, and will remain bridges of communication on the day when the language of dialogue is silenced—and is being silenced—and other languages rise.”
He added: “From here and from this position of ours, we call, as we have always called, for the regular functioning of constitutional institutions in Lebanon, and the only guarantor of this is electing a President of the Republic as soon as possible. We call on MPs and all officials to shoulder their historical responsibility and elect a President of the Republic. We say this while our eyes are on Lebanon and the region, which is witnessing a difficult, or rather, pivotal period. We say this while our eyes are on this country that longs for peace and works to prevent the expansion of war, which raises its head from time to time. We say this while our eyes are on wounded Gaza and Palestine, crucified on the roadside of interests. Is it not time for the Golgotha of this Palestinian people to find the path of resurrection? We say this, realizing that Lebanon is part of an abyss from which it cannot separate itself. We say this, realizing that geography plays the biggest role in drawing the map of politics, and that Lebanon is not an isolated island, but rather the heart of an Arab and Eastern world and an oasis of freedom and culture that shone on the East and the entire world. We say this while our eyes are also on Syria, whose citizens of all ethnicities are paying the price of the suffocating economic blockade through displacement and migration, after having paid the price of war through violence, killing, kidnapping, and displacement.”
He said: “Our eyes are on the Christians of this East and others who are with them in the same boat, regardless of the logic of the majority and the minority. The issue of the two bishops of Aleppo, Youhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, who were kidnapped amidst shameful international silence, is but a small sample of how this human dignity is insulted and the selectiveness in demanding human rights according to major interests.”
