Oh émigrés of Lebanon, do not retreat
Ph.D. Guita Hourani
Migration Expert
Director of the Carthage Center for Information and Research
(CCIR)
29 January 2022
Since the second half of the nineteenth century, Lebanese
emigrants and their descendants have undeniably stood by
Lebanon in its prosperity and its crises. And when the geopolitical forces shifted in the
region, they mobilized their intellectual and material resources to fight for the sake of
Lebanon—”the human value”—and equally for the sake of Lebanon—”the entity.”
They established networks of communication from New York and Paris to São Paulo,
Buenos Aires, Cairo, and Beirut, and through them, they promoted national identity as
an important framework for nation-building, particularly during the 1919 Paris Peace
Conference, which was called for to establish the terms of the peace and agree on the
international settlement after World War I.
In the context of seeking to build their national identity, they lobbied France, the United
States, and other active powers at the time to achieve their goals and succeeded in giving
us a notable homeland of human values whose importance is attested to by the world.
And because nation-building is a never-ending process in an ever-changing world, after
a hundred years, Lebanese emigrants today find themselves in the same situation in
which their forefathers were called to continue to stand by Lebanon, not only through
their generosity and care but also through their talents and the strength of their influence
in international relations.
Lebanon’s emigrants, today, as yesterday, are not strangers to Lebanon and do not
interfere in its affairs, nor are they agents of foreign governments, as some allege to doubt
their credibility. They are patriots concerned with the interests of their country and are
the voices of their people before the international community. In their support for
Lebanon and its people, they perform their duties as individuals belonging to humanity,
as citizens who fulfill their national responsibilities, and as believers who support
freedom, peace, and prosperity.
Lebanese emigrants’ patriotism, determination, and strength frightened the forces of
darkness that harbored evil toward Lebanon. Do not retreat, O Lebanon’s emigrants; do
not allow the forces of darkness to triumph over the forces of light; do not allow
dispiritedness to defeat courage; do not allow weariness to overcome perseverance;
otherwise, you will lose your essence, we residents will lose hope, and we will all lose
Lebanon.