Lebanon can draw strength from life of De Gaulle: Former French minister

Herve Gaymard, president of the Charles de Gaulle Foundation. (Supplied)
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Updated 01 September 2020
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Lebanon can draw strength from life of De Gaulle: Former French minister

  • Herve Gaymard, president of the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, says French attachment to Lebanon is strong
  • He says Greater Lebanon centennial is a chance to look back on the French statesman’s time in Lebanon

PARIS: Tuesday marks the centenary of the proclamation of Greater Lebanon. For Herve Gaymard, president of the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, former French Minister of Economy and Finance, and president of the Haute-Savoie departmental council, it is an opportunity not only to look back on the history of Franco-Lebanese relations, but also on de Gaulle’s brief stay in Lebanon.

“Like all French people, we are very attached to Lebanon,” Gaymard told Arab News en Francais. “We have always been closely linked to its history, especially since the 19th century, after the massacres of 1860 and the creation of the Moutassarifat in which Napoleon III was very involved. …For us Gaullists, this (period) obviously has a very special resonance.”

Gaymard said: “Everyone knows that General de Gaulle lived in Lebanon for two years, between 1929 and 1931, and that those years were very important in his life. Not only did he discover Lebanon and Syria, but he also went to British Palestine. At the time, he already had the issue of Jewish communities and Palestinians at heart.

“He also went to what was known as ‘Geziré’ or ‘Upper Mesopotamia,’ since we know that he went to the northeast of Syria when the demarcation between Turkey and Syria took place. British Mesopotamia later became Iraq. These two years were of great importance to de Gaulle.”

Among the three moments in the Beirut years of De Gaulle that stand out in Gaymard’s view is the speech he gave at Saint Joseph University in front of Lebanese youth. “It was no small matter for an officer who was not of high rank — de Gaulle was then an almost junior officer — to hold this astonishing conference with the Lebanese youth himself,” Gaymard said. “This was the general’s first Lebanese exposure.”

Gaymard added: “The second, obviously much more tragic, was the 1941 war against the Vichy troops, a fratricidal war between the French, which the elites and the Lebanese people had undoubtedly followed with great interest and sadness as well.

“De Gaulle’s third Lebanese moment was as President of the Republic, or rather as the last president of the Fourth French Republic. Indeed, when he returned to power at the beginning of June 1958, the summer crisis began in July, and everyone in Lebanon remembers it.

“Then came his politics as president of the Fifth Republic, until 1969, a period during which he forged very close ties with the Middle East, and Lebanon in particular. To us Gaullists, Lebanon is obviously of extreme importance. This is the reason why the Charles de Gaulle Foundation supports the project of a Charles de Gaulle Institute in Lebanon.”

In regard to present-day Lebanon, Gaymard said he had “no judgment to pass,” “especially since I love this country and its people and I am always in awe of the tenacity of this great people, who have gone through so many crises and upheavals.”

Gaymard explained: “General de Gaulle lived from 1890 to 1970, and we are in 2020. We no longer live in the same world. One would be tempted to believe that de Gaulle is ancient history, but that would be a mistake. Several sayings of the general are lessons for eternity.

“The first lesson applies just as well to Lebanon as it does to France: Never despair. You should never give up, let yourself be moved or impressed by events, however painful they may be. Stay the course. That is the meaning of the Appeal of June 18 (after the fall of France in 1940), and the meaning of his Christmas message to the children of France, December 25, 1941, when Germany, Japan and Italy seemed to be victorious over all fronts.”

The second lesson, according to Gaymard, is knowing how to rely on your own strengths. “It is true that you are nothing alone, but when you have faith in your body and soul, you can move mountains,” he said.

“Finally, de Gaulle’s third lesson is unity. Because any country divided against itself will perish. Charles de Gaulle had always had a love of unity, even if he himself did not enjoy unanimous backing. He suffered several assassination attempts. He lost his last referendum, which is why he left power.

“Still, he was was an untiring advocate of unity. I believe that these are everlasting lessons for our two countries, Lebanon and France.”


Nearly 13,000 Syrians fled to Lebanon: report

Updated 5 min 52 sec ago
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Nearly 13,000 Syrians fled to Lebanon: report

  • Violence erupted on Syria’s coast — the heartland of former president Bashar Assad’s Alawite minority — with attacks on security forces that were blamed on gunmen loyal to the toppled president

BEIRUT: Nearly 13,000 Syrians fled across the borders to Lebanon since sectarian massacres on the Syrian coast earlier this month, Lebanese authorities said on Tuesday.

A report from Lebanon’s Disaster Risk Management Unit said 12,798 Syrians had arrived and settled in 23 different villages and towns in Lebanon’s northern Akkar region, adding that most were living in family homes or makeshift accommodation centers.

Violence erupted on Syria’s coast — the heartland of former president Bashar Assad’s Alawite minority — with attacks on security forces that were blamed on gunmen loyal to the toppled president.

According to the latest toll from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, Syrian security forces and allied groups subsequently killed at least 1,557 civilians, the vast majority Alawites.

Thousands of coastal residents took refuge in Russia’s Hmeimim air base, calling for protection, while others fled south to neighboring Lebanon.


Israel is ramping up annexation of West Bank, UN rights chief says

Updated 10 min 34 sec ago
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Israel is ramping up annexation of West Bank, UN rights chief says

  • ‘The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime’

GENEVA: Israel has expanded and consolidated settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the State of Israel, in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said in a report on Tuesday.

The report, based on research between Nov. 1, 2023, and Oct. 31, 2024, said there had been a “significant” expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and cited reports by Israeli NGOs of tens of thousands of planned housing units in new or existing settlements.

The findings will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council this month and come amid growing fears of annexation among Palestinians, as US policy shifts under President Donald Trump and new settler outposts are put down in areas of the West Bank seen as part of a future Palestinian state.

“The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime,” UN High Commissioner Volker Turk said in a statement accompanying the report, urging the international community to take meaningful action.

“Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers,” he said.

Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider Israel’s settlements on territory seized in war to be illegal. 

Israel’s military says it is conducting counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants.

Plans for the further provision of Israeli government services in these settlements “further institutionalize(s) long-standing patterns of systematic discrimination, segregation, oppression, domination, violence and other inhumane acts against the Palestinian people,” the report said.


War monitor says Israel strikes central Syria military site

Updated 24 min 51 sec ago
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War monitor says Israel strikes central Syria military site

  • According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “Israeli air strikes targeted a missile battalion” near Homs city
  • Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites since December

BEIRUT: A Syrian Arab Republic war monitor said Israeli jets struck a military site in central Syria on Tuesday, the latest such attack in recent days.
According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “Israeli air strikes targeted a missile battalion” near Homs city, reporting explosions in the area with no immediate word of casualties.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria since the December overthrow of president Bashar Assad, saying it was acting to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities whom it considers jihadists.
On Monday Israel struck the area of the southern city of Daraa, killing three civilians according to the authorities.
Last week, an Israeli air strike on Damascus hit a “command center” of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, the military said. The Observatory reported one fatality.
In addition to the air strikes, since Assad’s fall, Israel has also deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights and called for the complete demilitarization of southern Syria, near its territory.


Presidents of Congo and Rwanda meet in Qatar to discuss insurgency in eastern Congo

Updated 18 March 2025
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Presidents of Congo and Rwanda meet in Qatar to discuss insurgency in eastern Congo

  • Congo and Rwanda reaffirmed their commitment to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire on Tuesday
  • Peace talks between the two countries were unexpectedly canceled in December

DAKAR: The presidents of Congo and neighboring Rwanda met Tuesday in Qatar for their first direct talks since Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized two major cities in mineral-rich eastern Congo earlier this year, the three governments said.
The meeting between Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame to discuss the insurgency was mediated by Qatar, the three governments said in a joint statement.
The summit came as a previous attempt to bring Congo’s government and M23 leaders together for ceasefire negotiations on Tuesday failed. The rebels pulled out Monday after the European Union announced sanctions on rebel leaders.
Congo and Rwanda reaffirmed their commitment to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire during the meeting in Qatar on Tuesday.
Peace talks between Congo and Rwanda were unexpectedly canceled in December after Rwanda made the signing of a peace agreement conditional on a direct dialogue between Congo and the M23 rebels, which Congo refused at the time.
The conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January when the Rwanda-backed rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by Bukavu in February.
M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced.
The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east.
The UN Human Rights Council last month launched a commission to investigate atrocities, including allegations of rape and killing akin to “summary executions” by both sides.


Families urge Tunisia to release detained pro-migrant activists

Updated 18 March 2025
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Families urge Tunisia to release detained pro-migrant activists

  • Romdhane Ben Amor, the head of FTDES, an NGO, said the 10 detainees’ organizations “were engaged in humanitarian work, not political advocacy“
  • The authorities, however, “criminalized their actions“

TUNIS: The families of detained Tunisian pro-migrant and anti-racism activists, imprisoned since May, launched an appeal on Tuesday for their release.
Romdhane Ben Amor, the head of FTDES, an NGO, said the 10 detainees’ organizations “were engaged in humanitarian work, not political advocacy.”
The authorities, however, “criminalized their actions,” he said at a press conference.
The aim, Ben Amor said, was to “further weaken migrants and refugees and to push them to accept ‘voluntary returns’ organized by the (UN’s) International Organization for Migration.”
Tunisia is a major transit country for African migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in search of economic opportunities and a better life.
In 2023, Tunisian president Kais Saied denounced what he called “hordes of sub-Saharan migrants” who threatened to “change the country’s demographic composition.”
That was followed by a crackdown on migrants and last year’s arrest of activists.
Among those at the press conference was Emna Riahi, the mother of Sherifa Riahi, the former head of Terre d’Asile Tunisie.
She demanded that her daughter, a parent of two young children, be released and have a trial after charges against her of money laundering and terrorism were dropped.
Also present were the daughters of Mustapha Djemali, the 80-year-old founder of the Tunisian Council for Refugees and former North Africa chief for the UN’s refugee agency.
Yusra and Emna Djemali said their father had lost 35 kilogrammes (77 pounds) while in prison and had been denied medication “for four or five months.”
All these activists “are imprisoned to make it seem as though the president’s racist rhetoric was based on real facts,” said Ben Amor, lamenting what he called the “complicit silence” of the European Union and international organizations.