Minister Ghazi Al Areedi signs his book Arabs Without A Cause at BAU Tripoli Campus

The Tripoli Campus of Beirut Arab University hosted the signing of Arabs Without A Cause by His Excellency, Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ghazi Al Areedi, which was attended by a wide political, judicial, military, social, cultural and educational audience.

 

The event was attended by Khaldoun El Charif, President of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, representing President Najib Mikati; the Minister of Finance, Mohamed El Safadi represented by Dr. Mostafa Helwa; MP Kassem Abdel Aziz; MP Samir El Jisr represented by Nasser Adra; MP Robert Fadel represented by Saad El Din Fakhoury, former MP Dr. Abdel Majid El Refai; Tripoli Municipal Chief, Dr. Nader Ghazal represented by Eng. Omar El Hoz; Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Council Omar Miskawi; Secretary General of the Union of Chambers of Commerce in Lebanon Tawfiq Dabousi; President of the Dannieh Municipalities Mohamed Saadieh; Vice-President of the Progressive Socialist Party, Kamal Moawad; Director of the Regional Office for the Union of Ports, Faten Salhab; the Director of the Port of Tripoli, Ahmed Tamer; the President of the French Lebanese University, Dr. Mohamed Salhab; the President of the University of Jinan, Dr. Mona El Haddad Yakan, represented by Dr. Ali Lagha; the Director of the Jesuit University in the North, Dr. Fadia El Alam; in addition to Professor Dr. Amr Galal El Adawi, President of BAU, represented by the Vice President for Tripoli Branch Affairs, Prof. Khaled Baghdadi, Vice President for Medical Sciences, Prof. Dr. Essam Osman, BAU Secretary General, Mr. Issam Houri, the Directors of the University, the administrative director of the Tripoli Campus, Ahmed Sanjikdar, the director of BAU Alumni in Tripoli Ahmed El Sankari, and a crowd of directors of institutions, societies and educational institutions, as well as interested students.

 

After the Lebanese national anthem and the BAU anthem were played, Dr. Khaled Baghdadi welcomed Minister El Areedi, the Secretary General of the National Committee of UNESCO, Dr. Zahida Darwish, and Dr. Naseem Daher, for a discussion of the book Arabs Without A Cause. He opened his speech congratulating El Areedi on his book, hailing him as a man of constant and expressive attitudes towards the Palestinian Cause, the issues of the Arab World and the US stances towards the Arab World.

 

Dr. Zahida Darwish opened the discussion, quoting from the book that “A large set of Arabs have abandoned the Palestinian Cause”. She described the book as “An accurate diagnosis that unequivocally identifies the problems and the medication. It reveals clear perspectives of the local and regional conditions, illustrating the dangers that threaten the area, warning that we may be heading towards a new Sykes Picot Agreement that will redraw the Arab map. In all this, he is expressing attitudes that emerge from a sense of sincere national and Arab belonging, that relentlessly defends constants, and does not confuse the enemy, the opponent and the friend.”

 

In turn, Dr. Nasseem Daher explained that El Areedi “Traces in his book the reel of events, with his tone rising towards the Axis of Defiance. His criticism of what the Syrian regime has come to increased, this critical journey tending towards Palestine, with a nostalgia for the land and freedom.”

 

El Areedi, on the other hand, stated that “We live in a serious moment of transformation. This book expresses all that surrounds us in terms of affairs and worries for our nations. As for the choice of title, Arabs Without A Cause, it is the result of a point of view that unfortunately things are developing in the direction I have written about, and this is not a positive direction.”

 

He added, “Today, if we were to make a list of priorities, whether in terms of our movement, or in terms of international and regional political movements in our area, we would find that the Palestinian Cause comes as the last of these concerns. Today the Syrian issue is way ahead of the Palestinian issue as an international concern.”

 

He further discussed the Lebanese reality, stating that “Any discussion of it would extend endlessly. It is a dangerous reality, for we are living a serious plight and a real danger at this stage.”