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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Revitalising Lebanon
By Rasha SaadIn common with many other of his countrymen, Fouad Al-Makhzoumi left Lebanon in 1975 during the civil war to work in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. With two degrees in chemical engineering from Michigan, he became involved in the oil-pipe industry and built himself a career in this lucrative field.
In 1990, after the end of the 15-year long civil war, he decided to return to Lebanon where he became involved in numerous public activities and investments aimed at rebuilding the country's destroyed infrastructure.
After announcing his decision to run as a candidate in the forthcoming parliamentary election, the 47-year-old Al-Makhzoumi said that his priority would be to seek to "rebuild the Lebanese individual, and not just the infrastructure." To effect this, Al-Makhzoumi believes that the concepts of citizenship and political rights should be revitalised in Lebanon, especially after the country experienced the civil war with its religious and sectarian divisions. "Lebanese citizens should not need to go to their MPs, or social leader to get their rights," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. "These rights should be, according to our constitution, exercised by every single individual regardless of his or her religious or political affiliation."
Al-Makhzoumi deplored that certain political leaders in Lebanon, in order to maintain their positions, wanted citizens to believe that they can obtain their rights only through these them.
Moving to the topic of the peace process, Al-Makhzoumi's views on Israel's expected withdrawal from the south by early July and Lebanon's relationship with Syria do not seem to differ from those of the leaders who have held power since the civil war ended nearly 10 years ago. He stressed the importance of having a joint peace track with Syria, "given the imbalance in size and military capabilities of Lebanon in comparison to Israel."
He added that when the Lebanese went to Madrid's Middle East Peace Conference in 1991, the idea was that all the Arabs should comprise one negotiating front in order to strengthen their position. However, the Palestinians and the Jordanians decided to go on their own separately, "and we respect their decision." Yet, in the case of Syria and Lebanon, "it is in their interest to have a joint peace track as it offers a much stronger negotiating position."
Regarding the south, Al-Makhzoumi believes that the most important issue is that the Israeli withdrawal has to be complete, all the way to an internationally recognised border. "You cannot say 'I will return the land that I have occupied, but I do not trust you.' It is our land; we want to have it back and we are going to be responsible for our own territory," he said.
Al-Makhzoumi insisted furthermore that there has to be a solution for the problem of more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. He added that Israel should pay compensation for all the damage it has caused in Lebanon during the past 25 years.
Asked if he sees a role for the Arabs to play in solving the problem of Palestinian refugees, Al-Makhzoumi stated that Palestinians have fought for the last 50 years to establish a state of their own and have the right to return to their land.
However, he believes that the issue is a little more complicated for the Lebanese in view of the special balance between the country's Muslims and Christians, on whose basis the Lebanese state was established in 1943. But, since then, the number of Christians has been decreasing while that of the Muslims has increased. After 15 years of civil war, mutual mistrust remains the rule in Muslim-Christian relations. Thus, in 1992, the Christians boycotted parliament elections and their participation was limited in 1996.
"Now if you would like to be in a partnership, your partner has to feel comfortable that his or her rights are protected. Lebanon today has a Muslim majority. Adding 370,000, mostly Palestinian Muslims would upset the whole demographic balance, and will add to the mistrust that exists among the Christians," Al-Makhzoumi said.
