Gibran is with the Lord
Jihad el Khazen Al-Hayat - 15/12/05//
All of the television stations were showing pictures of the explosion that took the life of our colleague, MP Gibran Tueni, talking about the journalist, and MP, who had now become a martyr. I was thinking about his father, Ghassan Tueni, that great friend, the last of the princes of journalism. Gibran is now with the Lord, but Ghassan remains among us. How long can an exhausted, saddened heart continue? After Nadia the daughter was lost, then the son, and then the son, in a series of calamities as powerful as a Greek tragedy.
When I would meet with Gibran, I'd usually tell him to calm it down, make it less harsh, or just usually, in English, "Take it easy," to the point where it became an inside joke between us. What I didn't ever say to Gibran is that my advice was connected to Ghassan, and not Gibran. I worried about our great colleague being subjected to another shock in his personal life, because he already had a mountain's worth of weight on his shoulders.
Gibran Tueni opposed the Syrian presence in Lebanon and attacked the Lebanese and Syrian security agencies, before opposition or attacks came into fashion, practiced by those who had remained silent when they should have spoken, should have taken positions.
Gibran was always harsh in his positions, reflecting the youth of his pen. I compared between what he wrote and what his father did. I find myself closer in thought, or work style, to the father. We shared a common effort in the beginning of the 1970s. I was influenced by his ideas and positions, and I still am.
Gibran Tueni was something different. I saw him outside Lebanon more than I saw him in the homeland that I love. He became prominent as a "media star" after I left Beirut for London. He enjoyed wide popularity among many who shared his political views. Perhaps one example is sufficient. At a concert by Phil Collins in Beirut last month, a friend of ours got up, embraced and kissed Gibran, complimenting him on his appearance, although it was clear she was really complimenting him on his positions.
Politics killed Gibran Tueni, but who really killed him?
The Syrians. Always the Syrians. I don't rule out that it was the Syrians, although I don't rule out any other party. I await the results of an investigation, and I hope that it will be an international one, just as I await the results in the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri.
It could have been the same scene. Cars on fire, parts of bodies, buildings damaged, pieces of glass and metal strewn around.
Those who accused Syria this time are the same ones who accused Syria over PM Hariri's assassination. The ones who accused every party but Syria for the killing of both PM Hariri and Gibran Tueni are also the same. All of the possibilities remain valid. Syria killed Gibran Tueni because of his strong opposition to the Syrian presence in Lebanon and his campaign against the security agencies. Syria didn't kill Gibran Tueni because his positions are well-known and it would be accused immediately of responsibility for his death. Syria killed him because the fingers of accusation are pointing toward it. Syria will say that it couldn't kill someone whom it would be immediately accused of killing.
Israel killed Gibran Tueni to widen the crisis that Syria is facing with the international community.
Regarding the final accusation, I hope it's true. I would like to see it confirmed, but I don't think it will be.
Israel might benefit a bit from killing a known opponent of Syria, to cast the blame in that direction, but Israel would lose considerably if it were caught, meaning that it is not the likely party when we examine the calculation of wins and losses.
I don't know who killed Gibran Tueni, but I hope that the international investigation arrives at the truth about the killing of PM Hariri, Tueni, and all of the crimes in between. I hope that Lebanese society holds together, and that the government can manage the crisis wisely, preventing an explosion of the situation.
What I know is that Gibran Tueni won't return, and my heart is with Ghassan in this new tribulation of his.
What I know is that I will be in Davos a month from now, without Gibran and his unending political debates.
In 1999, I introduced Gibran Tueni to Yasser Arafat, who asked him to sit with him at his table for a dinner by the Middle East Group, which was also attended by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his wife, and the then-Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Arafat asked Gibran about Ghassan Tueni, praised him considerably, and asked Gibran to send along his greetings.
Six years later, the world has turned on its head, from Lebanon to Iraq and Palestine, to every country. I was amazed that Gibran and I were journalists from Lebanon; I saw him more in Davos than I did in Beirut.
I stayed in Beirut a few days at the end of last month, and the beginning of this one. I telephoned an-Nahar and asked for Ghassan Tueni, as I did when visiting Beirut. I was told he was out of town, and that Gibran Tueni was there. We spoke quickly.
He asked me, "How are you?"
I told him that I was fine; he was fine; but the country was in the pits.
We didn't disagree about anything that time, since we both saw the general situation as bad. We agreed to meet the next day. I told colleagues at al-Hayat that I would visit Gibran in the morning and then come to them. But something came up the next day and I left for Dubai afterward. How could I have known that it was the last telephone call between us?
God rest your Soul, Gibran Tueni and God help your father carry the burden of tragedy. There are no condolences for a father who has lost his eldest son after losing his family, but condolences are all I have. To my big brother Ghassan Tueni, I say that all of us are your family.
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