World Lebanese Cultural Union
Press release – English version
The World Lebanese Cultural Union has concluded it World Council meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The meeting presided by the World President Anise Garabet, was attended by the World Secretary General George Abi Raad and members of the World Council who arrived from various continents.
The President introduced a status report concerning the implementation of the Resolutions adopted at the 14th World Congress which was held in Sydney in May 2005. It was followed by a report presented by the World Secretary General regarding the internal organizational progress, stressing on promoting the WLCU throughout the Diaspora by creating new chapters, reforming media and communications issues, as he explained the WLCU project which was presented to the Electoral Committee in Lebanon vis-à-vis the emigrant right to vote in the consulates.
The Council approved the fiscal budget which was set forth by the World treasure Joseph Hage (Miami) and listened to reports from the Committee of Cultural and Heritage headed by Antoine Ghanem (Australia) and the Committee of Finance and Economics. The Council has also received a message of support and some propositions from New South Whales chapter of Australia with a regret for not being able to attend.
After discussing the recommendations proposed by various regions and the specialized committees, the World Council has adopted the following decisions and resolutions:
– Initiating the “House of the Emigrant” project in Lebanon and producing a documentary film on the Lebanese Diaspora.
– Organizing world inter-regional trips for the youth of Lebanese descent aiming to strengthen the ties and communications.
– Reviving the Commission on International Relations (CIR) and appointing Dr Carlos Keyrouz (Belgium) as Chairman and professor Raphael Rossel Haykal (Chile) as executive Director, its mission is to interact with the international bodies that deal with the Lebanese issues and supervise the implementation of the UNSC Resolutions related to Lebanon.
– Adding fifteen new members to the World Lebanese Senate from prominent Lebanese individuals and WLCU officers with a history of sacrifices towards the Union and its objectives. The following is a list of the new Senate members:
– North America: Toufic Hajjar, Dr Elie Baghdady and Dr Jason Boutros.
– Spanish America: Gabriel Chemaly (Mexico), Juan Kadis (Chile) and Antonio Aramouni (Argentina).
– Europe: Simon Najem (Belgium), Nadim Boutros (Belgium), Fares Charbel (France)
– Australia & New Zealand: Bryan Bakash, Badawi Khoury and Bechara Taouk with the reactivation of the membership of Anthony Torbay.
– Assigning attorney Steve Stanton to succeed Mr Joe Baini as President of the World Lebanese Senate.
– Approving the proposed three members of the Arbitrary Council based on the World constitution and they are: Attorney Steve Stanton (Australia), Attorney Anwar Curi (Mexico) and John Bader (Canada).
– Limiting the issuance of media press releases to the presidency, Secretariat General and the Communication Committee.
The following members have participated at the World Council meeting:
From Canada: Deputy WSG Dr Nick Kahwaji, George Murr and Michel Murr (Victoria), John Bader (Vancouver).
From the USA: Dr Elie Baghdady (Boston), Milad Sassin (Quincy), Abdo Khoury (Youth Committee – California), Naji Doumit and Hassan Atwi (Orange County), Antoine Alwan (California), Edward Nahas and Soly Asmar (Los Angeles), Ghassan Abdel Karim and Edy Abdel Karim (San Bernardino), Joseph Hage (Miami)
From Spanish America: Former President Bechara Bechara, Alejandro Curi and Hector Chamlati (Mexico), Alberto Cheker (Uruguay), Antonio Arida and Juan Saliba (Argentina).
From Brazil :Tony Kaddissi
From Europe: Dr Carlos Keyrouz (Belgium), Eng. Said Yazbeck (Great Britain).
Mr Gus Malkoun, from the municipality of the host city Los Angeles, as a member of the Beirut-Los Angeles Twin-city project.
The Council has honored Dr Elie Baghdady for his scientific achievement with the American Space Agency (NASA) and his discovery of micro adjustments of satellite coordinates in orbit.
The World council has also hosted a platform for Lebanese political and media Organizations which voiced their support to the World Lebanese Cultural Union and its role as an umbrella which brings a unified voice to the international communities. They agreed on coordination in media affairs and services like registering the children born abroad and following up with contesting the latest naturalization law in Lebanon. The major speakers were: Dr John Ahmaranian of “Beirut Times”, Nabih Nasreddine of the “American Druze Society”, Sami Kadi of the “Socialist Progressive Party”, Hady Zakaria of the “Lebanese Forces”, Fady Ghalayini of the “Future Movement” and Joseph Fram of the “Lebanese Kataeb”. The Council has received a message from Dr Joseph Gebeily, President of the “American Lebanese Coalition” (ALC), who praised the continuous cooperation between the ALC and the WLCU to defend freedoms and democracy in the motherland.
At the end of the meeting the world President headed a delegation, composed of the Secretary General, representatives of various regions and the Chairman of the World Council of Youth Hector Chamlati, as they participated in an event hosted by the “Campus Link”, a group connecting Lebanese clubs from American, Mexican and Canadian Universities. The World President, as a guest speaker at the event, explained the role of the WLCU dealing with the “brain drain” in Lebanon and ways to curb the emigration of the college graduates.
World President World Secretary General
Anise Garabet George Abi Raad
