The front page of L'Orient-Le Jour on Dec.13, 2005, the day after Gebran Tueni's assassination. Photo archive L'OLJ
They were assassinated 19 and 17 years ago respectively, to the day, amid Lebanon’s struggle for sovereignty and freedom from Syrian tutelage under then-president Emile Lahoud.
Gebran Tueni, a former MP for Beirut and CEO of an-Nahar daily, and François al-Hage, head of operations in the army command at the time of his assassination, continue to be two leading national figures despite being assassinated almost two decades ago.
However, the commemoration of their assassination has taken a different form following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Dec. 8. Their assassinations were blamed on Damascus, as were the series of attacks that rocked the country between 2005 and 2013, despite the withdrawal of Syrian troops on April 26, 2005, after 40 years of occupation.
An example of Christian-Muslim coexistence
Tueni, who was assassinated in a car bomb in Mkalles, in Beirut’s eastern suburbs, remains a pillar of the revolution for sovereignty, triggered by the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, culminating on March 14, 2005, when Syrian forces retreated from the country.
Addressing the masses that rallied in Martyrs’ Square, then known as Freedom Square, Tueni’s speech, delivered 19 years ago, in defense of public freedoms continues to be a testament to Christian-Muslim coexistence. It was even taken up by demonstrators during the popular uprising against the ruling class on Oct. 17, 2019.
Although the March 14 coalition for sovereignty broke up, several political parties have continued the fight against the Syria-Iran axis in Lebanon.
Tueni also fought for the release of the forcibly disappeared and detainees held in the Assad regime prisons; at least nine of whom were freed this December following the offensive led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.قسم جبران تويني ... لعل هذه المشهدية اليوم هي الأقرب من ثورة الأرز #لبنان_ينتفض pic.twitter.com/ShkzfosrSJ
— Larissa Aoun (@LarissaAounSky) October 19, 2019
His last editorial piece, dated Dec. 8, 2005, was dedicated to this issue. “If only the Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouk al-Sharaa, could understand that the Syrian mandate over Lebanon is over. If only he could understand that the Lebanese are best placed to look after their own interests, better than the regime in any way. If only he could understand that the Lebanese want to preserve their restored national unity and consolidate their sovereignty, acquired since the withdrawal of Syrian troops,” he wrote in An-Nahar’s columns a few days before his assassination on Dec. 12.
The victor of Nahr al-Bared
The fight for Lebanese sovereignty was also spearheaded by Brigadier General Françoisal-Hage, who was assassinated two years later on the same date in a car bomb in Baabda.
One of the most prominent figures in the military institution, Hage was in charge of the military operation against the terrorist Fatah al-Islam organization in the Palestinian camp of Nahr al-Bared from May 20 to July 2, a few months before his death, when the army won this battle against the Islamist organization.
The front page of L'Orient-Le Jour on Dec. 13, 2007, the day after the assassination of François al-Hajj. Photo archive L'OLJ
At the time, Michel Sleiman served as army chief, and Hage was seen as his successor at the head of the troops.
‘The criminal fell’
Almost a decade later, the investigations into the assassination of Tueni and Hage have yet to be completed, although several parties on the Lebanese political scene pointed the finger of accusation at the Syrian regime.
Commemorating her father’s martyrdom, Nayla Tueni, CEO of An-Nahar, welcomed the fall of the Assad regime at a ceremony held at the newspaper’s offices. “The criminal fell…Thank you Gebran,” she said.
“19 years after Gebran’s assassination and the bitter experiences that followed, including the explosion at the port of Beirut that killed people on our premises (...) we reopen the offices of An-Nahar, which has 130 journalists and expanded to the Arab world, as well as Media Innovation,” she said.
Several political figures also commemorated the assassinations of these two figures. “The (long-awaited) day in Lebanon has come,” wrote Lebanese Forces (LF) Leader Samir Geagea on X. “They fell, and your oath has remained,” said Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel.
The former head of the Future Movement, Saad al-Hariri, reiterated Tunei’s words as he paid tribute to his memory. “On the commemoration of the assassination of Gebran Tueni and François al-Hage, we will remain united, Muslims and Christians, forever and ever, to defend Lebanon,” he wrote on X.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour and translated by Joelle El-Khouri.
