A Story about The Lebanon from Ambassador Azzam of Lebanon

On a rainy day, The Korea Post President Lee Kyung Sik and Vice President Cho Kyung hee (Joy) and reporter Kim su-a were invited to interview H.E Antoine Azzam Ambassador of Lebanon. The embassy has just moved into a new residence nearby Hyatt Hotel. H.S welcomed The Korea Post members with a big smile, a nice aromatic coffee and cookies. He started talking passionately about Lebanon’s facts and reality.

<Geography>
Lebanon size is only 10,452km², which is smaller than any city in Korea. The population presents 4 million but the Lebanese diaspora outside Lebanon is estimated to be around 14 million. For instance, more than 6 millions of Lebanese live in Brazil, 3 millions in USA (including 300,000 in North America), in Africa and in other Arab countries. Lebanese people who live abroad are not refugees. They are known for their work’s efficiency and intelligence so they succeeded and occupied prominent positions all over the world. Lebanese parents have always invested in their children's education, which has made the Lebanese workforce to be among the most competitive workforces in the region.

<Immigration history>
Why are there so many Lebanese in Brazil? (6 millions)
Immigration history started in 1880 during the Ottoman Empire occupation to Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine. People suffered hunger soon after the world war 1 started and after the collapse of the Ottoman empire many Lebanese tried to go abroad searching for a better life and opportunities. Then the Brazilian Emperor visited Beirut and opened a consulate in Beirut to facilitate the Lebanese imigration to brazil.

<Single success Emigrant as below>
- Gibran Kahlil Gibran (1883, January 6 1933, April 10) was a Lebanese-American writer, a poet and a visual Artist. Gibran is still regarded as a literary and political rebel in Lebanon and in the world.
- Carlos Ghosn-Brazilian-Lebanese French. He was born in Brazil, former CEO of Japan based Nissan. He made financial turnaround of Nissan from Its near bankruptcy in 1999 and he earned the nickname "Mr.fix it".
There are more successful Lebanese in the world such as the former U.S Army General and other names in the political and Economic field.

Story of other presidents and politicians whose forebears came from Lebanon.
- Paraguay previous president was of Lebanese descent.
- more than 250 Lebanese are actively participating in Latin America’s parliament.

<Blessing and Curse>
The cedar tree is the national emblem of Lebanon and features on its flag. The cedar of Lebanon was mentioned in the Bible for more than 77 times. Jesus visited Cana in Lebanon and made his first miracle changing the water into wine.

Lebanon cannot be estimated by its GDP or its industrial wealth. The Lebanese workforce is very skilled and competitive in the region. His Excellency the ambassador Antoine Azzam explained about how Lebanon has faced some hard time but could always emerge from crisis, saying that life is not easy and all countries go through ups and downs.
After the Cairo Declaration in 1970, Lebanon had to host many Palestinian refugees. While many other countries refused to help, Lebanon, a small country had to support refugees basic needs, health care, education, infrastructure, water etc.

The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) moved its bases to Lebanon and operated in the border between Israel and Lebanon. This Palestinian insurgency in south Lebanon created many problems with Israel. Then Yasir Arafat, the PLO chairman, started a military operation on the borders and Israel invaded southern Lebanon to counter the growing position of the PLO in the country.

The Lebanese war was not a civil war as claimed by many people/states. In fact, other countries were fighting in the Lebanese territory seeking their interests. Israel for instance has always been interested in the Lebanese lands and water -Ambassador explained.
In 2000 Israel entered south of Lebanon for more than 24km and occupied it.
In 2006, many civilians were killed in the UN camp of Cana in the south of Lebanon following an air strike carried out by the Israel Air force. This war has also led to the destruction of part of Beirut.

Finally, the security council decided to deploy draw Blue Line in the border between Lebanon and Israel. Since that time Korean government decided to join UNIFIL and sent 350 soldiers to further peace and stability in south Lebanon. these soldiers have contributed not only to maintaining the peace in the area but also to developing the Korean-Lebanese relations by teaching Korean and Taekwondo to the local citizens.

Other countries are also a part of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in the south of Lebanon such as France, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Norway etc. they aim at avoiding any future conflicts between Israel and Lebanon.

H.E Antoine Azzam has explained so passionately about how the Lebanese have achieved many successes in the world as following:
Today we are using the alphabet that the Phoenicians have created in Byblos (Lebanon).
Two Lebanese brothers introduced the press newspaper to Egypt.
Lebanese had nothing except the brain, people can drain the grain.
Lebanon has a diverse population which makes it special. However it is facing the Syrian refugees problem. Today, there are more than 1 million refugees in Lebanon which is a serious burden on Lebanon’s economy. The world should also take a responsibility in solving this problem.

<Relationship with Korea>
Korea’s big companies are already present in the Lebanese market such as Samsung, Kia and Hyundai.
His excellency’s objective is to introduce Korean beauty companies to the Lebanese market and increase the exchange of agricultural products like olive oil, canned food, wines, kernels and fruits. Therefore he is trying to solve the tax issue and decrease the tax rates.
He is also trying to encourage travel tours that can cover Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. These tours can be also religious since the three lands represent a meaningful value for Christians. For example, Jesus first miracle turning water into wine took place in Cana in Lebanon. Maria and joseph took refuge in Egypt and the Christ was baptized in Jordan.

<Conclusion>
Lebanon is an attractive destination for investments in the regional markets. It is also a gate to build Syria and Iraq as well as a gate to the African market. Through this long and interesting conversation, we got a deep knowledge about Lebanon and the middle-East. Korean post team members were thankful for the Ambassador Antoine Azzam.

Lebanese Celebrity & popular Politician:
- Lebanese singer Majida El Roumi
- Lebanese star Nancy Ajram
- Lebanese singer Ragheb Alami
- Bahia Hariri was elected as a member of the Lebanese parliament.