(Lebanon: Land of Dialogue Among Civilizations and Cultures (LDC) Initiative housed at: NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY-LOUAIZE, LEBANON (NDU

GENESIS

The LDC Initiative was initiated in June 2013 by several prominent and concerned Lebanese businessmen and academics who selected Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) to lead an Initiative devoted to gaining UN recognition of Lebanon as a Land of Dialogue Among Civilizations and Cultures. LDC is housed at NDU and is being implemented by the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, an international academic NGO, centered in Washington, D.C., with major University Centers in Russia, China, and Lebanon.

RATIONALE

In his address to the UN General Assembly on the Dialogue between Cultures and Religions (Item 45: Culture and Peace) on November 12^th, 2008, His Excellency, President Michel Sleiman, stated that “the philosophy of the Lebanese entity is based on dialogue, reconciliation and coexistence”. He declared that the Lebanese people would like Lebanon to “become an international center for the management of the dialogue of civilizations and cultures and consequently a global laboratory for that inter-entity dialogue”. President Sleiman was motivated by a similar declaration (11 years earlier) when Pope John Paul II declared that Lebanon is “more than a country”; it is a mission of love and conviviality. Much of this vision has also been articulated in the writings of the distinguished Muslim scholar, Ayatollah Muhammad Mahdi Shamseddine, and by Pope Benedict XVI who declared that Lebanon is a message of freedom, a model of pluralism and a special space for dialogue and coexistence of different cultures and religions. These Christian and Muslim declarations have resonated among the various ethnic and religious communities of Lebanon and have been adopted by a majority of them as the ultimate vocation of Lebanon and its people. A powerful expression of this came in September, 2012, during the Muslim-Christian Summit at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke whereby the convened religious leaders called for the designation of Lebanon as a “space of dialogue among civilizations based on peace and diversity”. Such calls are not simply idealizations of Lebanon’s past or present vocation, but are rooted in facts reaching far back into its history.

In the last century and a half, Lebanon has experienced various socio-political systems that were born out of the womb of suffering and the will of finding peaceful solutions to protect freedom of religion and diversity. The Mutasarrifiyya, the Qaemaqamiya, the 1943 Pact, and the Taëf Agreement are all ingenious examples of this experience and will. Lebanon’s population is composed of eighteen ethno-religious groups (Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and others) and in the last thirty years, has recognized new groups under the law to acknowledge their freedom of religion. Labor migration has added to Lebanon’s religious and ethnic diversity (Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs) that freely practice their faith. This diversity is Lebanon’s great strength and weakness, as its painful modern history attests, and is precisely what makes it worthy of being designated a land of dialogue among civilizations and cultures. In general, Lebanese do not perceive diversity as a threat but rather as an opportunity to be enriched, hence their predisposition to continue and to spearhead this dialogue in the Middle East. The Lebanese people and their struggle to live freely has often been an inspiration and a liberating force for others in the region, and their communities all over the world have been recognized as exemplary by their host countries in terms of promoting dialogue and openness to diversity. Lebanon’s raison d’être is founded on the paradigm of understanding, freedom and conviviality among civilizations and cultures. In spite of the challenges to its vocation, which often times results in tragic failures, the world can still learn much from Lebanon’s historical experiences.