هل تخفق النخبةُ كما فشِل السياسيون

النهار في 30 حزيران 2008

سجعان قزي

حين يتحدّث البعضُ عن الـنُـخبة يظـنّها جنساً مُجتمعـيّـاً ممـيَّـزاً، ويَضعُها آلـيّـاً في مواجهةِ الشعب (متفوِّقـة عليه) والطاقمِ السياسيّ (أكفأ منه)، في حين أنّ الـنـخبةَ تنتمي إلى كلّ فئات الشعبِ وطبقاته. ولا قيمةَ إضافية للنخبة إلا مِقدار ما تساهمُ في التقدِّم العام وتلتزمُ مسؤوليةَ نهضةِ المجتمع. الـنُـخبةُ ليست طبقةً بل نوعـيّـة، والـنُـخبويّ ليس مُبشِّراً بل قُدوة. 

بين أفضلِ عشرِ شخصيات نُخبويّـة اختارها الفرنسيّـون العامَ الماضي، لم يَرِد اسمُ أيِّ شخصيّـة سياسيّـة مع أنّ السياسيّين الفرنسيّين، عموماً، نخبويّون بامتياز. بَرز طاهٍ وكاتبٌ وموسيقار وتقنيّ ومهندس معماري وفـنّـانٌ تشكيلي ومُخرج سينمائي. وعام 2006، صنّـفت مجلةُ فوربس Forbes العالمية الطاهي الفرنسي ألان دوكاس Alain Ducasse ضُمن أهمِ مئةِ شخصٍ مؤثّرين في العالم.

النخبة إذن متعدِّدةُ الطاقاتِ والمستويات وعابرةُ كلّ المهن: هناك النخبُ الفقيرة والغنـيّـة، الأكاديمـيّـة والنقابيّـة. هناك النخب التقليديّـة والتجديديّـة، الدينـيّـة والعَلمانـيّـة. هناك النخب الشعبيّـة والبورجوازيّـة، المدينيّـة والمناطقـيّـة. هناك النخب اليمينـيّـة واليساريّـة، العسكريّـة والأمنـيّـة. هناك نخبٌ تَستهويها السياسةُ سبيلاً إلى عملٍ وطنيّ، وأخرى تتلـهّـف إلى السياسة شَغفاً بوجاهة. هناك نخبٌ تحبّ الشأن العامَّ كجُزءٍ من عملٍ اجتماعيٍّ وإنساني، وأخرى تُفضِّل الشأن الخاص رافداً يَصبُّ في الازدهار العام. وهناك "نخبٌ" تَجـتَـرُّ أنانـيّـتَها ونرجسيّـتَها وتعيش في عالمٍ آخر: نيرفانا التفاهة.

Cheikh Farouk el Khazen son of Cheikh Chafic el Khazen and Marie Masaad holds a BS in Business Administration and Certificates in Hotel Management mainly from the Swiss “Ecole Hoteliere” – Chalet-A-Gobet , Lausane. In his personal life Cheikh Farouk el Khazen has 2 daughters Leeza-Maria el Khazen and Lara el Khazen. Leeza-Maria el Khazen is married to Pascal Mayran and has 2 sons Mathieu and Adrien.

Cheikh Farouk el Khazen started an Import & Export Business From Europe towards the Arab countries under the name “Establishment Farouk el Khazen” registered in Lebanon. Then Expended to U.S.A where he opened the “Overseas Trading Connection” registered in California which deals mainly in importing & exporting different products:

1.      Auto spare parts from Europe to USA and vice-versa. 

2.       Shrimps from Mexico “Mazatlan: to California USA.

3.      Pre-owned cars towards Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

4.      Canned food towards Lebanon

  In 1985 He moved to the restaurant business in California where he has established many restaurants from 4 stars restaurant to different Fast Foods & catering CO. To mention some of them:

1. La CreParis located in Santa Barbara, California
2. The Burger and Beach Galley,  Located in Ventura, California
3.  Paradise Catering Company registered in Cathedral City and serving all of Palm Spring and Hot Spring area, California

 Currently he is: 1- A Notary Public commissioned in California.

                           2- A Certified Notary Signing Agent, dealing mainly with loans.

                    3- A certified Real Estate Agent

                    4- A certified Loan Officer &  Loan Consultant.

For more information and his contact information: you can visit his website at http://kazenrealestate.com 

In the private sector Cheikh Farouk el Khazen was extensively involved in his 2 most important hobbies, Water Ski and Snow Skiing activities. Where he has added considerable values to these activities in Lebanon and took part intensively with the Lebanese Federation helping the Lebanese ski and promoting Lebanon towards the world through the FIS (Federation  International de Ski). He is the founder & President of the Lebanese Ski Club: “Club Libanais de Ski” also known as “Les Skieurs Libanais”.  In addition he has represented the Lebanese Ski Federation in many Championships around the world. Attached to this Article are different publications from different newspapers and pictures in regards of the Lebanese Ski Club Association and official events. (please click read more to view the pictures)

BEIRUT: Lebanon expects over 1.3 million tourists this year thanks to the positive political atmosphere following the election of a new president, outgoing Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis said Friday. The minister made the remarks during a tour of Rafik Hariri International Airport, adding that most of the hotels in Beirut and the mountain are fully booked.  According to the figures released by Rafik Hariri International Airport, arriving passengers totaled 598,392 in the first five months of the year, while departing passengers amounted to a higher 633,255.

The minister said Lebanon is heading toward a promising tourism season, adding that the Tourism Ministry plans to launch widespread media campaign to encourage foreigners and Arabs to visit Lebanon.  "Once a new government is formed, I expect Lebanon to experience a steady rise in the number of visitors," he said.  In 2007, less than a million visitors arrived in Lebanon and authorities said most of the arrivals were Lebanese working in oil rich Gulf states and Africa.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel received a report from Hezbollah hat an Israeli airman reported missing in Lebanon since 1986 has been dead for more than 10 years, the Haaretz daily reported on Friday.  Israel had demanded that the militia provide a report on the fate of navigator Ron Arad as a precondition for a prisoner swap expected to take place in about 10 days. In the report Hezbollah describes its efforts to locate Arad, says it failed to find him but concludes he has been dead for more than a decade, the daily said. The report was passed to Ofer Dekel, the Israeli negotiator in the prisoner swap talks that are being held through a UN mediator.

As part of the deal Israel delivered a report on the fate of four Iranian diplomats who disappered in 1982 during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, saying that the men were dead. It said they were killed by a Christian militia in Lebanon after being stopped at a roadblock, and that it was unclear where their remains are. Iran's embassy in Lebanon insisted on Thursday that the four are still alive and being held in Israel. The exchange of reports was the first step in a deal under which Hezbollah will hand over the remains of two Israeli soldiers in exchange for prisoners. Hezbollah is to release the remains of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev whom the Israeli authorities say died after they were captured by Hezbollah in a July 2006 cross-border raid that sparked a 34-day war in Lebanon. In exchange Israel will free five jailed Lebanese prisoners, among them Samir Kantar, a Palestine Liberation Front militant serving a 542-year sentence for the brutal killing of two men and a four-year-old girl in a 1979 raid on northern Israel.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has set July 9 as a deadline to conclude the formation of a new government in the country, well informed sources were quoted by Xinhua news agency. The president is due to leave for Paris on July 12 to participate in the international conference on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, the report added, hinting that a new government should be formed before the president leaves. Over five weeks have passed since designated-Prime Minister Fouad Seniora was assigned by the president to form a national unity government, but all efforts were fruitless as Lebanese leaders were unable to reach an agreement on the cabinet line-up.

Sources close to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is in the opposition camp, told a local daily Star that "Prime Minister Seniora' s performance with respect to forming the cabinet lacks transparency." Meanwhile, the ruling majority is accusing Christian opposition Leader MP Michel Aoun of being responsible for the cabinet deadlock because of his demands to get certain key portfolios. The Doha agreement reached on May 21 resulted in the election of a new president after six months of vacancy in the seat.
 The second phase of the agreement called for the formation of a national unity government, a step that is not implemented yet.

KFAR ZABAD, Lebanon (AFP) by Jocelyne Zablit  - A decade ago, it was a glittering vision -- a scheme to lure nature lovers to the Lebanese highlands, providing income to local people, nurturing the country's damaged environment and cementing national unity in one stroke.  Today, after a war, a political crisis and flareups of sectarian violence, Lebanon's brave experiment in eco-tourism is battered and bloodied but defiantly soldiers on. In the eastern Bekaa region near the Syrian border, financial help from the United States and Europe helped establish a project for encouraging families to come and enjoy the wildlife, staying in local hostels and employing local guides. Ravaged by hunters, the countryside around the village of Kfar Zabad, which straddles the main migration route for African-Eurasian water fowl, was declared a protected area and now teems with birds, along with wildcats and a few river otters. "Before, this place was filled with hunters in the afternoon and all you heard was the sound of gunfire," Mayor Qassem Choker says proudly, pointing to fields near the entrance to the village. "But since the village was designated a protected area in 2004, we can hear the birds chirping again and enjoy our surroundings." The wildlife has emphatically returned. But since the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri that marked Lebanon's new plunge into turmoil, the tourists have become an endangered species.

Foreign tourists and even expatriate Lebanese have been discouraged by fears about safety. The main visitors to the Bekaa are hardy people from Beirut and other regions, who in periods of relative calm grab the chance of a countryside break. "We keep trying to tell people it's safe but the simple mention of the name Bekaa scares them away," said Dalia Al-Jawhary, of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, which is heavily involved in the Kfar Zabad project. Faisal Abu-Izzedin, director of the Lebanon Mountain Trail project, a 440-kilometre (275-mile) path that cuts through 75 villages, many of them in remote areas stretching from the north to the south, says Lebanon offers unique treasures. "Nowhere else can you see this diversity," he said. "Our aim was to revive an ancient heritage which was a trail that connected villages. We hope that the trail and people who walk the trail will shine a light on the importance of keeping Lebanon beautiful." From the beaches along the Mediterranean, to mountains, forests, wildlife, Roman ruins and gorges -- all within a few hours' drive or walk -- the country of 10,425 square kilometers (4,170 square miles) indeed has much to offer. "Lebanon has been classified among the 25 top countries in terms of biodiversity," said Pascal Abdallah, who heads Responsible Mobilities, an eco-conscious tour company. "We have 40 kinds of wild orchids, two or three of which are endemic to Lebanon. "We still have wolves in this tiny country, we have a type of hyena that only exists in the eastern part of the Mediterranean -- and of course we have the cedars."

BEIRUT (AFP) - The Ottoman-style mansions, with Venetian windows, arches and lavish gardens that once epitomised Beirut are being levelled one after the other as high-rises mushroom across the capital.  "Now everyone is looking for towers, because they realise that above the tenth floor you can see the sea," says Mona Hallak, an architect and an activist with the Association for the Protection of Sites and Old Buildings. "In 20 years' time, this won't be the case because you will have lots of towers everywhere." As a result, landlords are rushing to take advantage of the high prices now being offered for the land on which their ancestral homes are sitting. The pattern is set: the home is demolished, its traditional garden destroyed and the land sold and developed. "Every time an old house goes, a green pocket goes and with it go trees that are often hundreds of years old," says Hallak.

"It's not only the house. It's the tree. It's the bird that follows the tree. It's the quality of life." The only law on the books that protects old homes in Lebanon dates back to 1933 when the country was under French mandate. It mainly protects buildings constructed before 1700 although younger buildings can be placed on the list of protected sites either by government directive or private initiative. "The law basically focuses on the protection of archaeology and antiquities," Culture Minister Tarek Mitri told AFP. A survey commissioned by the government in 1997 identified about 250 buildings in Beirut that cannot be demolished. "The list is outdated now," Mitri said. "Plus it was done hastily. Some buildings that should be on it aren't." The list is of little consolation to activists like Hallak, who say the issue is more about preserving the country's heritage than merely saving a building or a mansion. "It's important to save an entire street, what we call a cluster... there is a social structure that is completely tied to these buildings," Hallak says.