Perpetual Renewal Conference: “To Walk Together for the Establishment of the State of Justice, the Homeland of Man”, at Our Lady of the Well Monastery – Beqennaya

The One Voice Foundation organized the “Perpetual Renewal” Conference under the title “To Walk Together for the Establishment of the State of Justice, the Homeland of Man”, at Our Lady of the Well Monastery in Beqennaya, in the presence of the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Abbas Halabi, with the participation of Adyan Foundation, the Oura Union, the Kamel Youssef El-Hage Chair for Lebanese Philosophy, the Lebanese Foundation for Citizenship, and the Lebanese Green Party. The conference addressed themes of education, justice, administration, and Levantism.

The event was attended by the Representative of the Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church Raphael XXI Minassian, Patriarchal Vicar Georges Assadourian; the Head of the Editors’ Syndicate, Joseph Koussayfi; the Secretary General of Catholic Schools, Father Youssef Nasr; the President of Caritas Lebanon, Father Michel Abboud; the President of the Oura Union, Father Tony Khadra; the President of the Green Party, Fadi Abi Allam; the Head of the “Sacred Heart” family, Salwa Estphan; along with a number of media professionals, legal experts, academics, and thinkers.

Kalaydjian
The conference opened with a speech by Antoine Kalaydjian, President of the One Voice Foundation, in which he spoke about “the goals of the foundation, foremost among them consolidating Lebanon’s identity, protecting freedoms and human rights, and preserving it as a remarkable model of coexistence despite the many challenges it faces.”

He called on the Lebanese to “rise above sectarian affiliation toward national belonging to build the state and the homeland,” urging “citizens to participate in the electoral process in order to elect competent individuals capable of bringing about the needed positive change.”

He also highlighted “the foundation’s work in the social field,” noting that “it has provided 50,000 cans of infant formula in cooperation with Caritas Lebanon and is working to secure other medical services in the future.”

Halabi
Minister of Education delivered a speech in which he commended “the conference and its objectives,” and spoke about “a national strategy for higher education and the modernization of educational curricula adopted by the ministry, through a specialized working group in cooperation with the relevant institutions.”

He referred to “the workshop held at the Grand Serail for this purpose, which brought together all education stakeholders without exception around one table,” stressing that “the Ministry of Education is not the sole party responsible for the education sector it is the responsibility of all Lebanese to ensure the best education for students by relying on human competencies.”

Tabbara
The conference, moderated by lawyer and media personality Roula Elia, began with Dr. Nayla Tabbara, who spoke about “the foundations of education for active citizenship that embraces diversity, drawing on Adyan Foundation’s experience whether in terms of curricula and cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Educational Center, or in programs integrated into formal or non-formal education, i.e., outside educational institutions.”

She stressed “the importance of training teachers,” noting that “acceptance of religious and cultural diversity and positive engagement with differing viewpoints are key pillars of educating for active citizenship that embraces diversity and safeguards against any attempt to manipulate citizens’ sentiments.”

Moukheiber
Former MP Ghassan Moukheiber discussed “ways to develop justice and ensure the independence, integrity, and effectiveness of the judiciary,” stating that “justice in Lebanon is not in good shape nor is the judiciary.”

He presented “his vision for achieving justice and reforming the judiciary,” recalling “the symbolic image of justice represented by the blindfolded woman, a symbol of independence and impartiality toward authorities,” emphasizing “neutrality that is unaffected by the identity of litigants, and the integrity reflected in judicial ethics to ensure the scales of justice remain balanced.”

He outlined “reforms concerning the judicial courts, military court, judicial council, State Council, Court of Audit, Constitutional Council, High Council for the Trial of Presidents, various disciplinary councils, religious courts, and international judiciary.”

Rahmé
Dr. Joseph Rahmé emphasized “the need for administrative reform in Lebanon by improving the performance of public services,” listing “the factors necessitating reform and ways to implement it by re-engineering public administrations structurally, adopting automation and information technology, and developing human resources,” while recalling “the many obstacles hindering administrative reform in Lebanon.”

Second Session

The second session resumed with Dr. Ramzi Abou Chacra, who lectured on “Education for Citizenship Between Textual Excess and Spiritual Hunger and Thirst: The Power and Authority of the Hidden Curriculum,” questioning “the usefulness of being a citizen of the world if one is not a citizen in one’s own country.”

He said: “Anyone who looks at the citizenship scene in Lebanon today will realize the dangers threatening our country and sense the difficulty and sensitivity of the current stage.”

He pointed out that “the educational objectives knowledge, skills, and values resemble, in school education, an inverted pyramid that cannot stand,” adding: “Education for citizenship begins on the ground by challenging the geography ingrained in minds, starting from discovering and rediscovering our homeland.”
He argued that “the challenges facing education require responses that go beyond official curricula and rhetoric.”

Zoubiane
Dr. Roula Zoubiane, President of the Brigadier General Assad Zbian Foundation for Education on the Culture of Peace, addressed “the concept of transitional justice through four main points: highlighting the characteristics that distinguish it from traditional judicial justice; showing its relationship to both individual and collective memory in Lebanese regions that emerged, in modern Lebanese history, from armed conflicts; clarifying the role it plays in moving society from a mindset of violent conflict to a reconciliatory mindset that ensures building the human being as an active entity; and demonstrating the role it plays in oral literature and testimony from the perspective of the victim, whereby the personal oral narrative becomes a credible reference on which official written history can rely.”

Nehmé
Dr. Houda Nehmé, holder of the Kamel Youssef El-Hage Chair for Lebanese Philosophy and a researcher in modern and contemporary Arab thought, spoke on “Levantism at the Heart of Updating the Concept of Living Together,” presenting “a preliminary vision for a contemporary Levantism based on a philosophy of authentic coexistence, in which different entities form a beautiful fabric of harmonious opposites encouraged to meet and communicate in an environment that spans the breadth of Levantine humanity, called to recover from the instinct for violence and destruction, and to enjoy peace founded on the principle of uniting life with God. In this vision, Levantism takes on the meaning of reconciliation between religious and cultural identities and becomes a project for a new covenant of a social system in which all Levantines are equal in the logic of mutual respect.

Sayyah
Dr. Antoine Sayyah, Vice-President of the “Friends of the Lebanese University” association, spoke about “the political project of the ‘Lebanese for the Entity’ gathering, which launched the National Document on December 7, 2021, aiming to break the political deadlock that Lebanon has faced since the Taif Agreement.”
He noted that “Lebanese society suffers from many existential problems and crises, both chronic and sudden,” and discussed “the five files the project addressed,” explaining “the reasons for focusing on these particular issues” and considering them “a starting point for a national dialogue capable of setting a roadmap toward building a just and capable state.”

The five files are: constitutional reforms, the Senate, neutrality, expanded administrative decentralization, a civil state, and constitutional reforms.

Conclusion
The recommendations arising from the conference were compiled for review and drafting, to set an action plan and form a follow-up committee to implement and monitor the visions reached during the conference.