WORLD LEBANESE CULTURAL UNION
Commission on Information and Communications- www.wlcu.org                 
Press Release
July 6, 2003
LEBANESE DIASPORA RECOGNIZES LEBANESE HISTORIC IDENTITY ONLY
In response to several inquiries from chapters and communities around the world,  as to the definition of the identity of Lebanon. And in response to articles published in the Lebanese press and disseminated in the Diaspora, the Secretariat General issues this declaration to reaffirm the World Lebanese Cultural Union's fundamental attachment to the Lebanese historic identity at the exclusion of all other alien communal identities which some are attempting to impose on the Lebanese around the world .
The WLCU reviewed several documents issued by the Council of Maronite Bishops in closing of  the Conclave's sessions, some articles which were published in the local media and also took note of the letter addressed by the President of the Lebanese Republic to the Conclave. While the Council of Bishops reference to the identity of Lebanon is subject to interpretations, the Presidential letter clearly signaled a radical change in the essence of the Lebanese historic identity.
The WLCU, as it considers the above mentioned positions as reflecting the views of two above mentioned institutions, leave it to the citizens of Lebanon and to the members of the concerned community to address these historical matters in the ways and forums they decide to express their views through. But the WLCU strongly denounce the media articles, both inside Lebanon and internationally which attempted to distort Lebanon's historic realities.
The WLCU noted the attempts by anti-Lebanese elements in the Lebanese media and international networks to spread their interpretation of the alledge change of views of a major spiritual institution of one important segment of the Lebanese society with regards Lebanon's identity. The WLCU regrets that anti-Lebanese lobbies are still attempting to weaken the Lebanese identity and to impose other alien identities on both Lebanon and its Diaspora.
In view of this development, the Secretariat General of the WLCU reaffirm the following principles regarding the WLCU position towards the Lebanese identity.
1) The issue of Lebanese identity is not a political or partisan matter. It is an issue of historic and national dimension. Hence the WLCU, as a representative of the world Lebanese community has a clear stake in it.
2) The WLCU world Congresses since 1960, and particularly the 12th Congress in Mexico and Las Vegas, and the 13th Congress in Miami have clearly and undoubtably reaffirmed the "Lebanese identity" as the sole and legitimate identity of the Lebanese communities around the world, including in Lebanon. The WLCU stands firmly on that matter of principle. The Lebanese identity is not and cannot be absorbed by another superceeding ethnic or national identity, of any sort. 
3) The above Congresses have also defined the Lebanese identity as "pluralist" and therefore the WLCU stands for the recognition of the Lebanese identity both in Lebanon and around the world as pluralist.
4) The Lebanese Diaspora constitute the majority of the Lebanese worldwide, and therefore it expresses the widest segment of this identity.
5) The Lebanese identity cannot and will not be subject to changes forced by political or security changes occurring in Lebanon or elsewhere. The fact that Lebanese communities have lived or live within cultural and regional blocs such as the Arab World, the Hispanic-Iberian world, the Anglo-Saxon world, or the Francophone world, doesn't mean that one of these regions will necessarily change the identity of the whole world Lebanese community.
6)  The Lebanese people inside the mother country are the only source for the definition of the historic identity of their society. However they must enjoy freedom and sovereignty as a pre-condition for the redefinition of the said identity. Such freedoms are currently lacking.
Based on these six principles, the Secretariat General will prepare a project for a World Forum on the Lebanese Idendity.
              
N.B: Contact Dr Anis Karam, Chairman of the CIC for any information or questions at wlcuuscanada@aol.com

WORLD LEBANESE CULTURAL UNION
Commission on Information and CommunicatioN
wlcu.org
Press Release
WLCU concerned with the death of a Lebanese citizen in Syrian jail
The Commission on International Relations of the WLCU expresses its utmost concerns with the death of a Lebanese citizen in Syrian jail.
The WLCU was informed few weeks ago that a Lebanese detainee in Syria passed away in his prison. According to Lebanese Human Rights organization SOLIDA, "Mr Joseph Emile Hwaith, detained in Syrian prisons since 1992 died on June 25 2003 while in detention. His body was buried hastely the same day and without any permission for an autopsy. His body was handed over to his family, although Syria had denied his presence in its jails."  
This tragedy, the death of a Lebanese citizen in Syrian prisons strikes us as an evidence of the abuse of Human Rights, Lebanon's civil society is under. The WLCU will be raising this matter urgenty with international organization and will consult with the Lebanese Human Rights groups with regards the steps to take in this regards.
The CIR urges Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the UN Commission on Human Rights to investigate this tragedy by sending representatives to Syria and request a visit to Syrian jails. Not only the CIR wishes the Human Rights organizations to inquire about the circumstances of the death of M Hwaith, but to further investigate the exsistence and the treatment of other Lebanese detainee in Syrian jails.