The inauguration of the Universal Peace Federation began with the Lebanese National Anthem and a minute of silence in honor of recent victims of political terror. I gave an overview report on Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon’s global peace tour and the Peace March in Jordan the previous month. Dr. Alberto Abou Rahal, one of about 12 Lebanese Ambassadors for Peace who had journeyed with us to Jordan, reported about the UPF Inauguration in Amman and his experiences there.
Exceptionally heavy traffic that evening in Beirut caused some delay in arrivals, and by 7:30 numerous Ambassadors for Peace and others had brought our attendance to over 50. There were 12 couples and representatives of religion, politics, media, and civil society.
Especially noteworthy was that we could welcome official representatives of three ministries: Ministry for Youth and Sports, Ministry for Administrative Reform, and Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs. The three government ministers had sent representatives in response to the invitations from Nicolas Birak, a close friend of Ambassador for Peace Anestass Murr.
Diplomatic attendees were Ambassador Turk and Ambassador Kantar and religious dignitaries included Sheikh Masri, Sheikh Kanaan, Sheikh Ghaleb Osseily, and Sheikh Al-Amin. Guests representing NGOs came from the Sadr Foundation, and also present was Dr. Nour Salmant.
Lebanon Good Governance Awards were presented to Ambassador Turk and also Sheikh Masri. who spoke briefly in response. We also presented an Ambassador for Peace certificate to Nicolas Birak.
In the second part of the program, we showed the video presentation on Father Moon's work for UPF. and David Fraser Harris read the peace message.
Towards the end of the program, Cesar Bakhos, an Ambassador for Peace and a lawyer, made a brief presentation on the legal requirements for establishing a UPF chapter in Lebanon.
After I recognized some of our friends and high-profile guests in closing, Sheikh Kanaan, an Ambassador for Peace and presiding judge of the Sunni Muslim Courts in Lebanon, stepped up to the dais and offered a very supportive, impromptu comment on our work.
We had chosen the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hamra for the event, and we had booked the rooftop restaurant on the 21st floor for a Lebanese dinner. The restaurant overlooks Beirut and it has a pool in the center. With Christmas decorations and small Lebanese flags all around, the atmosphere was very suitable for our event, also considering the difficult situation of this week. One day prior to our dinner program, all of Lebanon had observed the funeral of Gebran Tueni and up to 200,000 people had demonstrated against terror in downtown Beirut.
While we were still at the restaurant, a strong rain started to pelt the glass roof ending a two-week stretch of very warm, dry weather, and on the following day a major winter storm pounded Beirut. We felt highly fortunate that we had scheduled the event for just this one evening of December 15 when many people could attend.
To read the inaugural peace message, click here.
To download a report booklet of the UPF Founders' 2005 World Peace Tour, click here.
