Writer Solh reads autobiography at Issam Fares institute

BEIRUT: Lebanese thinker and writer Monah al-Solh was chosen Thursday to read his autobiography at Issam Fares Center. Solh was one of many writers to discuss their political and social views as part of the series of gatherings the center started holding a month ago, under the title “Witnesses.” 

Solh defended his long support for Arabism in Lebanon all the while stressing the need for a certain charter to “fill the gap” and surpass the current political crisis the country was facing. Solh continued sharing his political stance with the gathering and said, “Lebanon could not have existed without the Christians and it would not have lasted without the Muslims.” 

Solh went on to talk about his career and times of his life that had an important impact on him. He said he was raised in an Arabism oriented family who worked in the political field or in fields related to politics such as journalism and political writing.

He added that he owed his laicism to his Turkish mother who introduced him to the Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal also known as Ataturk. “Kemal is the greatest lay thinker in the East,” he said. 

Solh recalled his early school years at the Amina al-Maqdisi Evangelist School in Ras Beirut and said he was deeply affected by the ambiance. He also reminisced on times he spent at the restaurant Faysal in Ras Beirut, where intellectuals, journalists, writers and thinkers gathered to discuss Lebanese politics. “I was connected to the entire Arab nation there and I was always updated on the works of Egyptian political journalist Ahmad Bahaedine,” he said. 

The center’s director, Ambassador Abdallah Bou Habib, introduced Solh as a person who “witnessed Lebanon’s modern history both through participating in it and observing it.” He added that Solh contributed to the media by introducing new terms related to the roles of religion, the Shehab family and the Arab identity in Lebanese politics. – The Daily Star