Doctor Emile Bitar, the road to the future of Lebanon
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Emile Bitar's Biography
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Youth Government 1970-1972
Accomplishments as Health Minister
Emile Bitar's book, The Health Care Case in Lebanon,
The Democratic Party (1969-1976)
History of Medicine in Lebanon
Humanist, doctor, professor of medicine
Emile Bitar's legacy and vision for the future of Lebanon
Dr Emile Bitar Hospital in Batroun
Emile Bitar Foundation
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"Emile Bitar was the representative of a generation, a school of thought, a class which is nobility : the nobility of those who triumphed over the experience of government, the nobility of those who did not yield to the temptations that power induces, the nobility of those who dared to say no to violence... This nobility represented by Emile Bitar should have been, and it must be, the road to the future of Lebanon."

                Ghassan Tueni, Former  Minister and An-Nahar Publisher

"Emile Bitar, Al Tariq ila al Mustaqbal", An-Nahar, full text 

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Professor Emile Bitar (1931-1988)

"The noble cast of those who did not yield..."
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A cartoonist's look at Emile Bitar, dubbed "the most incorruptible Lebanese"


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In his Pulitzer prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy argued that in the age-old contest between power and principle, only those willing to lose power for their convictions are deserving of posterity's approval.
 
This website chronicles the story of a Lebanese minister who acted on principle and followed his conscience in pursuit of the national interest, a man who displayed a rare form of courage, sacrificing his well being and putting his future at risk to protect the public interest and do what he believed was right for his country, a man who resigned his seat in protest rather than violate his ideals.  

Although he occupied centerstage for only a short period of time, Emile Bitar had a major and lasting impact on the political consciousness of his countrymen, for the key decisions of his political career were based on moral principle. In a country plagued by corruption and patronage, he displayed character, integrity, and commitment to serving the national interest above all personal and sectarian considerations. In a country were most politicians look for outside support and foreign patrons, he remained utterly and quasi-obsessively independent. Thus he personified the new statesman that the Lebanese were longing for and rarely has a public figure been so much loved, respected and admired by the people.

Wholly oblivious to the squabbling and bickering, the wheelings, dealings and manoeuverings of traditional Lebanese politicians, Emile Bitar was able to remain above the fray, to levitate above the sectarian factions. Constantly repeating Abraham Lincoln's quote that "A house divided against itself cannot stand", he never ceased urging the Lebanese not to be instrumentalized by regional powers and to rely only upon themselves in their struggle for national sovereignty, independence and nation-building.

We hope that Dr Emile Bitar's story will inspire coming generations to believe in the nobility of public service and in the utmost necessity of political courage. We hope it will encourage them to stand fast for the ideals of freedom, justice and democracy in Lebanon.  
 
 
Gedeon Mohasseb, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery
 
President of the Emile Bitar Foundation