By Marjorie Lerner
A Lebanese controversial figure, but steadfast and unyielding. A man with a sharp mind, adored by some while criticized by others. The media have been following his news very closely, and a number of them highly targeted him in the Lebanese protests in November 2019. And at every turn, he is bombarded by polarizing political comments and explicit words. His supporters always express their solidarity for him though he is accused of corruption by his opponents and was sanctioned by the United States over "systemic corruption" and ties with the Shia movement Hezbollah under Executive Order E.O. 13818. These claims are denied by him and seen as part of a ‘wider character assassination plot’. The man who was once called ‘sleepless’ still gets by on a few hours’ sleep but manages to look so peaceful and calm. He is more alert than ever before, and always a step ahead of his political opponents who seem to spring out of nowhere and everywhere every time he holds a press conference. Despite the intensity of the sacrifice on him and his family, he is willing to fight for his cause till the end as he says it in clear-cut words, “My love for my country feeds me with new energy.”
Born in Batroun in 1970 into a Maronite Christian family, Gebran Bassil graduated from the American University of Beirut with a master's degree in Civil Engineering. He is a Member of the Lebanese Parliament (MP) for the Batroun-Koura-Zgharta-Bsharri electoral district, and serves as the president of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM)since 2015, succeeding its founder father-in-law Michel Aoun.
He was appointed as the Minister of Telecommunications headed by Saad Hariri before resigning with all the ministers of opposition in 2011. Between 2011 and 2014, he was the Minister of Energy and Water in the cabinet headed by Najib Mikati, then from 2014 to 2020 he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants.
All his promises to provide electricity 24-hours a day, explore offshore oil and gas in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, and produce power by floating electricity-generating turbines off the Lebanese coast did not see the light of day due to the continuous political disagreements, parliamentary vetoes, and spokes put in his wheels. When Hariri was kept hostage by Saudi authorities, Bassil went round the world in 3 days meeting with senior EU and world leaders to rally diplomatic support for the return of Hariri, and the stability of Lebanon. In 2017, he was criticized by many Lebanese politicians following an interview with Al-Mayadeen in which he stated that Lebanon does not have an ideological problem with Israel, nor was he against Israel "living in security" as long as Shebaa Farms and other occupied Lebanese territories return under the Lebanese authority. In 2018, Bassil dared to call the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, a "thug" accusing him of urging Shiite businessmen to boycott a diaspora conference organized by the Foreign Ministry in Abidjan.
Stars Illustrated Magazine with its Chief Correspondent Dr. Mireille Saba Redford went to this man’s house to find out who he really is.
HIGHLIGHTS: From what he told us:
- I was offered to be a rock star in the US but chose sanctions
- Corrupt people put their sins on me
- Hariri and Berri don’t like me because I am fighting corruption, so they put their sins on me
- I was offered to be a rock star in the US by breaking ties with Hezbollah, but I chose the sanctions because it is in the country’s interest.
- I take the initiative again through Stars Illustrated to call the Christian leaders to meet in Bkerke (The Maronite Patriarchy)
- Is it fair to allow the corrupt and PEPs to transfer billions of dollars abroad, and not allow this to ordinary people with savings?
- Being an MP or a minister in Lebanon is not something to be proud of
- My innocence was proven the day I was sanctioned by the USA because on OFAC, I am traceable everywhere in the world, but they found nothing on me.
- Corrupt people are protected by their sects. When you want to accuse someone of corruption, he turns it into a sectarian matter!
- Lebanon in not a hotel! This unproductive model of sucking the treasures of the country without replacing them with a productive mode of economy is bad.
- The secular system is the ideal system to preserve our unity and protect our diversity.
- The US controls the banking system everywhere in the world, why can’t they trace illegal transactions?
- Moral assassination is much harder than the physical assassination
- We do not want to harm our relations with the west, but the west has to accept that we are in the east
- The US policies have made the Christians in the East evade and almost vanish
READ the entire interview in the forthcoming issue of Stars Illustrated Magazine, New York
