02/10/2026
كلمة د. أوغاريت يونان التي حلّت بالأمس ضيفة شرف في الاحتفال الذي أقامته سفارة الهند في بيروت بمناسبة اليوم العالمي للّاعنف، وهو تاريخ ميلاد المهاتما غاندي.
شهدت المناسبة إعادة إصدار كتاب "غاندي رسول السلام" (رسوم مصوّرة comics). وكان هذا الإصدار من ضمن سلسلة ترجمات اللاعنف إلى العربية، التي أطلقها وأشرف عليها المفكّر اللاعنفي الراحل وليد صلَيبي منذ التسعينات في إطار "حركة حقوق الناس". الطبعة الجديدة أُنجزتها سفارة الهند بالتعاون مع الجامعة، حيث سيتم توزيع الكتاب مجاناً، والبداية اليوم 2 أكتوبر في زيارة للسفير إلى الجنوب...
Under the weight of suffering, the devastating destruction, the unimaginable levels of atrocity, we still believe and work so that from an imminent peril a salvation of humanism has to be born…
Thank you, your Excellency the Ambassador, Mr. Md. Noor Rahman Sheikh, for the invitation, and for celebrating Gandhi’s Day every year, in Beirut today and in the South tomorrow...
Greetings to the embassy team, and to all guests at this event.
October 2nd, the International Day of Non-Violence, by the United Nations on the initiative of the State of India: What a message for the world! I wish for the UN and for India as well as for Lebanon and the region to adopt the culture of Non-Violence, to be on the path of Gandhi’s values which Professor Morris-Jones qualify as “Saintly Politics” سياسة القدّيسين.
October 2nd is also the “National Day for the Culture of Non-Violence in Lebanon”, established officially by the Government since 2016 at the initiative of our university, AUNOHR (Academic University for Non-Violence and Human Rights). It was a first initiative of its kind in the Arab world.
The concept of NON-VIOLENCE: we have already embarked on its second century: 106 years since 1920 to 2026. A lot of achievements worldwide, of course, but a lot more to do, more and more…
For me, I had always this feeling that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is a friend, best friend for Humanity. He was young, at 24 only, when he started to be a nonviolent militant and didn’t stop day by day until his assassination in 1948: 55 years of his life, entirely on the path of nonviolence philosophy and strategy: 22 in South Africa and 33 after permanent return to India.
So, let me imagine with you:
What if Gandhi did not exist!?
What if he hadn't invented the word "NON-VIOLENCE"!?
What if he did not live by himself this “Non-Violence”!? Gandhi embodied Non-Violence in his behavior, his clothing, values, thoughts, writings, campaigns, political struggles against the colonialism and occupation, in his spiritual way...
So, what if!?
It would be a loss to humanity. for history.
How grateful we are to have had Gandhi!
However, it is interesting to note that wherever you go in the world, you say "Gandhi" and everyone knows the name! His name has become a label enough by itself, positive, valuable, as if everyone agreed on it. Even someone who doesn't know much about him, when you said “Gandhi” everyone shows peace, love and expresses pride.
But it is remarkable that many love Gandhi and do not like Non-Violence! How? Gandhi was and will always be the symbol of Non-Violence. So, how can we love him and not like what he was!
For us, the story began four decades ago since 1982, to spread Non-Violence in Lebanon and in many other Arab countries: it was a challenge, even like an adventure, starting in the midst of the civil war in Lebanon, and since under many other wars, crisis, and still ongoing... What we have done established Non-Violence forever and made it rooted in society. It’s done. This is history. And as you may know, one of our latest achievements was the creation of a university totally designed for Non-Violence fields: AUNOHR, a first of its kind in Lebanon and the region, and unique in the world.
And lately, we succeeded to abolish the death penalty in Lebanon. August 11, 2026, will remain a historic day for Lebanon and a first model for the region. It was the culmination of our pioneer civil campaign which we founded in 1997, Walid Slaiby and me. Walid Slaiby, the nonviolent thinker in the Arab world, AUNOHR founder, my lifelong companion for forty years, passed away three years ago, without witnessing the fruits of the path he had inspired…
In this special day, I would like to say to the people of India, that you have the privilege to be the citizens of Gandhi’s home. My wish is to see India always follow Gandhi's footsteps in the politics of Non-Violence.
And to end, I would like to repeat with Gibran what he wrote in his book "The Storm”:
How generous you are, Earth,
and how strong is your yearning for your children
lost between that which they have attained and that which they could not obtain.
We clamor and you smile;
We flit but you stay!
We extract your elements to make cannons and bombs,
but out of our elements you create lilies and roses.
And, to say it in Arabic,
ما أكرمك أيتها الأرض وما أطول أناتك.
ما أشدّ حنانك على أبنائك المنصرفين عن حقيقتهم إلى أوهامهم، الضائعين بين ما بلغوا إليه وما قصروا عنه.
نحن نتذمّر وأنتِ تبتسمين.
نحن نعبُر ونتلاشى وأنتِ تبقين.
نحن نتناول عناصرك لنصنع منها المدافع والقذائف، وأنتِ تتناولين عناصرنا وتكونّين منها الورود والزنابق.
جبران خليل جبران؛ العواصف
Ogarit Younan
Beirut, 2 October 2026.