Raymond Edde
Encyclopedia
Raymond Eddé was a Lebanese
statesman who served his country for many years as a legislator and cabinet minister. He led the Lebanese National Bloc
, an influential political party. The son of former President Émile Eddé
, Raymond Eddé was himself a candidate for the presidency in 1958, and was proposed for the post on numerous subsequent occasions. He is remembered for having held consistent views, which he refused to compromise for the sake of political gain. His supporters called him "Lebanon's Conscience." He was a strong nationalist, who opposed the French Mandate
, and later, Syria
n, Israel
i, and Palestinian military intervention in Lebanon.
Eddé was born in Alexandria
, Egypt
, where his father, a native of the town of Edde
in the Jbeil District and an opponent of Ottoman
control of Lebanon, had taken refuge after being sentenced to death for subversion. In 1920, following the establishment of the French Mandate, Émile Eddé returned to Beirut
with his wife, Laudi Sursock, and family. The young Raymond Eddé was educated at Jesuit schools and graduated with a Law degree in 1934.
Eddé succeeded his father, who died in 1949, as leader of the National Bloc. He was subsequently elected to the National Assembly from a Jbeil constituency in 1953; except for a one-year break (1964-1965, when he lost his seat but subsequently recovered it in a byelection), he remained in parliament until 1992, when he decided to boycott an election
held under Syria
n auspices, an election that he considered to be gerrymandered and rigged.
In the National Assembly, Eddé sponsored reforms in Lebanon's rent laws (in 1954) and banking (1956), laying the basis for the Swiss
-style confidential banking system that proved to be a factor in Lebanon's explosive economic
growth in the following decade. An unsuccessful candidate for the Presidency in 1958, Eddé was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet by President Fuad Chehab
, with the portfolios of the Interior, Social Affairs, Labour, and Posts and Telecommunications. The following year, however, he had a public falling out with Chehab over what he saw as interference in political and electoral affairs by the Deuxième Bureau
(Lebanon's military intelligence service), and resigned from the cabinet in protest. He led the parliamentary opposition to the regime of Chehab and of Charles Helou
, his handpicked successor, throughout the 1960s.
In 1968, Eddé's National Bloc joined the Helf Alliance
, a grouping which included former President Camille Chamoun's
National Liberal Party
and Pierre Gemayel's
Kataeb Party. In the parliamentary election
held that year, the Helf Alliance won 30 seats in the 99 member National Assembly - the best result to date for any organized electoral force in Lebanon's notoriously fractured legislature. The alliance was not to last, however: he took his party out of the alliance in 1969 following the Cairo Agreement
between the Lebanese government and the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), which allowed the latter to establish bases in Southern Lebanon from which to launch commando raids against Israel
. Eddé was, and remained, implacably opposed to permitting any non-Lebanese armed force to operate on Lebanese soil. He also opposed diverting the tributaries of the Jordan river, an Arab League
proposal floated in 1964 and again in 1968, with a view to cutting off Israel's water supply. He warned that it would make Lebanon a target for Israeli raids, and cited the Israeli attack on Beirut Airport on 28 December 1968 as evidence of this. His consistent position of avoiding a military confrontation with Israel was rare in Lebanese politics
.
Convinced that the dozen years of Chehabist rule had not been in Lebanon's best interests, Eddé supported the election Suleiman Frangieh
to the Presidency on 17 August 1970, against the Chehabist candidate, Elias Sarkis
. His alliance with Frangieh did not last long, however. In 1974, he formed a new coalition with former Prime Ministers Saeb Salam
and Rashid Karami
, both Sunni
Muslims.
When the Lebanese Civil War
broke out in 1975, Eddé was the only major Christian politician to be living in predominantly Sanyah quarter of Muslim
West Beirut. Remaining on good terms with local Muslim politicians, his intervention on many occasions helped bring about the release of Christians who had been kidnapped by Muslim militias. A believer in coexistence between Christians and Muslim, Eddé opposed plans to partition Lebanon into ethnic and sectarian statelets, plans which he accused the United States Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger
of conspiring to foist on Lebanon, and visited France
and the Vatican
in an attempt to rally opposition to the purported conspiracy.
In 1976, Eddé stood as a candidate for the Presidency; his failure to win a single vote in the National Assembly led to allegations of electoral misconduct. On 22 December of that year, following three attempts on his life, he left Lebanon for Paris
, where he was to spend the rest of his life. He refused to return while Syrian
and Israeli troops remained on Lebanese soil, in what he called an occupation. He continued to speak out on Lebanese affairs. His last words, when he died on 10 May 2000, were, "I'm thinking. I'm thinking of Lebanon."
Eddé's nephew, Carlos Eddé
, now leads the Lebanese National Bloc
.
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
statesman who served his country for many years as a legislator and cabinet minister. He led the Lebanese National Bloc
Lebanese National Bloc
Lebanese National Bloc , is a Lebanese conservative political party founded in 1936.The party's founder, Émile Eddé became president the same year under French protectorate. His son, Raymond Eddé, succeeded him as head of the party...
, an influential political party. The son of former President Émile Eddé
Emile Edde
Émile Eddé was a Maronite Lebanese political figure. He served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 11 October 1929 to 25 March 1930. He served as the President of Lebanon from 1936 to 1941. He also founded the Lebanese National Bloc party....
, Raymond Eddé was himself a candidate for the presidency in 1958, and was proposed for the post on numerous subsequent occasions. He is remembered for having held consistent views, which he refused to compromise for the sake of political gain. His supporters called him "Lebanon's Conscience." He was a strong nationalist, who opposed the French Mandate
French Mandate of Lebanon
The state of Greater Lebanon, the predecessor of modern Lebanon, was created in 1920 as part of the French scheme of dividing the French Mandate of Syria into six states....
, and later, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i, and Palestinian military intervention in Lebanon.
Eddé was born in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where his father, a native of the town of Edde
Edde
Edde Village is located 45 km North of Beirut, Lebanon. It rises to an altitude of 210 meters of sea level and covers an area of 398 acres...
in the Jbeil District and an opponent of Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
control of Lebanon, had taken refuge after being sentenced to death for subversion. In 1920, following the establishment of the French Mandate, Émile Eddé returned to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
with his wife, Laudi Sursock, and family. The young Raymond Eddé was educated at Jesuit schools and graduated with a Law degree in 1934.
Eddé succeeded his father, who died in 1949, as leader of the National Bloc. He was subsequently elected to the National Assembly from a Jbeil constituency in 1953; except for a one-year break (1964-1965, when he lost his seat but subsequently recovered it in a byelection), he remained in parliament until 1992, when he decided to boycott an election
Elections in Lebanon
Elections in Lebanon gives information on election and election results in Lebanon.- Parliamentary electoral system :Lebanon's national legislature is called the Assembly of Representatives...
held under Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n auspices, an election that he considered to be gerrymandered and rigged.
In the National Assembly, Eddé sponsored reforms in Lebanon's rent laws (in 1954) and banking (1956), laying the basis for the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
-style confidential banking system that proved to be a factor in Lebanon's explosive economic
Economy of Lebanon
The economy of Lebanon is a developing economy, with a private sector that contributes to 75% of aggregate demand and a large banking sector that supports this demand. In 2009, Lebanon ranked 33rd in the Human Poverty Index...
growth in the following decade. An unsuccessful candidate for the Presidency in 1958, Eddé was subsequently appointed to the Cabinet by President Fuad Chehab
Fuad Chehab
Fuad Chehab Fuad Chehab Fuad Chehab (name also spelt Fouad Shihab, or Chehab, depending on transliteration from the original Arabic, (March 19, 1902 - April 25, 1973) was the President of the Lebanese Republic from 1958 to 1964...
, with the portfolios of the Interior, Social Affairs, Labour, and Posts and Telecommunications. The following year, however, he had a public falling out with Chehab over what he saw as interference in political and electoral affairs by the Deuxième Bureau
Deuxième Bureau
The Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany...
(Lebanon's military intelligence service), and resigned from the cabinet in protest. He led the parliamentary opposition to the regime of Chehab and of Charles Helou
Charles Helou
Charles Helou was President of Lebanon from 1964 to 1970.Born in Beirut, Helou was the scion of a powerful Maronite family from Baabda. He graduated with honours from St. Joseph's University in Beirut in 1929, and went on to complete a Law degree in 1934...
, his handpicked successor, throughout the 1960s.
In 1968, Eddé's National Bloc joined the Helf Alliance
Helf Alliance
The Helf Alliance or Tripartite Alliance , was a right-wing coalition formed in 1968 by the big three mainly Christian parties in Lebanon: The Pierre Gemayel's Kataeb, the National Liberal Party of former President Camille Chamoun, and National Bloc of Raymond Eddé. The coalition called for a...
, a grouping which included former President Camille Chamoun's
Camille Chamoun
Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....
National Liberal Party
National Liberal Party (Lebanon)
The National Liberal Party is a center-right political party in Lebanon, established by President Camille Chamoun in 1958...
and Pierre Gemayel's
Pierre Gemayel
Sheikh Pierre Gemayel , was a Lebanese political leader...
Kataeb Party. In the parliamentary election
Elections in Lebanon
Elections in Lebanon gives information on election and election results in Lebanon.- Parliamentary electoral system :Lebanon's national legislature is called the Assembly of Representatives...
held that year, the Helf Alliance won 30 seats in the 99 member National Assembly - the best result to date for any organized electoral force in Lebanon's notoriously fractured legislature. The alliance was not to last, however: he took his party out of the alliance in 1969 following the Cairo Agreement
Cairo agreement
The Cairo agreement or Cairo accord was an agreement reached on 2 November 1969 during talks between Yassir Arafat and the Lebanese army commander General Emile Bustani...
between the Lebanese government and the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
(PLO), which allowed the latter to establish bases in Southern Lebanon from which to launch commando raids against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Eddé was, and remained, implacably opposed to permitting any non-Lebanese armed force to operate on Lebanese soil. He also opposed diverting the tributaries of the Jordan river, an Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
proposal floated in 1964 and again in 1968, with a view to cutting off Israel's water supply. He warned that it would make Lebanon a target for Israeli raids, and cited the Israeli attack on Beirut Airport on 28 December 1968 as evidence of this. His consistent position of avoiding a military confrontation with Israel was rare in Lebanese politics
Politics of Lebanon
Lebanon is a parliamentary republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The constitution grants the people the right to change their government...
.
Convinced that the dozen years of Chehabist rule had not been in Lebanon's best interests, Eddé supported the election Suleiman Frangieh
Suleiman Frangieh
Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh, last name also spelled Frangié, Franjieh, or Franjiyeh , was President of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976...
to the Presidency on 17 August 1970, against the Chehabist candidate, Elias Sarkis
Elias Sarkis
Elias Sarkis was the President of the Lebanese Republic from 1976 to 1982.-Early career:Born in Shabbaniah, Sarkis graduated with a Law degree from Saint Joseph University in 1948. After joining the judicial corps in 1953, he became a judge with the Accounting Department...
. His alliance with Frangieh did not last long, however. In 1974, he formed a new coalition with former Prime Ministers Saeb Salam
Saeb Salam
Saeb Salam was a Lebanese politician, who served as Prime Minister four times between 1952 and 1973.Salam was the son of Salim Salam, the scion of a prominent Sunni Muslim family who was a prominent politician both under Ottoman rule and then during the French Mandate...
and Rashid Karami
Rashid Karami
Rashid Abdul Hamid Karami was a Lebanese statesman. He was one of the most important political figures in Lebanon for more than 30 years, including during much of Lebanese Civil War , and he served as Prime Minister eight times.- Background :Rashid Karami was born in Tripoli, into one of...
, both Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
Muslims.
When the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
broke out in 1975, Eddé was the only major Christian politician to be living in predominantly Sanyah quarter of Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
West Beirut. Remaining on good terms with local Muslim politicians, his intervention on many occasions helped bring about the release of Christians who had been kidnapped by Muslim militias. A believer in coexistence between Christians and Muslim, Eddé opposed plans to partition Lebanon into ethnic and sectarian statelets, plans which he accused the United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
of conspiring to foist on Lebanon, and visited France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
in an attempt to rally opposition to the purported conspiracy.
In 1976, Eddé stood as a candidate for the Presidency; his failure to win a single vote in the National Assembly led to allegations of electoral misconduct. On 22 December of that year, following three attempts on his life, he left Lebanon for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he was to spend the rest of his life. He refused to return while Syrian
Military of Syria
The Syrian Armed Forces are the military forces of Syria. They consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Air Defense Force.-Manpower:The President of Syria is the commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces, comprising some 646,500 troops upon mobilization. The military is a conscripted force;...
and Israeli troops remained on Lebanese soil, in what he called an occupation. He continued to speak out on Lebanese affairs. His last words, when he died on 10 May 2000, were, "I'm thinking. I'm thinking of Lebanon."
Eddé's nephew, Carlos Eddé
Carlos Eddé
Carlos Eddé , is a Lebanese politician. He is since 2000 the president of Lebanese National Bloc succeeding at his uncle Raymond Eddé. In 2004 he participated actively in the 14 March Alliance and was among those who formulated the strategy to unify the opposition, leading to the departure of the...
, now leads the Lebanese National Bloc
Lebanese National Bloc
Lebanese National Bloc , is a Lebanese conservative political party founded in 1936.The party's founder, Émile Eddé became president the same year under French protectorate. His son, Raymond Eddé, succeeded him as head of the party...
.