By Gulfnews

Beirut: Authorities in the Lebanese capital renamed the stretch of
the airport road that was known as Hafez Al Assad Avenue after 1991 as
President Camille Chamoun Boulevard.

A brief ceremony was held
earlier this week in the presence of Dory Chamoun, the son of the
country’s second president, along with representatives from the National
Liberal Party and the Camille Chamoun Association.

The
celebration of the reversion to the old name occurred in front of the
Monroe Hotel in Beirut where the Minister of Education, Elias Bou Saab,
delivered a short speech saying: “President Camille Chamoun inspires us
through his political work to be open to all citizens of the nation.

“The
lesson here today on the eve of Lebanon’s Independence Day is that
Lebanon is only strong through the solidarity of its people and their
rallying around their institutions, Constitution and president.”

What
was left out in the brief talk, delivered in the presence of deputy
Bahia Hariri and Beirut Governor Ziad Chebib, was the pain that many
felt when traditions were upset during the three decades-long Syrian
occupation of the country.

The boulevard, which runs by the Camille Chamoun Sports Stadium and
across from the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Bir Hasan, was
originally named after the former president but was renamed after the
then-Syrian president when Damascus exercised unparalleled influence in
Lebanon.

Chamoun, who was president from 1952 to 1958, was one of
the country’s founding fathers, fought the French, was arrested on
November 11, 1943 and imprisoned with Bisharah Al Khoury and Riad Al
Solh at Rashayyah Castle, served as ambassador to the United Kingdom
from 1944 to 1946, and as ambassador to the United Nations afterwards,
before he was elected head of state in 1952.

Amid corruption
allegations against Al Khoury in 1952, Chamoun was elected though
pan-Arab and Nasserist groups attempted to overthrow his government in
June 1958, after Chamoun tried to illegally seek another term as
president. Facing internal unrest and regional threats, especially in
the aftermath of the Iraqi Revolution and upheavals in Jordan, Chamoun
called on Washington to deploy troops to beef up his fledgling
authority.

Despite some controversial initiatives he pushed for, Chamoun remains an integral part of Lebanon’s modern history.