Palestinian Lebanese Business Forum Honors Talal Abu-Ghazaleh

25 Aug 2011

Abu-Ghazaleh "the Palestinian businessman does not care about himself only, but his constant obsession and concern is to alleviate the suffering of his people and to help them live a life with lesser difficulties until they return to their homeland - Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon


BEIRUT ----- 25 August 2011----- The Palestinian Lebanese Business Forum honored HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org) in a special ceremony attended by different Palestinian and Lebanese sects and trends.

In addition to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, the Iftar held at Al Isteraha Restaurant in Beirut was attended by the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Charge d'Affaires at the Embassy Mr. Ashraf Dabur, representative of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" in Lebanon Mr. Ali Barakeh, representative of the "Islamic Jihad" in Lebanon Mr. Abu Imad Al-Rifai, Head of Al Fajr Trend " Tayyar Al-Fajr " Mr. Abdullah Alteryakyi and members of the Forum and its administrative council as well as a host of Lebanese and Palestinian officials, cultural, and economic personalities and media representatives.

President of the Forum Mr. Tariq Akkawi said: “We are working hard in the Palestinian Lebanese Business Forum to strengthen and develop the Lebanese-Palestinian economic relations, and we are striving to strengthen the Palestinian presence in its economic and developmental dimensions so as to ensure and affirm our people’s right to a decent living, and to help them conserve and protect their national identity and we do support their steadfastness and their right of return.”

Akkawi underlined the Forum’s achievements, highlighting its success in expanding its network of connections and its interaction with prominent figures, notable and major players on the political and economic arenas at the Lebanese and Palestinian popular level, so as to address the concerns and serve the interests of the Palestinian businessmen in particular and of the Palestinian people in general.

He also outlined the Forum’s success in developing and strengthening cooperation among the members of the Forum through inter-coordination of businesses, “Business Gatherings” which aim at finding common grounds among members of the Forum and the activation of trade exchange and access to joint ventures. The Forum will also support grants and scholarships and vocational training so as to properly qualify the Palestinian and Lebanese labor force.

From his part, the Palestinian Ambassador Dr. Abdullah commended the role played by the Forum and the importance of such a role in helping and supporting the Palestinian refugees, stressing the importance of this meeting, which – according to him - “combines our love of Palestine and our aspiration to build the future of our people on our Holy Land in our independent and sovereign state with its capital Jerusalem, God willing."

Dr. Abdullah emphasized that Abu-Ghazaleh "the Palestinian businessman does not care about himself only, but his constant obsession and concern is to alleviate the suffering of his people and to help them live a life with lesser difficulties until they return to their homeland, and this Forum does not in any way intend to isolate or separate the Palestinian from his/her true depth and roots, on the contrary, the Forum’s current structure is an evidence to this as it includes Lebanese and Palestinians businessmen, which reflects the depth of national loyalty in our gatherings, and reaffirms that we are determined to shape our future - not in the Diaspora- but through inter-connection with our people everywhere."

Ambassador Abdullah concluded by saying: “Honoring one of the pillars of Palestine, a man of proven presence in both the businessmen community level and at the national level is an evidence of our interdependence and our commitment to the right of return, and to achieving independence and self-determination, accordingly. The Forum is a model which we believe – should be generalized in all our Palestinian gatherings.”

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh expressed his gratitude to the honor bestowed upon him saying it is not a tribute and an honor for him only, but it’s actually a tribute and an honor for all Palestinians.

HE Abu-Ghazaleh then reviewed the most important stages of his life and of his career revealing how he managed to transform his suffering from a curse into a blessing that led him to success, he spoke as well about the role he played as a businessman and entrepreneur in the development of his society, and about his participation in many of the Forum’s activities and events. Moreover, he stressed his willingness to provide support and assistance to any creative Palestinian initiative, and to provide scholarships to outstanding students.

Abu-Ghazaleh emphasized the role of science and knowledge in achieving victory of people because civilized people don’t die and cannot be exterminated, and we have amongst our Palestinian brethrens a huge number of creative people far more beyond what the enemy has. Hence, we are organizing in Paris a prospective Arab conference to support the Arab and Palestinian creativity and we have collected for this purpose a list of creative people. We are also launching Souq Al Quds E-Market online to support the products of Jerusalem. "

He announced an initiative for the benefit of the Palestinian camps in Lebanon through launching computer training courses and computer maintenance courses similar to his several successful experiences: in Gaza Camp in Jerash/ Jordan and his activities during the war on Gaza Strip, and before that during the siege of the headquarters of late president Yasser Arafat in Palestine, as he sponsored and borne the expenses of hundreds of students enrolled then to become chartered accountants. He supported as well the establishment of computer training centers inside Gaza Strip and in the near future in the West Bank too.

Abu-Ghazaleh concluded by saying “I am concerned about the situation in Lebanon because I lived, studied and graduated in Lebanon through a grant I got from "UNRWA" as I got the first rank among the refugee students, and starting next year I will actually sponsor one of the outstanding students to study at the American University where I did have the chance to study before”.

At the end of the ceremony, Akkawi presented the Forum’s Shield to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh.


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