Words and Stances

Saeb Salam

"The book "Words and Stances" contains speeches and lectures delivered by Lebanese Prime Minister Saeb Salam on political and national occasions between 1954 and 1990. In them, he discusses his thoughts and opinions on Lebanese and Arab events.
This documentary book, whose content was compiled from the archives of the American University of Beirut and President Salam's private archives, provides a comprehensive overview of his fundamental positions on several issues, primarily highlighting his political orientations throughout his life, most notably his nationalist and Arabist leanings through his stances on the Arab-Israeli conflict and his support for the Palestinian resistance, which began in 1936.
There are also stages of his vision for building the Lebanese state, as he was one of those who contributed to the process of building modern Lebanon through his participation in the parliamentary session to remove mandatory provisions from the constitution and in designing the new Lebanese flag. Since the 1950s, he called for building a modern and developed state in all fields, in addition to calling for a modern constitution based on the abolition of sectarianism. Hence, these "Words and Stances" acquire their importance as an important document for chapters of modern Lebanese history and its transformations, especially the Lebanese Civil War, which Salam had warned against since the 1950s.
Furthermore, the words present the Arabist vision of this national leader who regarded Lebanon only as part of its Arab and Islamic surroundings. In this context, his "Maqassid" speeches and words also come, i.e., those centered around the Maqassid Islamic Charitable Association in Beirut, whose board of trustees he chaired between 1958 and 1982, as he realized that "Maqassid" was the main opportunity available for the advancement of the Lebanese Islamic community, particularly through modernizing the association's educational work.  "