Life is friends, and paradise without people is unbearable. Al-Hayat's ceremony in celebration of the silver or 25th anniversary of its return to publication was thus an occasion to see friends, led by publisher Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz and his work entourage in Riyadh, including Prince Fahd bin Khalid bin Sultan, a lecturer at the University of King Saud University, College of Information, who was appointed by Prince Khalid as deputy publisher of Al-Hayat, Ayed Juaid, Chairman of the Board, and friend Aqil Ba Aqil, General Manager Raja Rassi, and brother Ali Shaibani, chief financial officer, and from the Choueiri Group Rose, Pierre, and Lena, and many others. Colleague Ghassan Charbel, editor of Al-Hayat, began the ceremony with a short address, introducing Prince Khaled, who gave a thorough and frank speech about the code of ethics of journalism, which guides the family of Al-Hayat in their work. Al-Hayat has published the text of the prince's speech yesterday, so all I add is what he said about a mutual contract between the newspaper and the reader based on the mutual respect of opinion, thought and belief, no matter how different their opinions or ideas may be. I add that behind all this is the credibility that the prince has protected since the paper returned to publication. I looked around and saw from Riyadh our brother Jameel Theyabi, assistant editor, former colleague, and friend Dawoud al-Shirian, and the brothers and sisters who contribute in the Saudi edition of the newspaper. Dear colleague Badria al-Bushr is a Saudi living in Dubai, and she supports women's rights in every Arab country, and was among the speakers at the ceremony. Her speech was both informative and humorous, and I saw her speak with colleague and friend Amina Khairy, who once worked with us in London before she returned to her home country in Egypt, to write an almost daily investigation about Egypt's events, where the news material was accurate and documented, yet presented in the known Egyptian humor by Amina. I saw among the Egyptian friends the notable thinker and friend Mustafa Faqi, and from Al-Hayat's office bureau chief Mohamed Salah, and also Mohamed El Shazly and Sherine Noureddine. Perhaps I will visit Cairo soon after the curfew is lifted. We had with us from France our dear friend Randa Takieddine whom I have known since she was a student at the Protestant College in Beirut with Hayat Mroueh, eldest daughter of Kamel Mroueh, founder of Al-Hayat and editor in chief until his death in 1966. We also had with us dear friend Malek Mroueh, the youngest son of the late editor and Hayat's sons, Karim Khalil and Philip Palumbo, and also our colleague Arlette Khoury and cartoonist Habib Haddad. The Beirut office was represented strongly at the ceremony, including by Walid Choucair and Mohammad Choucair, who are not related despite having the same family name, and Mohammed Ali Farhat and Zuhair Kseibati, who worked with us in London before returning to Lebanon. With us also was the director of the Dar Al Hayat Information Center Nada Itani, who is also one of those who worked with us in London before moving to Beirut. I do not know in what category I should place another dear friend, Matar al-Ahmadi. He is a Saudi who lives in Beirut, or as the Lebanese General Security would class him, "naturalization under study." He is among his people in both countries. Hala Kawtharani succeeded him as chief editor of Laha Magazine, and she moderated the dialogue sessions intelligently, patiently, and professionally, making all those who spoke feel as though they were with their family. Dr. Fawaz Gerges also delivered a valuable speech about the reasons of Al-Hayat's success, followed by Dr. Khalid al-Dakhil with an informative and comprehensive speech. We also had with us colleague Raghida Dergham from New York, who is among the best to conduct an interview, and colleague Joyce Karam from Washington, where she misses nothing from the day-to-day functions of the U.S. administration, and also Raed Jabr from Moscow, Asaad Telhami from Palestine, Tamer Samadi from Jordan, Mohammed Makki Ahmed from Qatar, Mohammed Saif Rahbi from Oman, Iskandar al-Deek from Germany, and Yousef Sharif from Turkey . I left Hamad Al-Jasser from Kuwait until the end because he is an old friend, but I do not agree with him politically on anything. Colleague Ghassan Charbel appeared like the "bride's father," concerned about and caring for the guests. The ceremony went smoothly, so I note the indispensable efforts of the secretariat including Dania Shami, Nawal Abu Hamdan, and Samir Andrawous in caring for everyone as if they were their personal guests, so many thanks to three musketeers. [email protected]
