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| The original house of Hanna Dib in Haret Saydeh. Picture taken in 1999 |
The demolition plan might start in less than ONE MONTH ! ! !
The house is a historic house with a beautiful Arabic / Turkish architecture, that should be preserved, even it was not part of our family heritage. In 1845, Hanna Dib lived in this house with most of his children.
The current owner of the house is Michel Youssef Elias Hanna Dib. Michel has been trying to plead the government not to demolish the house, but feels that he will lose the case, and a part of our family history will be deliberately erased. The house has withstood two civil wars, and two world wars, only to have to banish in peace time.
If all the Dib / Dip family descendents unite and write an appeal letter (see sample below), and mail it to the President of Lebanon (via e-mail, as well as regular mail, as well as courier mail), then there maybe a chance to save this house.
WHAT CAN EACH OF US DO TO HELP ?
1- Write a letter to the President of Lebanon, and all your Lebanese deputies, as per the sample below.
2- e-Mail this letter to President Emile Lahoud and / or call him at
Tel: +961 1 387 200 Tel: +961 1 457 111.
3- Make copies of this letter and distribute to every cousin, brother, sister, father, mother, aunt, etc in your area
4- Send copies to all people you know in other areas.
5- Email this page to all relatives you have the email of.
6- Urge all to write, NOW. Immediate action is essential.
7- Write to your local Deputy, Senator, Mayor, Congressman, and President. Urging all of them to contact the President of Lebanon on your behalf, and implore him to stop the demolition.
For more information, and to let me know what action you took, please write to me at RDib@yahoo.com
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| The original house of Hanna Dib in Haret Saydeh. Picture taken in 1999 |
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Time and war torn house - view of second floor |
The streets in the area are all winding Turkish Steps |
His Excellency President Emile Lahoud:
Our great grandfather Hanna Dib was born in 1814 and died in 1910 in the Haret es-Saydeh quarter of Tripoli. His original house is still there despite two civil wars, and two world wars. However, it was recently declared unfit for habitation , and is scheduled to be demolished to give way to new construction going on in the adjacent area.
Most of Hanna Dib's descendents emigrated as early as 1892, to Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, United States, Canada, Australia, and France. A large family still resides in Lebanon, including Michel Hanna Dib, the current owner of the house. Among the Dib's of the world are major national figures that are the pride of Lebanese emigrants as well as current residents of Lebanon. These include major religious figures, Ministers of State, Federal Deputies, and City Mayors. All have a great attachment to Lebanon, and our family history.
Since most descendents émigrés have never seen our beautiful country, we have started organizing family reunions in Lebanon. One such reunion was in the summer of 2000, and the most recent one in the summer of 2001. We will continue holding such reunions yearly so our ties to Lebanon will continue to develop and grow.
During our last reunion, we had a highly emotional visit to the house of our great grandfather. However, we were informed that the Lebanese government had plans to demolish it, as part of the major reconstruction of the Koubbeh / Haret es-Saydeh areas. We were dismayed to hear that since this house is a part of our family history and heritage.
The house may be unfit for habitation, but can be definitely restored and refitted. We offer to do that at our own expense, to preserve our family history.
Furthermore, the house lies to the very edge of the area to be reconstructed. By sparing it from the destruction, there will be no harm done to the government reconstruction efforts.
We implore you to spare this house and let us preserve it along with the other historical buildings of Tripoli that represent a preserved national treasure.
Sincerely,
name
Honorable President / congressman / Mayor / Deputy ...................:
Our great grandfather Hanna Dib was born in Lebanon, in 1814 and died in 1910 in the Haret es-Saydeh quarter of Tripoli. His original house is still there despite two civil wars, and two world wars. However, it was recently declared unfit for habitation , and is scheduled to be demolished to give way to new construction going on in the adjacent area.
Most of Hanna Dib's descendents emigrated as early as 1892, to (Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, United States, Canada, Australia, France). Among the Dib's of the world are major national figures that are the pride of Lebanese emigrants as well as current residents of Lebanon. These include major religious figures, Ministers of State, Federal Deputies, and City Mayors. All have a great attachment to Lebanon, and our family history.
Since most descendents émigrés have never seen our beautiful motherland, we have started organizing family reunions in Lebanon. One such reunion was in the summer of 2000, and the most recent one in the summer of 2001, during which, we had a highly emotional visit to the house of our great grandfather. However, we were informed that the Lebanese government had plans to demolish it, as part of the major reconstruction of the Tripoli areas. We were dismayed to hear that since this house is a part of our family history and heritage.
The house may be unfit for habitation, but can be definitely restored and refitted. We offered to do that at our own expense, to preserve our family history.
Furthermore, the house lies to the very edge of the area to be reconstructed. By sparing it from the destruction, there will be no harm done to the government reconstruction efforts.
We implore you to write to the President of Lebanon, General Emile Lahoud, and ask him to spare this house and let us preserve it along with the other historical buildings of Tripoli that represent a preserved national treasure.
Sincerely,
name