غسان تويني

Ghassan Tueni (1926 - 2012) was Lebanese journalist, politician, diplomat and poet. He headed An Nahar, one of the Arab World's leading newspapers and was often referred to as the "Dean of Lebanese Journalism". He became a member of parliament from 1951 and until 1977 he served in different governmental positions, including house speaker, deputy prime minister and minister of the social affairs and labor, industry, information, energy and education. He also served as Lebanon's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) from September 1977 to September 1982, at the peak of the civil war. During his tenure at the UN, he famously addressed the Security Council on 17 March 1978 with the emotional plea: "Let my people live!". Soon, the UNSC adopted Resolution 425, calling for Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from Lebanon.