What differentiates Bashir Gemayel from others ?

When people say Bashir Gemayel, they instantly relate him to his dad the great Sheikh Pierre, his brother Amine, the Gemayel family and in general the feudal political families in Lebanon.

However, Bash was not one of those leaders who proved himself cause of his dad, the way i see it, he smartly exploited his father’s influence to improve what his dad started and take more initiatives inside the Kataeb, and stood against his dad in several projects that he insisted on implementing.

How did it all start ?

Bash was raised on the Kataeb school since his youth, and his love for Lebanon and respect for his dad and Kataeb were growing stronger with time, and he was very enthusiastic in politics and activities on the ground. But he was a person that loved to get in touch with the people, be one of them and never differentiated himself from others like his brother Amine.

He started his BG group and got involved in all party activities while Amine was building his ‘zelem’ in the Matn North, he started founding institutions in the Achrafieh region and then expanded to doing the Halat airport even though his dad opposed the idea.

He was a pragmatic honest person and close to the people. He won the hearts of many when he assisted his comrads in the Achrafieh Battle against the Syrians back in 1978 and then in Zahle in 1981.

The LF Bash founded was a need, it represented Bash’s vision of a party founded on solid principles and ideological and political thoughts, a party based on a Cause not on a man.
Bash knew how to make the transition from Kataeb to the Lebanese Forces and then to presidency.

He was everything but a feudal lord who would take his own region and exploit his family’s name to expand his power.

When Bashir was elected president, he had his plans set up and wanted to integrate his party and militia into the government, he didnt have small selfish plans for Kataeb or the LF, he wasnt thinking of bringing his relatives and friends into power, he didnt have this feudal rotten mentality, he was a real man of state, a leader by all means and a role model to follow.

Leaders like Bash dont come very often, but whenever they come, we have to exploit the situation and know how to grasp this unique opportunity.

We lost Bash and didnt inherit anything except his thoughts, lets hope the new generations will learn more about his leadership skills and his honesty and try to apply them in real life, instead of holding his pictures and wearing his Rayban glasses and shouting “Bashir lives in us” without meaning it.

Cheers.