Diab-Khoury: From Campus to Court?
News Analysis by Sarah El-Abd, Editor-in-Chief
July 8th, 2020
As of mid-day on July 7th various social media platforms began sharing the news of a lawsuit by current Lebanese Prime Minister, Hasan Diab, against the American University of Beirut. As common to social media, the news were hardly questioned and the yet-to-be-confirmed lawsuit soon became both a joke, but also a factor of fear to many. ‘This is a joke’ many social media users began to comment, where others feared that such a lawsuit would not only harm the university already struggling financially, but subsequently threaten many students as they continue to fear cuts to aid and scholarships. “It did come as a shock” says Rita Boutros, a student of Political Studies and Economics at the AUB when asked how she had reacted to the news of a lawsuit against her university. Jason Azzi, an AUB pre-med biology student tells The Phoenix Daily that the news of the lawsuit “was honestly laughable”, “I couldn’t believe that in the midst of an economic crisis, our PM, who is supposed to be leading our country out of crisis and sympathizing with our people, could file this lawsuit” says Azzi. Student opinions on the lawsuit sway in all directions, yet everyone is asking ‘is it even true?’
Diab joined the American University of Beirut in 1985, long before Fadlo or Philip Khoury had joined the leadership. According to the current AUB bibliography of Hasan Diab he “is a Professor of Computer Engineering at the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture” which is fairly outdated, or has not been changed yet due to the legalities of the case. He also served as AUB’s Vice President for Regional External Programs, which is the position associated with the 2025 contract of the lawsuit.
Hasan Diab as Vice President of the Office for Regional External Programs at AUB and the President of Southern New Hampshire University Credits: the American University of Beirut via Facebook.
Although the news of a lawsuit surfaced in these few days, the Diab request stems long before he had formed his government - back in early January. As Diab was preparing for his cabinet and place at the Grand Serail, he met with the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut. Little is known concerning the meeting, however, Al Jazeera has confirmed that he had made an “oral request that his compensation be transferred outside of Lebanon”.
This was of the primary actions of a Prime Minister as he stepped into public office in the midst of uprisings, protests, an economic collapse, and heightened political tensions. Over six months ago, is when Diab initially asked the American University of Beirut, his contested place of employment, to pay him his “dues” which would be equivalent to his total salary for the remainder of his contract that ends in 2025, according to the Lebanese online newspaper Al-Modon on the 25th of April. Despite the fact that he would be unable to fulfill his duties as Professor and Vice President for the Regional External Programs at AUB whilst in public office.
As the months went by, and the situation in Lebanon began to further deteriorate with the political, economic, and public health consequences and biproducts of the pandemic, Diab decided to follow up on his request made in January. In April, at the peak of COVID19 and national political tensions, he reportedly hired a lawyer who was responsible for lettering Philip Khoury, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of AUB to reiterate his request for “wages and benefits” for the remaining period of his 2025 contract. Further than this, the letter requests all wages and benefits to be delivered in dollars and to a foreign-held account, which is in line with his initial oral request from early 2020.
In the case AUB did not comply with the requests, the letter notes, then legal action would be pursued by Diab and his lawyer, reported the Middle East Monitor.
The current Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the American University of Beirut, Philip Khoury. Credits: Arts at MIT
Fast-Forward to June, it seems the request may have fallen to deaf ears, nevertheless Diab is determined to follow through to his legal threats to secure his rights. According to Al Jazeera, two sources which are familiar with the Diab-AUB battle, confirm not only that the lawsuit was indeed filed in June, but also that Diab is seeking an “exit package compensation” of circa one million dollars, according to his 2025 contract. According to two senior AUB officials, the lawsuit is based on the claims by Diab that he did not at any point officially resign, and is thus entitled to his retirement funds and severance pay for his 2025 contract.
This is evidently a personal lawsuit, this is not being filed as Hasan Diab the Prime Minister, but rather Hasan Diab the AUB Professor and Vice President. As such it is critical to note that Diab’s political success is not independent of AUB. Khoury, along with USJ rector Daccache, reportedly provided Hariri with a list of AUB (and USJ) endorsed individuals for the position of Prime Minister and encouraged his resignation, according to Al Akhbar. A list with Diab at the very top of it. Although Khoury has exclusively denied this in an interview on Voix de Liban radio in December, according to L’orient Le Jour.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun meets with AUB president Fadlo Khuri and USJ rector Salim Daccache at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon. Oct. 28, 2019 (The Daily Star/Dalati Nohra HO)
Diab clearly understands that the local banking sector is far from reliable and should be avoided at all costs. He acknowledges the problem virtually every Lebanese juggles with in 2020, yet decides to only solve it for himself. Rather than acknowledging the root concern of his inability to be fairly paid, he finds a solution which works exclusively for him. 1) through a lawsuit most Lebanese would never be able to afford, not to mention not being able to succeed in due to corruption and the power being AUB. 2) through a wire transfer in foreign currency, an option hardly any Lebanese would be able to resort to in 2020.
AUB - a campus in crisis
“AUB is the sole major US asset in this region and has served as a countervailing force against the destructive policies adopted by serial pro-Israel and anti-Arab US administrations, the transactional Trump administration being the most dangerous.” according to Michael Jansen for Gulf Today. The campus and its leadership have been the primary combatants of the US regional soft war, however, how long can this continue to last?
We ask this not because soft war may be coming to an end, but rather because the economic situation may force its termination. Having persevered civil wars, and various other times of turbulence, unrest, insecurity, and unforeseeable circumstances, AUB still stands. In an email to all members of the AUB community from May 5th, 2020, Khoury noted that “AUB is facing perhaps its greatest crisis since the university's foundation in 1866”. This crises has lead to a series of prospective future decisions including, yet not limited to, the closure of an undetermined number of programs and departments, the departure of a number of community members, and a near complete cancellation of university sponsored travels, leaves and conferences, Khoury notes in his May 5th email. A later decision by the AUB leadership was announced which involves a cut of a quarter of its 6,500 administrative (mainly AUBMC staff) along with a 25% reduction in salaries for Senior university personnel.
Not only is the university clearly struggling to make ends meet, but so are its student undoubtedly. The value of the Lebanese pound has plunged from 1,1515 to anything between 7,000-10,000 to the USD in the black markets (as of publishing). On a campus which has for a year protested the dollarization of tuition fees, the economic crisis directly threatens the continuing education of almost every AUB student. Although the Trump administration has already provided AUB with $2.5 million and with the announcement of the American Ambassador to Lebanon, Shea, of a promised $10m - ends still do not meet. The USD $10 million US Department of State funding is not a general donation going to student fees or aid, rather it is considered more of a grant for the ongoing scholarship program titled Tomorrow’s Leaders, a part of the well-known MEPI.
The $10 million are intended as “emergency tuition support” to cover 50% of the tuition for students of this particular program exclusively. Your average Aya that is already in the midst of her AUB education, or your average Malek that has already applied to AUB will not be the recipients of the much needed aid.
This still goes to show that Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 will not be pleasant semesters for the American University of Beirut. It’s less ‘that they have life, and have it more abundantly’ and more ‘that they can afford tuition in fall 2020, and don’t migrate abroad’. With the Diab lawsuit, and another May 2020 lawsuit against AUB by a New York company on grounds of discrimination on the basis of nationality, it seems that the burdens of AUB are piling up.
Yet lawsuits against AUB are long overdue.
AUB has become quite infamous for avoiding and neglecting the national Lebanese law, and it may be precisely because of this Diab is dead-set on succeeding in receiving his rights. The university has become infamous for its series of negligence towards respecting and abiding to the boycott of israel and all those affiliated with the occupational state. From having a library full of academia by israeli academics, otherwise banned and illegal in Lebanon, such as the renowned Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari - to welcoming and inviting academics and lecturers affiliated with israel. These direct violations of the Lebanese penal code and national sovereignty by a negligent university have never led to court. The unregulated and increasing dollarization of tuitions fees, the exploitation of daily and permanent wage workers under COVID19 particularly violating decisions by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Interior, its role in political mobilization during the October uprisings, and various legally questionable constructions projects nationwide would all require judicial involvement. Judicial involvement was never reached.
It is precisely due to this that a personal lawsuit by Diab is controversial. Should Diab, as not only a responsible Lebanese citizen but as an executive of State, not rather have tackled the injustice AUB has posed on the general communities, the evident violations of national laws, the continued use of financial and political power to avoid national courts, and the negligence towards national sovereignty - rather than his personal employment status?
AUB students along with their parents and guardians are already dreading the 2020 and 2021 semesters, with constant fear of increasing tuition fees, dollarizations, and closures of majors and programs. The Diab lawsuit feels like a stab in an already bleeding wound to many. Lucciana Lamaa, a young economics student at AUB, notes that she is “worried because our parents earn in Lebanese lira” and the increasing economic situation does not play in favor of many national students. “It will surely affect me” Lamaa tells The Phoenix Daily when asked how she perceives the Diab-AUB lawsuit. “Such a selfish act would naturally demoralize the entire Lebanese community and make them lose the little hope they had in this government” adds Jason Azzi. In Lebanese politics, we are too used to the mix of personal and political benefit, and this Diab lawsuit - although it hardly levels up to other politicians - reminds us of a bitter deja vu feeling. A time then politicians put their money first, and their people second.
Prime Minister Hasan Diab meets with with the President of the American University of Beirut, Dr. Fadlo Khoury, over the university’s affairs on June 15th. Credits: Grand Serail Press Office
The Phoenix Daily recognizes PM Diab’s full right to pursue a legal case in the interest and insurance of his personal rights as an employee - yet one must not forget responsibilities. It must remain a responsibility of the government to ensure that all future injustices committed by the university are also tackled. AUB President Khoury has yet to make any official statements on behalf of his Presidency and his University, despite a recent one-on-one exclusive meeting with PM Diab in mid-June less than a month ago while the threats of a lawsuit where still fresh. Neither has Philip Khoury, Chairman of the AUB Board of Trustees and supposed receiver of the letter of requests from Diab.