Background
George Hawi was born in the village of Bteghrine, Lebanon on 5 November 1938 to a Greek Orthodox family.
George Hawi was born in the village of Bteghrine, Lebanon on 5 November 1938 to a Greek Orthodox family.
An outspoken critic of Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs, he was killed in 2005 by a bomb placed under the passenger seat of his Mercedes. He was the stepfather of the Lebanese Armenian politician Rafi Madayan, who also has a stepson, Charbel Khalifeh Hachem. He joined the LCP in 1955 and became one of the main leaders of its Student League by the end of the decade.
In 1964, he was imprisoned for his involvement in a strike against Lebanon’s state-controlled tobacco manufacturer.
In 1969 he was again in prison for participation in a demonstration on 23 April in support of the Palestinian cause, and again in 1970 for his part in attacking an army detachment. Hawi was briefly expelled from the LCP in 1967 for calling for more independence from the policies of the Soviet Union.
The LCP was also active in the guerrilla warfare against Israel and its proxy militia, the South Lebanon Army (Service Level Agreement), in southern Lebanon, after the Israeli invasion in 1982. During the invasion he created the Lebanese National Resistance front together with Muhsin Ibrahim.
LNRF was commanded by Elias Atallah.
At later stages of the war, the LCP under Hawi allied with Syria, which had entered Lebanon in 1976, but was to stay in the country for nearly 30 years. He became a critic of the influence of Damascus on Lebanon late in his life, after having left the LCP in 2000. In 2004, he supported the foundation of the leftist Democratic Left Movement (DLM), that was against the Syrian presence in Lebanon and participated in the Independence Uprising of 2005.
George Hawi was assassinated on 21 June 2005 when a bomb planted in his car was detonated by remote control, as he traveled through Beirut"s Wata Musaitbi neighborhood.
Nearly one-pound charge was placed under his seat. The bomb was detonated by remote control.
His driver survived, but he was seriously wounded in the blast.
He became active in student politics in his early years at university, participating in numerous strikes and demonstrations and in several popular movements. He rejoined the Party and was elected secretary general in 1979 — a position he kept until 1993 when he resigned.
Several sources including the March 14 Alliance and members of the Western media immediately blamed Syria for his killing and for the other explosions in the capital though a definitive culprit has yet to be foundation In August 2011, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon informed members of Hawi"s family that they had found a link between his murder and that of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. The Licentiate of Sacred Theology had previously issued indictments against members of Hezbollah for the Hariri killing.
