THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES ATTEND MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR HASSIB J. SABBAGH AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Washington DC, 4 November 2010 – Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine were invited by their friend Sana Sabbagh to attend two nights ago a memorial service in honour of her late father Hasib J. Sabbagh(1920-2010) at Georgetown University in the Lohrfink Auditorium in the Rafik B. Hariri Building.

Speeches were given by The Honourable Jimmy Carter (39th President of the United States of America), The Honourable James A. Baker, III (61st United States Secretary of State), Under Secretary William J. Burns (Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs), Dr. Hanan Ashrawi (Member, PLO Executive Committee) and others.

Hasib Sabbagh dedicated his life to finding a solution to the dilemma of the Palestinian people. His most cherished hope was for the establishment of an independent state. Hasib Sabbagh worked hard to promote the peace process in Gaza and the West Bank. He was a member of the Palestine National Council as well as a member of the Palestine Central Council, where he played an important role over the years.

Hasib Sabbagh gave financial aid to the Beirut Charities Foundation, the American University of Beirut, the Jordan Charities Foundation, the Welfare Association in Geneva, and the Vatican. In the United States he has was generous to health care and educational institutions primarily. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston received generous grants from the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Foundation, as has Harvard University (the alma mater of his daughter Sana), Georgetown University (in particular the Centre for Muslim - Christian Understanding), the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. In 1995, he made a generous donation to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York to create a chair in Middle East affairs.