The Arab University of Beiurt

There are certain things that one can't but admire about the Nasser regime regardless of all the criticisms that one can pile on (for me, nothing can ever erase the deadly sin of 1967 and the appointment by Nasser of the hashish filled-head, `Abdul-Hakim `Amir, as the head of the Egyptian armed forces. But take the Arab University of Beirut. What a progressive idea: to bring students from different Arab countries and to expose them to a curriculum with a progressive and Arab nationalist flavor, and to invite professors from different Arab countries to interact with students from different Arab countries. And this was at a time when the private universities (that are sprouting everywhere with the style and shallow content Phoenix Universities or internet correspondence schools). The idea is not different from Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University. They were founded in the same year and I don't know which was really first although there were many problems associated with the pratice of the Lumumba University and African students often encountered racism. The Arab University of Beirut should be supported. But Rafiq Hariri--for example--as a poor person could only attend the Arab Univeristy of Beirut (before leaving to Saudi Arabia before finishing his degree). Yet, he never really associated himself or his political charities with the Arab University of Beirut: he felt it would be more prestigious to help the American University of Beirut.