A few days before the convening of the national dialogue session, one of its major founders and advocates, veteran journalist Ghassan Tueni, passed away in Beirut. Described as the greatest Arab journalist of his age, the politician, journalist, and diplomat died at the age of 85, leaving behind a handful of Lebanese politicians struggling to come together under one roof. His death symbolizes the end of an era in Lebanese politics and the history of struggle for freedoms in Lebanon and the region.

Tueni was present at all the national dialogue sessions, which started in 2006. At one of the sessions held after the Israel-Lebanon war in July 2006, Tueni wrote in his autobiography that he asked Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah why his group is named Party of God when it would be more suiting to describe it as Shiite Party of God. Nasrallah laughed and commended him for his remarks at his son's funeral.

This is but one incident that demonstrates Tueni's rarity, for he was politician who could speak with various groups and voice grievances across the spectrum with integrity and credibility. His comments were never sectarian nor hostile. A Greek Orthodox, Tueni often joked about his inability to run for President, as that position is held for Maronites. He was open to all viewpoints, but the one thing he could not tolerate, he said, was violence. It is in this spirit that he invited everyone, on the day of his son Gebran's funeral, to let go of vengeance and hatred and put an end to the vicious cycle of violence.

In his lifetime, Tueni had seen the end of the French mandate and the independence of Lebanon, its golden age in the 1950s and 60s, followed by the collapse of the state and deterioration into civil war. Through his role as editor-in-chief of Annahar daily, which he took over following the sudden death of his father in 1948, Tueni held steady to the values of a strong, sovereign Arab state. In his role as politician, he actively participated in the struggle for the country he believed in.

Annahar was a unique vehicle for political accountability and public expression, and a steady proponent of democracy and human rights. At a time when writers and intellectuals in the Arab region were struggling to make their voices heard, Annahar led the way. However, there was a price to pay. Ghassan Tueni spent time in prison, and was always under the scrunity of government censors and warring politicians. The price became too high in 2005, when columnist Samir Kassir was assassinated in Beirut, and several months later, chief editor Gebran, son of Ghassan, was also killed.

Today, of the things Ghassan is remembered for is his plea, before the UN Security Council, to "let [his] people live," and for his call for peace at his son's funeral. Gebran had been a critic of Syria's interference in Lebanese affairs at the time of his assassination. "I call that we bury with Gebran all the hatred, all the controversies. I call on all the Lebanese, Muslims and Christians, to be united in the service of great Lebanon, in the service of its Arab cause." His words resonate with thousands of Lebanese who mourn the death of this visionary who, despite such trying circumstances, managed to overcome differences and continue his fight for a free, united and prosperous Lebanon.