Assaad Chaftari

Assaad Chaftari (also spelled Assad Shaftari, Arabic: أسعد الشفتري) served as a senior intelligence official of the Lebanese Christian militia Lebanese Forces during the Lebanese Civil War.[1] Chaftari was a close associate of Elie Hobeika. He published a letter of apology to the Lebanese people in 2000, in a national newspaper, for his war actions, he is now dedicated to promote personal change, peace building and reconciliation.[2][3]

Assaad Chaftari أسعد الشفتري
Born1955
NationalityLebanese
OccupationMilitary Intelligence Official, Author
Notable work
La vérité même si ma voix tremble (book)
Political partyKataeb, Lebanese Forces

Chaftari was a subject in Eliane Raheb's 2012 documentary, Sleepless Nights.[4][5][6]

Chaftari wrote a book titled "La vérité même si ma voix tremble" in French, translated to Arabic as " الحقيقة و لو بصوت يرتجف", in November 2015.[7]

Biography

Born in 1955, Chaftari grew up in a French-speaking home in Beirut’s Christian Gemmayze district.[8]

In 1974, he joined the Kataeb Party while he was in his fourth-year as an engineering student, one year before the civil war started, when he receiving a military training and helped to create the Kataeb's intelligence service.[8]

While in his 20s, he rose in the party the second in command, to become the deputy to Elie Hobeika, whose Israeli-backed group was involved in the notorious 1982 massacre of Sabra and Chatilla, in the Palestinians' refugee camps.[8]

In 1988 he participated in a meeting held by the Initiatives of Change movement. Although he had initially been suspecting a hidden agenda, the meeting initiated a deep change in him. Asked to look back over his life, he saw "a path full of blood".[9]

He is currently an activist, member of movements and NGOs, including the coalition Wahdatouna khalasouna.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Assaad Chaftari - Prestige Magazine". 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  2. Medina, Alicia. (2019, May 28). ““Don’t reach for the gun,” ex-combatants warn Lebanese youths”. Equal Times. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  3. Anderson, Brooke. (2017, May 31). “Once a Christian militant in Lebanon's civil war, now he builds peace where he fought”. America, The Jesuit Review. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  4. "assaad chaftari sleepless nights - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  5. "Sleepless Nights: Confessing Without The Confession". hummus for thought. 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  6. "Assaad Chaftari". Prestige Magazine. 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  7. Title on publisher's website, in French Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  8. Lucas, Ryan. "In Lebanon, a war apology remains a rare light". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  9. Assaad Emile Chaftari, website of The Forgiveness Project, last accessed on 12 December 2021.


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