Karim Azkoul

Karim Azkoul (Arabic: کریم عزقول) was a Lebanese diplomat and philosopher born in Rashaya, then part of the Ottoman Empire on July 15, 1915.

[1] As Lebanon's representative at the United Nations' talks on Human Rights at the time of their establishment, Azkoul contributed to their wording and significance.

[1] He is also credited as having been vice chair to the Committee for Defence of Human Rights in Lebanon and member of the board of trustees, BD of Man.

[1] Azkoul featured as an actor in a full-length film entitled Le Voyage étranger by Serge Roullet, released in 1992.

[16] Azkoul was described by Raphael Lemkin, coiner of the term Genocide, as having had a "philosophical mind" whose voice carried "firmness and conviction", not being afraid of defending small nations' interests against the superpowers of his day.

[10] Karim Azkoul was an advocate of Pan-Arabism and was firmly anti-Zionist who often spoke out against foreign national intervention in the Middle East.

He also maintained that Lebanon (and the rest of the Arab world) was well on its way towards genuine democracy, as long as the western powers did not act against United Nations wishes when involving itself in the region's politics.

[6][18] Azkoul believed strongly in the freedom of the press and advocated for the formation of national information agencies.

[10] Azkoul never expressed any political alignment in the communist/capitalist debate and refused to be swept into British and American anticommunist rhetoric.