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 Tony Haddad is the founder and president of The Lebanese American Council for Democracy, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy and research center.
The LACD taps into the aspirations of nearly three million Americans of Lebanese descent and Haddad, with his team, works to build awareness of Lebanon in the media and actualize a solution for Lebanon in the political arena.
During Haddad's visit to Lebanon in 1989 he witnessed the resilience of many Lebanese who, despite the odds, refused to give up hope. When he returned to the U.S. he was inspired to begin a noble endeavor: the restoration of a sovereign Lebanon. With his work in Washington D.C. and his public condemnation of Syria's occupation of Lebanon and oppression of the Lebanese people, his return to Lebanon was made virtually impossible for fear his safety may be jeopardized up until the end of this occupation.
In spite of this, Haddad devoted enormous amounts of his personal time and resources in tireless pursuit of a free, sovereign and peaceful Lebanon. He took a lead role in mobilizing and empowering Lebanese Americans to utilize their resources for their war-ravaged homeland. For 15 years Haddad was involved in a wide range of Lebanese issues and was an active member of numerous organizations, all of which promoted the ouster of Syrian occupation forces and terrorists from Lebanon. But perhaps the most significant inroad that Haddad has made was his contribution to the most substantial pro-Lebanon legislation ever to originate in the United States.
Haddad was a key player in drafting, introducing and advocating The Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, which was signed into law in December 2003. After being witness to seven resolutions regarding Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon since 1992, Haddad finally pushed for a more concrete product. To that end Haddad approached Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY), a staunch supporter of Lebanon, and teamed up with his office to create The Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act.
Haddad was at the forefront of the effort and never faltered despite opposition from every direction. From its inception in 2001, through his self-created grassroots lobbying campaign, to its success in 2003, Haddad worked on the bill every step of the way. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair of the Middle East Subcommittee thanked him for his leadership and for being a "true inspiration" during a floor debate on the bill and during a recent hearing on this bill on June 7, 2006.
Haddad has been a frequent guest on TV news shows, radio news shows and quoted in newspaper reports. Fox's "Your World With Neil Cavuto," Voice of America and The Washington Times, to name a few, have noted his expertise on Lebanon and the Middle East. Haddad, in recognition of leadership and dedication to peace, was one of a handful of activists invited to travel with the Clinton presidential entourage in 1994 to witness the signing of the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty. This further strengthened his desire to see a similar outcome for Lebanon.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Tony Haddad moved to Kuwait in 1975, and to the U.S. in 1981. He initially lived in Detroit, Michigan and hosted a radio news show in Arabic serving the Lebanese American community for two years. Haddad is the president of the Haddad Development Group and owns businesses in the metropolitan DC area. He currently resides in Maryland with his wife and three children.
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