The American Task Force for Lebanon held its annual gala awards dinner at the Fairmont Washington Hotel on March 16 to honor two prominent, albeit very different, Americans of Lebanese heritage: Tony Shalhoub, actor and star of the USA Network show “Monk,” and Dr. Charles Elachi, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Master of Ceremonies Spencer Abraham, a past honoree and former U.S. energy secretary, presided over the audience of notable Lebanese supporters, including the ambassadors of Lebanon, the Arab League, the Dominican Republic and Yemen, as well as Palestinian Representative Afif Safieh (see profile in Jan. 05, 2006 Diplomatic Pouch) and Chief of the Libyan Liaison Office Ali Suleiman Aujali.

“The Middle East is a region where violence has too often been the engine of historical change,” Abraham said, noting that despite the tremendous political upheavals in Lebanon, his country “firmly and definitively rejects any return to violence.”

The dinner came on the same day that the head of a U.N. probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri announced that he would be making new demands of Syria to pressure them into cooperating with the investigation.

On a more light-hearted note, Elachi—who as head of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was in charge of the successful “Spirit” rover landing on Mars in 2004—sounded more like a comedian than a physicist when he accepted his award, joking that upon seeing Lebanese Ambassador Farid Abboud again after seven years, the two can now compare how much hair they have lost.

But the comic spotlight belonged to actor Shalhoub, who impressed the crowd with both his devotion to his Lebanese roots and his quick wit. “This definitely goes down in history as the hardest act to follow,” Shalhoub said of following space pioneer Elachi. “I went to Cabo San Lucas once.”

Shalhoub regaled the audience with tales about his large Lebanese family, including his father who, after arriving in the United States, was never able to return to Lebanon like he had hoped. The Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor also talked about the inspiration behind the many roles he has played on screen: “There has been a veritable parade of diverse and wonderful characters [in my life]. Yes I’m referring to my Lebanese relatives,” he quipped.

The American Task Force for Lebanon is a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote a secure, stable and sovereign Lebanon.