Lebanon - Harissa: This is where the statue of the Virgin Mary is. There is a church underneath her, and a large modern cathedral at her side. The base that she rests a top of was made by hand, finished by the end of the 19th century. https://justgeeklyfab.wordpress.com
ishtartv.com - pakistanchristianpost.com
Washington
DC: November 7, 2017. (PCP) Saudi Arabia appears eager to start another proxy
war with Iran in the Middle East—one that will imperil millions of Christians
and other lives in Lebanon.
A war in Lebanon would create another Middle
East refugee crisis. It would also breathe new life into terrorist
organizations, threatening not only the region’s Christians, but also the U.S.
and its allies.
“Saudi
Arabia and Iran regard the Middle East as their chessboard,” said Philippe
Nassif. “Saudi Arabia and Iran have been at war for years—and the Christians
are often caught in the middle.” Lebanon is one of the last bastion’s
Christianity and pluralism in the Middle East.
“War
in Lebanon would create another humanitarian disaster, like Syria and Yemen,” said
IDC Senior Advisor Andrew Doran.
The apparent forced resignation of Lebanese
Prime Minister Saad Hariri is particularly destabilizing. This is the latest
threat to undermine sovereignty in Lebanon, where Saudi rival Iran wields
significant influence through the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia is conducting a campaign against
civilians in Yemen that many human rights experts and Members of Congress
regard as rising to the threshold of crimes against humanity.
“IDC
advocates for vulnerable minorities in the Middle East,” added Nassif. “In
Lebanon, all peoples—Sunni, Shia, Christian, Druze—are minorities.” War did not
break out in Lebanon in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, even as Iran and
Saudi Arabia’s proxies fought for the last six years in Syria, claiming
hundreds of thousands of lives.
Mr. Hariri has been one of the most outspoken
advocates against terrorism and for peace in Lebanon. In April 2017, Mr. Hariri
asked for the United Nations to negotiate a permanent peace in Lebanon. His
call was recently echoed at IDC’s Summit for Middle East Christians by Maronite
Patriarch Rai, who called on America to help Lebanon negotiate peace, adding
that Lebanon sought “peace with those on its borders.”
IDC
calls on the Trump Administration, the United Nations, and America’s
allies—particularly Germany, France, and the United Kingdom—to negotiate a
permanent peace in Lebanon, including the implementation of UN Resolutions 1701
and 1559, which call for the disarmament of all militias.
IDC also calls on the U.S., the UN, and the
community of civilized nations to investigate Saudi Arabia’s ongoing campaign
against civilians in Yemen—especially the targeting of civilians and the denial
of medical aid to almost one million cholera victims in Yemen. The UN has
characterized Yemen as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world.
Finally, IDC calls for the U.S. and its allies
to work for the creation of a stable, politically neutral interim government in
Lebanon.
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