Their bloodline ruled the Middle East for over fifteen centuries, making them the longest-ruling Arab dynasty in history. They have paid the ultimate price for being Christian, facing countless wars and religious persecution. And now they're back to serve their people once more. Because majesty and duty are eternal.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Perhaps the most extraordinary secret of the Middle East was the long-reigning mighty Christian dynasty of the Ghassanid Sovereigns. For nearly 2,000 years until very recently, this bloodline ruled over the largest territory longer than any other Arab Dynasty. Founded in 220 CE by HM King Jaffna Ibn Amir the empire sprawled across parts of modern-day Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. Their rule flourished from 220 CE until the mid-18th century (Christian branch), and 1921 CE (Muslim branch). Even more remarkable was the Ghassanids' noble legacy of chivalric ideals, cultural acceptance, women's equality, democracy, and charity. It can be said that the foundations of chivalry were laid by these people, known as The Christian Kings of the Middle East, documented as the very first protectors of the Holy Land almost five centuries before the first Crusades, and the creation of the primordial orders of chivalry. Continually fighting for survival and religious tolerance, the Ghassanids survived multiple Muslim empires but, since WWI, were forced into exile by the Ottoman Empire. They moved to the Americas, North and South changing their surnames to avoid further persecution.
The secrecy around the Ghassanids is simple: several historians in the past had vested interests in diminishing their role and sovereignty. The Byzantine historians like Procopius and later other Muslim authors did their best to obliterate the Ghassanids, their declared historical enemies. Additionally, Greco-Roman historians had high prejudice against the Ghassanids, firstly, because they were Arabs, and secondly, because they were Monophysite Christians, a faith that was against the "mainstream" Christianity, officially adopted by the Byzantine Empire.
The history of the Ghassanid rulers was portrayed in depth in the documentary "The Christian Kings of the Middle East".
Duty Called. Prince Gharios Answered.
According to the "Al-Arab newspaper" of 07/12/2014: "Gharios of Ghassan in the twenty-first century, the appearance of the Caliph Al-Baghdadi (ISIS) awakens the King of the Ghassanids".
The Vatican Zenit News agency interview of 08/06/2015 mentions the "Prince (that) 'Dirties Hands' to Help Middle East Christians Have One Concrete Voice".
Progressive heir, noble statesman, His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Gharios El Chemor of Ghassan Al-Numan VIII, believes titles alone are useless. Duty and service are fundamental to royalty's relevance in the twenty-first century. He's spent the past 14 years raising global awareness and successfully gathering support for the renaissance of the noble Middle Eastern heritage whose visionary chivalric values are embedded in his DNA.
His intention: "To shed light on the real royal role, which is lifelong service; the notion of nobility, the decency of duty for a new generation." It is hard work that involves statecraft of the highest caliber.
In 2008, the then 34-year-old Prince Gharios took up the torch. A direct descendant of the last ruling Ghassanind princes, the prestigious El Chemor family, sovereigns of Al-Aqoura and Zgharta-Zawyie (modern-day Lebanon), Prince Gharios chose not to surrender his people to obscurity. The next 3,000 days were a whirlwind of global travel, meetings with political and religious leaders, giving lectures and interviews, informing, and educating about the [almost] forgotten contributions of his people, and honoring his duty to the 15 million Ghassanids dispersed around the globe. These efforts rendered the prince a Papal knighthood in 2014. Prince Gharios' goal of preservation of the Ghassanid culture, chivalric principles, inter-religious dialogue, and protection of ethnic and religious minorities all over the world put him on Osama bin Ladin's enemy list. The royal readily admits "That was an honor, puts one on the right side of history.".
No doubt Prince Gharios' modern ethos ruffles some traditional Middle-Eastern feathers with his call for equality for women, and enlightened ideas, albeit from the 2,000-year-old Ghassanind playbook of The Christian Kings of the Middle East.
Undeterred, Prince Gharios asserts, "In the 21st century there is a contribution for the Middle East to be making today, it's not about political power. I'm talking about our duty - a Prince has the duty of service to his people no matter what. We may lose our privileges, but we didn't lose our duties."
Prince Gharios' first big win came in 2016 with the accreditation of The Royal House of Ghassan with the United Nations Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council. This granted the Royal House an international, non-profit, apolitical, secular, cultural/educational, and a charitable "umbrella organization" status, recognized and accredited by the United Nations and the Government of the Lebanese Republic. Building on that, the focus turned to charitable endeavors and alliances for the promotion and application of the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That led to the historic recognition of The Royal House of Ghassan in 2020, with its sovereignty and titles recognized by the Global Imams Council, the world's largest non-governmental body of Muslim leaders (both Sunni and Shia) with the participation of over 1,300 Muslim clerics from all over the world.
The Royal House is a non-profit recognized by the United States Government as a tax-deductible charity under section 503 (c) 3 of the IRS - Internal Revenue Service.
To that end, His Highness is thinking big. "The Royal House is very close to becoming an IGO." Meanwhile, The Royal House aligns with select sponsors to fulfill the immediate mission against humanitarian emergencies. "We've been able to feed Lebanese infants with 60 tons of baby formula, over half a million dollars, but now the babies are hungry again. As an IGO we shall have more power to influence governments to help their people in a more holistic way" One of his major urgencies is the imminent exodus and extermination of the Middle Eastern Christian communities in the Middle East: "If no major strategy is adopted, by combining all the statistics exponentially, there will be no more Christians in the Middle East in less than three decades, they'll either be killed or will migrate to Europe or the Americas."
Prince Gharios is also a documentary filmmaker. His latest film "The Royal Legacy", a feature-length film explains how the Ghassanid Royal Family honors the duty of service to remain relevant in the twenty-first century. It includes interviews with world-acclaimed scholars like Dr. Joseph Kéchichian, the world's leading expert on Arab ruling families, Professor Gregory H. Stanton the founder and president of Genocide Watch, one of the world's top religious historians, and best-seller author Dr.hc. Michael Hesemann, and high religious leaders like His Holiness Aram I, the Armenian Orthodox Patriarch, His Most Reverend Paul Matar, The Maronite Archbishop of Beirut, amongst others.
The film was produced by the Royal House of Ghassan in association with Tyche-Fortuna Entertainment, sponsored by the TCW Global Legal Group, the IIRF - International Institute for Religious Freedom, and the GH - Gebende Hände (Giving Hands International Charity of Germany). Executive Producers Prince Gharios El Chemor and Dr. Robert Goldman.
"The Royal Legacy" can be watched at http://www.royallegacy.org/ More Royal Details at: http://www.royalghassan.org/ and https://onevoicechristians.org/ and https://royalblog.org/.
Media Contact
Rex Mize, Sovereign Imperial and Royal House of Ghassan, 1 (424)285-3251, [email protected]
SOURCE Sovereign Imperial and Royal House of Ghassan
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