Ms. Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the EU Delegation to Lebanon

Ms. Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the EU Delegation to Lebanon

Subject: Urgent appeal following the incidents of the town of Maaloula in Syria

Petitioner: The Christian Gathering (Beit Anya, Lebanon)

Your Excellency Ms. Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the EU Delegation to Lebanon,

From 4 to 8 September 2013, documented facts were reported by international and namely western media, revealing that the town of Maaloula in Syria was the victim of several armed attacks led by Islamists that oppose the Syrian authorities. These incidents made at least three dead among the population of Maaloula, and were marked by acts of vandalism that targeted the town’s religious and historical sites. Consequently, the Christian population’s displacement from Maaloula and the country was accelerated.

Your Excellency,

The Christian Gathering would like to draw your attention to the fact that the population of Maaloula belongs to autochthonous Christian communities having inhabited this land for more than two thousand years. From a cultural point of view, they stand out for being the last population to speak ancient Aramaic, and to teach it to children at school. It is noteworthy that this language is one of the constituents of civilization in the Middle East in particular, and the world in general, for being the language spoken by Jesus Christ, as proven by historical studies.

It is also worth recalling that the religious and historical sites in Maaloula form an integral part of the culture of this community whose roots in this land are centuries old. They constitute a cultural asset for humanity as a whole.

Your Excellency,

What is happening in Maaloula deserves the direct attention of the European Union and all its member States. As expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and reiterated during the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, one of the main purposes of the EU consists in ensuring the respect for all human rights, whether civil, political, economic, social, or cultural, all over the world. The EU further supports the rights of women, children, people belonging to minorities, and displaced persons. 

Your Excellency,

What has been inflicted to Maaloula, and more generally to Christians in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, or Occupied Palestine, is a blatant violation of the principles enshrined in the first 24 articles of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. More specifically, articles 21 and 22 thereof, stipulate respectively that “Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority [...] shall be prohibited”, and that “The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity”. In addition, all principles embedded in the UN charter and most articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are thereby violated. Moreover, these actions constitute a clear violation of the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”, the “International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination”, the “Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief”, and most importantly “The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” (16 December 1966). A large number of international instruments that are part of the International Humanitarian Law can be added to the above list, including, inter-alia, The “Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities” adopted and disseminated by the UNGA on December 18, 1992, and to which the EU adheres.

Your Excellency,

Based on the above, and on all the general principles of the International Humanitarian law, we urge you to take action as soon as possible, and to leave no stone unturned so as to achieve the following:

1-               To add the persecutions and attacks committed against religious communities in the Middle East, and namely those perpetrated in the past few years in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, to the EU’s agenda and areas on interest, involving all EU entities and member States, and to raise the issue during the UNGA’s session, expected to be held in the few upcoming days.

2-               To work on the creation of an international fact-finding committee, in order to conduct filed visits to the places where these tragedies are occurring, starting from Maaloula in Syria, so as to establish facts and ensure moral and effective protection to the victims of persecution.

3-               To work on the issuance of appeals by the EU and the UNGA, as well as a presidential statement by the UNSC, condemning perpetrations against minorities, and stressing, based on numerous past humanitarian tragedies, that the protection of such groups constitutes an international responsibility that is intrinsically linked to international peace and security.

4-                To exert serious and strenuous efforts in the aim of listing the historical sites and places of worship of Maaloula as “World Heritage” as defined by UNESCO’s UN registered “Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage” (16 November 1972).

Your Excellency,

Human Rights, and chief among them the right to live in freedom and dignity, are the very foundation of your nations and civilization. This is precisely what we are calling upon you to stand for in our region today.

Please do accept Mrs. Ambassador, our full consideration and esteem.