WASHINGTON (PRWEB)
August 13, 2021

In Defense of Christians (IDC), the nation’s leading advocacy organization for Christians and religious minorities in the Middle East and North Africa, will be hosting a webinar and press event in solidarity with Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rai, Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, in light of recent attacks and threats by the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.

The Zoom webinar and press event will take place on Thursday, August 12, 2021 at 3:00 PM (ET), and will include remarks from Members of Congress, members of the clergy, and Lebanon policy experts.

On August 6, Hezbollah fired 19 rockets into Israel from a civilian-populated village in southern Lebanon. In a display of valiance, Lebanese civilians actively challenged and thwarted Hezbollah’s practice of using human shields.

On August 8, Maronite Patriarch al-Rai strongly condemned Hezbollah’s provocation, and called on the LAF and UNIFIL to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The Patriarch further stated “[the Lebanese people] are tired–as they should be–of war, killing, displacement and destruction.”

Hezbollah and its supporters responded with threats to the Patriarch’s life, including public effigies of the Patriarch with a noose around his neck, and innuendos of imminent violence.

“In Defense of Christians stands in solidarity with His Beatitude Patriarch al-Rai, the Lebanese Armed forces, and courageous Lebanese civilians willing to take a stand for peace in Lebanon,” said IDC President Toufic Baaklini. “Offensive provocation which leaves Lebanese civilians vulnerable, many of whom are Christians, should not be tolerated,” he added.

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