Dr Joseph Kechichian
“Imagine kings addicted to poetry, imagine a middle east a lot more tolerant and inclusive 1,500 years ago, imagine a kingdom were women were appreciated and respected…”
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (PRWEB)
September 04, 2019
“The Christian Kings of the Middle East”, tells the history of the mighty Ghassanid Kings since their departure from Yemen in biblical times.
“The Christian Kings of the Middle East” – the Middle East had a long reigning mighty Christian Arab dynasty that flourished until very recently. The Ghassanid Kings ruled several Middle Eastern regions, from 220 CE until the mid-18th century, a duration of over 1500 years. As the oldest active Christian Royal House in the world, they ruled over the largest territory for the longest period; more than any other Arab Dynasty. Sadly, there is very little information about those facts, especially in English, since ‘Christian” and ‘Arab” is a forbidden combination. Or, as Sir Winston Churchill wisely said: “History is written by the victors”.
The film has the special participation of one of the indisputable world leading scholars in Middle Eastern Royal Succession, Dr Joseph Albert Kéchichian. He has received his doctorate in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia in 1985, where he also taught (1986-1988), and assumed the assistant deanship in international studies (1988-1989). In the 1989, he was a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University(under the U.S. State Department Title VIII Program). Between 1990 and 1996, he labored at the Santa Monica-based RAND Corporation as an Associate Political Scientist, and was a lecturer at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).Between 1998 and 2001, Dr Kéchichian was a fellow at UCLA’s Gustav E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, where he held a Smith Richardson Foundation grant (1998-1999) to compose Succession in Saudi Arabia (New York: Palgrave [2001]) and Beirut and London: Dar Al Saqi, 2002, 2003 [2nd ed] (for the Arabic translation)]. He published Political Participation and Stability in the Sultanate of Oman, Dubai: Gulf Research Center, 2005, Oman and the World: The Emergence of an Independent Foreign Policy (Santa Monica: RAND [1995]), and edited A Century in Thirty Years: Shaykh Zayed and the United Arab Emirates(Washington, D.C.: The Middle East Policy Council [2000]), as well as Iran, Iraq, and the Arab Gulf States (New York: Palgrave [2001]). In 2003, he co-authored, with R. Hrair Dekmejian at USC, The Just Prince: A Manual of Leadership (London: Saqi Books), which includes a full translation of the Sulwan al-Muta` by Muhammad Ibn Zafar al-Siqilli. In 2008, he published two studies, Power and Succession in Arab Monarchies(Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, and Beirut: Riyad al-Rayyes Books, 2012—in 2 volumes for the Arabic translation]), and Faysal: Saudi Arabia’s King for All Seasons Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida and Beirut: Dar al-‘Arabiyyah lil-Mawsu‘at, 2012]. Also wrote Legal and Political Reforms in Saudi Arabia, published by Routledge in December 2012, and a companion volume to Faysal on ‘Iffat Al Thunayan: An Arabian Queen (London: Sussex Academic Press, 2015).
The documentary also has the participation of: His Most Reverend Paul Youssef Matar, the Maronite Archbishop of Beirut and the chancellor of Collège de la Sagesse and La Sagesse University in Beirut, Lebanon; His Excellency Michel Nahas, Lebanese Army General, Mr. Boutros Duaihy, descendant and expert on the life and works of the Maronite Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy (1670-1704 CE) great historian of the XVII Century and in process of becoming a saint; and the members of the Ghassanid Royal Family, HRH Prince Sheikh Selim Antonios El Chemor and HRH Prince Sheikh Antoine Magid El Chemor.
The feature length documentary was filmed in several locations in Lebanon including the El Chemor palace in Kfer-hata. It was produced, directed and hosted by HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor of Ghassan Al-Numan VIII, KHS. Known to be an internationally multi-awarded humanitarian, the prince is a veteran actor/director/producer/writer with hundreds of credits under his belt. “The Christian Kings of the Middle East” is his first documentary as a director. The film is part of the “One Voice for Christians” initiative by the Royal House of Ghassan, in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, whose purpose is to raise awareness not only about the family’s history, but especially regarding the imminent extinction and exodus of Christianity in the Middle East.
The film is narrated by the former BBC’s presenter Peter Baker and was produced by the Royal House of Ghassan in association with Tyche-Fortuna Entertainment and co-sponsored by the IIRF – International Institute for Religious Freedom and the GH – Gebende Hände (Giving Hands International Charity of Germany).
The upcoming documentary “The Invisible People”, also produced and directed by Prince Gharios El Chemor, is currently in production and will seek to explore the past, present and future of Christianity in the Middle East.
“The Christian Kings of the Middle East“ can be watched in its entirety for free at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt5NBNGa0q8
To support this project and our ongoing efforts to help raise awareness for the plight of Christianity make your tax deductible donation at https://onevoicechristians.org/donate
More information about the Royal House of Ghassan at http://www.royalghassan.org/
More information about the “One Voice for Christians” initiative at https://onevoicechristians.org
More about HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor at http://www.princegharios.org/
Our latest news at https://royalblog.org/
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