Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
The Prayer service for Peace in the Middle East at St. Thomas More in San Francisco was a great success. We had over 400 people of all nationalities: Syrians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Iraqis, Armenians, Jordanians, Palestinians, Israelis, Filipinos, Americans, Latinos…
Ten priests and pastors, from the heads of Christian Communities who serve the Middle Eastern Communities in the Bay Area (the Greek Antiochean Orthodox, Greek Jerusalemite Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Congregation, Maronite, Greek Catholic, Latin Churches) collaborated in the preparation of and attended the event.
We had choirs and soloists from the Latin Church, Greek Orthodox Church, the Maronite Church, the Armenian and the Greek Catholic.
We started at 5:30. The prayer service took over half an hour, then Mother Agnes spoke for over half an hour then answered written questions for around 15 minutes. Paul Larudee facilitated the Q/A section. We finished around 7:15 PM.
Mother Agnes spoke about the Reconciliation initiative and her humanitarian work in Syria as head of the International Support Team for “Musalaha” (Reconciliation) in Syria.
She begun with a moving introduction about the terrible fate of the Middle Eastern populations constantly hassled by sectarian violence to leave their homeland. She talked as the daughter of a Palestinian refugee.
Then she shared the history of her discovery of the 6th century monastery of Saint James the Mutilated in Qara, 90 kms north of Damascus, where she has been restoring the ruins and building an international community open to interfaith dialogue and hospitality.
She pointed out how she shifted from a heinous position against Syria – due to the occupation of Lebanon, her homeland, by the Syrian Army- to a compassionate adoption of the Syrian people in the tragedy of the conflict that is devastating the country. She said she is so committed with the Syrian people that she applied for a Syrian citizenship.
The apex of her speech was the Reconciliation message. She said that Mussalaha (Reconciliation in Arabic) is a grassroots movement that is present in all parts of Syria and is apolitical and non religious, a pure brand of the Syrian genuine culture of openness and brotherhood.
She gave moving examples of forgiveness and reconciliation in Syria where individuals and communities are tearing down the walls and building bridges of communication, negotiation, dialogue and reconciliation.
She spoke of Abu Fayad, a governorate employee, as a hero of this movement. Abu Fayad’s only son Fayad was abducted in Homs as a retaliation for being a Sunni working with the local administration. After months the abductors contacted him to remit to him his son. In fact they brought Fayad’s corpse terribly tortured and cut in pieces. Abu Fayad proclaimed publicly his forgiveness for the murderers of his only son and he asked the different belligerent parties of Al-Waar neighborhood in Homs to forgive one another for the sake of Syria.
Mother Agnes described her reconciliation activity and explained how she is working with supportive environments within the opposition, like in Moadamiya or Al-Waar as compared with the “non supportive environments” in Raqqa or Aleppo.
She explained that her Reconciliation activity compels her to visit all belligerent parties: the rebels as well as the loyalists.
She explained that she has to coordinate with the Syrian central administration like all the International Organizations that are accepted by the Syrian Government (International Red Cross, World Food Program, World Health Organization, UNICEF etc…).
Mother Agnes pointed out the difficulty of remaining a credible mediator in reconciling different parties. Each party has the suspicion that the mediator is siding with the other party.
Nevertheless the achievements of the Reconciliation initiative are evident.
She explained the impressive achievement of the evacuation of 7000 women and children from Moadamiya, the besieged rebel neighborhood in West Ghouta through a direct visit to the rebel military council and the Syrian Air Intelligence headquarters. She underlined the willing surrender of 550 men that were not allowed by the negotiations to be evacuated. Among them were more than 220 former fighters. She said it was a miracle of the Reconciliation spirit that the Air Intelligence forces did not retain anyone for more than few hours. Those former rebel fighters are now in a rehabilitation center, served by the ISTEAMS who will propose a program of non violent opposition training with the help of US based peace activist NGOs.
She finished with a message to the US administration from the beautiful city of San Francisco: why not to use Flower Power instead of the power of fire? She asked the USA to favor Reconciliation in Syria and to stop fuelling violence.
Statements of Mother Agnes:
1) I have no political statement to declare, I am not a politician; I am a mediator for Reconciliation.
2) My convent is under Free Syrian Army control, and I have a very good relationship with them; they protect us.
3) I meet with all kinds of people from the loyalist and the opposition sides: with ministers, security officers, armed opposition leaders or popular committees militias). I have go from one place to another, many times under threat or danger, to negotiate with all of them for humanitarian issues to spare the bloodshed and to alleviate the conditions of besieged areas.
4) I mediate for the liberation of abductees and detainees. We try to help the different Syrian populations: Sunni, Shia, Christian, Alawite, Druze, etc. “I tell you that reconciliation is happening between the different factions of the Syrian people. Many armed leaders are meeting through the good offices of Mussalaha”.
5) The different factions (the Syrian administration and different opposition groups who are many times fighting against each other) want me to take side with them and denounce the others. I cannot take any side. I am not a politician, I am a cleric. I work for humanitarian needs and stand with the civilians. I am with the Syrian people. “It is so difficult to be in the middle. You are accused by all parties.” I denounce al kinds of genocide and killing from any party. I cannot accept the killing of any human being. Killing should stop and foreign fighters should leave Syria back to their country and supply of weapons should stop.
6) The Media mainly outside of Syria is against me. They accuse me of many things that I did not do or say. They pick some words from here and there and fabricate things. They put my humanitarian work in danger because the fighters read these words and become angry for things I did not say and positions I did not take.
7) I am compelled and invited to explain myself outside of Syria and I met with many different people of different views and persuaded them with evidence and with kindness and they changed their positions and joined us in supporting Mussalaha..
After the speech the audience asked diverse questions, which Mother Agnes answered with clarity and kindness. Paul Larudee served as moderator.
The video was taken by a person in the audience and he promised to send me a copy. When I get the copy I will send it all over.
At the end the Priests and pastors stood in front of the all people and read a statement that you find in the below program of the Prayer for peace.
People then were invited to have finger food at the hall of the Church.
Welcome of Msgr. Labib Kobti:
As pastor of St. Thomas More Church and in fraternal friendship with my colleagues– priests, pastors and leaders of churches, communities, and organizations–I welcome all of you present here.
Today we gather to pray for truth, justice, and peace to prevail in the Middle East, the place that is the homeland to our faith, and from where our faith started and from where our ancestors brought it all over the world.
Prayer is our heritage–yours and mine–for, indeed, prayer is the way our ancestors in faith dealt in difficult times and with Death. They gathered around our saints in mountains and caves, in sanctuaries and in the desert, in public places and in safe houses; they gathered to pray.
They blessed and forgave their persecutors, they called for reconciliation and love; they honored their martyrs, and they persevered in the Land. We are the sons and daughters of these people of faith.
Today our church leaders at home and here of varying religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds call upon us to emulate our ancestors in faith. It is through prayer that we learn how to forgive, how to build and rebuild, and how to love, reconcile and continue to exist.
As Christians and Muslims trusting in the one God, the only ONE, Holy, merciful and whose real name is LOVE, we are charged with being a sign, and symbol to the whole world as People of the Middle East who lived in harmony for centuries and built together as Christians and Muslims our national entities and home countries mainly Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and many others.
May our prayers unite our hearts and souls again today, and may it proclaim that love, forgiveness, and reconciliation are the solution to the chaos and violence we witness here on earth, whether in the Middle East or in other places.
And so, Brothers and Sisters, I thank you for coming to join us in prayer.
