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The Sovereign Imperial & Royal House of Ghassan is the dynastic, historical, legal, and cultural representative of the Royal Ghassanids and the Ghassanid people (in Arabic “Banu Ghassan” or “Al-Ghassassinah”). It comprises and represents all the dynasties ruled by Ghassanid Christian sovereigns from 220 CE until 1747 CE. The Muslim branch of the family ruled until 1921 CE the Principality of Jabal Shammar (Chemor) or Ha’il in today’s Saudi Arabia.

Since no longer ruling, the Royal House presently is a duly registered international, non-profit, apolitical, secular, cultural/educational, and charitable “umbrella organization” recognized and accredited by the United Nations since 2016 and by the Government of the Lebanese Republic since 2019, responsible for several affiliated organizations, fraternities, and initiatives with the specific purposes of the promotion of the historical and Cultural Arab heritage, especially but not limited to the Ghassanid people, the notorious Ghassanid’s ideals such as the broad cultural incentive, women’s equality, democracy, the promotion charity, and the chivalric ideals. Also the promotion and application of the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris.

Any non-profit organization needs donations to maintain its operational costs (office expenses, employees, websites, travel, etc.) Donations are also needed if the organization executes any cultural and humanitarian projects. The Royal House of Ghassan is a recognized tax-deductible organization in the United States under the Internal Revenue Code 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)

The Royal House of Ghassan is the “mother organization” of two other foundations:

The “Prinz Gharios Stiftung” (Prince Gharios Foundation) a recognized tax-deductible organization in Dusseldorf, Germany,
The One Voice Foundation in Beirut, Lebanon

HIRH Prince Gharios El Chemor, the head of the Royal House of Ghassan serves as chairman of the board of both organizations but they have their own independent board and CEOs. Regarding the One Voice Foundation, HIRH Prince Selim El Chemor, the Crow Prince of Ghassan and head of the Royal House in Lebanon is also part of the board participating actively in the daily activities.

The Royal House of Ghassan supports some of both foundations’ expenses.

Learn more about our activities

The Royal House also has the following initiatives:

“One Voice for Christians” – to raise awareness of the genocide and exodus of Christian minorities in the Middle East. Since 2014, HIRH Prince Gharios El Chemor has been traveling all over the world and meeting the highest political and religious leaders to advocate the cause of Middle Eastern Christians. The initiative gave birth to the One Voice Foundation. The ultimate goal of the “One Voice for Christians” initiative is the creation of the “MECC – Middle Eastern Christian Council” (or “OCC – Oriental Christian Council”) to strongly represent all denominations of Middle Eastern Christians as a major international political and diplomatic player, and the “MECC Observatory” to centralize all the information regarding persecuted Christians in the Middle East. The initiative produced two long-length documentaries and several videos with acclaimed scholars and leaders advocating for Christians in the Middle East,
“Alliance for Peace” – to raise awareness about the urgent need for both Christian and Muslim leaders to peaceful cooperation in order to preserve Christian minorities in Muslim lands and fight “Islamophobia” in the west. Since 2014, HIRH Prince Gharios El Chemor has been traveling all over the world and meeting the highest political and religious leaders to advocate the cause of peaceful cooperation between Christians and Muslims,
“WE – The World Evolution” – presenting real solutions for major global problems, initially focusing on hunger, “green wealth”, and education

The Royal House has three “ex-novae” Orders of Merit and Chivalry, all legally chartered as an award under the NGO. Their objective is to raise money for the cultural and humanitarian projects of the Royal House of Ghassan:

The Equestrian Order of Michael Archangel – is recognized by two heads-of-State, the presidents of Lebanon and Albania, and many political and religious leaders in the Middle East and Europe. Canonically erected (recognized) by the Catholic Church by the “mottu proprio” decree of the Bishop of the Diocese of Campos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
The Equestrian Order of Saint Sergius (Serkis),
The Equestrian Order of Christ Pantokrator

The Ghassanids are one of the first Christian knights in history but weren’t organized in orders ‘per se’. Therefore, although the Royal House of Ghassan has ancient authority as pioneers’ Christian knights it doesn’t claim any legatary connection with any historical order of chivalry or merit.

To become a Knight or Dame, one is required to make an initial donation known as a ‘Passage Fee’. Historically, it was the fee paid by each Knight to cover the cost of shipping his body home from the Holy Land in case of death in battle. Today, it is a voluntary donation in symbolic accordance with your rank and status in society. That’s customary in all orders of chivalry and merit. It’s a one-time donation. According to its constitution, the order also requires the payment of “annual dues”, currently established at a symbolic minimum of USD$20.80 a month. As in any fraternal organization, these sources of funds are crucial for the organization’s maintenance and projects. Also, as in any fraternal organization, if one doesn’t pay dues, the consequence is the loss of “good standing” status.

If a proponent knight or dame wants to join the order but cannot afford the passage fee and/or the annual dues, this person may work for the organization in other ways like volunteering or recruiting new members. If for some reason, a knight or dame joins the order and, for some proven financial hardship, cannot afford the annual dues, the Chancellery should be notified immediately and the case is considered and the dues are forgiven. However, if the knight or dame doesn’t communicate to the Chancellery about the hardship simply ignoring the payment of the dues, according to the Order’s constitution, the knight or dame can be degraded losing their title and rank depending on the time passed. That’s also perfectly common to all orders of chivalry that have humanitarian projects and depend on donations to continue their work.

The Royal House of Ghassan also maintains the UNIMP – Universidade Imperial (Imperial University) offering high-level online courses on Monarchy and Geopolitics in Portuguese for less than $8 a month. Visit the website here https://unimp.org/

Here are some of the Humanitarian projects of the Royal House of Ghassan in recent years:

Advocacy of Religious Minorities in the United Nations

Donation of food for 500 families of Syrian refugees in the camps in Jordan

Donation of food for 40 families of Iraqi refugees in the Melkite Church in Jordan

Donation of tools to women artisans in Jordan to manufacture souvenirs

Donation of school bags to girls in need in Irbid, Nothern Jordan

Donation of school bags in Umm-Al-Jimmal, Northern Jordan

Donation of approx. USD$5,000 worth of equipment to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Amman, Jordan

Donation of food to a community in need in Brazil

Donation of food and Christmas gifts to orphans in Lebanon

Donation of food and Christmas gifts to elderly people in Lebanon

Donation of two years of Special Education Scholarship in Al-Karak, Jordan

Joint Venture with MedGlobal and Armenian Catholic Patriarchate for a medical mission in Lebanon

Donation of 60 tons of Special baby formula (approx. USD$500,000) to babies with nutritional problems in Lebanon (One Voice Foundation with Caritas France, Caritas Lebanon, and Novac Labs)

Donation for the construction of a Church for Egyptian Coptic Christian Refugees in Germany (Prinz Gharios Stiftung)

Diplomatic visits to several political and religious leaders all over the world

Here are some of the Cultural projects of the Royal House of Ghassan in recent years:

Production of the long-length documentary “The Christian Kings of the Middle east” (One Voice for Christians initiative)

Production of the long-length documentary “The Royal Legacy” (One Voice for Christians initiative)

Production of the short-length documentary “The Project” (One Voice for Christians initiative)

Production of the short-length documentary “IDC- In Defense of Christians” (One Voice for Christians initiative)

Production of several videos with acclaimed scholars and leaders advocating for Christians in the Middle East (One Voice for Christians initiative)