More about the project HERE
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A 2018’s Retrospective
First, we would like to wish you, your family and friends, a Blessed Holidays, regardless of your faith.
It’s time to remember what has happened in 2018 and plan for the new year.
We had many achievements in 2018, here are some highlights. More details and photos, please, follow the links:
In March, HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor has issued an Imperial & Royal Decree regarding the use of the historical “imperial address” for the members of the Ghassanid Royal Family.
Prince Gharios El Chemor issues Royal Decree
Here, more about the Ghassanid Imperial Titles:
Also in March, since the Royal House of Ghassan was accredited by the United Nations ECOSOC with the Special Consultative Status in 2016, HRH Prince Gharios has been following the UN main agendas and has visited the United Nations Headquarters in New York to participated on the 62nd edition of the Commission on Status of Women.
Prince Gharios El Chemor attends event at the UN in NY
In April, one of the greatest martial artists alive, Guro Dan Inosanto, the main disciple of the legend Bruce Lee has received the Order of Saint Michael Archangel.
One of the world greatest martial artists alive receives the Order of Saint Michael
In the same month, HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor has received from the 54th Governor of Alabama (USA), the highest honor from that State, the honorary title of “Colonel”.
Prince Gharios El Chemor awarded with the title of “Colonel” by the Governor of Alabama
Still in April, HRH Prince Gharios was appointed as “member of Honor” of the Balear Institute of History in Spain.
Also, HRH Prince Gharios met the new Lebanese Consul General in Los Angeles, Her Excellency the Honorable Mirna Khawly.
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor meets new Lebanese Consul General for Los Angeles in Beverly Hills
May was a very busy month. HRH Prince Gharios was honored by the Union California University for his “commitment for Christian higher education and humanitarian development around the world“.
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor honored by California University
Also, the prince met with a very notorious descendant of the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius and the vice-president of the Confucius family organization.
Prince Gharios El Chemor meets with a descendant of Confucius
Every year, HRH Prince Gharios is invited by the Lebanese Government to an official VIP event, the LDE. This year, it was not different.
Prince Gharios El Chemor participates in event invited by Lebanese Government in Beirut
In the same month, HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor has visited Jordan and his dear friend His Excellency Bishop William Shomali and made a sizable donation to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Jordan.
Prince Gharios El Chemor visits the Vicar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Jordan
On May the 18th, the Royal House of Ghassan in Lebanon had it’s first Annual Gala event at the luxurious Le Maillon Club in Beirut.
Royal House of Ghassan in Lebanon has its 1st Annual Gala Event
The Prince also met the Japanese Ambassador in Lebanon at the elegant Printania Palace Hotel.
Prince Gharios El Chemor meets Japanese Ambassador in Lebanon
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor was the first Christian to receive a high honor from Iraq.
Prince Gharios El Chemor is the 1st Christian to receive high honor from Iraq
In the end of the month, the Royal House of Ghassan has signed a historical and important agreement to protect Christian minorities in Iraq.
Royal House of Ghassan signs historical humanitarian agreement with high Iraqi Muslim Foundation
Still in May, HRH Prince Gharios has visited the UN building in Vienna, Austria.
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor visits UN building in Vienna
The prince was invited by the Austrian Parliament to participate at an official event in Vienna.
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor participates in event at the Austrian Parliament
In June, the Royal House of Ghassan honored an important Lebanese Diplomat with the Order of Saint Michael Archangel.
Royal House of Ghassan honors Lebanese Ambassador
Also, the prince has honored his cousin, HRH Prince Sheikh Antoine Majid El Chemor with the highest rank in the Order of Saint Michael.
HRH Sheikh Antoine Majid El Chemor receives the Order of Saint Michael
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor’s video promo for syndicated show
In August, the Royal House of Ghassan started to film the project “One Voice for Christians“. The very first day was very auspicious with the participation of His Holiness Aram I , the Armenian Orthodox Patriarch of Cilicia.
Armenian Orthodox Patriarch joins “One Voice for Christians”
Another very important addition to the project was one of the main representatives of the Duaihy family, descendants of the Maronite Patriarch Stephen Duaihy.
Descendant of Blessed Patriarch Duaihy joins “One Voice for Christians”
In September, the Royal House of Ghassan has released the first video teaser of the project “One Voice for Christians“
“One Voice for Christians” releases its first video teaser
And also the new website
“One Voice for Christians” launches new website
One of the greatest acquisitions for the project was Professor Joseph Kechichian, the leading expert in Middle Eastern Royal Succession today in the world.
Top international scholar joins “One Voice for Christians”
Still in September, HRH Prince Gharios has traveled to London, UK. And he met his dear friend, His Grace Angaelus, the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London.
Prince Gharios El Chemor visits Coptic Archbishop of London
Still in London, the prince met another dear friend, His Majesty Oba Thompson, the King of Eti Oni, in Nigeria.
Prince Gharios El Chemor meets the King of Eti Oni
Back to Lebanon, the prince met the Armenian Ambassador for Lebanon.
Prince Gharios El Chemor meets the Armenian Ambassador in Lebanon
In October, the Maronite Archbishop of Beirut has joined the project “One Voice for Christians“.
Maronite Archbishop of Beirut joins “One Voice for Christians”
In the same month, HRH Prince Gharios was invited by General Michel Nahas and Mr Imad Risk to speak about Terrorism to international military and diplomatic authorities at the Lancaster Plaza Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon.
Prince Gharios El Chemor speaks about terrorism
In November, two important Muslim scholars, one Sunni and one Shiia, have joined the project “One Voice for Christians“.
Muslim scholars join “One Voice for Christians”
In the same month, a historical event was achieved by the Royal House of Ghassan. Professor Joseph Kechichian, the leading expert in Middle Eastern Royal Succession today in the world signed a legal sworn affidavit recognizing the legal and historical rights of the Royal House of Ghassan and HRH Prince Gharios.
In December, HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor has attended the “Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies” in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor attends Forum for Peace in Abu Dhabi
To beautifully close this year of success, the Royal House of Ghassan has released the first episode of the project “One Voice for Christians” explaining the project and its goals.
“One Voice for Christians” releases 1st Episode of documentary series
Also in 2018, the Royal House of Ghassan turned public several important documents proving the history and legal rights of the Ghassanid Royal Family:
Royal House of Ghassan presents irrefutable evidence of the family’s titles
The Legal reasons for the use of the Royal titles by the El Chemor family
Royal House of Ghassan provides more historical documents regarding the family’s titles
Leading Lebanese newspaper confirms El Chemor family’s Royal origins in 1981’s article
We also invite you to learn more about the geopolitics and history of the Middle East, the Arab Royal Laws of Succession, the Ghassanid Royal Dynasty, etc.
Ghassanids, the Great Sultans of medieval Yemen
Ghassanids, the sovereigns of the Island of Rhodes
“It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles”
The peculiar Middle Eastern sense of history
A very serious intelectual disease…
Were the Ghassanids sovereign?
Why is the El Chemor/Gharios Family endowed with the Ghassanid Royal Titles?
Primogeniture in the Royal Arab Succession
“Amir” versus “Sheikh”: understanding the Arab titles
We wish you and yours a great 2019! Happy New Year!
If you want to see our 2017’s Retrospective please visit A 2017’s Retrospective
“One Voice for Christians” releases 1st Episode of documentary series
More about the initiative, please visit https://onevoicechristians.org
HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor attends Forum for Peace in Abu Dhabi
In the beginning of the month, HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor has attended the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies at the Joumeirah Hotel, Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The event was supported by the government of UAE and had the participation of leaders and scholars from all over the world and from many different religions to debate and share experiences of inter religious dialogue.
“One Voice for Christians” releases 2nd Teaser
Visit our website at http://www.onevoicechristians.org/
The world’s leading scholar in Middle Eastern Royal Succession presents sworn statement about Ghassanid Royal Rights
Due to the massive fall of monarchies in the 19th and 20th centuries, the study of Dynastic and Nobility Law has decayed considerably becoming a very rare subject amongst the scholars today. This fact gave birth to several myths and misconceptions about the subject even amongst reasonably educated people.
Because of the European colonial dominance in the world until the last century and the current existence of several acting monarchies in the region, as well as several non-ruling royal families being extremely active socially and even politically, created the false idea that all the royal and noble titles in the world and their succession should follow the European model, regardless of any local – and sometimes millennial – traditions that a particular family may have. Truth to be told, many royal houses decided to “Europeanize” their customs and traditions, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, those “adaptations” to the European model were dully and legally documented, not leaving any room for guessing and hearsay.
Also, there’s an enormous misconception regarding legality versus notoriety and prestige. There are thousands of former ruling and noble families in the world. Some more and some less known and prestigious. Not all of them have a plethora of information available in other languages than their native ones. It’s humanly impossible, even for a scholar, to know the peculiarities and rules of every single one of them. Therefore, it’s not because many people “never heard” of this or that family means that the family is legitimate or not.
Through this blog and many other documents and articles containing several scholarly references from bonafide academic organizations all over the world, we’ve proven to exhaustion the legal rights of the El Chemor/Gharios family according to the Middle Eastern custom and the international law to the Royal Ghassanid titles.
There are maybe dozens of top scholars specialized in the European royal succession but not a handful of leading experts in the royal succession in the Middle East.
Today, one of the indisputable world top scholars in Middle Eastern Royal Succession, Dr Joseph Albert Kéchichian, signed a sworn affidavit recognizing the rights of the Ghassanid Royal Family and of HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor of Ghassan Al-Nu’man VIII.
Here’s a document’s excerpt:
“By the beginning of the 20th century, some of the Gharios family decided to use the titles and surname El Chemor once again. As there are two categories of Shaykhs in Lebanon—the noble (non-sovereign) Shaykh, who may be the counterpart of baron, count or duke—and the sovereign/Royal Shaykh. The first is mostly honorary but the second is a title bestowed by a semi-sovereign authority under the Ottoman Empire. A sovereign/Royal Shaykh, like the El Chemor/Shoummar/Gharios family, have roots in the tribal system, and are similar to their counterparts in the Arabian Gulf, like the ruling families in Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait, among others. It is this title that is the equivalent of prince and it’s given to the ruler and his sons. Consequently, HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor of Ghassan Al-Nu‘man VIII (born Ahnume Guerios) is a direct descendant of the Ghassanid Kings and the Shaykhs El Chemor/Shoummar. He is the sole claimant to the headship of the Royal House of Ghassan with germane claims that are in absolute harmony with Middle Eastern laws of succession and tribal customs. Critically, he has the bay’ah [loyalty oath] from the heads of the El Chemor/Shoummar family members and, as such, a legitimate claim to his crown.”
Click on the link for the documents
Original Sworn Legal Statement in Arabic
Sworn Legal Translation in English
Sworn Legal Translation in German
Dr Kéchichian is the leading authority on Middle Eastern Royal succession in the world today. 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 Kéchichianwas 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 Arabictranslation)]. 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]. His newest book is Legal and Political Reforms in Sa‘udi Arabia, published by Routledge in December 2012, and he has just completed a companion volume to Faysalon ‘Iffat Al Thunayan: An Arabian Queen(London: Sussex Academic Press, 2015).
Some of his works:
From Alliance to Union, Sine loco : Sussex Academic Press, 2016
Power and Succession in Arab Monarchies,Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008, ISBN 1-58826-556-0
Faysal: Saudi Arabia’s King for All Seasons, Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8130-3242-9
Political Participation and Stability in the Sultanate of Oman, Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Gulf Research Center, 2005
The Just Prince: A Manual of Leadership,London, England: Saqi Books, 2003, ISBN 0-86356-783-5
Succession in Saudi Arabia, New York City, United States: Palgrave, 2001, ISBN 0-312-23880-0, Beirut and London: Dar Al Saqi, 2002, 2003 [2nd edition (for the Arabic languagetranslation), ISBN 1-85516-445-0
Oman and the World: The Emergence of an Independent Foreign Policy, Santa Monica, California: RAND, 1995, ISBN 0-8330-2332-2
“The Enduring Saudi Oil Power,” in Robert E. Looney, ed, Handbook of Oil Politics, London and New York: Routledge, 2012, pp. 284-294.
The Sultanate of Oman and the US, in Robert E. Looney, ed, Handbook of US-Middle East Relations: Formative Factors and Regional Perspectives, London and New York City: Routledge, 2009, pp. 417-433.
Reforming the Judiciary in Saudi Arabia, in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1979-2009: Evolution of a Pivotal State, A Special Edition of Viewpoints, Washington, D.C.: The Middle East Institute, 2009, at http://www.mei.edu/Publications/WebPublications/Viewpoints/ViewpointsArchive/tabid/541/ctl/Detail/mid/1623/xmid/784/xmfid/11/Default.aspx[permanent dead link]
Refining the Saudi ‘Will to Power’, Perspectives 003, National University of Singapore Middle East Institute, Singapore, 2009, pp 1-16 at http://www.mei.nus.edu.sg/publications/MEI%20Perspectives%20003-Final.pdf
Affirming the Saudi Will to Power: Domestic Challenges to King `Abdullah, Middle East Institute Policy Brief, Number 16 (June 2008), pp. 1-9 at https://web.archive.org/web/20090503081050/http://www.mideasti.org/policy-brief/affirming-saudi-will-power-domestic-challenges-king-%E2%80%98abdullah
Can Conservative Arab Gulf Monarchies Endure a Fourth War in the Persian Gulf, The Middle East Journal, 61:2 (Spring 2007), pp. 283-306.
Extremism & Opposition Movements on the Arabian Peninsula, ORF Studies in Muslim Societies-V, New Delhi: Observer Research Foundation, 2006, pp. 1-55.
Democratization in Gulf Monarchies: A New Challenge to the GCC, Middle East Policy 11:4 (Winter 2004), pp. 37-57.
Testing the Saudi ‘Will to Power:’ Challenges Confronting Prince Abdallah, Middle East Policy 10:4 (Winter 2003), pp. 100-115.
The Burden of Saudi Arabia [Review Article], The Middle East Journal 57:3, (Summer 2003), pp. 492-497.
The Throne in the Sultanate of Oman, in Joseph Kostiner (ed.), Middle Eastern Monarchies: The Challenge of Modernity, Boulder, Colorado and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000, pp. 187-211.
Saudi Arabia’s Will to Power, Middle East Policy 7:2 (February 2000), pp. 47-60.
Trends in Saudi National Security, The Middle East Journal, 53:2 (spring 1999), pp. 232-53.
As editor:
A Century in Thirty Years: Shaykh Zayed and the United Arab Emirates, Washington, D.C.: Middle East Policy Council, 2000, ISBN 0-943182-08-5
Iran, Iraq, and the Arab Gulf States, New York City, United States: Palgrave, 2001, ISBN 0-312-29388-7
Muslim scholars join “One Voice for Christians”
Last Friday in Beirut, HRH Prince Gharios El Chemor had a pleasant meeting followed by an interview section with two prominent Muslim scholars, one Sunnite and one Shiite. With (left) Sheikh Dr Abdelkader Ternani (Sunni Muslim) professor of the Universite Libanaise (Lebanese University) and (right) Sheikh Dr Ahamad Kaiss (Shiite Muslim) professor of the Islamic University of Lebanon. Both Muslim scholars are great supporters of inter religious dialogue and were interviewed for the documentary series “One Voice for Christians“.
