Conference looks to revive role of Christians
By Wassim Mroueh

The Daily Star- September 28, 2010

BEIRUT: Arab authorities adopt different policies regarding Christians in Arab states, with some being more tolerant than others, according to a number of officials Monday.

Speaking during the second and final day of a conference titled “Reviving the Christian Role in the Arab Levant,” former Ambassador Fouad Turk said: “Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi once told [former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel] that the minority in the Arab world should adopt the religion of the majority.”

However, Turk praised the initiative of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz entitled “Dialogue of Religions,” adding that religious freedoms were preserved in Iran for example.

The conference is organized by the Issam Fares Center for Lebanon and held a few weeks ahead of the much-awaited 2010 Synod dedicated to the Middle East, from October 10-24 at the Vatican.

The second day of the conference was held at the Issam Fares Center for Lebanese Affairs in Sin al-Fil, with the first session focusing on the attitude of Arab officials regarding the diminishing numbers of Arab Christians in the Levant.

Turk asked whether Christians in Lebanon enjoyed all their political rights, and said the monopolizing of some “sovereign ministries” by certain sects indicated that others lacked the qualifications to occupy such posts.

He called on the United Nations to open an international headquarters for dialogue of religions in Lebanon.

Meanwhile former Minister Ibrahim Shamseddine refused to consider Christians a minority in the Levant.

“Christians are part of the Arab majority in the region that has two majorities, a Muslim one and an Arab one,” he said.

He stressed that the main role of Christians in Lebanon had been to establish the Lebanese state, a process that was supported by their Muslim Lebanese counterparts. “The permanent role of Christians in the Levant is to build their nation every day,” he added.

Echoing Turk, Habib Frem, an official in the Islamic-Christian dialogue committee, noted that Arab states dealt with Arab Christians based on different mentalities, and urged the Arab League to work on granting non-Muslims in Arab states all their rights.