The One Voice Foundation organized an intellectual seminar under the title “Lebanon of Shared Living: Uniqueness and Challenges”, featuring interventions by Judge Dr. Abbas Halabi, Dr. Harith Suleiman, Dr. Ahmad el-Zohbi, and researcher Ziad El-Sayegh, and moderated by lawyer Roula Elia.

The seminar, held at Our Lady of the Well Monastery in Qanaya, opened with a speech by the Foundation’s President, Antoine Kalaydjian, who noted that “The Apostolic See, through its silent diplomacy, is engaged in a peaceful and civilized confrontation with those who seek to fragment Lebanon, and with those who seek to dissolve it.” He stressed “the importance of contributing to the protection of Lebanon’s identity of freedom, human rights, justice, and the model of shared living in a civil state where citizens meet on active and responsible citizenship.”

Kalaydjian added: “We are living through a harsh time marked by deep pain, hunger, humiliation, and poverty, during which the Lebanese people are subjected to an organized crime that rises to the level of genocide one of its most dangerous manifestations being the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, 2020. Yet we are daughters and sons of hope. We will not despair, and we will not fear. What matters is steadfastness and resilience.”

He affirmed that the Foundation’s mission is “the human being in Lebanon and throughout this beloved East where there are no minorities and no alliances of minorities, no calls for foreign protection, but rather all of us together as children of God in love, equality, and compassion.” He revealed the signing of memoranda of understanding with both Caritas Lebanon in the humanitarian relief field, and the U.S.-based MedGlobal organization to support volunteers in healthcare, along with a series of intellectual, cultural, and social initiatives.

The speakers’ interventions followed: