Prominent Leaders Met In Washington DC To Discuss Saving Tyre (Lebanon)

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- For five days last week, delegates, politicians, and Friends of Tyre gathered in Washington, DC, for an uninterrupted series of receptions, dinners, high-level meetings, and private tours of leading Washington sites to raise world awareness for Tyre, the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lebanon.

Among the visitors were some of the most respected names in the world, dedicated to the moral and cultural goals of preserving Tyre's legacy during these difficult times in the Middle East. The highpoint of the five-day visit was a symposium at Library of Congress where over a hundred experts and dignitaries and friends of Tyre met to discuss this ancient Phoenician capital's contributions to history.

At the symposium, James F. Fitzpatrick, adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law School, stressed the need to protect Tyre's priceless archaeological treasures by encouraging dialogue.

"To ban the export of looted treasures, as some suggest, would merely further incite groups like ISIS to destroy them. To allow such groups to sell smaller treasures in the black market to raise money for their cause would at least preserve them, but it would rob the country of its historical wealth." The solution, according to Fitzpatrick, can only be achieved when the entire international community comes together to discuss a workable solution.

At the gala dinner-reception in the grand entrance hall of the Library of Congress, two giant American leaders of the 20^th Century, the late Senator Claiborne de Borda Pell (D-RI), and The Honorable Esther Coopersmith, were given Recognition Awards for their pioneering efforts in the founding of the American Committee for Tyre. Anne-Marie Lizin, honorary speaker of the Belgian senate, gave special attention to Dr. Maha El-Khalil Chalabi, who is both the founder and General Secretary of the American Committee for Tyre and the International Association to Save Tyre. "We must never forget that we are here today, building awareness for Tyre, largely because of the untiring efforts of Dr. Chalabi who is a symbol of the courageous woman, determined to preserve and protect her Phoenician heritage." To learn more, please check www.tyrefoundation.org or www.actyre.com

SOURCE American Committee for Tyre

Related Links

http://www.tyrefoundation.org