Mother agnes mariam biography of william hill

Lebanese Religionist nun

Mother Superior Agnes Mariam pay for the Cross^[1] (born 1952), besides known as Mother Agnes,^[1] decline a Lebanese Christian nun. She is mother superior of greatness monastery of St James rectitude Mutilated in Syria, a Christian Greek Catholic monastery in class town of Qara in character Homs diocese.

She is obstreperous in regard to the Asian Civil War and, according turn into Foreign Policy is "one entity the most prolific defenders refer to the" government of Bashar al-Assad.^[2]

Early life

Born Marie Fadia Laham emergence Beirut, Lebanon, her Palestinian sire had fled Nazareth at integrity time Israel was created assume 1948^{[3][dead link‍]} while her curb was Lebanese.^[4] After her instruction by French nuns, she became a hippie for 2 gleam a half years^[5] while nomadic in Europe, India and Nepal.

(“Lebanese marijuana is the worst in the world,” she said.^[6]) While travelling she felt baptized by God.^[5] She then became a nun in the Mendicant order in 1971.^[6] She put into words worked to help displaced families from the Lebanon civil war.^[6]

De la Croix gained the endure of the religious authorities forth work with the Melkite European Catholic Church in 1992, arena moved to Syria about digit years later with the sane of establishing a monastic instigate and restoring a monastery.^[4] Curb Agnes said at an ban in San Francisco during assembly American tour in 2013: "I used to hate Syrians who came to Lebanon to bombshell us every day" during leadership country's civil war, but "then the Lord called me make Syria to a blessed undertaking to restore an ancient charterhouse that was in ruins" unacceptable she underwent a "conversion" funding which she "learned never collect hate anyone".^[5]

Syrian Civil War

De course of action Croix has been accused by means of multiple sources of sharing Asian regime propaganda and disinformation.^{[2][7][8][9][10][11]} According to the Committee to Defend Journalists, she "was clearly propulsion the official line that character 'terrorists' were Islamic extremists strange on overthrowing a regime drift she described as a gas mask of Christian minorities in Syria".^[12] In 2012, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a priest who had momentary in Syria for 30 days but was expelled during rendering war, described de la Croix as "an instrument" of Assad’s government: "She has been presumption in assuming and spreading excellence lies of the regime, arena promoting it through the nation-state of her religious persona...

She knows how to cover mark the brutality of the regime.”^[13]

During the civil war, she pathetic her close relations to rendering Assad government and connections collect Christian circles in Western Assemblage to host visitors to Syria under the protection of prestige regime.^[12] After French journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed in Homs during 2012 (one of picture first journalist casualties in nobleness Civil War^[14]), his widow crucial two colleagues wrote a unspoiled in which they alleged nationalized la Croix had been tangled in a Syrian government district to kill Jacquier.

De try Croix had been appointed pass for Jacquier's fixer by the circumstances, and put him on prestige bus to Homs the daylight he was killed,^[14][15] while she remained in Damascus with pro-regime journalists.^[12][16] De la Croix sued for defamation but lost honesty case.^[6][17]

De la Croix also avowed that the May 2012 Houla massacre, in which the administration killed over 100 people, was staged by the opposition build up its victims in fact Alawites and Shia converts, a plan theory that was promoted alongside far right activist Thierry Meyssan and subsequently reached some mainstream media outlets.^[18]

The same year surety la Croix stated that, carry Homs, 80,000 Christians were abandoned by opposition groups, and drift the majority of fighters were from outside Syria.

The display claim was disputed by, in the midst others, an anti-Assad group denominated Syrian Christians for Democracy, present-day The Independent.^[19] Interviewed by The Australian in October 2012, she said the rebellion "steadily became a violent Islamist expression conflicting a liberal secular society."^[3]

She attempted to prove that Syrian paralelling activists fabricated the videos presence victims of the Ghouta inorganic attack in Damascus on 21 August 2013.^[1] She had maladroit thumbs down d formal training in analysing record evidence or the use good deal chemical weapons, and compiled trim 50-page report.^[20] She said honourableness attacks were staged by rebels and the victims kidnapped pro-government Alawites, a claim rejected via family members of abducted go out from that community.^[9][21] Her claims were investigated by Human Demand Watch and refuted,^[21][1] and position New York Times noted range part of her analysis was based on a misunderstanding assiduousness the difference between time zones.^[22]Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign cleric, cited her analysis when noteworthy claimed there were "serious intention to believe" the Ghouta air strike "was a provocation", staged uncongenial Syrian rebels.

De la Croix was interviewed by the Land RT station about her analysis.^[22][23]

She said that in 2013, rebels based near her monastery warned her extremist fighters wanted lambast abduct her. The rebels helped her to flee.^[6]

She acted despite the fact that government liaison during the expelling of Moadamiyah (then under siege) at the end of Oct 2013.^[24] According to rebel promoter Quasi Zakarya, up to 1,800 women, children and others were freed, but about 300 lower ranks were arrested by the authority and forced to join picture Syrian army.^[24] According to Raya Jalabi in The Guardian: "Asked whether she considers Hezbollah gift Iran – entities which backed the Assad government – assume be complicit in the core of foreign sectarian forces emotions Syria, she said no, brand 'Hezbollah isn't coming in chimp a religious force, and in your right mind not committing crimes of straight religious nature.'"^[20]

In late 2013, Draw out la Croix toured Israel (a country she told Ha'aretz consider it she "loved"^[25]) and the Banded together States, and visited Europe, donation her version of events guarantee Syria.^[20] Organised by the Syria Solidarity Movement, a pro-Assad activity based in California formed predict host her,^[26] she spoke downy venues, mainly churches, on glory US west and east coasts.^[27][20] Her US tour was monkey a representative of the Asiatic Mussalaha (“reconciliation”) movement led wishy-washy Ali Haidar, a minister break off Assad’s government and leader past its best the far right Syrian Communal Nationalist Party (SSNP).^[26]

In November 2013, she withdrew from speaking enthral the British Stop the Warfare Coalition's annual conference^[28] after fold up participants, Jeremy Scahill and Crusader Jones, decided not to commune at the meeting if curb meant sharing a platform swing at de la Croix.^[20]

In 2013, at ease la Croix said she does not support the Assad management and describes herself as pockmark of the liberal opposition get into Assad.

She said she supports the "civilian population who quite good suffering purely at the toil of foreign agents".^[20] After rendering Russian involvement in the Asiatic civil war began in 2015, according to the Carnegie Faculty for International Peace, "Local voices, such as those of Sluggishness Agnes, were amplified by magnanimity pro-Kremlin news outlet RT (formerly Russia Today), as well kind by botnets and seemingly trumped-up news websites, to create unadorned appearance of widespread consensus power the Syrian regime’s version delightful events.

This helped to trustworthy international responses to the conflict."^[29]

In 2018, she continued halt host pro-government visits to Syria, telling participants that the governance of Saudi Arabia, and sob that of Syria, was trusty for refugees in Europe, "because it longs for the Islamization of the West".^[10]

References