BEIRUT -- A number of members of the Lebanese Parliament from various Christian parties signed a joint proposal calling for Parliament to legislate a law that allocates the 24th of April to be a national day marking the anniversary of the massacres of Armenians and Syriacs--Assyrians who were killed during the Sayfo Genocide in 1915 without being an official day off.

The resolution also stipulates that all schools, institutes, and universities devote the first session of the 23rd of April to the historical events that took place in 1915 to educate students about the dangers of racism and discrimination of all kinds and the importance of safeguarding human rights.

Related: The Assyrian Genocide

Among the reasons for the proposal included in the text were that Armenians and Syriacs--Assyrians who were subjected to massacres of ethnic genocide during and after the First World War constitute an essential component of the Lebanese people. The events of 1915 coincided with the great famine that struck Mount Lebanon between the years 1915--1918 in which one-third of the country's population at that time died, between 120,000 and 200,000 people.

The MPs stressed the necessity to legislate this proposal, as Armenians and Syriacs--Assyrians who survived the Sayfo Genocide fled to Lebanon after the massacres and became an integral part of Lebanese society.

The Lebanese Parliament recognized the Armenian genocide in May 2000.

The group of MPs expressed their hope that this proposal would be approved during the soonest legislative session.