Persecution of Christians in the Middle East

... "is a crime against humanity."

The venerable churches of Mesopotamia, ancient even in the days of patriarch Timothy, have suffered a terrible reaping. Since 2003, so it has been estimated by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), almost a million Christians have left Iraq. Those few that remain face an ongoing martyrdom. The warning given in 2010 by an al-Qaida front group, that "the doors of destruction and rivers of blood will be opened upon them", threatens to become all too real.

Now, in the wake of the Arab spring, the same fate menaces the Christians of Syria. They are doubly excoriated by Islamist fighters: as kuffar and as Assad stooges. The punishment inflicted is terrible. Churches have been attacked; nuns and bishops kidnapped; individual Christians forced at gunpoint to convert to Islam.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2013/dec/22/persecution-christians-middle-east-prince-charles

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Reply 1

Padwas

every religion is persecuted at some point yes its awful but it never lasts .

Reply 2

Al-Mudaari

Quite rich coming from the Christian west that has persecuted, killed, tortured and destroyed the lives of millions of Muslims in the past few decades. Not even comparable.

Scum

Original post by Al-Mudaari

Quite rich coming from the Christian west that has persecuted, killed, tortured and destroyed the lives of millions of Muslims in the past few decades. Not even comparable.

That makes it all right, does it? Middle Eastern Christians persecuted at the hands of Muslims is justified because the West has persecuted the Middle East (including ruining the lives of those same Christians)!? Is this your reason for supporting the persecution of innocent people?

Reply 5

FSAisVictorious

Its all Israel's fault *voice dripping with sarcasm*

Reply 6

callmemorbid

any persecution is a crime against humanity

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Reply 7

Al-Mudaari

Original post by DeLite

So will you be making a thread any time soon of the persecution of Muslims in Burma and India? I didn't think so either. I'm sorry to say DeLite, but your so called "plight for the Christians in the ME" seems very insincere to me.

Reply 8

Princess-Zahra

The situation in the Middle East is more complicated than this article alludes too.

Firstly, contrary to Assadist propaganda, Western Orientalism and social prejudice. Not all the rebels are Islamists.

Secondly, the Islamist groups are varied in terms of ideology, affiliation and general discourse. One faction of the Islamist rebels are Al-Qaeda aligned and they display complete hatred to all minorities (the fear is not entirely unfounded).

However, other Islamist factions are not Al-Qaeda aligned and do not have an antagonistic and belligerent attitude towards minorities. A good case in point is what happened in the Christian town of Maloula.

Maloula is an old Christian town with two large churches, including one church which pre-dates both the Vatican and Christianity in Europe. I forget what this church is called, but it's known as the refuge, because during Roman rule of Syria, Christians would hide in the secretly built basement of the Church from Romans who wanted to kill them. It is also one of the few places in the world with Aramaic is spoken (the ancient language of Jesus Christ).

In September, when the Syrian regime thought that the Americans were about to attack, they decided to withdraw their forces from the Christian town. They had hoped that Islamist rebels would enter the town and massacre the residences- so that they could embarrass and dissuade the United States from attacking.

However, this tactic failed, because the Islamist who entered were not the Al-Qaeda aligned group. When they entered they were greeted by the local nuns and they promised the nuns that they would not attack the local population. They claimed that the Christians were their brothers and sisters and that they were only interested in regime soldiers.

The Christian residence ended up helping the rebels. Treating their wounded, feeding them, clothing them and sheltering them. When the regime founded out their tactic had failed, they then surrounded the town and threatened to attack. The Islamist rebels decided to leave the town before any assault and they told the locals they did so to avoid local Christians from being harmed.

So the picture is more complex than that. However, much of the sectarianism, which does exist comes from the regime. Using minorities is how the regime in Syria survives. Some of the hatred for Christians by some of the Sunni Muslim rebels steams from the belief that they are close to the regime and thus complicit. But it has very little to do with actual religious difference.

Keep in mind between 125, 000- 200, 000 people have been killed in Syria, another 2.5 million are refugees and 3 to 4 million are internally displaced. And most of them are Sunni Muslims, thus if we to sectarianise the figures, Sunni Muslims have been the overwhelming victims of the conflict.

Reply 9

DeLite

Original post by Al-Mudaari

Unlike you, I actually do care about other people's suffering regardless of religion and, unlike you, I do not support persecution in any case.

Now stop being a coward and answer on-topic - what is your reason for supporting the persecution of innocent people in this case?

Reply 10

0xygen

Yeah that's those Sunni extremists with their long beards and skirts attempting to invade the middle east and "spread" their diseased beliefs. No thank you.

P.S. Most of these people are getting paid by "certain people", no names, to start riots and make the people in the middle east go against each-other. AKA Divide & Conquer

Reply 11

callmemorbid

Original post by 0xygen

LOL this made me laugh (rather untimely as currently listening to a maqtal)

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Reply 12

Al-Mudaari

Original post by DeLite

Unlike you, I actually do care about other people's suffering regardless of religion and, unlike you, I do not support persecution in any case.

Then where is your topic about the plight of Muslims?

Are you also aware of the propaganda and over exaggeration by some Media networks regarding their persecution? ie. Are there really 100,000 new Christian martyrs every year?

Reply 13

MindTheGaps

Original post by Al-Mudaari

I don't understand what point you are trying to convey.

Some media outlets have overestimated the plight of Christians, so therefore we can safely ignore the genuine suffering that really does exist? That seems completely logical...

And why need he justify himself? You need not have spoken about all the world's horror before you speak of any of it. The oppression of Middle Eastern Christians is a terrible crime, why are you so reluctant to admit so?

Reply 14

0xygen

Original post by callmemorbid

LOL this made me laugh (rather untimely as currently listening to a maqtal)

Posted from TSR Mobile

Huh ? I'm English and I know that what I said was right, surprising how Arabs don't.

Reply 15

username945663

Original post by Al-Mudaari

Quite rich coming from the Christian west that has persecuted, killed, tortured and destroyed the lives of millions of Muslims in the past few decades. Not even comparable.