A mass exodus of Christians, including a group evacuated from the besieged city of Homs, have been fleeing Syrian cities for safety. Caught in the middle of a showdown between opposition forces and the Syrian army, many Christians fear the prospect of an Islamist-led government if President Bashar al-Assad is deposed.
On July 11, Maximos al-Jamal, a Greek Orthodox priest, negotiated a deal between armed rebels and the army to evacuate 63 Christians caught in the crossfire in the bombed-out city of Homs, the Associated Press reports. Al-Jamal feared that as army attacks intensified, rebels were keeping Christians in the city as bargaining chips As al-Jamal told the Associated Press, “Gunmen have told the besieged people that if you go out of these areas, we will die.”
Before Syria’s uprising began early last year, thousands of Christians lived in Homs. Today, however, according to al-Jamal, only 100 Christian civilians remain, a loss that probably contributed more to rebel attacks against Christians than the army’s bombardment of the city.
“The armed [rebels] in Syria [have] murdered more than 200 Christians in the city of Homs, including entire families with young children,” a priest in Homs told Barnabas Aid magazine. “These gangs kidnapped Christians and demanded high ransoms. In two cases, after the ransoms were paid, the men’s bodies were found.”
The evacuation of Christians from Homs is only the latest occurrence in a mass exodus of Christians from Syrian cities. In June, nearly 10,000 Christians fled Qusayr after being given an ultimatum to leave the city by a rebel commander, Barnabas Aid reported . The threat was apparently echoed in the city mosques: “Christians must leave Qusayr within six days, ending Friday (June 8).” Rebels, however, denied the accusations; they claimed that Christians began fleeing months earlier, when the army shelled the city.
Many Syrian Christians, considered loyal to President Assad, are afraid that rebel groups—widely led by Islamists—will persecute non-Muslims and stifle religious freedoms. Historically, Christians have been granted a higher degree of freedom in Syria than in most other Middle Eastern countries. Despite reports of massive violence initiated by the regime, many Syrian Christians still believe that Assad is their final hope for a peaceful existence.
“Christians are increasingly being targeted and driven out of their homes and districts.” Elizabeth Kendal wrote for the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin. “Some 138,000 Christians have fled Homs, where Christians have been terrorised and churches have been looted and occupied by rebel forces… In areas under rebel control, intolerant, hard-line Sunni fundamentalism is making Muslim-Christian coexistence impossible. For the jihadists, neutrality is not an option, and Christians (and Muslims) refusing to support the jihad are being tortured, expelled and murdered.”
As in Egypt, Tunisia, and other Arab countries, the uprisings in Syria—which initially called for democratic change and greater freedoms—provided a platform for Islamists, long-suppressed under authoritarian rule, to rally behind a fundamentalist agenda.
“For the newest generation of Sunni jihadists, Syria has become the latest front in the struggle to wrest control of the region from rival religious sects and foreign occupation,” Daniel Brode, Roger Farhat, and Daniel Nisman, intelligence analysts at Max-Security Solutions, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times. “Many of these fighters hail from the vast reaches of North Africa and the Gulf, arriving in Syria with weapons, funds and a radical ideology.”
Asia News, quoting Kuwait’s Arabic-language newspaper, Al-Qabas, reported that “jihadists” from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Pakistan “crossed the Syrian-Turkish border to fight in the jihad alongside [opposition forces]… against the regime of Bashar el Assad.”
Moreover, Agenzia Fides, the official Vatican news agency, reported that, “armed opposition… is gradually radicalizing towards Sunni extremist ideology.” In another report, Agenzia Fides stated that Syria’s Salafis—who follow the strict Wahhabi doctrine of Islam found in Saudi Arabia—are carrying out “brief executions” against Christian “infidels” while initiating a “sectarian war”. These Christians are given a choice to either join the opposition or face “harassment, discrimination, [and] violence.”
As war continues without resolution, there is grave concern that Syrian Christians will follow the path of other ancient Christian communities throughout the Middle East: In Iraq, after the US-led invasion in 2003, more than half the Christian population—caught between Sunni and Shia sectarianism— fled the country. In Egypt, reports indicate that since March 19, 2011, after the political rise of Islamic parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, at least 93,000 Christians have sought visas to Western countries. The endangered status of Christians in Arab countries is so severe that Ken Blackwell, a human rights expert and board member of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, wrote that “Christians are being ethnically cleansed throughout the Middle East.”
“Look at what happened in Egypt and Iraq,” a Syrian church leader, who asked to remain anonymous told International Christian Concern. “Christians want to peacefully go out and ask for certain changes, but Islamist groups are sneaking in with their goal, which is not to make changes for the betterment of Syria, but to take over the country with their agenda. Christians will be the first to pay if this happens.”
(Gatestoneinstitute)
What is going on ? is it another holocaust? why westerns always support non Christians?…Oh Lord please help our brothers and sisters in the hand of devils.
Lets stand and pray together.
Thank the Lord for the awakening of some.
We remain targetted, although some extremely strong and there isnt a country who takes us in, so we go around in circles for years without any result.
In Christ,
@ak…may Lord help us to help,to pray,to love each other!!! remember your brothers and sisters in your prayer.
@ Deborah,
That is what keeps us going. The prayers of those who are out and have escapted and have been trying to get those who are still going around in circles, for years and years.
God protect us.
In Christ.
Dear Deborah, yes Christians are persecuted all over where Muslims exist, and it is a shame that the west even though they see this, they not only keep the cover on it but also shamefully enough sometimes support the criminals persecuting Christians; and trust me if it was the other way around and it is Christians that are persecuting Muslims the west will not stand still and will run for the rescue with all their power. And what is even more fearful than that is that the west itself is at risk ,Europe based on statistics and number soon will be over whelmed with Muslim population that will become the majority in no time and they them selves will be persecuted, and Imagine if these blood thirsty beasts became a supper power? Prayer is good but we also need to act.
@Sam….you are right ….i tired to ask some Europeans about their population and the influx of beasts to their country….but they are totally blind about it…..they don’t care about their belief…hope they will pay the price for it.
for us it is time to help each other….to love each other ,to pray each other ….
Sam….i want to tell you that to remember our brothers and sisters in your prayer…..
May Lord send HIS mercy up on us.
Dear Sam
How can we support you – also with finances – i am from South Africa — there must be a way to stop these animals – something very concrete – no more time for theories.
Brian
Obama is directly responsible for these uprisings in the Middle East, he has openly backed Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. and now the rebels against Assad in Syria..Assad gave shelter and asylum to many Iraqi Christians who fled from there when US troops entered Iraq, but now the US are the traitors of persecuted christians everywhere in the ME. Obama HAS to be a Muslim to be so supportive of radical islamists
BRIAN,
YOU ASK SAM “HOW CAN WE HELP?” DO YOU KNOW PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP IN GETTING US OUT?
IN CHRIST
Peace of LORD JESUS be up on you brothers and sisters,
what shall we do to help brothers who are in Syria beyond our prayers? is it better to out them from there?……if so how?….please let’s form something and start donating them…please…it is a crucial time.
May GOD help us to help ourselves.
In Christ,Love
THANK YOU FOR EVEN REPLYING. I THINK THIS IS THE FIRST TIME EVER THAT I HAVE RECEIVED A RESPONSE FOR THIS PLIGHT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR MUCH NEEDED PRAYERS. PRAYERS ARE NEEDED HERE AND PRAYERS ARE POWERFUL.
IN CHRIST,
Dear ak,
My tears always fall down when my mind starts thinking about middle east brothers and sisters……my heart is burning….i wish i could share the pain there……i have no power except prayer….May GOD answer our prayer.GOD bless you.
We must remain in prayer borthers and sisters-The Saviour is always listening. Please give us specific names and requests for you and yours and those you know. Prayer is strong, but Chrsitians need to be stronger and alive and awake we live in desperate times and in an age of deceit-we need more Walid Shoebats! Christians stop setting your eyes on riches and prosperity on earth…set your eyes on the Lord Almighty and on Him alone, there is work to be done!
Stand up church you are the bride…and He is coming back!
All nations which are helping “resistance fighters” should be held accountable for this!!