Syria’s Christians dread the upsurge of
radical Islamic fundamentalism among rebels battling to oust President
Bashar al-Assad, concerned that the Syrian civil war could spell the
doom of Christianity in their country.
But some critics say Christian leaders made a fatal error in siding against the rebellion.
From the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have lived and
worshipped in Syria. But the two-and-a-half year civil war has forced
hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, and Christians worry there
will be an even greater exodus.
Their biggest concern is an eventual rebel victory. They point to what
happened in neighboring Iraq where sectarian killings, persecution of
Christians and an increasingly Islamist political culture, after the
fall of Saddam Hussein, forced more than half of the Iraqi Christian
population to flee.
Jihadists and hardline Islamists among the rebels have targeted
Christians in rebel-held areas. Many of the Christian refugees arriving
in Lebanon are traumatized, said Najla Chahda of the Catholic relief
agency.
“A lot of them are sharing with us some really horrible stories that
some fundamentalists approached them, forced them to pay some rent, or
amount of money that they don’t have," Chahda said. "So they are just
afraid and left.”
Stories have included forced conversion to Islam and churches being
desecrated in this vicious sectarian conflict. Several clergy have been
abducted, including two bishops, and in villages in Homs province
Christians have been forced from their homes and farms.
The attacks and kidnappings have increased Christian dread of what would
happen if the rebels win. This fear is helping the Assad regime, made
up mostly of Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shia Islam, to retain
the support of many Christians. Most of the rebels are Sunni Muslims.
Syrian Christians feel they have had no choice but to back President al-Assad, she said.
“These are the majority who are siding with the regime because they are
just afraid from the others. They have no alternative,” she added.
More than 450,000 Syrian Christians have fled their homes already, some
remain displaced inside Syria. An estimated 25,000 have sought refuge
in Lebanon.
Before the civil war, Syria had an estimated Christian population of
two-and-a-half million. The largest denomination is the Greek Orthodox
Church, but there are also Catholics and Syriac Christians as well as
Protestants and adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East.
The main political opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has
sought to allay Christian fears, although increasingly to no avail.
But some believe Syria’s Christian leaders are partly responsible for what is befalling their followers.
Christians made a strategic mistake by siding with Assad, said Basem
Shabb, a Lebanese lawmaker and the only Protestant in Lebanon’s
Parliament.
“Unfortunately, the Christians have tied their fate not only to the
regime but to Bashar al-Assad, and what I am afraid of is like what
happened in Iraq," Shabb said. "The Christians in Iraq were persecuted
in Iraq not because they were Christians but because they supported the
regime.”
Shabb believes Christians should have made common cause with more
moderate Islamic elements in the rebellion and says they could still do
so.
“I do not think it is too late, but this current line that the three
main Patriarchs are following I think is detrimental to the long-term
presence of Christians in Syria," he said. "In particular, the Catholic
Patriarch has been so much pro-regime, pro-Bashar.”
The support of Assad by the patriarchs of Eastern Christianity has
caused tensions with church leaders of Western Christianity, who have
urged a more critical stance.
Right now, the ultimate fate of Christians in Syria is, to many, uncertainty.
No comments:
Post a Comment