https://now.mmedia.me May 30, 2013
Sectarian anger brews among Syrian Christians By Karen Boulos
The onslaught of fighting in Syria has undoubtedly taken a sectarian turn. This spiral of violence has engulfed all Syrian citizens, but the attacks on Christian churches in Syria and other Muslim places of worship, in addition to the kidnapping of Bishops Boulos Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim on April 22, point to the dangers threatening Syria’s Christians and the Orthodox Church in particular.
Destroyed churches have become common sights in Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. Faher Maalouf, the parish priest of Our Lady of the Earthquake Church in Zahle, Lebanon, says “the Church of Our Lady in the old Aleppo souk was destroyed, and so was the Tabaqa Church in the Aleppo suburbs. The identity of those destroying our churches is not important. What is important is the evil that drives people to kill one another, which ultimately leads to destruction.”
In an interview with NOW, Maalouf explains that “Christianity, which is based on a lifelong quest of sanctification and repentance, has been persecuted right from the start. Hundreds of thousands of saints were martyred in the early centuries of Christianity and this went on until the days of the Mamluks and the Turks. Our martyrs are in the thousands.”
“Even during the Crusades, which we condemn and reject in the Orthodox Church, Muslims at the time differentiated between the Franks and the Eastern Christians, i.e. Orthodox Christians who many times took up the defense of the Christians presence [in the East]. We have a historical presence [here]. When Islam came, it respected… this presence. However, the violence we are witnessing today is unlike anything we have seen throughout the course of history, even during the Crusaders’ time, and can probably be likened to what happened under the Mamluks and the Turks. The Turks are playing the same role nowadays, as if this spirit has lived on in their hearts. What we mean to say is that this is not the Islam we know.”
Father Maalouf asserts that “dangers now threaten the existence of Christians and non-Christians alike. In other words, every decent human being and anyone who wants to live in peace is threatened. Innocent people of all denominations have been killed in Syria. Therefore, these fears do not concern the Christians alone. [We] fear that all of the East will be emptied of “decent” people and of all those who want to lead a life of tolerance, co-existence, harmony, and affection.”
Father Maalouf was a student of kidnapped Bishop Yazigi at the Balamand Monastery in northern Lebanon. He says “the kidnapping of the two bishops is undoubtedly painful to us. We are mobilized in prayer so that God protects them and allows their safe return. This incident certainly affects the Christians as the kidnapping of the two bishops has political dimensions. This is certainly not a matter of gangs fighting in Syria. This is about intelligence services affiliated with [various] states.”
A source close to Yazigi told NOW: “We are committed to our activities and prayers, which aim to remind [us] of the two bishops’ cases and to the statements issued by His Beatitude the patriarch.” When asked about the displacement of Syria’s Orthodox community, the source said: “What is befalling it is the same as what is befalling people all over Syria, not just the Orthodox community.”
Many displaced Syrian Orthodox Christians have settled here in Zahle. One native of Saqlabiya, a village in the Hama province, works at a school here where he lives with his wife and two children. This Christian man, who requested anonymity, recounts how he came to Lebanon about a year and a half ago after leaving Syria because of the “disastrous situation” there. He asserts that Christians want to immigrate to European and Western countries, “but the Church is not letting them,” adding that if enough planes were brought in to fly them out, “there would be no Christians left in Syria.”
This man says: “Gunmen threatened me personally along with my family. The threats concern all Christians, as the situation in general is sectarian. They arrested me and took my car. Not all of them were Syrians, I also saw Afghans. Homs is like Iraq now; it has been emptied of its Christians as 70,000 have left the city. Churches have been destroyed in Hama, Homs, and Aleppo. However, churches in villages still exist to this day and may be bombed and destroyed anytime.”
Still, according to the same Syrian man, “the Syrian army’s presence in the village impacts it negatively, as it [makes the village a] target for rebel shelling. The majority of Christians in the village support the regime not out of love, but because it used to provide them with stability, calm, and safety. Job opportunities were available and not one Christian was poor in Hama. Gunmen entered the village on Good Friday in 2011 as we were preparing for the Easter holiday. We were taken by surprise as they carried out an attack using sticks and rifles, and chanted disgusting sectarian slogans.” |