Who'll protect Syrian Christians, now that a most vicious Islamofascist regime has taken over?
A story that ran on Sept. 6, 2013, in the London Daily Telegraph carried this headline: “Village that speaks the language of Christ taken by al-Qaeda.”Now, a decade later, after Assad was brought down, such horrific sharia poses an even worse threat. It's to be hoped Israel will address this situation, as it has the case of Druze communities on the Syrian side of the border who'd like to merge with Israel. And Shmuel Katz has said Israel should stand with those seeking stability, which must also include Europe. Until then, it must also be wondered if USA Christian movements will address this issue, because, let's recall what Front Page writers noted about certain councils of bishops in the USA being ready and willing to kowtow to the Religion of Peace if the film about Betty Mahmoody were made today.
“The inhabitants are mostly Melkite Greek Catholic and Orthodox Christians, who have historically lived peacefully alongside Sunni Muslims,” reported the Telegraph. “It is one of only three places in the world where Western Aramaic, a dialect of the language spoken by Christ, is still used.”
“‘They entered the main square and smashed a statue of the Virgin Mary,’ said one resident, speaking by phone and too frightened to give his name,” the Telegraph reported.
Maaloula, the Associated Press said, is “famous for two of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria – Mar Sarkis and Mar Takla.”
“The stones are shaking,” a nun at the Mar Takla monastery told the Associated Press. “We don’t know if the rebels have left or not, nobody dares go out.” But then they had no choice but to go out.
In a report published by the Telegraph on Sept. 9, 2013, one of the nuns in Maaloula blamed the Syrian army for not saving them from the attack.
“Our army, the Syrian army, has failed us,” she said, according to the Telegraph. “We called the army, we begged them to come inside Maaloula and save us but they stayed outside. They abandoned us because we are Christians.”
That December, the nuns from this convent were kidnapped.
“Opposition fighters abducted 12 nuns from a Christian village overrun by rebels, Syria’s Greek Orthodox patriarch and the head of a convent said Tuesday, adding to fears that hardline Muslim rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad were increasingly targeting Christians,” the Associated Press reported on Dec. 4, 2013.
“The nuns and three other women were seized Monday from the Greek Orthodox Mar Takla convent in the village of Maaloula,” the report said.
In March 2014, a deal was struck to free these nuns.
“They were freed as part of a prisoner exchange involving some 150 women and children held by the Syrian government,” the BBC reported on March 10, 2014.
There was speculation that a ransom had also been paid to their kidnappers. “Two rebel leaders from Yabroud claimed Qatar had offered to pay $4m for the nuns’ release, but that the al-Nusra Front had demanded $50m and the release of detained women and children,” BBC reported. “Syrian state media reports did not mention any swap or payment.”
Syria retook Maaloula a month later — with the help of Hezbollah terrorists.
“Syrian soldiers backed by Hezbollah fighters recaptured the town of Maaloula,” Reuters reported on April 14, 2014.
And the accusation that Christians were abandoned by Syria's army are valid. That's how it otherwise is when those who allow the Religion of Peace to dominate are in charge.
Labels: Christianity, dhimmitude, islam, jihad, misogyny, political corruption, sexual violence, syria, terrorism