'The Situation Is Dire': 'Urgent Help' Requested for Christians in Syria as Nation Descends Into Chaos
The sudden and chaotic fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria was, rightly, celebrated by many.
What they didn’t realize, as the despot fled Damascus for Russia and left his country in a state of anarchic flux, is that — for many — the fall of the Assad regime is a case of falling from the frying pan into the fire.
This is especially true for Syrian Christians, who one activist says are looking at a “theocratic country” in the hands of “militants that beheaded women and children” — and who will likely be coming for anyone who doesn’t share their particular brand of religion.
As the Christian Post noted, while Assad’s regime was opposed by a motley crew of rebel groups, the dominant member of the group that seized control of the country in a shock offensive was Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, an outfit with well-established terrorist links.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies doesn’t paint a particularly rosy picture of the organization: “In May 2018, the group was added to the State Department’s existing designation of its predecessor, the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO),” the CSIS said in a background report on the organization.
“Today, HTS can be thought of as a relatively localized Syrian terrorist organization, which retains a Salafi-jihadist ideology despite its public split from al-Qaeda in 2017. … Today, HTS maintains that it is ‘an independent entity that follows no organization or party, al-Qaeda or others’ and has gone so far as to arrest al-Qaeda-linked individuals in the territories under its control to prove that no allegiance exists.
“Despite these claims, the U.S. government believes that a link between the two groups remains, even calling HTS a ‘vehicle to advance [al-Qaeda’s] position in the Syrian uprising and to further its own goals’ in its FTO designation. Recent reporting by the United Nations seems to confirm that, at the very least, some communication remains: HTS ‘and its components still maintain contact with Al-Qaida leadership’ according to several state intelligence services.”
Christians in Syria have reacted both with cautious optimism at the end of Assad’s brutal rule and alarmed skepticism about whether HTS will follow through on reassurances to the country’s religious minorities, particularly Christians, that they won’t persecute them.
According to the U.K.-based Church Times, HTS leaders have met with bishops in the Syrian city of Aleppo to reassure them that persecution isn’t on the agenda.
“Thank God this transition happened without bloodshed, without the carnage that was feared,” said Cardinal Mario Zenari, the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria.
“Now the path ahead is steep — those who have taken power have promised to respect everyone and to build a new Syria. We hope they will keep these promises, but, of course, the road ahead remains very difficult.
“The rebels met with the bishops in Aleppo immediately after their victory, assuring them that they would respect the various religious denominations and Christians. We hope they will keep this promise and move toward reconciliation,” he added.
Another anonymous Christian said he was surprised by the conciliatory messages from HTS and the rebel groups: “To our great surprise, the behavior of the new occupiers of Aleppo is completely different from what we expected,” he said.
“All the speeches they give are to say that they are not here to make us suffer. They are here to help us. They say, ‘All we want is to overthrow Assad’s regime.’”
However, not everyone was so sanguine about the situation.
“The coming days and weeks will be crucial for the fate of [the] Christian community,” Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, said in a statement, according to the Christian Post. “Christians, with roots stretching back nearly two millennia, now face an uncertain and perilous future.”
And, in an interview with the European Conservative, a Greek Levantine Christian activist who identifies himself only as Rafael warned that the new regime is heavily dependent on support from Turkey — and will potentially carry out their agenda, along with the extremist agenda the group had pursued in the past.
“Turkey wants to expand its territories and carry out some sort of Ottoman imperial revival. Aleppo, for a long time the richest city in the world, is the prize they are after,” he said.
“The rest of Syria, I guess, is to be made into some type of vassal state. We have to keep in mind that this is not a conspiracy theory. Just watch Turkish media’s reporting and their ambition is out in the open.”
And things aren’t looking as rosy as the situation others are painting.
“The information I am getting firsthand is from the Hama (Epiphania) region and the Christian towns that surround it,” Rafael said. “The situation is dire and two of our largest towns, which amount to a population of approximately 50,000 people, have been evacuated due to the artillery raining down on them by these militant groups.
“Christians in Syria need urgent help. For now, it seems they are still alive, but the last time the city of Aleppo was besieged, they were targeted and killed,” he added. “I believe evacuation and humanitarian aid should be the priority at this point.”
He also warned the group isn’t “moderate rebels” like some media reports are painting them to be.
“Mainstream media has always claimed they are ‘moderate rebels’ when in fact we know they are neither moderate nor rebels. They are the same militants that beheaded women and children, just rebranded with new names,” he said.
“These people want a theocratic country. Syria is in need of reforms, but they will have to be democratic and respect human rights. The Syrian people have suffered for over a decade now, regardless of their political or religious views. War, disease, sanctions causing famine, lack of medicine, lack of electricity, the list is long.”
And added to that list, now, might be religious persecution. Whether or not help arrives is anyone’s guess. Whatever the case, Syria’s Christians — and all of its beleaguered citizens — need our prayers now more than ever.
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