June 3, 2025

Don't rush to claim Syria's Christians are safe – we're dealing with Islamists in a volatile situation

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<a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/dont-rush-to-claim-syrias-christians-are-safe-were-dealing-with-islamists-in-a-volatile-situation/">View Post</a> “Syria is free,” <a href="https://x.com/joshrogin/status/1865601385896546790"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">according</mark></a> to <em>Washington Post</em> columnist Josh Rogan. “The rebels won. The people liberated themselves from tyranny,” he went on. While the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad is finally over, this does not mean his replacements are necessarily interested in the kind of “freedom” you and I would recognise as such. Assad’s Iran- and Russia-backed rule crumbled within days last week following the lightning assault of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was formed by the merger of four jihadist groups in 2017, including the Al-Nusra Front, which in 2013 occupied and desecrated the Christian shrine town of Maaloula, and was one of the forces that occupied Sadad and murdered 45 Christians. For now, the group HTS remains a listed terror organisation by the British government and is headed up by former al-Qaeda commander and ex-ISIS member Abu Mohammad al-Julani. Last week, Julani cut a slick figure on <em>CNN</em>, portraying himself as a well-read moderate, and publicly vowing to safeguard religious minorities. However, even his recent record urges for caution. HTS’ so-called “government of salvation” in Idlib has been <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/#:~:text=%E2%80%9C%20In%20August%2C%20the%20COI%20noted,of%20their%20rule%20or%20religious"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">less than kind to religious minorities</mark></a> and any Sunni co-religionists who dare question their authority. Whether or not Julani’s pluralistic pivot is genuine or mere <em>Taqiyya</em>, the Islamic term for dissimulation and obfuscation, he will have to face stern opposition from less diplomatic Islamists in any case. If he is unable or unwilling to crush these threats, Christians and other religious minorities could be the first casualties of a new Sharia-compliant Syria. There is a highly concerted effort to portray HTS as "moderate”. There are a slew of rumours spreading online that benefit HTS’ rebranded image. Take, for example, the <a href="https://x.com/kshaheen/status/1864755573956251884"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">online viral claims</mark></a> that HTS plans to appoint a Catholic Bishop as mayor of Aleppo, which the bishop has vehemently <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hanna.jallouf.1/posts/pfbid02veegxfprrW9mhpftrWQRrUxz8REFZe7nMjpWbY8tWjSBBp7k6ZUiSPLqU3DBjK29l?locale=tl_PH"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">denied</mark></a>. Equally, years-old videos of Christians being attacked by various jihadi groups are doing the rounds, erroneously labelled as recent HTS actions. Sorting out the actual situation and just what Christians are facing is anything but clear. But regardless of their break with Al-Qaeda, HTS is, in both doctrine and practice, an Islamist group that seeks to implement Sharia law. Under Sharia law Christians are tolerated but inhabit a legally inferior status to Muslims, and it is illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity or any other faith. That Julani gave his victory speech at the Umayyad Mosque – named after the Islamic empire that conquered 30 per cent of the world's population – is no small matter. Indeed, the cracks in Julani’s polished rebrand are already beginning to show. Yezidi journalist Azat Alsalim <a href="https://x.com/AzatAlsalim/status/1866777365633962039"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">reports</mark></a> that HST has appointed a Justice Minister, Shadi Alwaisi, who has announced that women will be banned from serving as judges, in line with Sharia teaching. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Christian Foundation, a charity campaigning for Middle Eastern Christians, <a href="https://x.com/iraqschristians/status/1866572625192902700"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">claimed</mark></a> on 10 December that jihadis had driven through Christian neighbourhoods in Damascus “waiving the ISIS flag, shooting bullets, and trying to intimidate the ancient Syrian Christian community". There is also <a href="https://x.com/Ostensiblay/status/1866252867293905126"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">footage circulating</mark></a> that allegedly shows Islamists firing in the air to celebrate their recent takeover of Krak des Chevaliers, an 11th-century Crusader castle located in the Valley of the Christians (<em>Wadi al-Nasara</em>), an overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian area close to the Lebanese border. One Christian Syrian Twitter user <a href="https://x.com/____xn/status/1866793194421358815"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">wrote</mark></a>: “I'm expecting a new exodus from Syrian Christians. The ones I have spoken to don't want to see what will happen under Islamic control and just want to leave as soon as possible when there is a chance to.” Mina, a Syrian-born Protestant who works for a London-based charity that aids persecuted Christians, told the <em>Catholic Herald</em>: “Right now things feel somewhat stable but uncertain. Most of my own family still live in Syria, and I am in touch with them daily about the situation. I also want to emphasise that Christians are not the only people feeling worried and the entire situation is precarious as it stands.” Mina says his charity had “not received any reports of attacks on Christians by HTS", despite French claims that HTS has already begun intimidating religious minorities. However, he admitted that it was “early days", while there is also <a href="https://x.com/HananShamounNL/status/1866840026107220318"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">evidence</mark></a> that Christian leaders are being instructed to hide any visible Christian symbols during negotiations with their new jihadi governors. “Last week many Christians, including my cousin, fled Aleppo, Hama and Homs toward the Valley of the Christians when it became clear HTS would take these cities," Mina says. "Some people have returned to their homes, but in any case, the Valley and the whole West of Syria have been taken by HTS and their allies.” Speaking to<a href="https://www.fides.org/en/news/75751-ASIA_SYRIA_Jacques_Mourad_Archbishop_of_Homs_This_is_the_end_of_the_great_history_of_Christians_in_Aleppo"> <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><em>Agenzia Fides</em> last week</mark></a>, Archbishop Mourad, a former ISIS captive and a member of the monastic community of Deir Mar Musa, warned that HTS’ victory could be the death knell for Syria’s ancient Christian community. “After the action of these armed groups,” he said, “the Christians of Aleppo will be convinced that they cannot stay. That it is over for them. In Aleppo, they are trying to bring about the end of the rich, magnificent and unique history of the Christians of Aleppo.” Local churches have been supporting their congregants and others in need of help, some in conjunction with global Christian charities such as Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Regina Lynch, ACN International’s executive president, told the<em> Catholic Herald </em>that the charity has remained in close contact with its partners in the region and is continuing to provide emergency aid and other help, while also calling for prayers. She acknowledged that Assad’s demise was a “historic moment", and that while "religious minorities have largely been respected during this transition, our past experiences remind us how religious freedoms can be severely restricted during times of instability in the region". She adds: “We call on both the international community and the new authorities in Syria to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of all religious communities, guaranteeing their freedom of worship, education and their right to live in peace." According to ACN, some 10 per cent of Syria's population was Christian prior to the civil war in 2011, – roughly 1.5 million people. This number has now fallen below 4 per cent, with only between 300,000 and 500,000 Christians remaining in the country. This new era of Syrian history appears poised to potentially go in one of two very different directions for the country's Christians: it could help them return and rebuild. Or it could sent more fleeing from their homelands. <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/christians-in-aleppo-will-be-respected-syrias-islamist-rebels-tell-religious-leaders/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Christians in Aleppo will be respected, Syria’s Islamist rebels tell religious leaders</em></strong></mark></a> <em>Photo: An anti-government fighter waves an Islamic flag from atop a tank in Damascus, Syria, 9 December 2024. That day Syrians flocked to the main square of the capital city to mark what many regard as a long-awaited new dawn after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad. Assad fled to Russia the day before after a lightning offensive spearheaded by Islamist rebels ousted him from power, opening a new chapter in Syria's history after five decades of rule by Assad's family clan. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>
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