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Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City ‘under threat’ from settlers

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Christians in Jerusalem's under threat

Christians in Jerusalem’s under threat

Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City say their presence at the geographical heart of their faith is under threat from intimidation and aggressive property acquisition by hardline Jewish settlers.According to church leaders, priests are being verbally abused and spat at, and property vandalised.Tensions have risen this year in the Christian and Armenian quarters of the 1 sq km ancient walled city, which includes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest place in Christianity where Jesus was believed to be crucified and resurrected. The Old City is also home to places of critical religious importance to Jews and Muslims, reports the Guardian.

The churches say they are facing onslaught on three fronts: a war of attrition waged by hardline settlers; unprecedented tax demands by Jerusalem city council; and a proposal to allow the expropriation of church land put up for sale. Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem and the most senior Christian leader in the Holy Land, told the Guardian: “Today the church faces a most severe threat at the hands of certain settler groups. The settlers are persistent in their attempts to erode the presence of the Christian community in Jerusalem.

“These radical settler groups are highly organised. Over the last years we have witnessed the desecration and vandalism of an unprecedented number of churches and holy sites and receive growing numbers of reports from priests and local worshippers who have been assaulted and attacked.

“Where the authorities are concerned, this behaviour goes largely unchecked and unpunished.”At Mount Zion, just outside the Old City walls, undeveloped land owned by the church and often referred to as the “Greek garden” is regularly vandalised, according to Moni Shama, a church caretaker.Trees have been uprooted, garbage left, graffiti scrawled on stones and paint thrown inside the ancient Chapel of Pentecost, he said. Three years ago, a Greek Orthodox seminary at the site was set alight.

The Greek Orthodox church, the oldest Christian presence in the Old City, is also deeply concerned about attempts to gain control of properties it owns close to Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to the Christian and Armenian quarters.

A court ruling is expected later this year on a disputed sale of the historic Imperial and Petra hotels. The church has challenged a deal made by an official under the previous patriarch, which it claims involved bribery and conspiracy and was therefore invalid. The church has already lost one case on the sale, but it is appealing.It says the settler organisation Ateret Cohanim is behind the purchase of the strategically significant properties as part of its drive to increase the Jewish presence in the Old City. The organisation, dedicated to the “physical and spiritual redemption” of the Old City, has been frequently accused of using third parties to buy properties.

Abu Walid Dajani, whose family has managed the 45-room Imperial Hotel for almost 70 years, said the prospect of ownership changing hands from the Greek Orthodox church to Ateret Cohanim was a “nightmare”.

“If I used to wake up twice a night, now I wake up four times, thinking what if the decision goes in favour of Ateret Cohanim,” said Dajani, 74. “I will try my best to keep this hotel, but I know they want us out.”

Gabi Hani, whose restaurant Versavee is next to the hotel, said: “They [Ateret Cohanim] want to drive Christians out, for sure.

“If you have a hostile organisation sitting in your home, it is no longer your home.”

 

Daniel Luria of Ateret Cohanim said: “Claims or accusations by the Greek Patriarchate regarding ‘radical settlers’ targeting their priests with verbal abuse etc are absurd, unacceptable and disgraceful.”

He denied that the organisation wanted Christians to leave the Old City, and declined to comment on the issue of the Jaffa Gate sales. “Ateret Cohanim believes in coexistence with Christians and Muslims alike, living side by side without fences or borders, living in any neighbourhood of Jerusalem,” he said.

“The concept of disallowing Jews to live in certain areas is foreign and unacceptable. Christian and Muslim Arabs buy and live quietly side by side with Jews in predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods, so why couldn’t or shouldn’t Jews purchase and live in predominantly Arab neighbourhoods?”

 

In a separate development – but one that church leaders say is part of a pattern of targeting Christians – Jerusalem city council issued churches with a demand in February for nearly $200m (£143m) in back taxes. In protest, the church denominations closed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for an unprecedented three days, during which thousands of pilgrims were locked out.

The tax bill followed a decision that a tax exemption for places of worship had been wrongly applied to church-owned commercial properties. The churches say they pay taxes on purely commercial properties, such as restaurants and hotels, but many of those that the council says are liable provide educational, medical and welfare facilities for Christians and others.The closure was lifted only after the intervention of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who set up a committee to look at the issue of church taxes. He also temporarily halted the progress of a proposed law to expropriate church lands that could be sold to private developers.

The bill has the support of 40 members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, who say the Greek Orthodox church is selling off land at discount prices to private developers, which puts leaseholders at risk. The Greek Orthodox church owns about a third of land in the Old City and key sites around Jerusalem, including the land on which the Knesset, government offices and the Israel Museum are built.

Theophilos has in the past few months travelled to the UK, the Vatican, the US and elsewhere to seek support for Christian institutions in the heart of the Holy Land. In the UK, he met Prince Charles, government ministers and Christian leaders, including the archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster and the Coptic archbishop of London.

The patriarch wants a commitment to the continuation of the status quo, an agreement which provides protection of, and access to, holy sites in Jerusalem and elsewhere, allowing Christians to live and worship in peace despite the conflicts and divisions in the area.

Pope Francis and other Christian leaders have called for the status quo to be respected.

 

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Christian refugees in the Netherlands say Assad is OK; priest calls him ‘a gift from heaven’

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Christians love Assad

Christians love Assad

The Armenians are a well-integrated Christian minority in the Netherlands. Originally they came from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Southern Turkey. Dutch newspaper ‘De Telegraaf’ interviewed several of them and talked about the civil war in Syria.

Christian refugee Johnny Shabo says that the same group responsible for the civil war in the eighties is now responsible for more chaos. The Muslim brotherhood that attacked the regime of Assad’s father earlier, are now attacking Assad junior’s regime.

Shabo says that the leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda who are fighting in Syria are part of the Muslim brotherhood. For Christian Arameans the Muslim rebels pose a bigger threat than Assad’s troops, Shabo says.

“It’s a fact that Christians in Syria were left alone by Assad as long as they didn’t interfere in politics”, he adds. “Every Christian from Syria will tell you that before the civil war, our country was a far better place for us than Turkey.”

A while ago the Aramean priest Zuhri Khazaal travelled from Syria to visit the Dutch community in the city of Enschede.

Zuhri blames the West, Turkey and Arabic countries for arming the jihadist rebels. “And now the Turks are lighting up the fire with their invasion. Everybody in Syria wants to be left alone and wants that Assad stays leader. Why? Because compared to other Arab dictators, Assad is a gift from heaven for Christians”.

Johnny Shabo and his friends understand what priest Zuhri means. Every Aramean fears radical Islam. “We are very worried looking at the developments in Syria where American interventions can have a big impact.” Shabo continues, “they could unintentionally be of great advantage for the jihadist rebels”.

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Why Christians Need Self Rule in Iraq

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Pictured: Soldiers of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), an Assyrian security force, in a training exercise. (Image source: NPU)

Pictured: Soldiers of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), an Assyrian security force, in a training exercise. (Image source: NPU)

by Uzay Bulut,

  • “These murders are giving us yet another signal that there is no place for Assyrian Christians in Iraq.” — Ashur Sargon Eskrya, President of the Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq.
  • “The only way for us to have a bright future is to establish a local administration in the Nineveh Plain lands, which will be a safe haven for all persecuted communities, including Yazidis… [It] should be protected internationally. This would also include forming a no-fly zone, and having the province monitored by international powers for a temporary period until we strengthen our military force and reconstruct our areas.” — Athra Kado, the head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, Alqosh, Iraq.

On March 8, three members of an Assyrian Christian family — Dr. Hisham Maskoni, his wife, Dr. Shadha Malik Dano, and her elderly mother — were stabbed to death in their home in Baghdad. The two doctors, who had left Iraq, the country of their birth, in 2003, returned five years ago to work at St. Raphael Hospital in the capital.

The victims, who lived in a neighborhood controlled by a Shiite militia, had been tortured, according to Ashur Sargon Eskrya, president of the Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq, in an interview with Gatestone.

Eskrya also said that the motive behind the killings — as in the case of an innocent Christian killed in Baghdad in February — had not been established, and that so far, no suspects have been arrested. “These murders,” he added, “are giving us yet another signal that there is no place for Assyrian Christians in Iraq.”

An indigenous people of the Middle East, Assyrians have been targeted and murdered over the centuries for their religion and ethnicity. Yet they were once the rulers of the ancient Assyrian Empire. The traditional Assyrian homeland contains parts of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq.

The Assyrian legacy to civilization is significant. Ancient Assyrians were pioneers in science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, literature, art and technology. They were also exceptional builders, as shown by archaeological sites, including those at Ashur, Nimrud and Nineveh in Iraq. With the rise of Islam and the Arabian conquests of the 7th century, however, Assyrians and other eastern Christian peoples fell to a subordinate status — “dhimmitude” — which forced them to pay a tax, the jizya, in exchange for “protection.” Since then, they have been persecuted repeatedly. According to the Assyrian International News Agency, every fifty years, an Assyrian massacre took place, but the 1914-1923 Christian genocide in Ottoman Turkey dwarfed previous massacres and resulted in the systematic extermination of around 750,000 Assyrians – nearly three-quarters of their prewar population.

After the end of World War I and with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Assyrians were excluded from the new forging of nation-states in the region. In spite of their having been severely persecuted and displaced by Muslims, Assyrians were not granted independence or autonomy in their ancient lands. Instead, they were left to the “tender mercies” of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Kurds.

Devoid of a government or security force, Assyrians in Turkey, Iran and Syria have been largely erased from their indigenous homeland. In Iraq’s Nineveh Plain, however, Assyrians still form the majority and wish to establish a sustainable and democratic form of self-governance. Assyrians currently have a security force in the region: The Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU).

In an interview with Gatestone, Athra Kado, the head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement in the town of Alqosh in Iraq and Director of the NPU media center, said:

“Our nation has suffered for centuries. The latest genocide by ISIS, as well as recent murders, such as those in Baghdad, are deeply affecting our people physically and psychologically. The only way for us to have a bright future is to establish a local administration in the Nineveh Plain lands, which will be a safe haven for all persecuted communities, including Yazidis.

“The new administration that needs to be established in the Nineveh plain should be protected internationally. This would also include forming a no-fly zone, and having the province monitored by international powers for a temporary period until we strengthen our military force and reconstruct our areas. In order to make this a reality, our Nineveh Plain Protection Units should be supported in both military and logistical terms.”

Eskrya concurred, recounting for Gatestone:

“Throughout the bloody history of the region — including the 1914-1923 Christian genocide, the 1933 massacre in Simele, the 1963 Iraqi-Kurdish War, the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein and the 2014 ISIS genocide — Assyrians have lost their trust in governments that rule them, and they have even lost their trust in their own neighbors who engaged in kidnapping or even killing Assyrian Christians and raping women.

“Even today, Assyrian Christians still face genocide and discrimination in Iraq and the Middle East in general. During the ISIS invasion of the Nineveh plain, for example, terrorists grabbed our lands and destroyed our churches and historical sites. The result of all this persecution has been forced demographic change against Assyrian Christians.

“But through a local administration in Nineveh, economic and infrastructural developments can take place. The region is suffering from inadequate resources, so the new province should get a higher budget from the central government in Baghdad and should possess the right to self-rule.”

Juliana Taimoorazy, founding president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council and a senior fellow at the Philos Project, has been advocating serious security measures, economic development and the rebuilding of homes for Assyrians. In an interview with Gatestone, she said:

“We fear crimes such as the murder of the Assyrian family in Baghdad will chip away at the hope that has returned to the hearts and minds of those who have decided to return to their towns in the Nineveh plain. However, our resolve is steadfast, and we will not be shaken. I liken our Assyrian nation to a tree that is standing tall amidst terrible winds. Although our branches may break, our roots will always remain solid in the earth of Nineveh.”

Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist born and raised in Turkey. She is presently based in Washington D.C.

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Christians in Egypt

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Tensions between Egypt’s majority Muslim population and Coptic Christian minority are rising. The government has supposedly stepped in, but recent attacks have raised doubts as to whether these measures are sufficient.

Guirguis Fawzy is typical of the Christian community in Egypt. Middle class, successful and well networked. Guirguis lives with his family in Suhag in the Nile Valley north of Luxor where he deals in wood. He has relatives in major cities such as Cairo and Alexandria. Like most Copts he considers himself first and foremost an Egyptian, his Christian faith playing only a secondary role in how he sees his own identity. But this relaxed view of his own place in Egyptian society is both rejected and challenged by militant Islam. Keen to exploit growing polarization since the 2013 military coup that removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power, Islamic critics of current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s strong-arm tactics have been quick to portray this as evidence of a pro-Christian agenda. It doesn’t take much these days to provoke communal violence. Worse still a wave of terrorist shootings and bombings targeting Copts has shocked the community leading many to question whether the government is doing enough to protect them.

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ANCA-Sponsored Conference on Christians in the Middle East prioritizes justice for the Armenian Genocide

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In Defense of Christians (IDC) 2017 Summit, Aram Hamparian and U.S. VP. Mike Pence

Hundreds of Christian leaders, international religious freedom advocates, and human rights defenders held over 400 Congressional meetings calling on legislators to reject Turkey’s Armenian Genocide gag-rule and draw upon the lessons of this crime in preventing renewed atrocities against Christians and other at-risk religious minorities across the Middle East.
The advocates were gathered for In Defense of Christians (IDC) 2017 Summit, “American Leadership and Securing the Future of Christians in the Middle East,” cosponsored by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), The Philos Project, and The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD).
The meetings, which included Christian clergy of many denominations and supporters of diverse nationalities and creeds, focused on the summit’s five-pronged advocacy agenda, including support of H.Res.220, a bipartisan measure seeks to apply the lessons of the Armenian Genocide in preventing new atrocities across the Middle East, as well as efforts to advance: security and stability in Lebanon; emergency relief for victims of genocide in Iraq and Syria; allies and accountability in the Middle East; and, legal punishment for ISIS, al-Qaeda and other perpetrators of genocide.

A highlight of the IDC 2017 Summit was the announcement that the U.S. will open a new channel of direct U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance, administered by faith-based groups and other non-government organizations, to help persecuted Christians and other at-risk Middle East populations. The policy shift, long sought by the ANCA, IDC and a broad range of coalition partners and Congressional allies was announced Wednesday evening by Vice-President Mike Pence at the IDC 2017 National Advocacy Summit Fourth Annual Solidarity Dinner.
“We will no longer rely on the United Nations alone to assist persecuted Christians and minorities in the wake of genocide and the atrocities of terrorist groups,” announced Vice-President Pence. “The United States will work hand-in-hand from this day forward with faith-based groups and private organizations to help those who are persecuted for their faith. […] We stand with those who suffer for their faith because that’s what Americans have always done, because the common bond of our humanity demands a strong response.”
His Beatitude Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rai, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East and His Beatitude John Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East had traveled from the Middle East to offer first-hand accounts of the plight of Christians in the region. Armenian faith leaders at the conference included His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Eastern USA, Rev. Berdj Jambazian, Minister of Union of the Armenian Evangelical Church of North America and Mr. Zaven Khanjian, Executive Director and CEO of the Armenian Missionary Association of America.

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Palestinian Christians & Muslims come together against Israel over Al-Aqsa protests

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Palestinian Christians, Muslims come together B Ahmed el-Komi,

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Video footage showing Nidal Aboud, a young Palestinian Christian man, reading his Bible amid a crowd of Muslims performing Friday prayers July 21 in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem created a buzz on social media.

Palestinian activists saw the video as an example of coexistence between Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem and an expression of a shared fate against Israeli measures in the city.

Palestinians have been staging sit-ins for a week and a half now in the streets of Jerusalem and around Al-Aqsa Mosque denouncing Israel’s attempt to install metal detectors at the entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque to search worshippers.

Palestinian Christian youths and activists have also participated in these sit-ins to express their rejection of these measures, even though they target Al-Aqsa Mosque, a religious symbol of Muslims.

Aboud, 24, from Mount Olivet in Jerusalem, seen praying among thousands of Muslims, told Al-Monitor that he participated in the sit-in in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque as an act of patriotism. He said, “A day before the sit-in, I saw on TV an elderly Palestinian in a wheelchair crying because he was not allowed to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque. I was deeply touched and felt I must act out to end this. This is why I decided to take part in the sit-in in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque and took my cross and Bible with me. I was there at 8 a.m. the next day in front of one of the mosque’s entrances.”

Aboud noted that Israeli soldiers at the entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque prevented him and a number of elderly Palestinians from entering the mosque and fired tear gas at them, describing the scene as “devoid of humanity and appalling.”

“Because I am a Palestinian national it is my right to defend all of my country’s religious sanctities,” he said. He noted that he was unaware media outlets were reporting live, saying, “I was thrilled with how Muslim activists and friends welcomed me among them. Their warmth was genuine, and it gave me the strength to stay with them.”

Aboud added that when they started praying, he was asked to join them. “They were very welcoming and they placed me in the center. At that moment, I began to recite Bible verses. We were all praying with great fervor,” he said.

Denouncing Israel’s attempt to install metal detectors at the entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque, he stressed that Christianity is an integral part of the Palestinian cause. “I would not accept such metal detectors to be installed at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, so why would I accept them to be installed at Al-Aqsa Mosque?” Aboud said.

Pointing to the efficient role and participation of Christians in sit-ins and protests around Al-Aqsa Mosque against Israeli measures, he noted, “Jerusalem needs us — even if we are a minority. The Palestinian cause needs all Palestinians. This is the land of peace.”

The participation of Palestinian Christians in Al-Aqsa protests and sit-ins is attracting media attention as it reflects the strong interfaith relations in Palestine and represents a means to promote national unity and tolerance.

Zeina Mosleh, a Christian from Jerusalem, said she participated in a sit-in with Muslims in front of one of the entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque because she felt this was a religious duty. She told Al-Monitor, “I was shouting their slogans and distributing drinking water to worshippers and young protesters.”

She strongly rejected Israel’s measures, describing them as unacceptable and against freedom of worship. “It is not about a specific religion. We must have the courage to reject Israeli practices against one of the most important and sacred mosques for Muslims,” she said.

Hanna Issa, a Palestinian Christian historian and the head of the Islamic-Christian Commission in Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, told Al-Monitor, “Israel wants to portray the conflict as a conflict between Judaism and Islam. We as Christians refuse this.”

He said, “We believe the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque is an attack on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Relations between Muslims and Christians in Palestine are governed by Umar’s Assurance of Safety that we believe is tantamount to a constitution. Churches in Jerusalem are adjacent to mosques. We respect Ramadan, they respect our fasting, and we exchange visits on religious and national holidays.”

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is one of the most important Christian religious monuments in Jerusalem, located deep inside the walls of the Old City.

Issa asserted that Muslims and Christians share the same just cause, and that the participation of young Christian activists in the sit-in in front of Al-Aqsa Mosque is the best example of this. Commenting on Aboud’s video footage, he said, “We are all believers. There is no discrimination. We share the same sense of belonging.”

According to Issa, there are 50,000 Christians in the Palestinian territories: 47,000 in the West Bank and the rest in the Gaza Strip.

It is said that Muslim Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab had written to the people of Aelia (Jerusalem) upon the first Muslim conquest of the city in 638 a document in which he assured safety for their churches and properties, provided that no Jews live with them in the city. This assurance is one of the most important documents in the history of Jerusalem and Palestine.

Ahmed el-Komi, a Palestinian journalist from Gaza, writes for a number of Arab and international newspapers, magazines and media sites. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Islamic University in Gaza and is

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Turkey’s Erdoğan confesses to Turkey’s crime committed 100 years ago

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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has delivered a speech at a referendum rally in the western Turkish city of Izmir.

As Ermenihaber reports citing Diken Turkish news agency, speaking about the people who are against the constitutional reforms, Erdoğan said: “Do you remember those who were thrown into the sea 100 years ago? It is their supporters who say ‘no’ today, sending their dogs and horses against those who say ‘yes’.”

He claimed that the people who speak against the presidential system of governance are Turkey’s enemies.

In his speech, Erdoğan went on describing Europe as a “sick man”, claiming the European economy weakened every year.

“They are infected with the virus of racism. This time they will be in a grave state,” Turkey’s President said.

Erdoğan also expressed an opinion that the Turks living in Europe face pressure, making threats that after April 16 referendum Europe will pay for its treatment.

To note, according to the official Turkish historiography, in 1922-1923, during the Kemalist movement, Turks threw the “Christian invaders” into Bosporus as a way to fight against the imperialism and occupation.

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Syria: Report Kurd Emptying Al-Malkiya of Christians & non-kurd, 50% of Hasaka Christians have left

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SDF soldiers (source: Wikipedia)

BY Sarah Abed,

The situation in the North East of Syria regarding the Kurds seems to be a topic of confusion for most. Understandably so as they have been made to appear by US politicians and news outlets as the most effective fighters against terrorism in Syria. Although they have in fact been successful in driving out terrorists in some areas there is information that needs to be discussed that explains the other half of the story that is purposely hidden in the Kurdish and mainstream media news outlets.  We have only been hearing from the Kurdish side now it’s time for the Syrians in Kurdish held areas to have their chance to tell us about the hardships they have been put under by the Kurds.  

I have been actively collecting information and conducting interviews with Syrians who live in Kurdish held areas since 2015. Some reached out to me in hopes that their message will reach the West. They have read what the Kurdish and Western mainstream media news says about the situation in their area and are disheartened that the truth is not being told.

As a Syrian America who was born in Al Qamishly and having experienced living there before the war I felt it was my moral obligation to make sure their voices were being heard. In this article the second in a series that focuses on the situation in the lesser known and often misreported North East of Syria we will discuss in more detail how life has changed for Syrians due to the Kurds taking on an illegal leadership role in the area.

Treatment of non-Kurds by the minority Kurd population in Al Hasaka (also referred to as Hasaka) governorate is unethical and criminal. 

The minority Kurd population in Qamishly treats the majority non-Kurd population poorly. They are trying to impose their will on everyone by force. They pretty much have the Hasaka governorate under their control and those that oppose them are usually driven out of their homes. They are monopolizing everything for themselves trying to maintain self-Governance. They are placing unqualified people in positions of power, there is no law whatsoever to control the area. They are willing to take anyone who agrees to fight with them, even if they are criminals they get them out of jail immediately so that they can grow their army.  PKK fighters were brought into Syria from the Qandil Mountains in Turkey and made managers and heads of institutions in the Hasaka governorate. They are very authoritative and Syrians fear them. Kurds differentiate and provide better treatment to the Yazidi and Kurds that are displaced in Syrian than the Syrian Arabs. All passages from Turkey and North Iraq are under Kurdish control.

The Syrian government condemns separatist Kurdish ambitions and vows to keep Syria united as one country.

Lately, Kurds have been more vocal about their desire to create a federation. The areas they want to claim are Al-Malkiya to Efrin, the entire border line with Turkey including Al-Malkiya, Qamishli, Hassaka, Ein Arab, Al-bab, Efrin, in addition to the rural villages.  They have also mentioned that if they are able to liberate Al Raqqah they will add that to their federation.  As can be seen in their SDF insignia. The USA’s support to the SDF as was mentioned in more detail in the first article which can be read (here- please insert a link to the first article) has had a negative impact on Syrians and infringed on their sovereignty. USA is preparing to build a second military base in Syria at Tel-Baidar.

The NATO-aligned Kurdish minority corrupts the Syrian educational system.

Education which was once an area of pride for the Hasaka region has now become one of the worst catastrophe’s as a result of the Kurds.  They have imposed a new school curriculum unaccredited by the Syrian State. Almost all government schools are now under Kurdish control. Kurds are teaching Kurdi in all of the nongovernment elementary schools, next year they will implement this in all middle schools under their control and the following year their plan is to implement this in high schools as well. Syrians in Kurdish areas are not able to study in Kurdi and have either pulled their children out of the Kurdi schools or send their children to Syriac schools which have limited space, at the moment they have 1,800 students. The only other option is to send their children to schools that are government held but farther away from their homes. Even Kurdish teachers are struggling with teaching the Kurdi curriculum. There is one private University Qurtuba in the Hasaka region.

 Illegal Western sanctions are benefitting the un-elected Kurdish minority that is imposing its undemocratic will on the community.

All daily activities are monitored by the Kurds. Social life in general has seen a drastic decline. Before the war the streets were bustling with movement and music. Restaurants were opened on every corner. Now people are afraid of assembling for fear of being targeted by terrorists. An example of this took place in Al Qamishly when a restaurant was targeted by a suicide bomber in December 2015 and at least 16 people were killed. Kurds demanding federalism make up 30% of population. Churches and mosques are practicing their religious rituals quite normally. I wrote about a specific Syriac church that one of the individuals I interviewed goes to every Sunday and also included pictures in this article

Living in isolation

The general consensus of Syrians in the Hasaka area is that they feel isolated from the rest of the country. They feel that Syrians in other parts of the country do not know much about their living conditions. The only way to travel outside of the Hasaka region is via plane.  The airport in Al Qamishly is operating, but until about a year ago it was simply too expensive for the average citizen to travel via air. An airplane ticket from Al Qamishly to Damascus reached 80,000 Syrian Pounds (3 times the average salary in the country) which would equate to about $160 USD. About a year ago, two new airlines started operating in Syria, so the price decreased and it became more affordable but is still out of many people’s budget.

Efforts to balkanize Syria are increasing the displacement of Syrians and causing Christians to flee Syria

Migration has become a major issue. Just this past month, more than 80 Christian families have left Qamishli, Al-Malikiya and Al-Qahtaniya. Most of those families took asylum in Belgium, Australia and Sweden, and most likely they will not return as long as the situation in the country unstable, said Samir one of my contacts in Al Qamishly . Al-Malkiya is almost empty of Christians now. It is estimated that 50% of Hasaka Christians have left; the majority of those who have left to Turkey were Christians (different ethnicities). Also a fair number of Kurds also left to Turkey.

Humanitarian aid is being provided by the UN, WFP, UNHCR, Armenian and Syriac churchs.  

UN is participating is helping people; teaching governmental curriculum for free to anyone who wants it, distributing food to families in need, and coordinating with different UN organizations operating in Al Hasaka. WFP (World food program) is also providing nutritional support. Also they are implementing development programs, like supporting bread bakeries and maintaining general hygiene. Armenian and Syriac church’s have also been helping citizens but their resources are very limited.

Concluding remarks:

Imperialists are instrumentalizing the Kurdish minority to balkanize Syria, to destroy its nation-state self-determination, to destroy its sovereignty, and to destroy its territorial integrity.  These violations derogate international law, and undermine world peace, prosperity, and democracy.

Whereas the Syrian government and its allies are aligned with the forces of international and national law and order, the West and its allies — including all of the terrorists in Syria, and a minority of the Kurdish population – continue to be perpetrators of the highest crimes according to Nuremburg principles.

If the West succeeds in carving out a part of Syria, ostensibly to serve Kurdish interests, more Western military installations will be built on Syrian soil, and the Kurds will soon discover that their new polity, in whatever form it may take, will become a corrupt stooge “government” at the service of Empire.

Sarah Abed is a Syrian American independent investigative political commentator who focuses on exposing the lies and propaganda in mainstream media news and social media. She is a truth advocate who uses her social media accounts and website The Rabbit Hole www.sarahabed.com to counter the fictitious stories and allegations that are part of a well-funded, highly intellectual, emotionally driven media campaign against Syria. Her goal is to help end the war in Syria by educating the masses. She has spoken on radio shows and contributed to news publications.

Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca/empire-uses-kurds-as-pawns-in-its-imperial-pursuits-in-syria/5577978

 

 

 

 

 

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The 0.2% Christion that left from 100% befor turkish invaders come now subjected to hate speech

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Turkey’s Association of Protestant Churches has prepared its 2016 Rights Violations Report, noting that hate speech against the country’s Christians has increased in both conventional and social media. 

The annual report said hate speech against Protestants persisted throughout 2016, in addition to physical attacks on Protestant individuals and their churches.

The report also noted that churches in particular faced serious terror threats.

It particularly referred to hate speech incidents around Christmas and New Year’s Eve – conveyed through billboard advertisements, posters, leaflets, and online – including an amateur theatrical act on a street in the Nazilli district of the western province of Aydın, in which a group of traditionally costumed men were recorded holding another man dressed as Santa Claus at gunpoint on Dec. 28, 2016.

The report said such incidents, backed up by various other news reports, had prompted anxiety among the people during the holiday season, and not enough reaction was shown against these occurrences either by the legal authorities or the public authorities.

Another example the report referred to was the identification of copies of the Bible in some shelters used by terrorist group members, which portrayed them as formal “organizational material” in official statements. This caused “deep sadness” among the Christian community in Turkey, it stated.

The report cited cases in which Christian and Jewish students were asked to provide documents from religious centers where they belong in order to secure exemption from religion classes in Turkish schools.

“In one school a baptism document was verbally demanded. The use of the exemption right [from religion classes] is becoming more difficult day by day,” stated the report, adding that many students had been bullied by classmates due to their faith and were encouraged to convert to Islam.

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War Crimes Against Christians

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Crossby ,

Compelling evidence is mounting daily of egregious war crimes committed by Azerbaijan’s military in the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK). Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev launched an unprovoked large-scale military offensive during the early morning hours of April 2nd attempting to break through the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army’s contact line in attacks coming from three separate directions using mortars, rocket launchers, tanks, armored personnel carriers, surveillance and kamikaze drones and helicopters.Heavy Azeri shelling of Armenian residential areas destroyed civilian homes in several villages in both the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as the Republic of Armenia. In NK’s Martuni region a 12-year old boy was killed attending school and two other children were seriously injured. Soon after the volleys of mortar fire, the Azerbaijani military overran Armenian villages in the Martakert area and broke into homes in the village of Talish where many homes were damaged or destroyed. Azeri soldiers murdered at point blank gunshot range an elderly husband and wife including their 92-year old family relative, ultimately cutting the married couple’s ears off that strongly suggest the presence of Islamic State terrorists. 3000 known Azeris joined ISIS and a number of them are believed to have rushed from the Syrian battlefields returning home to fight on the fresh Nagorno-Karabakh warfront.

An Armenian Yezidi soldier was also beheaded, the all too familiar brutality that’s become an Islamic State trademark in its ethnic cleansing of thousands of Yezidi Christians in Iraq. The Yezidi soldier’s parents said that when their son’s body was returned, they buried him not knowing he had been beheaded. They only learned of his cruel fate after the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arranged a plan for each side to exchange corpses of dead soldiers that returned their son’s severed head. The coffin had to be dug up to bury their son’s head with his body on April 9.

Moreover, the retrieved corpses of 18 Armenian soldiers showed signs that they had been mutilated and tortured. After the major fighting broke out from April 2-7, the ICRC acted as mediator for deceased soldiers to be recovered. Officials from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons observed that all 18 bodies of the Armenian soldiers had been badly mutilated and tortured and issued the following statement:

Those acts, being a flagrant manifestation of inhumanity, run counter to the laws and customs of war and are in grave violation of the international humanitarian law, in particular, the Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field (1949), Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949) and the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I).

The NKR Prosecutor General’s Office has charged Azerbaijan with seven criminal cases in violation of international law: “using prohibited methods and means of warfare, targeting of civilians, shelling of populated areas motivated by national, racial or religious hatred or religious fanaticism.”

The Yezidi Armenian soldier apparently wasn’t the only Armenian in uniform who was decapitated. Chairman of the Foundation Against Violation of the Law Michael Aramyan disclosed that at least two other Armenian soldiers, one from Yerevan and another from Artsakh, “have been subjected to torture and then beheaded.” Murder, ill-treatment, torture, humiliation all constitute violations of the Criminal Code.

On April 11 the Armenian Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed the Red Cross mediated bodies to be exchanged and that authorities in both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are collecting and compiling overwhelming evidence of Azerbaijan’s humanitarian crimes of international law. Earlier this week the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs met in Yerevan with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian who also met on Wednesday with OSCE ambassadors stating:

With its aggressive actions Azerbaijan actually tried to refuse from its international commitments of solving the issue in a peaceful way, thus grossly violating the basic principles of international law, the decisions and declarations of a number of OSCE summits and Ministerial Councils, obviously ignoring the statements on the heads of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries on the settlement of the Karabakh issue.

James Warlick, the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group responsible for resolving the Azeri-Armenian conflict since the Nagorno-Karabakh War ended in 1994 had this to say at an April 9 press conference:

We are deeply distressed by our reports of human rights violations. We have seen the photos, we have heard the reports… we are deeply troubled, deeply concerned by any human rights violations.

Meanwhile every day since the Russian-brokered ceasefire on April 5 repeated violations by Azeri forces are tallied, inflicting more injury and death. As a typical example, on the overnight of April 11-12, both rifle and heavy artillery fire from the Azeri army contact line was observed. Though both sides have perennially claimed ceasefire violations, the Armenians have long agreed to have Minsk Group investigators enact a mechanism by which to document ceasefire violations but as a member of the European Parliament from Cyprus just stated the Baku government has consistently refused to cooperate. This could also be ameliorated by a deployment of a Russian peacekeeping force that Moscow’s Defense Minister Lavrov as well as Armenian President Sarkisian have been recently alluding to, although the Russian Minsk group chair Igor Popov has relegated the peacekeeping plan to a final stage in conflict resolution, not an immediate intervention.

 

In the meantime as the facts emerge pointing to a premeditated Azeri military offensive with US Empire approval, a diversionary game is devised that desperate, among the world’s most corrupt dictators Ilham Aliyev uses to his advantage to diffuse his mounting troubles and unrest at home. A typical wag the dog politician trick to take pressure off by playing the jingoistic game of targeting a foreign enemy for war to manipulatively unite and distract Azeris from their slumping oil economy driving high domestic unemployment and growing civil unrest against an oppressive totalitarian criminal regime. Add BP among Western oil giants to the self-serving mix to make sure the despot stays in power if only to bleed maximum profits after already investing $58 billion in recent years to develop the oil-rich Caspian oil and gas fields, along with newly proposed pipelines to deflate Russian gas export to Europe. Ultimately all Empire-dictator roads lead to eliminating their biggest scapegoated threat – the tiny independent NKR enclave. Hence, conjure up a religious war against the Armenians.

Part of this devious strategy involves Turkish and Azeri public displays calling for unity amongst all Islamic groups and nations in support of Azerbaijan’s “holy war” against NG Armenians “till the end of time,” thus fomenting an anti-Armenian crusade spilling over into public protests by Muslims in Paris and Stockholm. Turkish and Azeri nationals chanted “death to Armenians” inspired by a hate filled speech delivered by a prominent Turkish leader in Sweden. Of course there’s nothing new in hatred of Armenians but its public expression currently being acted out to fuel the thinly veiled hints from Turkish leadership promoting a religious war against Christian Armenians neatly timed with the Armenian genocide’s 101st anniversary underscores a surging information propaganda war. Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Savarsh Kocharyanastutely sees what Turkey et al’s up to:

Foreign Minister of Turkey in his speech at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation speculated on the Islamic solidarity and made a dangerous attempt to artificially present the Azerbaijani military operations against self-determined Nagorno-Karabakh as a religious conflict.

Erdogan’s spending millions on US public relations lobbyist firms that have included an ex-CIA directortargeting Armenians as the latest enemy to demonize at the same time a recent billboard briefly went up in Boston, home of a large Armenian American community, denying the Armenian genocide.

Then the virtual news blackout of events in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. What little coverage there has been typically refers to the NK Armenians as “separatists” occupying Azeri land rather than Armenians who are forced to defend themselves and their ancient homeland against a malevolent invading force. The US media’s overt blockade suppressing the truth of Azeri atrocities in Artsakh (the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh) is designed not only to keep America in the dark but also to cover-up US Empire’s complicity in Azerbaijan’s criminal aggression as yet another proxy war against Russia.

The neocons are still fuming as much as Erdogan over their precious proxy war terrorist allies getting their asses kicked by Putin in Syria. So what do they do? Immediately unleash Aliyev’s unilateral attack turning up more cold war heat by starting yet another war on Russia’s doorstep. It’s getting as predictable as all theWestern state-sponsored terrorism. Manufactured wars and manufactured mass migration crises are all designed to stir up more divide and rule racial and religious hatred spawning yet more wars and widespread violence as the globalist calling card agenda delivered by US Empire-Israel-NATO allies. The war against Armenians is not some unrelated, randomized accident. Virtually every major world event is preplanned according to the diabolical scheme of the ruling elite bent on its New World Order and one world government.

But fortunately with the truth clearer than ever now, the tide is turning. The EU parliament has taken up debate over the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and a growing number of vocal members are calling for recognition of the current NKR as an independent sovereign enclave leaving it up to its citizens to determine their own fate to become part of Armenia or not. Cyprus EU member Eleni Theocharous not only recommended sanctions against Azerbaijan, she summed it up this way:

It is therefore the EU’s responsibility to support the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, who fight for their freedom, and thus not to support the continuation of an unjust status quo. Peace equals recognition of the right to self-determination for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Luxemburg EU member Frank Engel also recognizes Azerbaijan as the chief villain in the Azeri-Armenian conflict:

The only solution is the recognition of the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh, because today Azerbaijan is the aggressor, and it was the aggressor 24 years ago, and continued to violate the ceasefire on a smaller scale, and Baku glorifies a convicted killer, Ramil Safarov and believes that all Armenians in the region must disappear.

Safarov was the Azeri soldier who in 2004 took an axe and hacked up an Armenian officer who was asleep while both were participating in a NATO “Partner for Peace” program in Hungary. After a short prison spell in Hungary, Aliyev welcomed the axe murderer home as a war hero with a promotion and back pay.

Even a couple of US Congress members are pushing to ban arms sales and foreign aid to Azerbaijan. So are a few Israelis whose government’s latest missile shipment arrived in Azerbaijan the day before the Azeris’ military attack. In recent years Israel has signed $5 billion in arms deals with Azerbaijan. Concerned over another shipment of drones set to be delivered to Baku in the next few days, in a letter to Israeli Defense Minister, the Meretz head Zehava Galon stated:

There is a serious fear that laws of war were violated with Israeli weapons. I ask that you order the halting of additional drone supplies to Azerbaijan until a commitment is obtained not to use them in battles in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has just sent a letter to Obama and Congress recommending economic sanctions against Azerbaijan for its war crimes pending the outcome of a Leahy law investigation. War crime violators by law are prohibited from receiving US military aid of any kind.

Twenty-seven nations have officially recognized the Armenian genocide. Germany may be the 28th as its Bundestag is scheduled to vote on formal recognition on June 2nd. Support for the Armenian people around the world is growing and self-determination is the operative word for the little independent de facto government of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Though Russia is considered Armenia’s closest friend and ally, some believe that Russia is not behaving like it. Despite its mutual defense pact, well known Russian TV and radio journalist and political analyst Vladimir Solovyov urged Russia not to shrink from its duty as a Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) ally of Armenia. He points out the fact that Azerbaijan was clearly the aggressor that attacked Nagorno-Karabakh. Solovyov warns Moscow that continuing to arm Azerbaijan in view of its unilateral attack on Armenians without any preconditions for future arms sales risks – in absence of Russian support, Armenia turning away from Russia, implying that Armenia could potentially align itself with the United States. As its closest CSTO ally in the South Caucasus, and the Russian Federation’s weakest link in the southern part of the nation, Solovyov maintains that Russia is ill-advised to lose Armenia as its most loyal friend in the region. His criticism of Russia not taking more of a stand in support of its supposed ally seems well taken:

Interestingly enough, we don’t discuss the question of who started it. Why don’t we want to see the broadcasts about beheaded Armenian soldiers, about capture and torture of people? I realize that we must consider the interests of both sides, but does it mean that we’re no longer interested in the truth? Turkey publicly declared it would support Azerbaijan; did we issue a similar statement with regard to our ally? Let us remember that Azerbaijan fired at Tavush Province of Armenia. That is the territory of Armenia and the CSTO kept silent about that fact.

The post War Crimes Against Christians appeared first on LewRockwell.

Source: http://weseekthetruth.com/author/joachim-hagopian/

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