Persecuted under Saddam Hussein for being Kurdish, then chased from Baghdad because they are Christian, families in a village on Iraq’s border with Turkey find themselves on a new front incursion.
The tiny Christian enclave of Dash Ta Takhe in the Khameer mountains has been shaken by Turkish shelling in recent weeks, forcing two thirds of its 150 population to flee to safer areas.
Some locals, however, mainly the men, are staying put, either because they refuse to evacuate or because they cannot afford to go anywhere else. “Even if we all die we will not leave the village,” Gurial Warda, the mayor, whose wife and children have fled to Zakho, the nearest large town, said.
The Barnabas Fund is doing wonderful work to support Christians living in Moslem countries. The level of persecution, torture, and murder is truly staggering. Having listened to a presentation on this yesterday, I am ashamed of TEC’s preoccupation with comparatively trivial sexuality issues. (Fiddling while Rome burns, anyone?)
Dealing with this discrimination is particularly challenging because of the rule of taqqiya, which is the Moslem’s right (even duty) to lie to non-Moslems to protect the faith. This strongly suggests the impossiblity of any meaningful dialog. So TEC’s obsession with “conversation” (aka “talk ’til they drop”) would seem to be a rather futile approach.