When radical Islamists tore down a cross and hoisted a black flag above a church in the northern Syrian city of Raqqah last week, their action underscored the increasingly hostile environment for the country’s Christians.
Although Syria is majority Sunni Muslim, it is one of the most religiously and ethnically diverse countries in the Middle East, home to Christians, Druze, and Shiite-offshoot Alawites and Ismailis. But the country’s conflict, now in its third year, is threatening that tapestry.
While the primary front in the war has pitted Sunni against Shiite, Christians are increasingly caught in the line of fire. The perception that they support the government ”” which is in many cases true ”” has long made them a target of rebel groups. Now, Christians say radical Islamist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an affiliate of al-Qaeda, are determined to drive them from their homes.
One sometimes forgets that the situation in Syria started as popular protest against the Assad regime and its excesses by ordinary Syrians. Then Saudi Arabia and Quatar moved in backing the Muslim brotherhood equivalents with arms and funding. Then the Assad regime released Alawite death squads and its army to rampage through the opposition towns. Meanwhile, the West prevaricated.
As ever the situation drew in all the Western Jihadis from places like Britain and the rest of the Middle East, and they ruthlessly took over the opposition forces and are now running riot.
It was as the radical Islamists were taking over that the West finally engaged and started providing funding and weaponry to the opposition and following the chemical attacks, mobilised for direct action.
And as usual, all the Syrian groups have turned on the Christians, including the Alawite forces. The truth seems to be that Christians only manage when there is political stability in the Middle East and what used to be called The Levant or Near East. It is a tragedy.
Prayers for the Christians of Syria and for peace in Syria. Perhaps the best hope is for the West and Russia and Syria’s neighbors to push for negotiation and settlement. That may be the least worst hope for Christianity in its ancient homelands.