Is Kurdistan Syria Church's Best Hope for Survival?

by Gary Lane, CBN News — February 4, 2014

ERBIL, Iraq -- Islamic militants are driving hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christians from their homes, causing Christian leaders to fear that without help from the outside, the Syrian church may disappear.

But there is one group on the inside, the country's Kurdish population, who are friendly to both America and Syrian Christians, and they are offering hope.

Recently, Syrian rebels opened fire on a government army tank protecting an ancient Christian site in the city of Saidnaya.

The House of Cherubim Church and Convent are located there, as well as a giant Jesus statue locals say is larger than the one in Rio de Janiero.

Defending the Church

Christians usually rely on the Syrian army to protect their holy sites, but not this time. They took up arms to defend the area from Islamists bent on destroying the church and the statue.

The Christians reportedly killed dozens of foreign jihadi fighters during a seven-hour battle, but more Muslim rebels are attacking Syria's Christians.

Last September, they assaulted the ancient Christian city of Maaloula. Islamist fighters with the Al Nursa group rampaged through the city, killing several Catholics in the process.

The Syrian army eventually retook the city, but the rebels invaded again two months later and reportedly kidnapped 12 nuns.

The ongoing targeting of Syria's Christian community has threatened its very existence, causing thousands to flee.

Christians Flee for Safety

Elliot Abrams, former deputy national security advisor for President George W. Bush, said he can't fault the Christians for leaving.

"If you were a Christian father in Syria looking at your children and their future -- and I think you'd want them to get out and not just now for safety, but for the future, too -- I think you'd be saying, go to Europe, go to America, " Abrams argued.

But not all Christians can leave the country or take up arms to protect themselves, so who will protect them?

The answer can be found within the country's Kurdish population, a people willing to risk their lives to protect Syria's Christians.

Protecting the Defenseless

"My experience with the Kurds in Syria was positive and for a long time they were defending Christians that were being persecuted there," Tina Ramirez, founder of Hardwired, said.

Last year, the Kurds declared autonomy over the northeastern part of their country. It's known as Syria Kurdistan because the Kurds control that territory.

The Christians living in the cities, like Qamishli, are better protected.

"It's becoming even more dangerous now, obviously, as the war continues. But in the beginning the ones that lived in the Kurdish areas had greater safety than living in other parts of Syria," Ramirez explained.

The Kurdish Militias

The Kurdish militias have won many battles against jihadis bent on controlling the region.

Bilal is a former soldier who works as refugee camp leader in northern Iraq.

"We resist Arabization, to not be controlled by Arabs, to defend our regions," he said. "That's why they are attacking us, but still we fight against them. We have fought al Qaeda for the past 13, 14 years with success. We've killed many Islamists and their leaders in Syria Kurdistan."

The same thing happened in Iraq.

Iraqi Kurds stood with America, opposing Saddam Hussein and foreign jihadists in the Iraq war, and today they have their own autonomous region.

Finding a Safe Haven

Iraqi Christians who fled persecution in cities, like Baghdad and Mosul, found a safe haven in the area of northern Iraq called Kurdistan.

"They are pro-American, their economy is terrific, they have something of a free market economy, people who go to Kurdistan will tell you. You think you are in Europe. It's wonderful," Abrams said.

Eventually the Syrian war will come to an end, and like Iraq, the country may end up divided into zones of influence, including a permanent, autonomous Syrian Kurdistan. 

"It is a Balkanization of the country. I don't think it will be a judari, legal separation with different countries being set up, but the zones are there just as in Iraq," Abrams predicted.

When asked if the United States should provide more support for the Syrian Kurds, he replied, "I hope our intelligence services are in touch with them, and I think we should be willing to help those groups."

America, Working with the Kurds?

Bilal warned that working with the Kurds may be America's only way of applying democracy in the Middle East.

"Who stood with America in the Iraq War? If America wants to apply democracy in the Middle East, if America is looking for long-term friendship in the Middle East, if America is looking for nations that will stand with them, it's the Kurds!" Bilal said.

They are the only secular Muslim force in the Middle East that opposes Islamic extremism, is friendly to Americans and is tolerant of Christians.

Al-Qaeda: Defender of Christians?

Al Qaida chief's recent call for Muslims to "not seek war with Christians" hardly cause for hope.

by Raymond Ibrahim — February 4, 2014

Coptic monk shows charred remains of one of dozens churches burned in part thanks to Zawahiri’s incitements against Christians following June revolution that ousted former president Morsi.

Muslim persecution of Christians is the “Achilles Heel” of the global Islamic movement’s image—the surest way of exposing its supremacist and intolerant elements and one of the main reasons the major media and establishment rarely report or address it.

The logic (fully explained here) can be summarized as follows:

Islamic and jihadi attacks targeting the West or Israel pose no problem to the image of Islam.  No matter how violent or brutal, no matter how many Islamic slogans are shrieked—“Allah commands the subjugation of infidels!”—Muslim violence against the West and Israel will always be dismissed as desperate acts of disempowered, oppressed, and frustrated Muslims—the “underdogs,” which the West tends to romanticize.

And so they will always get a free pass, without further reflection.

But if jihadis get a free pass when their violence is directed against those stronger than them, how does one rationalize away their violence when it is directed against those weaker than them—in this case, the millions of Christians being persecuted today by Muslims across 41 nations?

This is the dilemma that none other than Ayman al-Zawahiri, chief of al-Qaeda, understands.

Two thirds of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs still in exile

"Albanian [Muslim] terrorists in Kosovo-Metohija have destroyed around 150 temples and monasteries, [but] even after such violent acts, no one can diminish the significance of the Serbian spiritual and cultural heritage in Kosovo-Metohija."

InSerbia via OCP Media — February 3, 2014

BELGRADE – The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) in Kosovo-Metohija remains the mainstay of Serbian identity, although it is difficult to speak of normal church life with two thirds of SPC believers from the province still in exile, Bishop Teodosije of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija has said.

“Thanks to God, our holy sites are as safe as they can be at this moment, and we will do everything to ensure their long-term survival,” Bishop Teodosije told the Christmas issue of Vecernje novosti.

Turkey's Role in the Kidnapping of the Syrian Bishops

"All indications point to the fact that Turkey had a hand in the Bishops' kidnapping."

AINA via Pravoslavie — February 4, 2014

Bishop Paul Yazici (left) and Bishop Yuhanna Ibrahim.

On April 22, 2013 Bishops Yuhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazici were kidnapped in Syria. During the kidnapping their driver was murdered. A fourth person in the car, Fuad Eliya, was released. Bishop Yuhanna Ibrahim is of the Syriac Orthodox Church and was considered the strongest candidate to succeed the current Patriarch. Bishop Paul Yazici is of the Greek Orthodox Church, he is the brother of the current patriarch.

The Bishops left the Turkish border on April 22, heading towards Aleppo. In the silver coloured Kia Sorrento was also Fuad Eliya and Bishop Ibrahim's driver, Fathallah Kabud. Bishop Paul Yazici was on his way home to Aleppo after an overseas trip. To get home safely to Syria he asked Bishop Ibrahim to pick him up at the Bab El-Hawa border crossing. 20 kilometers from the border crossing the car stopped at a checkpoint controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and passed without incident. About two kilometers from this checkpoint, at 3:45 PM, the car was stopped by eight heavily armed men.

According to Fuad Eliya, the only survivor of the kidnapping, the perpetrators were not Syrians, but seemed to be people who came from Caucasus. Their clothes were similar to Taliban attire. One of the kidnappers forced the driver out of the car and put himself behind the wheel, another armed man sat in the backseat of the car, and they drove behind the kidnappers' blue truck. The cars changed direction and drove back to Bab El-Hawa. This is where the Bishops were last seen.

The Chaos In Syria And Turkey's Role In The Conflict

Since the war broke out in Syria, Turkey has played an active role in the conflict. The Syrian opposition's headquarters are in Istanbul. The Free Syrian Army runs its operations virtually from refugee camps in Turkey that are placed along the Syrian border. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have supported and financed the Syrian opposition, helping with logistics and weapons. But Turkey has played an ever more active role and has successively increased weapons deliveries to the opposition. Even the more radical groups, such as Al-Nusra and many more which are associated with Al-Qaeda, have received weapons from Turkey. The chaos in Syria has attracted jihadist groups from many countries in the region. The 900 kilometer border between Turkey and Syria has become a gateway to Syria for jihadist groups.

Nigeria: 53 murdered as armed Muslims enter church during service, lock doors, slit throats of those trying to escape

Christian Today via Jihad Watch & The Religion of Peace — February 2, 2014

The number of fatalities resulting from attacks in Nigeria on 26 January has risen to at least 138.

Islamist terror group Boko Haram, officially labelled a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organisation’ by the US government in November last year, is suspected to have coordinated the violence.

‘Boko Haram’ translates as ‘Western education is sacrilege’. The group has ties to Al-Qaeda and is responsible for over 2,000 deaths in Nigeria since 2009. Its leadership has declared it aims to cleanse the country of Christians, eradicate Nigerian democracy and replace it with an Islamic state guided by Sharia law.

On Sunday, armed militants attacked a church in Adamawa State in the north-east of the country. They locked the doors before the end of the service and shot at the congregation, slitting the throats of those who tried to escape. They also detonated bombs before going on a four hour rampage, burning houses and taking hostages from the village.

Initial reports recorded 22 casualties. However, that number has now risen to 53, with dozens more wounded.

Syrian Christian Leaders to USA: Stop Supporting Militants

Fars News Agency via Pravoslavie — February 4, 2014

Leaders of five Christian denominations have called on the US government to change its policies and stop calling the militants “freedom fighters.” They are also urging Washington to put pressure on countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to stop sending foreign militants into Syria, Islam Times reported.

A new definition for al-Qaeda

By Katherine Zimmerman, Washington Post Opinion — h/t Act! for America

January 31, 2014

Katherine Zimmerman is a senior analyst at the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project and authored the report “The al-Qaeda Network: A New Framework for Defining the Enemy.”

What exactly is al-Qaeda? And who cares? Confusion about how to define the terrorist group is rife. Was al-Qaeda involved in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi, Libya , that left four Americans dead? The Obama administration says no. Are the groups proliferating around Africa and the Middle East really part of the al-Qaeda that toppled the World Trade Center and hit the Pentagon?

There is no simple answer. Al-Qaeda is a global terrorist organization that relies on secrecy to survive. Even al-Qaeda members are confused about each other’s status: The leader of the group in Yemen had to ask his Algerian counterpart for clarification about Ansar al-Din’s relationship to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The covert nature of the network intentionally obscures many relationships.

Here’s the problem: According to recently declassified testimony of Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, before the House Armed Services Committee in October, the U.S. military regards itself as legally barred from going after the perpetrators of the Benghazi attacks (and, presumably, others who attack Americans) unless they are affiliated with al-Qaeda. The Obama administration’s parsing of words to deny al-Qaeda’s direct involvement effectively precludes a military response in these situations.

But the United States can neither disrupt nor defend itself from an enemy it cannot define. Nor are we safer because of arbitrary definitions. The question demands an answer: What is al-Qaeda?

It Is Time To Speak

Matushka Constantina over at Lessons from a Monastery posted this image and word:

In reply to a question concerning the meaning of this statement, Matushka Constantina writes:

I can’t speak directly for what St. Cassiane meant by this because I don’t remember the context in which she said it (I made the image a long time ago). However, there are many times throughout the history of the Church (and even today) when saints stood up and spoke instead of keeping silent. The martyrs who publicly declared their faith in Christ and were put to death could have remained silent when asked if they were Christians but instead of silence they spoke. Similarly, St. Maximos the Confessor spoke out against a prevalent heresy of his times when he could have remained silent and had his tongue cut out. But perhaps the greatest example of “speaking” instead of keeping silent is the holy Forerunner and Baptist John, who spoke out against the sinful lifestyle of Herod when he could have kept silent. 

Saint John Chrysostom says that those who blaspheme should fear even their shadows lest it actually be a Christian overhearing them and land a blow for their blasphemous words. This may be more than “speaking” but nevertheless it illustrates the point that we need to hold our faith so seriously that we speak up when someone is doing or saying false/wrong things so that we will not be condemned by our choice of silence on the Day of Judgement.

Following which I left this comment:

I might suggest that for at least some of us, it is 'Time to Speak' concerning the persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters in Syria, Egypt, and throughout the Islamic world. Just as St Nikodemos the Hagiorite collected and published the stories of Holy NeoMartyrs under the Ottoman yoke to strengthen the faithful, and as various collections of lives of the Russian New Martyrs under the militant atheists continue to be published, so we must now spread the accounts of the Holy New Martyrs of the 21st Century.

Brothers and Sisters, it is 'Time to Speak', not only for the sake of our Christian brethren being persecuted and slaughtered by Muslims, that we might encourage them to stand firm in the Faith and help alleviate their sufferings, but also for the sake of our souls, that we might be ranked with the saints who did not love their lives or their silence, but spoke against injustice, heresy and the lies of the devil.

Russia to make every effort to free Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria

VOR via Pravmir — January 31, 2014

Russia is doing everything in its power to free the Orthodox bishops who were abducted by Syrian rebels last April on the outskirts of Aleppo, Russia’s foreign chief Sergei Lavrov has said.

The Russian foreign minister met Wednesday with Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East. “We are deeply saddened to learn that the problems that Christians are going through in Syria have affected you as well,” Lavrov said at the beginning of the talks.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia earlier said there were no news of Greek Orthodox Archbishop Boulous Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yuhanna Ibrahim after they disappeared last year.

The mother superior and several nuns of a Syrian convent in Ma’loula 35 miles north of Damascus are still missing too. They are reportedly being held in rebel hostage.

Russia to express concerns over exodus of Christians from Syria

Half a million of Christians In Syria were forced to leave their homes, according to recent data.

VOR via Pravmir — January 31, 2014

Russia is interested in preventing the extinction of the Christian church in Syria, the Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said Tuesday at a meeting with the Patriarch of Antioch and All The East John X. “The prospect of a complete exodus of Christians from Syria if such a thing is allowed, threatens to spread the process to other Middle Eastern countries – Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, this kind of scenario, in our view, would be a civilizational catastrophe for the entire Middle East.

Our country is going to do its best to prevent this catastrophe “- said Matvienko, adding that half a million of Christians In Syria were forced to leave their homes, according to recent data.

Matvienko believes, the disappearance of the Christian church in Syria can lead to "the fatal transformation of historically developed nature of the region.” She noted that Damascus should strive to maintain the country’s principle of coexistence of different faiths.