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=> simple mercies

Posted by parhad (Guest) - Tuesday, August 10 2004, 16:04:59 (CEST)
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..this article, not found in any Syriac manuscript, but a Chicago newspaper, speaks in such simple language about the truth that was Iraq as far as tolerance between Muslims and Christians of good faith, that you'd think Tiglath wrote it.

If the boys could they'd find the reporter and brand him a traitor and sell-out, one who doesn't care about Cristian children and their persecution in Iraq under Saddam etc. and probably call his mother a whore and his father a cocksucker...just to round out their proooves.

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A week after church bombings, Iraqi Christians remain shaken

Posted By: Ninos (66.242.166.177)
Date: Tuesday, 10 August 2004, at 7:46 a.m.

A week after church bombings, Iraqi Christians remain shaken
BY MIKE DORNING
Chicago Tribune

BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - Catechism teachers armed with pistols guarded the entrances to the church. The choir was silent because the music director did not show up, nor did most of the congregation.

But Mass went ahead anyway at Felicitation of Our Lady Chaldean Catholic Church on Sunday, one week after car bombs exploded during services at five Christian churches in Baghdad and Mosul.

"Our neighbors, everyone told us not to come. They might bomb our church this week," said Mufaq Zanbaqa, 62, who worshiped with his wife. "We believe in God. We don't care."

Across town at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, where a priest said 10 died when a bomb exploded as people were leaving evening mass, the evening service was canceled this week.

The church's shattered windows were replaced, and the charred, twisted remains of car frames were shifted to the side of the parking lot. But human confidence is not so easily restored.

A caretaker explained that the Sunday evening service was called off at the last moment for "security reasons." Only 15 parishioners showed up for the morning Mass, which more than 400 people usually attend, he said.

The church bombings - a coordinated attack in two cities hundreds of miles apart and timed within an hour of each other - stunned the Christian community, which already was anxious about the toll Iraq's chaos has taken.

"Anything can happen in Iraq, maybe worse than this," said Arkan Fareed, 42, who dived on top of his son to protect him when the bomb exploded outside Sts. Peter and Paul. Both escaped injury.

Despite a history of Christian faith in Iraq that dates back to the time of the apostles and a tradition of integration with their Islamic neighbors, many Christians have decided to leave in recent months - and more may do so now.

Most Christian political and clerical leaders joined the country's government in casting the bombings as attempts to disrupt Iraqi society by foreign Islamic extremists who do not represent the sentiments of ordinary Iraqis. Prominent Islamic clerics issued quick condemnations.

But the attacks against churches are an ominous sign. An insurgency taking on an increasingly religious tenor has put Christian places of worship on its list of targets.

Even before the church bombings, the tumult in Iraq was pressing in on the Christian community, a small minority representing 3 percent of Iraq's population.

Amid rising support for Islamic extremism, there has been a wave of attacks against alcohol vendors, beauty salons and shops selling Western music and videos - all of which are considered corrupting influences by religious fundamentalists. Christians frequently operate such businesses.

The displays of Islamic fervor now common in a previously secular society also have rattled some Christians. Fiery sermons are preached by fundamentalist imams, and posters of Muslim clerics now are pervasive.

Christians also have become frequent victims of kidnappings for ransom by criminals taking advantage of the disorder. Historically, many Christians in Iraq have been shopkeepers or business owners and are widely perceived as a wealthy class.

For the most part, Christians are not ethnic Arabs and do not belong to the tribal networks that provide informal protection to their members by avenging wrongs. Nor do they have the armed militias that offer security.

And, although Saddam Hussein's regime received support from plenty of Christians - including Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz - some insurgent groups consider the Christian community allies of the Western occupiers. During the siege of Fallujah, threats circulated that insurgents would retaliate for damage to mosques by destroying churches.

Before the church bombings, at least 60 Christians were killed in the wake of the U.S. occupation - in most cases for selling alcohol or working with coalition forces in roles ranging from translators to laundry service contractors, said officials of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, a political party representing the largest Christian ethnic group.

As a result, Christians have been fleeing. Some have moved north to wait out the instability in the relatively peaceful and secular Kurdish region of Iraq. Some have moved to neighboring countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Others are trying to go to Europe, the United States or Australia, where many have relatives.

In Syria, Christians represent about 20 percent of the refugees arriving from Iraq since the beginning of the year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

"We've seen an increasing number of Christian refugees approaching our office in the past two to three months," said Ajmal Khybari, the agency's senior official in Damascus. In Iraq, he said, "They feel vulnerable."

Since Arab invaders brought the Islamic faith to Iraq, the Christian minority has occupied a precarious position, alternating over the centuries between periods of persecution and times of tolerance and prosperity.

Massacres of Assyrian Christians by the Ottoman Empire early in the last century prompted an exodus, including many who settled in Chicago and Detroit, where there continue to be large Iraqi Christian communities.

During the monarchy imposed after the British occupation of Iraq, Christians were an influential community, particularly in the fields of education and business. Under the secular nationalist and Baathist regimes that followed, Christians prospered as members of the educated middle class.

Despite the current difficulties, the draw of homeland can be strong. Most Christians belong to the indigenous Assyrian people who have lived in Iraq since the time of ancient Mesopotamia.

And many Christians enjoy strong bonds with their Islamic neighbors. Several members of Sts. Peter and Paul Church pointed out that Muslims who live nearby rushed to give aid after the explosions and later helped clear debris.

"I have lived all over Iraq. I worked in Baghdad. I worked in Fallujah," said Youhana Shamoun, 52, a member of the congregation. "Nobody ever told me: `You are a Christian. We will not give you a job.'''

The neighbors do not worry Saadi Hanna, a shopkeeper whose corner grocery is a few blocks from the church. Yet the threat seems real to him.

After the bombings, his wife and 14-year-old daughter removed their gold crucifixes from their necks and hid them in a jewelry box.

Months earlier, the shopkeeper took down the small color picture of the Virgin Mary from its place on the wall behind the counter.

It was the first time anyone in the family has been afraid to show signs of their faith, said Hanna, 47.

"We are afraid of the Islamic extremists," he said. "Maybe they will kill us on the streets. They killed innocent people in the church."

---

© 2004, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com

...what is lacking is what you'd expect...that it wasn't Islamic extremism that brought this instability and terror to Iraq..it was the war waged against a civillian population for 14 years by American oily men , who first bought up the media so they could present their lies unopposed. In every case, Islamic extremism has been an extreme reaction against the Christians extremism of the West.

...and guess which side the bioys are on? We have our own extremist...only they are cowards who encourage others to do their killing for them..so they can maintain their Christian Front...which is Fronted by an Assyrian Front.

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