Iraqi Christian cry for help

J

jem

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/18/A-Desperate-Cry-from-Iraq-Christians


The situation for Iraq’s Christians has been steadily deteriorating ever since the 2003 invasion, in part because the U.S. never acknowledged that Christians were being targeted by Islamists and did not prioritize protection of Christians or other minorities.
But with the recent sweep through Mosul and other Iraqi cities by the jihadi group ISIS, Iraq’s Christians look to be on the verge of genocide.
On June 16th it was reported that ISIS had marked the doors of Christians in red. Patriarch Sako’s letter confirms that rumor. While no one yet knows what this ominous sign foretells, Sako and other Christian leaders are pleading with the world to intervene before the meaning of the sign is made clear.
Earlier this week, Iraqi human rights activist Pascale Warda came to Washington from Baghdad to raise the alarm with the State Department and members of Congress. She was accompanied by Bishop Yousif Habash, who now resides in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but who is originally from Qaraqosh, a city 15 miles from Mosul which was also recently overrun by ISIS, where the Christians still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.
Bishop Habash said, “Christians throughout the Middle East have been targeted, and we are on the verge of being exterminated. The West stepped in to stop the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims and Kosovar Muslims, so we know it can be done. The West must step in now and save the Middle East’s Christians, or we will be wiped out.”
 
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/...ristians-Kurds-in-Regions-They-Do-Not-Control

he Islamic State-- formerly Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)-- has previously used water as a destructive tool to destroy crops and dams in Shi'ite territory. Now, ISIS is attempting to deprive major Christian strongholds of water through their control of pipe systems.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the city most affected by ISIS's new campaign to deny water to as many Christians and Shi'ites in Iraq as possible is the city of Qaraqosh, currently under control of Kurdish Peshmerga forces and, thus, impenetrable to the terrorist jihadist group. Their only current connection to Qaraqosh is a water pipeline from the Tigris River, and ISIS has worked diligently to exploit this one tie by cutting off the water supply from the historic river.
As Bloomberg's Jason Motlagh explains, the tactic has worked, as it is forcing Kurdish administrators in the town to import the water at extremely high prices and begin to dig wells to help better distribute the water. The wells require weeks and months of work to complete, however, and water has to travel 15 miles from other Kurdish controlled areas to reach Qaraqosh. Residents are now paying $10 a day for emergency water tanks, a fortune to many who live with limited means in the city.
 
http://www.aina.org/news/20140723130250.htm


100 French MPs Demonstrate in Support of Assyrians in Mosul
Posted 2014-07-23 17:02 GMT

French Parliament members demonstrate in Paris in support of Assyrians in Mosul, who have been targeted by ISIS.
Paris (AINA) -- One hundred members of the French Parliament demonstrated in front of the parliament building today in support of the Assyrians of Mosul, who have been targeted by ISIS. The demonstrators expressed their solidarity with the Assyrian of Mosul by carrying signs with the Arabic letter "n", which is the first letter of the word "Nasrani" (Christian) in Arabic. ISIS has marked all Christian homes in Mosul with this letter (AINA 2014-07-19).
Since taking over Mosul, ISIS has destroyed nearly half of the 30 churches in the city and occupied the rest, converting them into mosques and headquarters.

Nearly 2,000 Assyrian families have fled Mosul to the Assyrian villages in the north, including Ankawa and Dohuk. The water and electric service that was supplied from Mosul to the surrounding towns and villages has been cut off by ISIS. Residents are now using well water and their is a life-threatening shortage of water.

In a statement issued today, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako said this is the worst disaster to hit Iraq's Christians since the coming of Genghis Khan.
 
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/27/Obama-Obama-Where-Are-You

Several hundred people gathered in front of the White House on Saturday, chanting, “Obama, Obama, where are you? Iraqi Christians call for you!”
Iraqi Christians held demonstrations in a number of cities on Saturday, including Washington, Paris, The Hague, Cologne, and London, in order to bring attention to the current assault on Christians by the Islamic State (IS)-- formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) jihadists. One week ago, Christians were forced out of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and many Christian monasteries, shrines and churches have since been destroyed.
His Grace Mar Paulus Benjamin, a bishop in the Assyrian Church of the East, made the 12-hour bus ride from Chicago with parishioners to attend the demonstration in Washington. I spoke with him in front of the White House: “Iraq’s Christians are being ignored by the United States, the United Nations, and the human rights organizations,” the Bishop said. “For us, America is a symbol of freedom and protection of human rights. I think of America in World War II, when America came to the rescue of Europe. Then, the enemy was the Nazis. Today it is ISIS. The names are different, but the religious cleansing is the same.”
After I spoke with the Bishop I was approached by a man who quietly said to me, “You know, we are Muslims here as well.” Yasir is a Muslim from Baghdad who left Iraq in 1966. “What I see today in the world is not the Islam I grew up with. I had many Christian friends growing up. I attended the Jesuit College in Baghdad. I am here today to show my support for my Christian friends.”
Yasir was not the only Muslim there. An imam was one of the speakers, along with church leaders, and protestors could be heard chanting, “We are Muslims and Christians united together against Da’ash,” using the Arabic term for IS.
All of the demonstrators I spoke with expressed frustration with the lack of action by the global community, and especially by the United States. This comes at a time when criticism of the Obama administration has been mounting for its failure to act against ISIS. According to an article in McClatchyDC, the administration had ample warning of the rise of IS and the threat to Iraq. Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, even publicly told the Senate Armed Services Committee back in February that the Islamic State ‘probably will attempt to take territory in Iraq and Syria to exhibit its strength in 2014.’
Further evidence of the administration’s foreknowledge of ISIS’s sweep through Iraq was revealed on July 24, when Deputy Assistant Secretary Brett McGurk testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing. McGurk arrived in Mosul three days before it fell to ISIL. In testimony that was uncharacteristically frank for this administration, McGurk acknowledged that both the U.S. and the Iraqis were well aware of the rising threat beforehand but were unable to muster the forces needed to counter it. To his credit, McGurk met with religious leaders while in Iraq, including Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako in Baghdad, and Archbishop Bashar Warda in Erbil. In his testimony, McGurk states, “We are also particularly concerned about the state of the Christian community in Iraq, including in Mosul where this ancient community is being expelled by ISIL on threat of execution. There are now reports of the community’s full scale departure, which saddens us deeply.” But whether this expression of concern will result in any kind of direct action that will help to protect Christians and allow them to return to their homes remains to be seen.
Katie Gorka is the president of the Council on Global Security. @katharinegorka
 
This president, to be honest, does not give a crap about Christians. The silence from Pope Francis regarding this tragedy has also been extremely disturbing.
 
especially since the Iraqi Christians I know in the states here are Roman Catholic.

I just did a search -- I see he has been praying for them and speaking with the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church but it does seem like he could be doing more.



reg said:
This president, to be honest, does not give a crap about Christians. The silence from Pope Francis regarding this tragedy has also been extremely disturbing.
More...
 
jem said:
especially since the Iraqi Christians I know in the states here are Roman Catholic.

I just did a search -- I see he has been praying for them and speaking with the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church but it does seem like he could be doing more.
More...

You're right - he could and should be doing more. As the leader of a billion Catholics, his words and actions carry much influence. The least that he can do is express his full support for these Christians and assist them in finding safe passage out of that hellhole. These are Christians who find themselves in this situation as a result of standing up to these terrorists and refusing to convert to Islam. What greater act of courage is there?

The pope should act and speak up now before this becomes a full fledged massacre. If God forbid it comes to that, then Pope Francis will have blood on his hands for failing to come to the aid of his fellow Christians when he had the opportunity to do so.
 
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