Syriac Catholic Patriarch Warns: Western Politicians and Media Mislead World on Middle East

NC Register ^ | August 1, 2016 | VICTOR GAETAN

[NYer]

ROME — Imagine a five-star general, under assault, with no weapons of defense — except faith.

Think of an Old Testament prophet living today, describing the evil destroying his community — but few listen.

That general or prophet is the fierce and noble leader of the Syriac Catholic Church of Antioch, Patriarch Ignatius Youssef III Younan, age 71, whose Church comprises some 200,000 souls worldwide.

snip

According to the patriarch, fundamental errors in Syria came from Western politicians insisting that democracy can be exported, when it can’t; from Western media describing an “Arab Spring” style opposition movement and the existence of moderate rebels, who aren’t viable (if they exist); and from an intentional misunderstanding of political Islam and its objectives.

“In Syria, the situation was much more complex than in Tunisia or Egypt or Libya,” he said, adding that the media turned a war “inflicted on Syria” into an “Arab Spring” fantasy, starting in March 2011.

“Even Catholic leaders [in the United States and Western Europe], lured by the media and your hypocritical politicians, would tell us [Christian leaders in Syria]: ‘The Syrian regime has to go,’ assuming it was a matter of months,” which was inappropriate because “you have no right to interfere in an independent country that is still recognized by the U.N.,” said the patriarch.

“Western politicians said, ‘We have to export democracy,’ but what kind of democracy do you export to a country that has never known the separation of religion and state? If you don’t have that separation, you will have no democracy, and you will end up denying the rights of non-Muslims. What kind of democracy is that?” asked the patriarch.

“American, French, English, European Union politicians — they knew that, and now they harvest what they have sowed,” he said.

[NYer]

Patriarch Ignatius Youssef III Younan discusses the plight of his flock and the mistakes in policy and perspective that have compounded their difficulties.

Patriarch Youssef sat down with the Register in Rome to provide an update and overview of the situation facing Syriac Catholics in their main homelands of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. (The Catholic bishop of Antioch traditionally carries the title “patriarch” — one of five patriarchs of Antioch, three Catholic and two Orthodox.)

[NYer]

“It is a matter of Islam, radical Islam, and most of the Sunni Muslims are radical. Why? Because they take their Quran literally. In the Quran you have verses that promote tolerance toward non-Muslims, the people of the book, like us [Christians], like Jews, and you have verses that are very intolerant, very violent,” he explained.

“A Muslim has to learn the Quran literally. Each letter of the Quran is the word of God, and if you have people memorizing verses like ‘Go and kill the infidels’ — and those who do not say, ‘Allahu Akbar’ [God is great], or ‘There is one God, Allah, and there is one prophet, Muhammad,’ are the infidels, this is the problem,” he said.

He thinks Western governments that have relationships with Muslim-majority governments need to insist those governments confront the promotion of violence and “reform your book of religion.”

Catholic ping!

[sparklite2]

fundamental errors in Syria came from Western politicians insisting that democracy can be exported, when it can’t

---

I hope we’ve learned that lesson. I doubt we have.

[Gunpowder green]

If the Islamist rebels win in Syria, one of the first things that they will do is slaughter the Christians. Yet our government supports the Islamists and opposes the Christians.

[Just mythoughts]

And just how many of lying Ryan and Obama’s refugees they have imported to the US are Christian?

[pgkdan]

“American, French, English, European Union politicians — they knew that, and now they harvest what they have sowed,” he said.

[pgkdan]

“American, French, English, European Union politicians — they knew that, and now they harvest what they have sowed,” he said.

True enough but don't leave the Vatican out of that equation. This Pope is among the worst when it comes to defending Christians in the Middle East. In fact, given his position he is by far the worse. By far.

[piasa]

Russia does the same thing- supporting Shia islamists of Hezbollah and the IRGC. For Russia their interests are and always have been a seaport directly on the Med... and whatever secures that is their goal. Iran’s interests are to use Syria as a means of confounding Israel and projecting their power and influence into the nations all around the Med, too.
The Islamists whether Sunni or Shia, are mere puppets providing plausible deniability for their masters, and are secondary to the political, defensive security needs, and offensive ambitions of all the nations involved.

[ex-snook]

After WW I, England stuck its nose into reorganizing the area, then we are in there for oil. Maybe when we get oil independence and Israel gets security, we will be gone. Of course, we can have politicians and military who want to war somewhere that is ‘doable’ and Presidents who want to be ‘war time’ Presidents. That may have a familiar ring to it, including the current candidates.

[CMB_polarization]

It’s one thing to buy oil, another to wire our entire financial system via the petrodollar. We thought the muzzies would be pacified by potato chips, fancy cars and playboy magazines. How wrong we were.

[Excellence]

Somebody benefited.

[Gunpowder green]

You missed the point. We are actively supporting those who would slaughter Christians.