Posted on 04/30/2015 6:24:57 PM PDT by markomalley
Syria Deeply spoke with displaced Assyrian families who fled to Beirut after Jabhat al Nusra and ISIS arrived in their hometown of al-Hasakah. Many of them have relatives presently held hostage by ISIS.
Beirut, Lebanon – “We are searching for the quickest way to go to Europe or Canada, maybe America,” said Jack Zayya, an Assyrian Christian refugee from Syria who arrived in Beirut two months ago. Standing in front of a local Assyrian church, he recalled the difficult journey from his hometown of al-Hasakah, situated in northeastern Syria and home to many Christians and Kurds.
Before the war, Zayya led a good life back in Syria, making a home for his wife and two children. “I had a car wash and, thank God, it provided for us for a long time,” he told Syria Deeply. “But it’s all gone now – the house, our belongings, the car wash, everything.”
During the first two years of the conflict, al-Hasakah was relatively calm. Yet as Assad’s military forces pulled out of the region in 2013, local residents had to fend for themselves against a variety of armed factions. They were able to protect the area for several months, until Jabhat al Nusra arrived and took control of much of al-Hasakah towards the end of that year.
"Things were hard under [Jabhat al Nusra], but it got much worse when Da’esh arrived,” Zayya explained, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, or ISIS.
Kidnappings became a regular occurrence in the area after ISIS arrived, and Assyrians, who made up some 40,000 of the 1.2 million Syrian Christians before the violence started in 2011, have often been targeted. An estimated 220 Assyrians were taken hostage by ISIS in late February, and only 19 have been released to date. One Assyrian refugee from an al-Hasakah area village, who asked that his name not be used, said that nearly 90 relatives from his wife’s extended family are among those still held by ISIS.
'No negotiating with Da’esh'
“Kidnappings were about getting ransom from rich families or individuals at first. With Da’esh, though, there is no negotiating. We had to pay the jizya tax or die,” Zayya said, referring to a compulsory tax that religious minorities pay under the Islamic caliphate.
After a hardline Libyan sheikh from ISIS was appointed as emir of the al-Hasakah area, crosses were removed from the churches and destroyed, and wearing a crucifix was forbidden, Zayya says. Christians were not allowed to drive or ride in automobiles, and women were mandated to wear a burka.
“Our children saw many beheadings,” he said. “We were obligated to watch public executions. What kind of world is that for kids to grow up in? They were always scared.”
As of July 2014, ISIS was estimated to have controlled some 35 percent of Syria, with other hardline Salafist groups controlling large swaths elsewhere.
Since then, US-led coalition forces have used airstrikes to push the militant organization back in areas across the country, but ISIS has strengthened its grasp on core areas.
In February, ISIS swept through roughly a dozen villages in north-eastern Syria. In April, after a long battle against rebel forces, ISIS took over an estimated 90 percent of Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of southern Damascus.
Beirut’s local Assyrian community has helped organize the flight of Assyrian families from al-Hasakah and elsewhere to Lebanon, negotiating an exception for Assyrians despite Lebanon’s borders having been officially closed to Syrian refugees for months.
'More are coming'
There are some 800 Assyrian families from surrounding communities who have been exiled to al-Hasakah, according to the Lebanese Assyrian Church’s Bishop Yatron Koliana, who works with the government to facilitate refuge for Assyrian refugees.
“Of course, we’re in touch with the families that are still in al-Hasakah. When they want to come, they send us their names, we send their names to the border and they are let in,” Koliana told Syria Deeply. “Now the Lebanese army will not let a Syrian citizen into the country unless his name is on the list.”
“I’m sure more are coming,” he added. “They are giving us new names every day.”
Upon arriving in Lebanon, the displaced families continue to struggle for survival, largely because they are legally barred from working in the country. Most of the families fled under attack and were unable to bring more than what they could carry with them along the dangerous trek.
Many have had to resort to working menial. under-the-table jobs, such as construction and other forms of manual labor. They are nonetheless burdened by expenses such as healthcare, education and rent costs while in Lebanon. “The three biggest problems [refugee families] face are sickness, education and a place to live,” the bishop continued.
"For the time being, most families are dependent on donations to get by. Now we have the capabilities to continue because we have food and money donations, but how long will these last for?” Koliana asked. “This situation can’t continue for much longer. Another six months? Difficult. Another year? Impossible.”
On Easter Day, ISIS reportedly bombed an Assyrian church in Tel Tamer, an Assyrian village in eastern Syria, according to a statement issued by the Assyrian Network for Human Rights. The bomb was detonated as Assyrian and Kurdish fighters attempted to retake the village from ISIS, who has controlled it since early March.
Bishop Koliana says he and others in the church have urged Assyrians in Syria to remain steadfast.“I’m telling them not to leave this land,” he remarked. “This is our land. They say, ‘OK – we’re with you. This is our land, but what are we supposed to eat, dirt?’”
For his part, Zayya says he doesn’t want to return to Syria. “We didn’t use to have sectarianism in Syria,” he remembered. “We all lived together. We didn’t ask our neighbors about their religion.”
Those days, however, are long gone. “We’re not returning,” he concluded.
Why do I think that a Syrian Christian wanting to come to the U.S. will be harshly scrutinized and turned down, but a Syrian with an Islamist history will be cheerfully welcomed and given a welfare card and be put on the fast track to citizenship?
Prayer for Peace in Syria
God of Compassion,
Hear the cries of the people of Syria,
Bring healing to those suffering from the violence,
Bring comfort to those mourning the dead,
Strengthen Syria’s neighbors in their care and welcome for refugees,
Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms,
And protect those committed to peace.
God of Hope,
Inspire leaders to choose peace over violence and to seek reconciliation with enemies,
Inspire the Church around the world with compassion for the people of Syria,
And give us hope for a future of peace built on justice for all.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Light of the World,
Amen.
From Anonymous:
Father God, Our Savior and King,
We come to You in despair over the evil being done to our Middle East Christian brothers and sisters. We ask that You would put Your hand of protection upon them and that You would sustain them as You did the Israelites in the desert. Lord, cause our brothers and sisters to cry out to You for help and show them the peace that only You can give in answer to their needs. In their darkest moments, Lord, keep them, strengthen them, and comfort them. When they despair that no one is coming to help them, Lord, reveal Your glory and restore their souls.
We ask you these things in the blessed name of Your precious son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Here in my town, about a year ago, representatives of the Orthodox parish and the Latin parishes and our priests met with the mayor to ask him to speak to the Feds about sending us some Syrian Christian refugees. They are good people, hard working and faithful. We assured the mayor and through him the Feds that we would take care of the Syrians until they got on their feet. The mayor had a meeting with people from the State Dept who told him they couldn’t “discriminate” like that.
Failing that, IOCC, Lutheran World Relief and I assume Catholic Charities are over there, on the ground, helping as they can and being a credit to all of us. Send them something!
“The mayor had a meeting with people from the State Dept who told him they couldn’t “discriminate” like that.”
Un-flipping believable. They let jihadis in without question, they send airplanes down south to give first class air flights to Salvadoran MS-13 members who worship in the cult of Santa Muerte, all of whom go on the public dole, but they won’t approve flyer for Christians who would be sponsored at no cost to the taxpayers.
A common theme here. How many times has Obungo mentioned persecuted Christians? When he was absolutely forced, he discussed persecution..., but then he mentioned the Zoroastorian Yazidis, not the Christian Chaldeans or Assyrians. (Nothing against the Yazidis, but still...)
On May 1, Loyalty Day, does he commemorate traditional patriotic subjects? Of course not. He memorializes the Stonewall Sodomite Roots as the epitome of Americanism.
Disgusting. May God have mercy.
“Disgusting. May God have mercy.”
Yes, it is. That said,if we ask for God’s mercy, then “Do not become harsh and unmerciful. Think that behind him who seeks charity from you, is the Lord Himself…Give charity for your own benefit and for the benefit of those who are really poor. The Lord will reward you…” +John Chrysostomos.
And “Ever let mercy outweigh all else in you. Let our compassion be a mirror where we may see in ourselves that likeness and that true image which belong to the Divine nature and Divine essence. A heart hard and unmerciful will never be pure.” +Isaac of Syria (appropriately)
We can rail against Obama and the government with some justification, but that won’t make any difference at all, at all, to a Syrian child with no home, no food, no school, no church. We can, each one of us however, do something however small about that!
This is the other disgusting part to me (didn't want to let my Øbama rant get derailed)
I don't know about Eastern churches, but I know in the Latin churches I've gone to in the past year, I can count on one hand the time that the plight of our brethren have been the subject of a homily. Even in the "prayers of the faithful"...this subject is very, very, very rarely broached. The Holy Father, to his credit, has brought up his concerns about persecuted Christians, but in our local dioceses? Hardly.
(I have, over the past year or so, been spending most of my time and my treasure with the Commissariat of the Holy Land...so I know that the bulk of my donations are going to the right place, but this is a privilege I have living so close to DC and is not so readily available to other who are not that close to here)
I agree that we should devote what resources we can to providing relief, but I, honestly, outside of the Commissariat, do not know which Catholic organization to support? I frankly don't trust the scandal-laden CRS, particularly in light of the clear guidance provided by Benedict XVI.
“I don’t know about Eastern churches, but I know in the Latin churches I’ve gone to in the past year, I can count on one hand the time that the plight of our brethren have been the subject of a homily.”
Almost every Sunday we hear something about what is going on. Of course, it’s happening to our people. People I go to Liturgy with have had family members killed by the ravening wolves of Mohammedanism. I’m pretty sure the Latins up here are hearing about it too.
The tragedy is that they are ALL our people. But I do understand what you're saying.
Here is a troparion to chant:
Save, O Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance; grant victory to our faithful rulers over the barbarians. And protect Your commonwealth, by the power of Your Cross.
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