That is sad — centuries of dhimmitude can disillusion one
“That is sad — centuries of dhimmitude can disillusion one.”
I suspect that’s part of what is going on, but only part. Remember, it was just within the last 100 years that Christians were majority populations or near majorities in many areas of the ME. The rise of Arab nationalism after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Great Power games which were and are played in the ME changed the modus vivendi which had developed and prevailed for centuries out there. That some Eastern Christians would today still insist that they could be close to Mohammedans or that Mohammedanism while at the same time despairing of any future in the ME isn’t really surprising. I get the impression that they are deluding themselves at least on a person to person level, about friendships with Mohammedans. I am, however, more than a bit hesitant to assume I know better than they do, seeing as how they actually come from there and lived their lives there.