Syrian Christians sign treaty of submission to Islamists

Christian leaders in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, captured by an organization formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda, have signed a submission document this week banning them from practicing Christianity in public in return for protection by their Islamist rulers. The document, dated Sunday and disseminated through Islamist Twitter accounts, states that the Christian community in the province of Raqqa, captured last March by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), was recently given three options: to convert to Islam; to remain Christian but pledge submission to Islam; or to “face the sword.” They opted for the second of those choices, known as dhimmitude.

Earlier this month, al-Qaeda’s central command distanced itself from ISIS, saying it was “not a branch of al-Qaeda.”

The authenticity of the document, displaying the stamp of al-Qaeda, could not be independently verified. The signatures of 20 Christian leaders at the bottom of the document said to have been party to the agreement were blotted out, ostensibly at their own request.

According to classic Islamic law, Christians and Jews living under Muslim sovereignty must pay a tax known as jizya in return for the Muslim ruler’s protection, known as dhimma.

The Christians of Raqqa chose to sign the dhimma treaty over war, the document stated, receiving a commitment by local ISIS commander Ibrahim Al-Badri, also known as Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, not to be subjected to physical harm or religious targeting.

In return, the Christians agreed to a list of conditions: to abstain from renovating churches or monasteries in Raqqa; not to display crosses or religious symbols in public or use loudspeakers in prayer; not to read scripture indoors loud enough for Muslims standing outside to hear; not to undertake subversive actions against Muslims; not to carry out any religious ceremonies outside the church; not to prevent any Christian wishing to convert to Islam from doing so; to respect Islam and Muslims and say nothing offensive about them; to pay the jizya tax worth four golden dinars for the rich, two for the average, and one for the poor, twice annually, for each adult Christian; to refrain from drinking alcohol in public; and to dress modestly.

“If they adhere to these conditions, they will be close to God and receive the protection of Mohammed his prophet … none of their religious rights will be detracted nor will a priest or monk be wronged,” the document ended. “But if they disobey any of the conditions, they are no longer protected and ISIS can treat them in a hostile and warlike fashion.”

ISIS has previously banned the sale of cigarettes in Raqqa and enforced the veil for women in public. Last week, the Daily Star Lebanon reported, it changed the official weekend in the province to Thursday and Friday from Friday and Saturday, as practiced in “faithless countries.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, Assad, Iran and Hezbollah are helping these people.

Christians in the Middle East are acutely aware of the fact that Western Christians, especially American Christians, have tended to side against their interests and have generally not cared about their well being.

This will have serious repercussions for America, as Christians in the Middle East are being drawn into a growing Russian, Iranian and Shiite alliance against Sunni extremists(China is a silent partner and Hindus and Buddhists, who have some militant elements, despite their peaceful reputations, are waiting the wings too). Our failure to protect them has forced them into this. Either they fight alongside Hezbollah, flee the region or get genocided by Al-Qaeda. The group that is involved here, ISIS, are psychopaths who have been formally expelled from Al-Qaeda for being too blood thirsty. Think about that. These are the same people we fought in Iraq that were executing barbers for trimming beards. They are extremely sick and evil people, even by the abysmal standards of Islamic terrorists.

I live in an area with a lot of Syrian Christians and they are disgusted with US foreign policy, as are Armenians and other non-Western European Christians. We have really screwed up badly on this front.

I remember reading generally derogatory attitudes towards Middle Eastern Christians in Evangelical publications, to the effect that they are not real Christians but “cultural Christians” who don’t deserve any special sympathy. I don’t know if that line is being pushed anymore in Evangelical circles, but it was widespread when I was active in the church 20 years ago.

The latest development is that Hezbollah is training Christian militias in Syria and militantly anti-Western political factions in Lebanon are gaining more support from the Christians there, as younger Christians move away from the pro-Western Christian parties that are being pressured into an uncomfortable alliance with Sunni Muslims by the Western powers.

We need to have a new conservative foreign policy that recognizes our interests in allying with people with similar cultures and values rather than geopolitical chess playing from the cold-war era that results in bizarre and increasingly untenable alliances with terrorism supporting states Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

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