Christian villages offer homes and safe haven

star ledger ^ | November 08, 2007 | JAMES PALMER

[Coleus]

TEENA, Iraq -- Something seems out of place in the little village in the valley. First, there are the low-slung homes with the pastel exteriors -- yellows and pinks -- that scream for attention against the rugged backdrop of pine trees and mountain peaks. Then, up on the hill, sits the church with the squat steeple. But it's the cross reaching toward the magnificent blue sky that really stands out in this predominantly Muslim region and country.

The Assyrian Catholic Church serves 32 families who fled the violence of Baghdad for the relative calm and security of Kurdistan here in northern Iraq. The homes are among more than 5,000 units in 100 Christian settlements across the Dahuk province in Kurdistan. The Kurdish regional government has financed the developments in hopes of providing Christians with a safe haven. "When I came here, I just started building," said Patrice Isaac Peto, an Assyrian Catholic who left his house and business in Baghdad two years ago. "I didn't know someone was going to help us."

Further north in Gedeky, Ischa Zaya Sliwa explains the circumstances that drove him from Baghdad. After earning $400 a month for three years as a chef with an American-run company, Sliwa, 52, said local Shi'a militiamen persuaded him to quit his job. "They weren't bad guys, they just threatened me," said Sliwa, who went on to explain that some of the militiamen will "kill you without any warning."

After reluctantly abandoning their cramped apartment in August of 2006, Sliwa, his wife and three daughters moved 260 miles north to the city of Dahuk before driving another three hours to Gedeky last November. They since have settled into their new three-bedroom house. "We were offered a free house in a safe place," Sliwa said.

[metmom]

"They weren't bad guys, they just threatened me," said Sliwa, who went on to explain that some of the militiamen will "kill you without any warning."

?????

But they weren't bad guys....

[irishjuggler]

Yeah, with good guys like that, who needs bad guys?

[Romneyfor President2008]

Another example of how friendly and helpful the Kurds are. They do exactly what we want, create a productive and stable society with a market economy.

[VOA]

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[WLR]

There is a sad truth about the Chaldean/Assyrian Christian Communities.

They are more like the shocked and terrorized Jews is Germany under Hitler’s reign of terror than Christians anywhere else in the world.

They are simply beat down... Only a very few old and young men have the courage and desire to resist Islamic Violence.
They are so few in number they are largely ineffective.

As a community they are victimized by Islamofacist and criminal Islamic violence all the time.

I have heard somewhere around a half a million dollars a month is being paid by Chaldean/Assyrian Christians in the US to ransom their relatives being taken hostage by Muslims in Iraq.

Our failure to protect the Christian Communities in Iraq is our Shame. The US Military is so committed to appearing neutral they do not actively protect the very Chaldean/Assyrian Communities in Baghdad and Iraq whose people willingly work for the US and provide some of our most dedicated and trusted support.

W