Baghdad Christians flee as violence against them mounts

[Barrett808]

Source: IRIN

BAGHDAD, 3 May 2007 (IRIN) - Kamar Anuar, a 44-year-old Christian, has abandoned his home after he found a threatening letter in his garden, signed by an alleged Islamist group, telling him to convert to Islam or leave the country.

Anuar, a resident of Dora district, one of the mainly Christian Baghdad neighbourhoods, has decided to take refuge in a relative's home in Kurdistan in the north.

"We (Christians) are at the end of our tether because in four years of (US) occupation and discrimination against our religion, we have never felt so threatened," said Anuar. "In my neighbourhood, every Christian family has received threatening letters."

Anuar is one of thousands of people from minority groups who live in fear of their lives.

"I saw a family being killed in front of me because they refused to leave their home. Insurgents shot dead the couple, an elderly woman and two children, and left a message by their side saying that it (the killing) was just to show what would happen if any other (Christian) family insisted on remaining in Dora district, which is already populated by Sunni fighters," Anuar added.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/4979ad5b81fa6233eb4ad77a3e2c21b7.htm

[TrogL]

1. Guess it's time for a Crusade

[bdamomma]

2. when is this going to stop???

[depakid]

3. The irony of this will of course escape the far right and their enablers

Iraq was once a secular country where Christians were more or less left alone... whereas now its become pretty much everything that Bush, Cheney and their corporate media sponsors tried to convince everyone that it was before the invasion and occupation.

Mission accomplished!

[neuvocat]

5. Expect lots and lots of spin if it ever comes out.

Something akin to "There is no civil war in Iraq" and "There has always been civil war in Iraq" and "The media only covers bad news." And there's my favorite: "We're so much safer without Saddam!" Believe me the spin will be out in force here.

[depakid]

7. Unfortunately, you're probably right

I doubt it'll change much- and the people who are still in denial about the situation will remain in denial.

[The Stranger]

4. But do the U.S. fundie cults consider Iraqi Christians really "Christian"?

[neuvocat]

6. Probably not.

They won't consider them to be brothers and sisters in the faith if their particular brand of christianity isn't practiced-the kind that encourages collecting mass amounts of wealth and accepting of greed as long as you go to church every Sunday.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. Besides, they call God "Allah." Somebody who does that can NOT be a Christian!!!11cos(0)1!!1

:sarcasm:

[KansDem]

13. I've thought about putting this bumper sticker on my car...

Allah Bless America

Think that would cause some consternation among the faithful? :)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Translate the word "bless" into Arabic too.

People who complain will, in essence, be saying the Arabic language itself is "evil" or "dirty" or something.

[Igel]

14. Well, they certainly got worked up over S. Sudan.

It took fundies and evangelists to get worked up before people paid attention.

But you know, I don't remember one reference to what sort of Christianity those Sudanese practiced.

Oh, yeah. And a lot of animists were helped by the Christians, too.

[Orsino]

8. Thank you, *.

We're making progress.

[nealmhughes]

10. It seems that most Christians are going to either Kurdistan or Mosul or else to Syria.

Baghdad was once a Christian city, as was Damascus, which most don't know. . . and there are significant Xian minorities in both states now. Saddam's foreign minister, Tariz Aziz was also the Dpty. Prime Minister for a stint as well, he is a Chaldean (Roman Catholic who follows the Eastern Catholic Rite of the Church of Baghdad).

[nealmhughes]

11. It seems that most Christians are going to either Kurdistan or Mosul or else to Syria.

Baghdad was once a Christian city, as was Damascus, which most don't know. . . and there are significant Xian minorities in both states now. Saddam's foreign minister, Tariz Aziz was also the Dpty. Prime Minister for a stint as well, he is a Chaldean (Roman Catholic who follows the Eastern Catholic Rite of the Church of Baghdad).

[treestar]

12. Freepers will use this to "prove" that Muslims are violent, too.

Just more evidence to the freeper mind that they "want to kill us all" or "convert us by the sword."

[Igel]

15. Yeah, for hundreds of years Christians have had a tough

go of it when good Muslims had a hard time fighting Christians.

Sometimes the threats were in Andalusia, sometimes Egypt, sometimes Syria or Turkey. And often they were more than threats.

Sad, really, that kind of communalistic attitude spread so far and wide by imperialism.

[The Stranger]

18. Christians have ruled the world for millenia.

The Roman Catholic Church instituted Dark Ages and Crusades, then more secular nation states made up of Christians took over dominating the world since, in Europe and now the U.S.

That is why the Christian Right hates Communism so much -- it views it as the one true threat to its hegemony, that is, other than its now considering Islam that threat.

Still not sure when Christians had such "a tough go of it."

[Tesha]

16. Sucks to live in a theocracy. (NT)