Syrian Rebels to Christians: Flee or Die

[revelarts]

A new report from a ministry worker who visited a remnant of Syria’s Christian community confirms the worst: Rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad for control are imposing Islamic law, giving Christians the choice to flee or die.
The report is from the Religious Freedom Coalition (http://www.religiousfreedomcoalition.org), the faith-based organization run by William J. Murray, author of “My Life Without God.” (http://superstore.wnd.com/books/books-by-subject/My-Life-Without-God-Paperback_2)


Murray explained that the report on persecution of Christians in Syria by jihadists was by Martin Janssen, who visited Amman, Jordan, for a prayer walk held for two Syrian church leaders kidnapped by Syrian rebels, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim.
The report, in Dutch, was translated by Mark Durie, an Anglican vicar in Melbourne, Australia, and an associate fellow at the Middle Eastern Forum.
After the prayer walk, Syrian Christian refugees told Janssen they had been attacked by the rebels fighting in Syria, where Christians had been allowed to worship and live under Assad’s regime.
The report comes after Republican Sen. John McCain’s recent trip to Syria, where he was photographed with two men who, according to Beirut news reports, were involved in kidnapping people from Lebanon just months ago.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., criticized McCain, noting that the “pro-Western people” he visited weren’t well vetted.
Durie said the mandate to Christians by the rebels, some of whom have been linked to al-Qaida, is based on the Quran.
“The Christian residents were offered four choices:
1. renounce the ‘idolatry’ of Christianity and convert to Islam;
2. pay a heavy tribute to the Muslims for the privilege of keeping their heads and their Christian faith (this tribute is known as jizya);
3. be killed;
4. flee for their lives, leaving all their belongings behind.”

Durie said some Christians “were killed, some fled, some tried to pay the jizya and found it too heavy a burden to bear after the rebels kept increasing the amount they had to pay, and some were unable to flee or pay, so they converted to Islam to save themselves.”

“The scenario reported by Syrian refugees is a re-enactment of the historic fate of Christians across the Middle East,” he said. “The Muslim historian Al-Tabari reported that when the Caliph Umar conquered Syria, he gave the following command to his armies: ‘Summon the [conquered] people to Allah; those who respond unto your call, accept it [their conversion to Islam] from them, but those who refuse must pay the jizya out of humiliation and lowliness. If they refuse this, it is the sword without leniency.’”....


http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/syrian-rebels-to-christians-flee-or-die/

Syrian rebels to Christians: Flee or die! Report documents strategy by Muslims to impose religious law on nation <time datetime="2013-08-27T16:18:52+00:00" pubdate="" class="updated">Published: 06/05/2013 at 8:20 PM </time>

[CSM]

Obviously, they are not real Muslims ... duh!

[revelarts]

OrthoChristian.com offers this brief conversation with an Orthodox Syrian, Hieromonk N. from the Antiochian Patriarchate, dedicated to the very difficult situation of Christians in Syria today. The editors have chosen not to provide the priest’s name in order to protect him and his close ones from danger.
—Father, tell us please about the modern position of Orthodox Christians in Syria.
—We are experiencing more persecutions from Moslems. Moslems from 29 different countries have now come to Syria in order to participate in jihad, and they receive a lot of money from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other countries. These visiting Moslems, together with some local Syrian Moslems, are conducting military acts, terrorist acts, and other acts of violence against the peaceful population.
Within the framework of their declared “holy” war, they torture and kill Orthodox priests; they gouge out their eyes, break their bones, and cut out their organs, as they did with Fr. Thaddei Al-Haddad. They abduct priests, bishops, Christian women, and young men, and no one knows where these people are and what is happening to them. Some were abducted over a year ago, and we still do not know their fate. Some have had their homes taken away from them, while others’ home were destroyed during the fighting. In the past months, every day brings us new tragedies. For example, yesterday a whole bus full of women and children was abducted. The leaders of these fighters openly call Moslems to kill priest and monks, to destroy crosses, and to leave nothing intact. They have destroyed many churches and monasteries—a missile was even fired at our Metropolia building. The persecutions touch not only Orthodox Christians, but also Christians of other confessions. Many Christians live in fear for their children. Those who are able leave the country, but these are mainly people who have relatives in other countries, and who have enough money to leave.
There are whole populated areas that have been completely taken over by insurgents. They are ruled by newly-appeared emirs, and those Christians who were not able to flee these places are obligated to payjizya—a special tax that allows them to remain Christians, and Christian women must hide their faces like Moslem women. If they don’t pay the jizya they are simply killed. It would not be good if all Christians were to leave Syria, because then the Church would disappear here. But those who stay risk their lives and the lives of their children. Therefore the Church finds itself in a very complicated position. Prayer is our only support. After all, everything is in God’s hands....


http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2013/05/on-syria-jihad-and-kidnapped-metropolitan-paul-an-interview-with-an-orthodox-priest-from-syria/?utm_source=feedburner

[Marcus Aurelius]

You got that from a Muslim hate site. Everyone knows that there is no such thing as forced conversions to Islam... ask Jahil!

[revelarts]

Obviously, they are not real Muslims ... duh!

See, i've been told a few times by Muslims in the west that the jizya is supposed to be real cheap.
so it's a just a SMALL bride to get "protection" .OR that it has no modern use.

so what gives here?
The Jiyza so high no one can pay it. AND threats of death.. that's not peace in my book.
will the Real Muslims please stand up?

[red state]

Obviously, they are not real Muslims ... duh!

You got that right.....funny how many NON-real muSLUMS are all over the world and in most EVERY muSLUM nation. OOooooppppps, I mistakenly said muSLUM Naton when I should have said NON-real muSLUM nation. Everyone knows that the only REAL muSLUMS or muSLUM out post that have escaped the hatred and abuse of the entire world are located DEEP within the ice caverns of Antarctica where all of the Earth's inventions, love and prosperity were produced and perfected.

[fj1200]

Tyranny comes in many forms.

[Drummond]

Tyranny comes in many forms.

... meaning .. ?

[jafar00]

See, i've been told a few times by Muslims in the west that the jizya is supposed to be real cheap.
so it's a just a SMALL bride to get "protection" .OR that it has no modern use.

so what gives here?
The Jiyza so high no one can pay it. AND threats of death.. that's not peace in my book.
will the Real Muslims please stand up?

Jizya is supposed to be a small tax. Being Muslim doesn't absolve you of paying either. In such an arrangement, Muslims also pay taxes and have to give compulsory charity to help the poor.

However what these miscreants are doing is morally and Islamically wrong and since the vast majority of Syrians are against them, Jahbat al Nusra is undermining efforts to remove Assad.

[fj1200]

... meaning .. ?

Meaning tyranny comes in many forms.

[jimnyc]

http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/syrian-rebels-to-christians-flee-or-die/

Syrian rebels to Christians: Flee or die!

Report documents strategy by Muslims to impose religious law on nation

<time datetime="2013-08-27T16:18:52+00:00" pubdate="" class="updated">Published: 06/05/2013 at 8:20 PM </time>

The people declaring as much, and those caught acting it out in any way at all, should be round up and incarcerated. Yeah, I know, comical to expect them to police themselves! Anyway, an undertaking as such should mean death for any animals involved.

[revelarts]

Syrian Rebels Slit Throat of Christian Man Who Refused To Convert To Islam, Taunt Fiance, “Jesus Didn’t Come To Save Him” Posted on September 13, 2013 (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/syrian-rebels-slit-throat-of-christian-man-who-refused-to-convert-to-islam-taunt-fiance-jesus-didnt-come-to-save-him.html)


http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/syrian-rebels-slit-throat-of-christian-man-who-refused-to-convert-to-islam-taunt-fiance-jesus-didnt-come-to-save-him.html

Until recently, Syria was a safe-haven for Christians.


The New York Times notes (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/opinion/syrias-threatened-christians.html?_r=0):
As secular leaders from the secretive Alawite sect, the Assad dynasty largely preserved Christian life, protecting Syria’s minorities from what was perceived as a collective threat from the country’s Sunni majority.
Watching their once-shielding dictators fall like dominos across the region, Christians have suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of history. Faced by a rising tide of radical Sunni Islam, Christians in Iraq and Egypt have fled by the thousands. In Syria, concern over Christian repression has fallen on deaf ears, drowned out by popular support for the country’s opposition in the face of the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown.

BBC points out (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15239529):
Syria has for much of the century had a sizeable Christian minority, making up at least 10% of the population.
***
In recent years Syria has been considered one of the easier Middle Eastern countries for Christians to live in. Power is concentrated in the hands of the Alawite minority – a Shia sect considered heretical by many Muslims – which has clamped down hard on extreme forms of Islam.

But that’s all changed since Al Qaeda terrorists started targeting Christians (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/08/u-s-government-is-prosecuting-christians.html) in Syria more than a year ago (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/08/new-york-times-finally-acknowledges-that-syrian-opposition-is-persecuting-christians.html).
Agence France-Presse reports (http://news.yahoo.com/syria-rebels-still-christian-town-maalula-084558304.html):
Jihadists who overran Syria’s ancient town of Maalula last week disparaged Christians as “Crusaders” and forced at least one person to convert to Islam at gunpoint, say residents who fled the town.
***
“They arrived in our town at dawn… and shouted ‘We are from the Al-Nusra Front and have come to make lives miserable for the Crusaders,” an Islamist term for Christians ….
***
Maalula is one of the most renowned Christian towns in Syria, and many of its inhabitants speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
***
“I saw people wearing Al-Nusra headbands who started shooting at crosses,” said Nasrallah, a Christian.
One of them “put a pistol to the head of my neighbour and forced him to convert to Islam by obliging him to repeat ‘there is no God but God’.”
“Afterwards they joked, ‘he’s one of ours now’.”
***
Another resident, Rasha, recounted how the jihadists had seized her fiance Atef, who belonged to the town’s militia, and brutally murdered him.
“I rang his mobile phone and one of them answered,” she said.
“Good morning, Rashrush,” a voice answered, using her nickname. “We are from the Free Syrian Army. Do you know your fiance was a member of the shabiha (pro-regime militia) who was carrying weapons, and we have slit his throat.”
The man told her Atef had been given the option of converting to Islam, but had refused.
“Jesus didn’t come to save him,” he taunted.

Daily Mail writes (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415586/Syrian-rebels-attack-historic-Christian-village-residents-speak-language-Jesus.html):
Another Christian resident said: ‘I saw the militants grabbing five villagers and threatening them and saying, “Either you convert to Islam, or you will be beheaded”.’
Another said one church had been torched, and gunmen stormed into two other churches and robbed them.

The Christian Science Monitor notes (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0908/As-Syria-s-war-rages-region-s-Christians-hold-their-breath):
Anas, their son, says he got threatening messages back in Syria: “Your money is for us to take, your wife is for us to sleep with, and your children are for killing. This is all halal,” or permissible under Islamic law. He escaped with his wife and children to Jordan, but not before his liquor store had been burned down.

WND reports (http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/syrian-rebels-to-christians-flee-or-die/):
“The Christian residents were offered four choices: 1. renounce the ‘idolatry’ of Christianity and convert to Islam; 2. pay a heavy tribute to the Muslims for the privilege of keeping their heads and their Christian faith (this tribute is known as jizya); 3. be killed; 4. flee for their lives, leaving all their belongings behind.”

The Washington Times reported (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/27/syrians-behead-christians-helping-military-cia-shi/) in June:
“A priest and another Christian were beheaded before a cheering crowd by Syrian insurgents who say they aided and abetted the enemy… The reported beheading of the two Christians comes about the same time America has started sending arms to rebel fighters, the Wall Street Journal revealed this week.”

Most of the Syrian “rebels” are Al Qaeda (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/kerry-we-have-to-send-terrorists-into-syria-to-make-sure-that-chemical-weapons-dont-fall-into-the-hands-of-terrorists.html). As NBC News reports, Al Qaeda is gaining more and more power (http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/11/20438772-jihadis-gain-ground-in-syrian-rebel-movement-as-moderates-grow-desperate?lite) among the rebels.
And the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Israel have been backing these guys for years (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/kerry-we-have-to-send-terrorists-into-syria-to-make-sure-that-chemical-weapons-dont-fall-into-the-hands-of-terrorists.html). Indeed, we’ve long known that most of the weapons we’re shipping to Syria are ending up in the hands of Al Qaeda (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/world/middleeast/jihadists-receiving-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0). And they apparently have chemical weapons (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/classified-u-s-military-document-syrian-rebels-do-have-chemical-weapons.html).
Congressman Amish points out that the U.S. is breaking the law (https://twitter.com/repjustinamash/statuses/378204597283995649) by aiding and abetting a designated terrorist group.
Indeed, Obama’s own top lawyers (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323848804578606100558048708.html) warned him that arming the rebels would be illegal.
Ironically, Obama has just renewed the Declaration of a State of Emergency (http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/11/obama-quietly-extends-post-911-declaration-of-national-emergency/) for America first started by Bush in September 2001. That declaration of emergency is supposed to be about fighting – you know – Al Qaeda.
But the U.S. has long wanted regime change (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/4-questions-for-supporters-of-a-strike-against-syria.html) in Syria … and long backed the most violent terrorists in the world (http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/05/the-u-s-is-supporting-the-most-violent-muslim-terrorists-in-order-to-wage-war-for-oil.html) for geopolitical reasons.

[jafar00]

If these reports are true, the situation is out of hand. Also violations of Islamic tenets.