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AL-QAEDA THREATS AGAINST CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IN IRAQ FORCE CELEBRATIONS TO BE CALLED OFF
PanARMENIAN.Net
December 24, 2010 - 18:13 AMT 14:13 GMT
As Christians across the world mark the Christmas holiday, many of
their brothers and sisters in the Middle East have been forced to
flee their homelands, where Muslim extremists have them in their line
of fire.
Threats issued by al-Qaeda against the Christian community in Iraq
have forced celebrations to be called off in some parts of the
country. The Chaldean Catholic archbishop, Monsignor Louis Sarko,
announced this week the cancellation of festivities in Kirkuk, with
the exception of daylight masses, out of "fear" following threats by
an al-Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq.
The groupclaimed responsibility for an Oct. 31 attack on a cathedral
in Baghdad in which 44 Christian worshippers, two priests and seven
security-force personnel were killed. It was the single worst attack
this year on Christians in the Middle East, the cradle of the religion
with about 20 million followers out of a regional population of 356
million, according to the Vatican.
Last week the U.N. refugee agency said thousands of Iraqi Christians
have taken flight since the Baghdad attack and that "churches and
NGOs are warning us to expect more people fleeing in the coming weeks."
Amnesty International on Monday urged Iraq's government to step up
protection of Christians "from an expected spike in violent attacks
as they prepare to celebrate Christmas."
Egypt's Copts, members of the Middle East's largest Christian
community, are wary due to the killing of six of their number last
year on the eve of their Christmas, which they mark Jan. 7. Sectarian
tensions have risen in Egypt since November, when Muslims set fire to
homes owned by the family of a Christian man rumored to have flirted
with a Muslim girl.
In November, bloody clashes erupted in Cairo between Coptic protesters
and police after authorities refused to let the Christian group turn
a community center into a church. The rise of fundamentalist Islam,
sectarian violence and the perception that they are kept out of senior
public posts has exacerbated the Copts' feeling of exclusion in Egypt.
Concerns for the region's Christians have been repeatedly expressed
at the Vatican and were echoed again this week in Christianity's
holiest city, Jerusalem, in a somber pre-Christmas address.
Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal, the region's senior Catholic
cleric, expressed concern Tuesday about the plight of followers in Iraq
and the collapse of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Holy Land, meanwhile, prepared to mark Christmas on Friday in the
heart of a region troubled by the massacre and exodus of Christians
from Iraq as well as a stagnant peace process.
Christians from around the world - including, for the first time,
those from Arab countries that have no diplomatic ties with Israel -
flocked to Bethlehem to celebrate the holiday in the West Bank city
where Christ was born, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
From: A. Papazian
PanARMENIAN.Net
December 24, 2010 - 18:13 AMT 14:13 GMT
As Christians across the world mark the Christmas holiday, many of
their brothers and sisters in the Middle East have been forced to
flee their homelands, where Muslim extremists have them in their line
of fire.
Threats issued by al-Qaeda against the Christian community in Iraq
have forced celebrations to be called off in some parts of the
country. The Chaldean Catholic archbishop, Monsignor Louis Sarko,
announced this week the cancellation of festivities in Kirkuk, with
the exception of daylight masses, out of "fear" following threats by
an al-Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq.
The groupclaimed responsibility for an Oct. 31 attack on a cathedral
in Baghdad in which 44 Christian worshippers, two priests and seven
security-force personnel were killed. It was the single worst attack
this year on Christians in the Middle East, the cradle of the religion
with about 20 million followers out of a regional population of 356
million, according to the Vatican.
Last week the U.N. refugee agency said thousands of Iraqi Christians
have taken flight since the Baghdad attack and that "churches and
NGOs are warning us to expect more people fleeing in the coming weeks."
Amnesty International on Monday urged Iraq's government to step up
protection of Christians "from an expected spike in violent attacks
as they prepare to celebrate Christmas."
Egypt's Copts, members of the Middle East's largest Christian
community, are wary due to the killing of six of their number last
year on the eve of their Christmas, which they mark Jan. 7. Sectarian
tensions have risen in Egypt since November, when Muslims set fire to
homes owned by the family of a Christian man rumored to have flirted
with a Muslim girl.
In November, bloody clashes erupted in Cairo between Coptic protesters
and police after authorities refused to let the Christian group turn
a community center into a church. The rise of fundamentalist Islam,
sectarian violence and the perception that they are kept out of senior
public posts has exacerbated the Copts' feeling of exclusion in Egypt.
Concerns for the region's Christians have been repeatedly expressed
at the Vatican and were echoed again this week in Christianity's
holiest city, Jerusalem, in a somber pre-Christmas address.
Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal, the region's senior Catholic
cleric, expressed concern Tuesday about the plight of followers in Iraq
and the collapse of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Holy Land, meanwhile, prepared to mark Christmas on Friday in the
heart of a region troubled by the massacre and exodus of Christians
from Iraq as well as a stagnant peace process.
Christians from around the world - including, for the first time,
those from Arab countries that have no diplomatic ties with Israel -
flocked to Bethlehem to celebrate the holiday in the West Bank city
where Christ was born, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
From: A. Papazian