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AINA Assyrian International News Agency
Aug 25 2014
Australian Churches Demand Safe Haven for Christians
By Rachel Baxendale
http://www.theaustralian.com.au
Said Touma and Joseph Haweil with Father Iskander Aphram at St Aphram
Syrian Orthodox church in Reservoir, Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis
(photo: News Corp Australia).Middle Eastern Christians in Australia
are calling for inter - national action to prevent mass genocide at the
hands of Islamic State militants in Syria and northern Iraq.
Said Touma, the Syrian Ortho - dox Church Melbourne Archdeacon, and
Joseph Haweil, from the Assyrian Church of the East Relief
Organisation, say simply providing aid was not enough.
History would condemn Western countries, particularly those previously
involved in the war in Iraq, if they did not intervene to create a
safe haven for Christians in the Nineveh Plains in the north of the
country.
The pair, whose families originally come from Iraq, have joined with
the Victorian Council of Churches to call upon the Aus - tralian
government and the UN to act.
"Many organisations are in contact with the Australian government, who
are apparently assessing the situation," Mr - Haweil said.
"They have already acted in terms of humanitarian aid, but they remain
silent on the long- term solution, and practically we want the
Australian government to use its power and influence to push for a
safe haven.
"I can't think of another solution. In the long term you can't try and
transport hundreds of thousands people to Australia. People have a
right to live in dignity in their towns and villages and they want to
be repatriated to those places.
"They can only do that if they're safe and protected."
Mr Haweil said the extent of the violence being perpetrated by the
Islamic State had Assyrian Christians fearful of a repeat of the
Armenian genocide almost 100 years ago, which saw about 1.5 million
Armenians and Christian ethnic groups including Assyrians and Greeks
murdered at the behest of the Ottoman government.
"Even the Mongols did not do what is being done by IS right now," Mr
Haweil said. "They're beheading children and selling women in cages in
Mosul - markets."
Mr Said called for international recognition of the fact that
Christians were being targeted in Syria and Iraq.
"There has to be a worldwide resolution that there is something
occurring against the Christians in these two countries," he said.
For the first time in Mosul in 2000 years, they have emptied all
Christians, all churches.
"If this was to occur elsewhere, there would have been massive,
massive worldwide reaction," Mr Said said.
http://www.aina.org/news/20140825010855.htm
Aug 25 2014
Australian Churches Demand Safe Haven for Christians
By Rachel Baxendale
http://www.theaustralian.com.au
Said Touma and Joseph Haweil with Father Iskander Aphram at St Aphram
Syrian Orthodox church in Reservoir, Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis
(photo: News Corp Australia).Middle Eastern Christians in Australia
are calling for inter - national action to prevent mass genocide at the
hands of Islamic State militants in Syria and northern Iraq.
Said Touma, the Syrian Ortho - dox Church Melbourne Archdeacon, and
Joseph Haweil, from the Assyrian Church of the East Relief
Organisation, say simply providing aid was not enough.
History would condemn Western countries, particularly those previously
involved in the war in Iraq, if they did not intervene to create a
safe haven for Christians in the Nineveh Plains in the north of the
country.
The pair, whose families originally come from Iraq, have joined with
the Victorian Council of Churches to call upon the Aus - tralian
government and the UN to act.
"Many organisations are in contact with the Australian government, who
are apparently assessing the situation," Mr - Haweil said.
"They have already acted in terms of humanitarian aid, but they remain
silent on the long- term solution, and practically we want the
Australian government to use its power and influence to push for a
safe haven.
"I can't think of another solution. In the long term you can't try and
transport hundreds of thousands people to Australia. People have a
right to live in dignity in their towns and villages and they want to
be repatriated to those places.
"They can only do that if they're safe and protected."
Mr Haweil said the extent of the violence being perpetrated by the
Islamic State had Assyrian Christians fearful of a repeat of the
Armenian genocide almost 100 years ago, which saw about 1.5 million
Armenians and Christian ethnic groups including Assyrians and Greeks
murdered at the behest of the Ottoman government.
"Even the Mongols did not do what is being done by IS right now," Mr
Haweil said. "They're beheading children and selling women in cages in
Mosul - markets."
Mr Said called for international recognition of the fact that
Christians were being targeted in Syria and Iraq.
"There has to be a worldwide resolution that there is something
occurring against the Christians in these two countries," he said.
For the first time in Mosul in 2000 years, they have emptied all
Christians, all churches.
"If this was to occur elsewhere, there would have been massive,
massive worldwide reaction," Mr Said said.
http://www.aina.org/news/20140825010855.htm