ICC Note: The seizure of 15 women from a Greek Orthodox convent has further increased the sense of fear felt by many Syrian Christians. While a video of the women has appeared online indicating their safety, they remain in captivity to an al-Qaeda linked group of rebels. A claim was put forward by one group making demands of the Assad regime to release prisoners and withdraw from some parts of Damascus in exchange for the release of the women. This incident clearly highlights the dangerous position that Christians find themselves in.
12/09/2013 Syria (The Daily Star) – Syrian Christians offered prayers Sunday for a group of more than a dozen nuns and orphanage workers held by rebels for nearly a week, fueling fears in the minority community that they are being targeted by extremists among the fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. The seizure of the 12 Greek Orthodox nuns and at least three other women is the latest attack to spark panic among Syria’s Christians over the strength of Al-Qaeda-linked militants and other Islamic radicals in the nearly 33-month revolt against Assad’s government. A priest and two bishops previously kidnapped by rebels remain missing, and extremists are accused of vandalizing churches in areas they have captured.
Rebels seized the nuns Monday from the Greek Orthodox Mar Taqla convent when fighters overran Maaloula, a mainly Christian village north of Damascus that lies on a key highway and has changed hands several times in fierce fighting between rebels and government forces. The group, along with three women – themselves orphans – who work in the convent’s orphanage were taken to the nearby rebel-held town of Yabroud.
The eldest of the nuns is nearly 90 years old, and the youngest of the orphanage workers is in her mid-teens, according to Mother Superior Febronia Nabhan, head of the Seidnaya Convent.
Friday, a video was released of the nuns, in which they denied being kidnapped, saying they were in good health and that fighters had taken them to a location away from the combat out of concerns for their safety.
The video only stoked the worries of Christians who gathered Sunday for a Mass at the Mariamiya Church in Damascus, the main Greek Orthodox church in the country.
“They’re coming after us,” said Odette Abu Zakham, a 65-year-old woman in the congregation who lives in the nearby historic Christian district of Bab Touma. “All they do is massacre people, all they know is killing.”
Another woman at the Mass noted that in the video, the nuns appeared in their black robes but with no signs of religious symbols on them. “They didn’t even let them wear their crosses,” she said. “This just shows they aren’t capable of respecting Christians.”
“It’s been a week. If they’re only holding them for their safety, they could have handed them over by now,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation against herself or her family.
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