Insurgents’ threat: Convert, pay up or get out
BY Hannah Allam & Leila Fadel
Iraq (For the full story, go to the Detroit Free Press)– An Al Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group is giving Christians in Baghdad a stark set of options: Convert to Islam, marry your daughters to our fighters, pay an Islamic tax or leave with only the clothes on your back.
A U.S. military official said U.S. forces became aware of the threats last month and now have erected barriers around the largest Christian enclave in Baghdad ‘s Dora neighborhood in an effort to protect its residents.
Christians in Baghdad refuse to discuss the threats for fear of retribution.
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But in Syria , where thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled, tales abound of families that were killed or driven from their homes because they either refused or couldn’t afford to pay the jizya, a tax usually levied on non-Muslim men of military age that’s been part of Islam for more than 1,000 years.
“Two or three months ago, we heard we were going to be forcibly removed from Dora,” said Rafah Elia Daoud, 53, who fled to Damascus , Syria ‘s capital, in May. “Not everyone got a paper with the threat, but we knew. The choice was to convert, pay the jizya or get out.”
Madeline Shukr Yusuf, 74, recalled her flight from Iraq . She said she didn’t have enough money to pay a monthly jizya of 250,000 Iraqis dinars, about $200. The insurgents were determined to collect their tax, she said.
“They wanted to kill me and take my gold bracelets,” she said, tears filling her eyes at the memory. “They tell us pay or give a daughter in marriage to a fighter.”
