ICC Note:
The “rich fabric of interwoven social and cultural identities” in the Middle East may forever change if the mass exodus of Christians from the Middle East continues, writes Amer Al Sabaileh.
By Amer Al Sabaileh
4/3/2012 Middle East (amersabaieh.blogspot.com) – Although not a Christian myself, I feel that no one can doubt the important role of the “Christians of Levant” during the period of enlightenment in the Arab world. They played a significant part in creating a platform for an Arab socio-cultural and political consciousness.
The Middle East is a rich fabric of interwoven social and cultural identities which should be defended at all times. The very nature of this innate heterogeneous coexistence is the heart of our civilization and one of our greatest treasures to be valued – not destroyed.
The mistakes committed in Iraq should never be repeated. We need to learn from the catastrophic crimes of extremist militants who targeted Iraqi Christians. We cannot allow this to happen to the Syrian Christian community. It should not dwindle and Christians should not be forced to flee their land.
Many of the reports and videos coming out of Syria show that what is called the Syrian uprising is, in fact, not a pure popular revolution. On the contrary, rather than a spontaneous protest, we are seeing armed resistance fed by extremists and Salafists. I am definitely not here to defend the Syrian regime but I would like to defend the region from catapulting into a potential Afghani scenario.
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