Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State

Last updated
Persecution of Christians by ISIL
Part of Syrian civil war War in Iraq (2013–2017) Sinai insurgency Terrorism in Egypt
LocationFlag of Iraq.svg Iraq
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya
DateOngoing
TargetChristians (mostly Assyrians, Arab Christians, Armenians, Copts, Citadel Christians, and other groups)
Attack type
 Genocidal massacre, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and forced conversions to Sunni Islam.
PerpetratorsAQMI Flag asymmetric.svg  Islamic State
Defenders Christian militias in Iraq and Syria
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraqi Armed Forces
Seal of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve.svg  CJTF–OIR
Syrian Armed Forces
Egyptian Armed Forces

The persecution of Christians by the Islamic State involves the systematic mass murder [1] [2] [3] of Christian minorities, within the regions of Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya controlled by the Islamic terrorist group Islamic State. Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover. [4] [5]

Contents

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, "While the majority of the victims of the conflict which is raging in Syria and Iraq have been Muslims, Christians have borne a heavy burden given their small numbers." [6]

On February 3, 2016, the European Union recognized the persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, by the Islamic State as genocide. [7] [8] [9] The vote was unanimous. The United States House of Representatives followed suit on March 15, 2016, declaring that these atrocities against minorities were genocide. [10] On April 20, 2016, the British Parliament unanimously voted to denounce the actions against minorities as genocide. [11]

Background

The mass flight and expulsion of ethnic Assyrians from Iraq and Syria is a process which was initiated during the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US and the Multi-National Force and later it was initiated during the start of the Syrian civil war and the spillover. Leaders of Iraq's Assyrian community estimate that over two-thirds of the Iraqi Assyrian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced during the U.S.-led invasion which lasted from 2003 until 2011. Reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Assyrians have cleared out in the cities of Baghdad and Basra, and that Sunni insurgent groups and militias have threatened Assyrian Christians. [12] Following the campaign of the Islamic State in northern Iraq in August 2014, one quarter of the remaining Assyrians fled the jihadists, finding refuge in neighboring countries. [13]

Timeline

Northern Iraq (2014)

After the fall of Mosul, ISIL demanded that Assyrian Christians living in the city convert to Islam, pay jizyah, or face execution, by July 19, 2014. [14] [15] [16] [17] ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi further noted that Christians who do not agree to follow those terms must "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate" within a specified deadline. [17] This resulted in a complete Assyrian Christian exodus from Mosul, marking the end of 1,800 years of continuous Christian presence. [18] A church mass was not held in Mosul for the first time in nearly 2 millennia. [19]

In October 2014, a release put out by the Assyrian International News Agency stated that 200,000 Assyrians had been driven from their homes by the violence and become displaced. [20]

ISIL has already set similar rules for Christians living in other cities and towns, including its de facto capital Raqqa. [21] [22]

ISIL had also been seen marking Christian homes with the letter nūn for Nassarah ("Christian"). [23] [24] Several religious buildings were seized and subsequently demolished, most notably Mar Behnam Monastery. [25]

By August 7, ISIL captured the primarily Assyrian towns of Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Bartella, and Karamlish, prompting the residents to flee. [26] More than 100,000 Iraqi Christians were forced to flee their homes and leave all their property behind after ISIL invaded Qaraqosh and surrounding towns in the Nineveh Plains Province of Iraq. [27]

Libya (2015)

On February 12, 2015, the ISIL released a report in their online magazine Dabiq showing photos of 21 Egyptian Copts migrant workers that they had kidnapped in the city of Sirte, Libya, and whom they threatened to kill to "avenge the [alleged] kidnapping of Muslim women by the Egyptian Coptic Church". [28] The men, who came from different villages in Egypt, 13 of them from Al-Our, Minya Governorate, [29] were kidnapped in Sirte in two separate attacks on December 27, 2014, and in January 2015. [30]

Syria (2015)

On 23 February 2015, in response to a major Kurdish offensive in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, ISIL abducted 150 Assyrians from villages near Tell Tamer in northeastern Syria, after launching a large offensive in the region. [31] [32]

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, of the 232 of the Assyrians kidnapped in the ISIL attack on the Assyrian Christian farming villages on the banks of the Khabur River in Northeast Syria, 51 were children and 84 were women. "Most of them remain in captivity, with one account claiming that ISIS is demanding $22 million (or roughly $100,000 per person) for their release." [6]

On 8 October 2015, ISIL released a video showing three of the Assyrian men kidnapped in Khabur being murdered. It was reported that 202 of the 253 kidnapped Assyrians were still in captivity, each one with a demanded ransom of $100,000. [33]

Egypt (2018)

On 2 November. 2018, Islamic State gunmen killed at least seven Coptic Christian pilgrims in Egypt on Friday and wounded at least 16 in an attack. [34] In April 2021, Islamic State gunmen executed a Christian businessman who was kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai. [35]

Reactions

Demonstration in Sydney urging Australia to help save Iraqi Christians Syriac-Aramean Demonstration in Australia for the Iraqi Christian Genocide.jpg
Demonstration in Sydney urging Australia to help save Iraqi Christians

On 2 and 3 August 2014, thousands of Assyrians of the diaspora protested the persecution of their fellow Assyrians within Iraq and Syria, demanding a United Nations-led creation of a safe haven for minorities in the Nineveh Plains. [36] [37]

In October 2014, Kurdish-Danish human rights activist Widad Akrawi dedicated her 2014 International Pfeffer Peace Award "to all victims of persecution, particularly the Yazidis, the Christians, and all residents of the Kobanê region." [38] Chaldean Catholic Father Douglas Al-Bazi has spoken out strongly against the genocide. [39]

In December 2015, at a town hall event, the 67th United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called the systematic persecution a genocide. [40] The same month, David Greene, a radio journalist at NPR, stated that around 1,000 Christians had been killed "in areas where Islamic State fighters are targeting religious minorities", without specifying a source. [41]

In February 2016, Lars Adaktusson, a Swedish member of the European Parliament from the EPP Group, said of the unanimous vote to recognize atrocities as genocide: "It gives the victims of the atrocities a chance to get their human dignity restored. It's also a historical confirmation that the European Parliament recognized what is going on and that they are suffering from the most despicable crime in the world, namely genocide." [42]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nineveh Governorate</span> Governorate of Iraq

Nineveh or Ninawa Governorate is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of 37,323 km2 (14,410 sq mi) and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient Nineveh. Before 1976, it was called Mosul Province and included the present-day Dohuk Governorate. The second largest city is Tal Afar, which has an almost exclusively Turkmen population.

Nun is the fourteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician nūn 𐤍, Hebrew nūn נ, Aramaic nūn 𐡍‎, Syriac nūn ܢ, and Arabic nūn ن. Its numerical value is 50. It is the third letter in Thaana (ނ), pronounced as "noonu". In all languages, it represents the alveolar nasal /n/.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qaraqosh</span> Town in Nineveh, Iraq

Qaraqosh, is an Assyrian city in the Nineveh Governorate, of Iraq located about 32 kilometres (20 mi) southeast of the city of Mosul and 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Erbil amid agricultural lands, close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian cities Kalhu and Nineveh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyrians in Iraq</span> Ethnic group

Iraqi Assyrians are an ethnic and linguistic minority group, indigenous to Upper Mesopotamia. Assyrians in Iraq are those Assyrians still residing in the country of Iraq, and those in the Assyrian diaspora who are of Iraqi-Assyrian heritage. They share a common history and ethnic identity, rooted in shared linguistic, cultural and religious traditions, with Assyrians in Iran, Assyrians in Turkey and Assyrians in Syria, as well as with the Assyrian diaspora. Assyrian diaspora in Detroit, Areas with large expat populations include Chicago and Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Iraq</span> History of the Christian populace of Iraq

The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashiqa</span> Town in Nineveh, Iraq

Bashiqa is a town situated at the heart of the Nineveh plain, between Mosul and Sheikhan, on the edges of Mount Maqlub.

The Assyrian exodus from Iraq is a part of refers to the mass flight and expulsion of ethnic Assyrians from Iraq, a process which was initiated from the beginning of Iraq War in 2003 and continues to this day. Leaders of Iraq's Assyrian community estimate that over two-thirds of the Iraqi Assyrian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 until 2011. Reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Assyrians have cleared out in the cities of Baghdad and Basra, and that Sunni insurgent groups and militias have threatened Assyrians. Following the campaign of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Iraq in August 2014, one quarter of the remaining Iraqi Assyrians fled the Jihadists, finding refuge in Turkey and Kurdistan Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinjar massacre</span> Mass genocide and kidnapping carried out by ISIS

The Sinjar massacre marked the beginning of the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL, the killing and abduction of thousands of Yazidi men, women and children. It took place in August 2014 in Sinjar city and Sinjar District in Iraq's Nineveh Governorate and was perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The massacre began with ISIL attacking and capturing Sinjar and neighboring towns on 3 August, during its Northern Iraq offensive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Iraq (2013–2017)</span> War between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State

The War in Iraq was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State. Following December 2013, the insurgency escalated into full-scale guerrilla warfare following clashes in the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in parts of western Iraq, and culminated in the Islamic State offensive into Iraq in June 2014, which lead to the capture of the cities of Mosul, Tikrit and other cities in western and northern Iraq by the Islamic State. Between 4–9 June 2014, the city of Mosul was attacked and later fell; following this, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for a national state of emergency on 10 June. However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers. Ali Ghaidan, a former military commander in Mosul, accused al-Maliki of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city of Mosul. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens.

Between 1 and 15 August 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) expanded territory in northern Iraq under their control. In the region north and west from Mosul, the Islamic State conquered Zumar, Sinjar, Wana, Mosul Dam, Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Batnaya and Kocho, and in the region south and east of Mosul the towns Bakhdida, Karamlish, Bartella and Makhmour

The condition of human rights in the territory controlled by the Islamic State (IS) is considered to be one of the worst in the world. The Islamic State's policies included acts of genocide, torture and slavery. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) stated in November 2014 that the Islamic State "seeks to subjugate civilians under its control and dominate every aspect of their lives through terror, indoctrination, and the provision of services to those who obey". Many Islamic State actions of extreme criminality, terror, recruitment and other activities has been documented in the Middle East.

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Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State, an Islamic extremist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yazidi genocide</span> 2014 ethnic cleansing and genocide campaign by the Islamic State in Sinjar, northern Iraq

The Yazidi genocide was perpetrated by the Islamic State throughout Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017. It was characterized by massacres, genocidal rape, and forced conversions to Islam. The Yazidi people, who are non-Arabs, are indigenous to Kurdistan and adhere to Yazidism, which is an Iranian religion derived from the Indo-Iranian tradition. Over a period of three years, Islamic State militants trafficked thousands of Yazidi women and girls and killed thousands of Yazidi men; the United Nations reported that the Islamic State killed about 5,000 Yazidis and trafficked about 10,800 Yazidi women and girls in a "forced conversion campaign" throughout Iraq. By 2015, upwards of 71% of the global Yazidi population was displaced by the genocide, with most Yazidi refugees having fled to Iraq's Kurdistan Region and Syria's Rojava. The persecution of Yazidis, along with other religious minorities, took place after the Islamic State's Northern Iraq offensive of June 2014.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Yazidis</span> Overview of hostility, discrimination, and persecution against the Yazidi people

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State occupation of Mosul</span>

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Anti-Assyrian sentiment, also known as anti-Assyrianism and Assyrophobia, is a diverse spectrum of negative feelings, dislikes, fears, aversion, racism, derision and/or prejudice towards Assyrians, Assyria, and Assyrian culture. Anti-Assyrian sentiment is largely fueled by an Anti-Christian sentiment, and very rarely for their ethnicity itself.

References

  1. ↑ Rodriguez, Meredith (August 8, 2014). "Chicago-area Assyrians march against ISIL, others protest airstrikes". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bowcott, Owen; Jones, Sam (August 8, 2014). "Isis persecution of Iraqi Christians has become genocide, says religious leaders". The Guardian . Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  3. ↑ McQuade, Romsin (July 30, 2014). "Iraq's persecuted Assyrian Christians are in limbo". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Syria: Opposition Abuses During Ground Offensive". Human Rights Watch. 2013-11-19. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  5. ↑ Levs, Josh (August 7, 2014). "Will anyone stop ISIS?". CNN . Archived from the original on August 7, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Fernandez, Alberto M. (June 16, 2015). "The "Sayfo" Continues Responding to Global Christian Persecution". Berkeley Center Cornerstone. Georgetown University Religious Freedom Project. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Moore, Jack (February 4, 2016). "European Parliament Recognizes ISIS Killing of Religious Minorities as Genocide". Newsweek .
  8. ↑ JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION, European Parliament
  9. ↑ MEP's call for urgent action to protect religious minorities against ISIS, European Parliament
  10. ↑ Bruton, F. Brinley (March 17, 2016). "Kerry: ISIS Is Committing Genocide Against Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims". NBC News .
  11. ↑ "Isis is committing genocide against Yazidis and Christians, British MP's unanimously declare". Independent.co.uk . 21 April 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  12. ↑ "Population 'under attack'". Radio Free Europe. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "BBC News - Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  15. ↑ van Tets, Fernande (7 August 2014). "Isis takes Iraq's largest Christian town as residents told – 'leave, convert or die'". The Independent. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Jadallah, Ahmed (18 July 2014). "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  17. 1 2 "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. 18 July 2014. It said that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whom the group has now named Caliph Ibrahim, had set a Saturday deadline for Christians who did not want to stay and live under those terms to "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate". "After this date, there is nothing between us and them but the sword," it said.
  18. ↑ "For the first time in 1,800 years, no Masses said in Mosul". Catholicworldreport.com. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  19. ↑ "Iraqi Christian church burnings confirmed by EU delegation". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  20. ↑ "Increasing Calls for Military Intervention to Save Assyrians and Yazidis". Aina.org. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  21. ↑ Abedine, Saad; Mullen, Jethro (28 February 2014). "Islamists in Syrian city offer Christians safety – at a heavy price". CNN. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  22. ↑ Hubbard, Ben (23 July 2014). "Life in a Jihadist Capital: Order With a Darker Side". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  23. ↑ "Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News . August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  24. ↑ Loveluck, Louisa (August 7, 2014). "Christians flee Iraq's Mosul after Islamists tell them: convert, pay or die". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on July 30, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Isis militants 'seize Iraq monastery and expel monks'". BBC News . August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  26. ↑ "UN Security Council condemns attacks by Iraqi jihadists". BBC News . August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  27. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  28. ↑ El-Gundy, Zeinab (12 February 2015). "Islamic State publishes report on Coptic Egyptian workers kidnapped in Libya". Al-Ahram. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  29. ↑ "Thousands mourn Egyptian victims of Islamic State in disbelief". Reuters . 16 Feb 2015. Retrieved 26 Feb 2015.
  30. ↑ "ISIL video shows Christian Egyptians beheaded in Libya". Al Jazeera. 16 Feb 2015. Retrieved 16 Feb 2015.
  31. ↑ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman; Holmes, Oliver (23 February 2015). Heneghan, Tom (ed.). "Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians". Reuters . Retrieved 23 February 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  32. ↑ "Islamic State 'abducts dozens of Christians in Syria'". BBC. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  33. ↑ "Isis appears to have killed three Christian hostages in Syria". The Guardian . 8 October 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  34. ↑ Walsh, Declan; Ezz, Mohamed (2018-11-02). "ISIS Says It Was Behind Deadly Attack on Christians in Egypt". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  35. ↑ Casper, Jayson (19 April 2021). "ISIS Executes Christian Businessman Kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai". News & Reporting. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  36. ↑ "Thousands rally against 'silent genocide'". 2 August 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  37. ↑ "Assyrians Demonstrate Worldwide Against ISIS Persecution". Aina.org. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  38. ↑ Kelly, Linda (22 October 2014). "Dr. Widad Akrawi Receives the Pfeffer Peace Award". Fellowship of Reconciliation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  39. ↑ Simov, Stoyan (15 March 2016). "Iraqi Priest Who Terrorists Smashed Face With Hammer: US Must Recognize Christian Genocide". Christian Post . Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  40. ↑ Thomas, George (2 February 2016). "'It's Genocide,' Europe Says of Christian Slaughter by ISIS". Christian Broadcasting Network. "I'm sure now we have enough evidence that what is happening is genocide, deliberately aimed at destroying, not only the lives but wiping out the existence of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East in territory controlled by ISIS," she said.
  41. ↑ "As Christians Flee, Governments Pressured to Declare ISIS Guilty Of Genocide". NPR. 24 December 2015. At least a thousand Christians have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have fled.
  42. ↑ Kaplan, Michael (February 4, 2016). "ISIS Genocide Against Christians, Yazidis? European Parliament Recognizes Islamic State Targeting Religious Minorities". International Business Times . The European Parliament characterized the persecution as "genocide" Thursday.
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