Convert to Islam or lose your head Islamist rebels threatening the sanctuary Maalula in Syria Under Assad the Christians were allowed to live out their religion freely - . Now they are regarded as collaborators and distributed . Maalula you absolutely must have seen , says Abu Hassan. He sits at the wheel of his rickety white Peugeot and driving at high speed from Damascus addition northwest. This is like the pyramids in Egypt or the ancient city of Petra in Jordan , says the Syrian pride - after all, it is in the two cases compared to world heritage sites . At least as important is Maalula for the identity of his country. Hardly anywhere else in Syria elapse legends , fairy tales , faith and history so closely together. Inhabited since the Stone Age, here formed one of the first Christian communities. Today, the village is one of the most important Christian pilgrimage places of Syria. The nearly 60 kilometers from Damascus creates the 56 -year-old Abu Hassan , the main professional stationer , in just over half an hour. When his companions comes up the mountain, it falters . The Kalamun Mountains elicit the car built in 1981 , the last reserves of strength . Maalula is located at 1500 meters altitude. The last 200 meters we have to walk . Two narrow ravines leading to the village built into the rocks , which is unique in the world . Here Aramaic is still spoken , the language has preached in Jesus Christ. Rafik Shami, one of the famous Syrian writer and Christian Aramaic itself has parts of his novel The Dark Side of Love , an Arabic version of Romeo and Juliet, moved to the village of origin of the family of his father. Maalula is a mystic , a peaceful place . When Abu Hassan is angry and frustrated , he comes here , sits in the small chapel of the monastery of Mar Sarkis , talking a little with the Father and then feels better . Although he is a Muslim , he feels in good hands with the Christians in Maalula . Its as if they could cast out the devil , he says, holding up the peace and balance out that radiates the place . This evil has no place , says Abu Hassan. But now he has to realize that evil has now gripped in the throes of civil war in Syria even after Maalula . Assad Holds about to Maalula ? Syrian rebels , especially the extremist Sunni Al- Nusra front , provide for weeks fierce battles with government troops to the mountain village . At times, the extremists were able to occupy parts of the village , originally 3000 residents fled in droves. They report of severe devastation , abuse and even forced conversions to Islam at gunpoint , and the threat that they would otherwise cut off their heads . The village is now back under the control of government troops , but the mountains are the rebels. Halfway 40 nuns and orphans are caught between the fronts. The Community Mar Takla lived through painful days because it is located in the combat area , shares with the Greek Orthodox church in Damascus. The care is difficult and dangerous. Marie was able to flee from Maalula and brought into Damascus to safety. When al - Nusra fighters had entered the city , they had Maalula is the wound of Christ roared and called the inhabitants as Crusaders . Another resident said his neighbor was threatened with a gun and forced to convert to Islam . Now he s one of us , the Islamists were then called , laughing. Many of the attackers were foreigners , a resident reported the Associated Press news agency by telephone . Tunisians , Moroccans , Libyans and Chechens - he had heard different dialects. They claim to fight against Assad - but Assad holds roughly Maalula asks another occupant of reproachfully a reporter for Russia Today . She found refuge with relatives in the Christian neighborhood of Damascus, Bab Touma . Their struggle is not against Assad. , You want to set up an Islamic emirate in the entire Middle East. Maalula is strategically important , say the Islamist rebels. Many believe that for a reason advanced for this Christian religious pilgrimage to clean up to wipe out the infidels. Exodus of Christians For centuries , probably since the beginning of the Christian era , is characterized Maalula Christian Aramaic. To date there a female apostle is worshiped , the student Paul Thekla . The two monasteries that dominate the place and made him famous , have been built at the beginning of the fourth century AD . Sarkis , Sergius or serge, depending on the language , was a Roman soldier who persecuted for his Christian faith , was murdered and was explained by a martyr . Initially, the caves of barren mountains Kalamun offered refuge for persecuted religious . Over time, houses are made of stone accrue , built two monasteries. Mar Sarkis is one of the oldest monasteries in the world. Father Michel is the only still remaining abbot Maalula . He wants to hold out here as long as it goes, although his monk brothers in France and Greece advise him to leave Syria. At times , it is said, he may dip in Damascus under and try to organize medical care for his community . Exodus of Christians from Iraq first , now in Syria. Leaving the region in droves . Soon there will be no Assyrians , Arameans , Chaldeans , Armenians, Copts and Greek Orthodox Christians in the home country of more . The variety of Christian denominations will be gone forever. While the number of Christians has halved since the invasion by the Americans and British in Iraq ten years ago and today only two percent of the nearly 30 million Iraqis are Christians in Syria threatens the same scenario . When the country became independent in 1945 , were approximately 20 percent of Syrians Christian faith , at the outbreak of the civil war two years ago they were only estimated to nearly six percent of the nearly 22 million Syrians . With the increasing influence of radical Islamists , their number has again drastically reduced. It is estimated that well under the two million Syrians who fled abroad so far , about 100,000 members of various Christian denominations. Most Syrian Christians are considered supporters of the regime of Bashar al -Assad , although the Free Syrian Army rebels also has a Christian rebel battalion. But the more the jihadists win influence in Syria , the more vulnerable are the Christians. In an Islamic state , as the radicals propagate it , Christians live dangerously . For us there is no place in Syria Three centuries lived the family of Abu Dschahia in southern Syria . It survived two world wars and countless regional conflicts in their homeland Ain al - Dschuseh the outskirts of Homs. But then came the jihadists - and the Christian Syrians remained nothing but flee . Islamist fighters came to our house and said we had two options: to convert to Islam or leave, says Abu Dschahia who lives in Jordan refugee camp Saatari now . For us there is no place in Syria , he explains . Hes scared . His family name , he will not name . Most Christians had initially tried to stay out of the Civil War. In the secular state under Bashar al -Assad , they could freely practice their religion - but like other social groups under the control of intelligence . Of the radical opposition therefore they are now seen as collaborators . When the regime media effectively proclaimed the re-conquest Maalulas , the few remaining residents there were indeed relieved, but their future is still bleak : a life under constant protection of an autocratic state power. Most look to Europe Abu Muhammad al - Hamad , a commander of the opposition Free Syrian Army in Aleppo wants to gain the confidence of the Christian community in his area of responsibility. We assure our Christian brothers again and again that we are fighting for a free Syria and not an Islamic state, he says. But every time when jihadists are blamed for an attack or abduction , the confidence of Christians is lost in the revolution and in us . Most Christian Syrians in exile look to Europe because they have lost hope of being able to return to their home country. The 52 -year-old jeweler from Damascus George says: extremism has destroyed Iraq , Lebanon, Egypt and now Syria. He stands in a queue in front of the Swedish embassy in Amman , where he intends to submit an application for asylum . For us Christians there is only one way : to the west. The Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, Boutros Marayati has expressed skepticism about the future of Christians in Syria. Even for a ceasefire , many Christians would leave the country , he said the Vatican Press Office Fides . There was no hope that the country will return as before the peaceful coexistence of religions. Christians would encourage Neither of the opposition groups nor of the jihadists or other characters there , said the Archbishop . The attack on Maalula by Islamic extremists have symbolic value .
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 22:42:18 +0000
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