THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIV, Issue # 70, April 8, 2012
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
SYRIAN DISINFORMATION ABOUT CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, Oskar Svadkovsky, & Phillip Smyth
THE SYRIAN UPRISING AGAINST BASHAR AL-ASSAD'S BAATHIST REGIME & THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF CHRISTAINS IN SYRIA: ARMED OPPOSITION GROUPS &
THE FATE OF THE SYRIAN CHRISTIAN MINORITY -- DISINFORMATION REGARDING THE SYRIAN ARMED OPPOSITION & ITS TREATMENT OF SYRIAN CHRISTIANS --
THE ISLAMISTS' STANDARD TREATMENT OF CHRISTIANS -- WHY THE CLAIMS OF STRAIGHTFORWARD ETHNIC CLEANSING BY ISLAMIST MILITANTS DO NOT
ADD UP -- ISLAMIST CONQUEST OF TERRITORY & THE DEMAND FOR THE PAYMENT OF JIZYA BY NON-MUSLIM MINORITIES RESIDING IN THE TERRITORY
FULL STORY:
Recent reports out of Syria have warned of the ethnic cleansing of 90 percent of the Christian population of Homs, the city that has been ravaged by the conflict
between Assad's forces and armed opposition groups since the uprising against the Baathist regime began in February, 2011. The responsibility for the mass
killings and expulsions has been pinned on an armed opposition group known as the "Al-Faruq Brigade."
This claim first gained wide distribution in a report published on March 21, 2012, by Agenzia Fides (the official Vatican news agency), which declared its
source to be "a note sent to Fides by some sources in the Syrian Orthodox Church."
Fides added that, "in the 'Faruq Brigade,' note other sources, there seems [sic] to be armed elements of various Wahhabi groups and mercenaries from
Libya and Iraq."
The claim of 90 percent ethnic cleansing can actually be traced to a report put out on March 13 by an online Arabic outlet known as Al-Haqiqa (Arabic
for "the truth").
A quick Google search reveals that the original memo sent to Fides by the Church leaders had been copy-pasted almost down to the last word from the
SyriaTruth site, which is notorious for its pro-regime propaganda. Officials of the Syrian Church did not confirm the story with anybody in Homs before
sending out the memo. They must have presumed that the SyriaTruth writers did.
As a matter of fact, Al-Haqiqa had already been taken to task by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which specifically referred to its
reporting of extensive Al-Qa'ida and international jihadist presence among the Syrian opposition as "bogus."
Shortly after publishing the memo, Fides began backpedaling, in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the original report. [1] Later, it released another report
quoting the "Jesuits of Homs," who told the outlet that there were no cases to their knowledge of Christians being forced out of their homes by Islamists.
Homs happens to be around 30 kilometers from the border with Lebanon, which is home to a large and relatively powerful Christian community, making it a natural
destination for Christian refugees -- indeed, around 20,000 Iraqi Christians have found safety there since the 2003 invasion. Nevertheless, there has been no
reported upsurge in Syrian Christian refugees to Lebanon in recent weeks. On March 8, the Christian Science Monitor reported a few thousand Syrian
refugees fled to Lebanon - mostly Sunnis from the Bab Amr quarter of Homs.
Understandably, Christians have fled their homes amid fears of being caught in the crossfire. According to a report in Lebanon's Daily Star, some
Christians have been temporarily forced out of their homes by Sunni fighters, but only because they needed space to fight government forces; further, contrary to
the claims of the Al-Haqiqa report, the fighters allowed the Christians to take what they needed.
Besides, the claims of straightforward ethnic cleansing by Islamist militants do not add up, because that is not how jihadist groups deal with Christians. For
example, the standard practice in Iraq for jihadist groups like Al-Qa'ida -- renowned in Iraq for its brutality -- is to first demand jizya, which is a "poll-tax" imposed
on Christian and Jewish minorities, sanctioned in traditional Islamic theology. [2]
If the minorities fail to pay jizya, they face bomb attacks or other violence. Yet the reports in Al-Haqiqa and Fides make no reference to imposition
of jizya.
There is little reason to doubt the motivation of Vatican and Church leaders, who, after Iraq, have become extremely worried about the fate of the remaining
Christian communities in the Middle East.
Yet, over-the-top, sensationalist reporting by SyriaTruth and similar pro-regime sites, combined with Church leaders both in Syria and abroad responding
by crying wolf before confirming the news, makes for an explosive and dangerous mix, with the potential of turning unfounded rumors or deliberate disinformation
into self-fulfilling prophecies.
With the death toll in Syria running in the thousands, and many times more wounded or tortured, during the heavy crackdown by Syrian security forces on this
predominantly Sunni uprising, there is a steady buildup of anger and frustration on the Sunni street with regard to the position of Syrian minorities, who often
either are supportive of the regime or have adopted an "on the fence" approach.
As the rebels are reportedly running out of ammunition in many areas, the opposition leaders are pinning their last hope on the international community. News in
the global media about Syrian Christians disseminating such reports about their Muslim neighbors can easily become the last straw that will break the back of the
camel of sectarian coexistence.
The Vatican and the local Church leaders, preoccupied with the protection of their communities in Syria, may have the best intentions in the world. But, when they
fall for such sites as SyriaTruth, it is tempting to diagnose their case as one of "With such protectors, who needs Islamists!"
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In particular, the wording of the original version was changed from "there is 'an ongoing ethnic cleansing of Christians,' carried out by members of the 'Faruq
Brigade'" to "carried out by some Islamist members of..."; and from "the 'Faruq Brigade' is run by armed elements of Al-Qa'ida and various Wahhabi groups and
includes mercenaries from Libya and Iraq" to "In the 'Faruq Brigade', note other sources, there seems to be armed elements of ...and mercenaries from …"
[2] Observe in the demographic maps of Baghdad that, over time, one starts to see the emergence of a few predominantly Christian areas, especially in southern
Baghdad. The Islamist militant groups would expel or kill without reservation Muslims of the rival sect, but allow Christians to remain while extorting jizya from
them, in accordance with traditional interpretations of Qur'an 9:29.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Middle East & the Problem of Syria
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Middle East Forum. Oskar Svadkovsky is a
computer networking professional based in Tel Aviv and the owner of the Happy Arab News Service blog. Phillip Smyth, a journalist and researcher
specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, travels regularly in the region.
The foregoing article by Al-Tamimi, Svadkovsky, and Smyth was originally published in Ha'aretz, April 6, 2012, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(URL: http://www.meforum.org/3208/syria-christian-persecution)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
April 8, 2012
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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