Rise up together

I’ve traveled to Europe and many states to speak about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East following the spring release of my book, They Say We Are Infidels. Everywhere I go I’m asked the same question: What can we do to help?

One thing apparent to me is Christians in Protestant churches are less able to mobilize—on a large scale in time of need—than their Catholic and other counterparts. That’s not entirely surprising, and it’s not always a bad thing. God does not despise the day of small things, and I have seen individual U.S. congregations bring strategic relief.

But there are times when a larger effort is called for, when an acute need presents itself at a pivotal moment. Now is such a time.

In Seattle after I spoke about the long history of Christians and Jews living in what President Barack Obama likes to call “the Muslim world,” two Jewish leaders in the audience spoke to me: “We have a better track record standing up for our persecuted people than you do. It’s puzzling that Western Christians have not risen up to call political leaders to account, and to do more to end these bloody atrocities.”

There are times when an acute need presents itself at a pivotal moment. Now is such a time.

The ongoing offensive to free Mosul and Nineveh Plains in Iraq is the moment and Turkey is the reason to galvanize Christian leaders. As we summarize (see “Going home?” in this issue), Iraqi forces working with Kurdish peshmerga and assorted militias (including Christian militias aligned with the Kurds) made significant progress in the first week of battle. They captured more than 50 villages surrounding Mosul, including towns where ISIS forced out approximately 200,000 Christians in 2014.

But while this campaign was succeeding, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter was on a troubling mission to Baghdad and Erbil: Besides conferring with military commanders, he pressured Iraqi leaders to allow Turkey in on the fight.

This, after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi renewed his call for Turkey to withdraw thousands of troops training Sunni Arabs—and possibly ISIS holdouts—near Bashiqa in northern Iraq. This, after the Iraqi parliament agreed to a statement calling the Turks “hostile occupying forces.” (For more on how the Obama and Bush administrations have undermined the democratic institutions they worked to create in Iraq, read my book.)

By all accounts, the Iraqi leaders in Baghdad and Erbil rebuffed Carter. They also asked the UN Security Council to take up the matter, something that won’t happen unless Obama reconsiders his Turkey alliance.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s parliament on Oct. 1 voted to extend its mandate for deploying Turkish troops to Iraq by one year. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Arab news “only Sunni Arabs, Turkomens, and Sunni Kurds” should be permitted to remain in Mosul.

Turkey is under martial law, keep in mind, and is currently holding an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, on unspecified charges and barring U.S. diplomatic visits. It has shuttered dozens of centuries-old churches and seems intent to restore an Ottoman-era caliphate whose late history included a genocide of Christian believers—1.5 million. Its survivors include the currently displaced (and kidnapped, raped, and beheaded) Christians of Syria and Iraq.

Turkey is a member of NATO, and it aspires to be a member of the EU. It is a signatory of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted by Democrats and Republicans and too long neglected in the 21st century. If this cause does not galvanize Christian leaders, including those who speak without fail on religious liberty at home, no cause will.

Be assured that Iraqi Christians aren’t waiting for the United States, as the displaced have risen up to serve the also-displaced. Other Christian groups are providing lifelines as well. In Iraq, Burma’s Christians have stepped in to help devastated Yazidi communities. In Syria, Armenians are providing aid to the Christian community in Aleppo where the UN has failed.

For too long Christian leaders in the United States have been clawing at one another over a divisive presidential election. Here is a way to come together, a way that will matter around the world and for generations.

Email mbelz@wng.org

—Mindy Belz’s book, They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East, is available via Amazon and other outlets