Christians in Syria face uncertain future

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: After Assad.

More than a decade of civil war in Syria finally brought about the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Major questions remain: What’s next? What does Assad’s departure mean for the people of Syria … particularly Syria’s Christians?

Here’s WORLD breaking news reporter Josh Schumacher.

SOUND: [CHRISTIANS ATTENDING MASS]

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Many Christians returned to church in Damascus this weekend, one week after rebel forces took control of Syria.

IBRAHIM SHAHIN (Arabic): Last week, on Sunday, we were afraid and Mass was canceled because we were scared of the events taking place. But now, thank God, things are better and we are officially holding Mass every Sunday

Here, Catholic Church Supervisor Ibrahim Shahin says the church cancelled Mass because they were scared of the events taking place. Now things are better… and the church will officially be holding mass every Sunday. But not everyone is optimistic.

CURRY: You’re going to have to move past celebrating the fall of Assad and look with real eyes at the case of who is now in charge of Syria.

David Curry is the president and CEO of Global Christian Relief… And he’s not optimistic about what awaits Syria’s Christians now that President Bashar al-Assad is out of the picture.

He says if you want to know what happens next in Syria, look at the groups that toppled Assad.

CURRY: You have these rebel groups now, they’re called rebel groups. They are the same fighters from al Qaeda and ISIS.

Take for example the group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Curry says a long time ago they were al-Qaeda affiliates. The group’s leader, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has become a figurehead of Syria’s resistance. But in the background there are warning signs about him as well.

CURRY: When Jolani is making public statements, he’s interviewing on 60 Minutes, or what have you, he has an ISIS-related flag in the back. So we’re basing this on what are they saying in Arabic, what are the signals they’re sending?

Curry says HTS and other groups like it likely have one objective: imposing a strict Muslim legal system known as Sharia law on Syria. And Sharia law does not look kindly on religious minorities.

PARSONS: Christians are to be treated as dhimmis…

Martin Parsons is the CEO of the Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution. He says the classical Muslim texts these extremist groups adhere to have some choice commands concerning Christians.

PARSONS: Now, what that means is Christians are allowed to live but with non-citizen status, they are literally just permitted to live through a strict set of conditions.

According to Parsons, those conditions are analogous to Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Race Laws, which the Third Reich used to subjugate the Jewish people.

PARSONS: You’re not allowed to build churches. You’re not allowed to repair churches which obviously, after a war, is rather an issue. You can only worship behind closed doors. There must be no Christian symbols that are visible. You have to rise up in the presence of Muslims. You’re not allowed to defend yourselves, and you have to pay Jizya, this tax on non-Muslims.

Parsons says that if you break any of these rules Muslims can kill you with impunity because you’ve effectively become an enemy combatant.

The persecution of Christians in Syria is already a reality on the ground.

For all his flaws as a brutal dictator, Assad was rather benevolent toward Christians during his time in power. But the terrorist groups looking to replace him have treated Christians very differently.

EUBANK: Absolutely dangerous to be a Christian, and deadly, in any other part of Syria.

David Eubank is the founder and director of Free Burma Rangers. The group provides medical care and assistance to people in war zones and documents human rights abuses as they occur.

He says one of the major opposition groups persecuting Christians is the Syrian National Army. Eubank explains the SNA is basically a coalition of smaller groups.

EUBANK: These are jihadi, al Qaeda, ISIS groups that are out to just kill the Kurds and Christians and absolutely hate them.

Eubank says that in areas that the Syrian National Army has taken over, blood has run in the streets—literally. And SNA militants haven’t just killed people in the streets.

EUBANK: You’ve probably seen the videos—walking in hospitals, shooting people in beds, shooting kids, shooting people out in the fields.

Christians have fled to Syria’s eastern edge, near the Iraqi border. Eubank says that’s one of the last safe places for Christians.

But he understands some Christians in western areas under the control of HST are safe and allowed to practice their faith—for now. These terrorist groups have Western governments to seduce, after all.

AUDIO: [DAMASCUS CHRISTIAN SPEAKING ARABIC]

That’s one Christian woman in Damascus saying Christians in the city who have gone outside their homes have been safe… and that there are no known reports of violence against Christians.

But Martin Parsons says those Christians probably won’t stay safe for long.

PARSONS: We’re not going to see an immediate massacre of Christians, but we are going to see that tightening noose and we will see a few Syrian Christian leaders probably losing their lives, and it will get to the point where it will become—life will become intolerable for Christians in Syria.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

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