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Syria – Christians targeted for their politics or their faith?

By C. J. Refsland on December 1, 2012 • ( 0 )

By Jeremy Reynalds

Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (ANS) — This week’s twin deadly car bombs in the Christian and Druze suburb of Jaramana in the Syrian capital Damascus appeared to target two communities which so far have not joined the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

According to a story by Open Doors News, state media said “terrorists” were behind the blasts which killed at least 38 and injured at least 83; the government says it is protecting these two minorities from “terrorist extremists.”

Open Doors News said the location was not near any strategic targets such as military or government buildings. However, the area is known for its loyalty to President Assad’s government, making it a target for armed opposition groups. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

These are not the first attacks in Jaramana to have been blamed on those seeking to overthrow the government. But in the past, the armed opposition has denied any involvement and repeatedly said it is targeting Assad’s forces and not minority groups.

Open Doors News said Syria appears to be heading towards deepening breakdown, with sectarian fragmentation likened to its neighbor Lebanon’s civil war. Inevitably, Christians have been caught up in the chaos over the past months, as we report here – starting with a Syrian Orthodox priest who was deliberately killed.

In an act of courage, Father Fadi Haddad, 43, set off by car to negotiate the release of one of his parishioners, who had been kidnapped. A week later, it became clear that the parish priest from Qatana, some 20 kilometers south-west of Damascus, had paid the highest price.

On Oct. 25, his lifeless and mutilated body was found on the side of a road. Qatana had been terrorized by radical fighters, locals told Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). “‘Extremists went through the streets shouting ‘Alawites to the grave, Christians to Beirut.’ They want to kick us out.”