Nyhetsbyrån AINA ger en ögonblicksbild
från dagens Syrien:
I staden Qusayr går Muslimska Brödraskapets
milis från hus till hus och ställer de kristna
invånarna inför ett ultimatum:
Anslut er till "oppositionen" eller försvinn !
De flesta kristna väljer att fly.
Årtionden av lugn och trygghet under Assads
auktoritära alawitiska styre har nu ersatts av
extrema sunnimiliser, som vill etniskt rensa
Syrien. I Muslimska Brödraskapets Syrien finns
det inte plats för kristna, alawiter eller shia.
**
Vid en konferens nyligen sa kardinal
Christoph Schoenborn, ärkebiskop av Wien:
"Schoenborn reviewed the early history of Muslim
conquest in the Middle East, noting Christianity
survived in Egypt but died elsewhere in North Africa.
Given current disturbing trends, the remaining
Christian communities in the region may yet
replicate North Africa’s eradicated church.
“It would be a deep wound to lose Christianity’s
own homeland and land of origin,”
Schoenborn said.
“Religion is an essential part of society,” he
observed, as the Islamist resurgence proves.
But policy makers ignore religion’s importance.
**
Disputing Israel’s existence is “out of the
question,” Schoenborn declared.
“I clearly stand for the right of existence of the
Jewish people in their own homeland.”
He regretted both Iraq wars’ impact on Iraq’s once-
relatively-large Christian population, much of which
has since emigrated.
**
requires secular states to guard religious freedom.
“No state can assume the Kingdom of God, which is not
identical with any political reality,” he warned.
America’s desire to export democracy has “good intention”
but must help Christians “breathe,” since they are
“landmarks” for pluralism.
Egypt and Syria must not follow Iraq’s example,
he implored.