In Damascus, cars with threatening inscriptions towards the minority. In Hama, Kalashnikov shots against the Greek Orthodox archbishopric and vandalism in a cemetery. In a town, an elderly couple is killed during a “robbery” that ended with the man being decapitated. Source: : Greek Orthodox in the spotlight for being considered “close” to the Russians. The Trappist nuns of A’zer: there is respect in our area, but the emptying of communal prisons is creating problems.
Milan () – A cemetery vandalized; shots against an archbishopric aiming at the cross; threatening writings on cars; a couple brutally murdered under mysterious circumstances. Four facts that, without wanting to generalize, continue to be a cause for reflection, and concern, for the Christian minority in Syria; episodes that have characterized these days seasoned with hope and uncertaintywhich follow the ouster of dictator Bashar al-Assad and the rise to power of the opposition led by the group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (Hts), once affiliated with the al-Nusra front (formerly al-Qaeda). However, the leader of the group, interviewed by the BBC, “denied” that he wanted to turn Syria into a new Afghanistan, stressing that they are “different realities, with different traditions.”
Asked by about these controversial and still unclear episodes that have taken place in recent days, an institutional source from the capital – on condition of anonymity – explains: “These are attacks that aim to hit Russia more than the Christians themselves. . Starting precisely with the fact that the target was the Greek Orthodox, who are the Christian group closest to Moscow and who have maintained ties with the Russian Orthodox since the 18th century. “After all,” the source continues, “Russia has killed more Syrian Muslims than Assad himself and it was Moscow that attacked and destroyed at least 50% of the houses and buildings.” And it is no coincidence, he concludes, that “Russian military bases and their men are leaving Syria because the new regime does not welcome them.”
Returning to the present, the bloodiest episode took place in recent days in the Greek-Orthodox village of al-Jamasliyye, in the so-called “Valley of the Christians” (Wadi al-Nasara), included in the governorate of Homs: a Elderly Christian couple, Samaan Satme and Helena Khashouf, were brutally murdered on December 13, with the man beheaded and the woman shot in cold blood.
The first reconstructions suggest that the attempted robbery ended in bloodshed, but the version does not convince several members of the local community and has been revived on social networks, especially in the pages and groups most critical of the new leaders in Syria. In this sense, there is talk of similar murders in the area in the past and of a clear religious and fundamentalist matrix. The funeral rite took place the next day in the church of San Simeon the Elder in Haba.
In Hama, on the other hand, there have already been two different episodes that have raised more than one alarm. On December 17, a Christian cemetery in the town was allegedly attacked – and vandalized, as the photos we published – by an armed group of militiamen belonging to the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham militia, who uprooted graves and decapitated a statue. of the Virgin Mary. Looting also reportedly occurred during the attack and several crosses were cut down. Previously, a car also used by HTS militiamen reportedly fired Kalashnikov rounds at the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox archbishopric of Hama, targeting in particular the cross on the façade. Local sources add that the group then broke into St. George’s Church, destroying some crosses.
Finally, in Damascus, a car belonging to those who oppose the overthrow of Assad is driving with an inscription on the dashboard that reads: “Your appointment is near, oh servants of the cross.” In this case, it is not known whether it is a real threat.
Meanwhile, the Christian blog “Now Pro Syria” published a message from the Trappist nuns of A’zer, in which they affirm that they are “fine” and that, in their area, “there is not too much violence and there is enough respect.” However, “in other places there are more problematic situations” and it is “a miracle that in the first days there was not more chaos than this, even if it was a very precarious balance. “It is really necessary that a police service be established everywhere, including in the suburbs, as soon as possible.” For the nuns, the new leaders have made “two mistakes: emptying not only the political prisons, but also the communal ones, releasing all types of criminals, and also dissolving all the local police. So for now there are no complete forms of control. Regarding the future, the Trappists affirm that “everything will depend on whether or not the promises of a moderate State that respects different minorities are fulfilled.”
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