WASHINGTON—Christians in Egypt and Iraq are under siege and at risk of being driven from the region, warn experts, and they want the Obama administration to take proactive steps to stem the tide.
In a hearing room packed with Middle East Christians on Capitol Hill on Jan. 20, a wide range of experts drew a disturbing picture of how recent attacks on Christian minorities in Iraq and Egypt are systemic of a larger trend.
On Oct. 31, 2010, at least 70 people were killed and at least 60 wounded during a siege on Baghdad’s Syrian Catholic Church, Our Lady of Salvation Church. The suicide bombers entered the sacred ground, executed worshippers, including two priests and some policemen, making it the worse massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003.
This terror was followed by 10 bomb attacks targeting Christian homes over Christmas and New Year’s, resulting in the deaths of at least four Christians, said Congressman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.)
On New Year’s Eve in Alexandria, Egypt, a suicide bomber killed about two dozen worshippers as they were leaving a Coptic Church. It was the worst violence against the country’s Christian minority in a decade.
‘Empty Iraq of Christians’
While these attacks and others have made Christians in both Egypt and Iraq and throughout the Middle East fearful, the situation in Iraq is particularly grave. Claiming responsibility for the Syrian church massacre, the Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al-Qaeda in Iraq, announced that all Christians in Iraq are deemed “legitimate targets,” said Rep. Franks.
One recent attack in Baghdad struck Rep. Franks for its callousness: “Islamic militants left a bomb on the doorstep of the home of an elderly Christian couple and rang the doorbell. When the elderly couple answered the door, the bomb exploded, tragically ending both of their precious lives.” This was one of several Christian homes targeted that evening.
In a hearing room packed with Middle East Christians on Capitol Hill on Jan. 20, a wide range of experts drew a disturbing picture of how recent attacks on Christian minorities in Iraq and Egypt are systemic of a larger trend.
On Oct. 31, 2010, at least 70 people were killed and at least 60 wounded during a siege on Baghdad’s Syrian Catholic Church, Our Lady of Salvation Church. The suicide bombers entered the sacred ground, executed worshippers, including two priests and some policemen, making it the worse massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003.
This terror was followed by 10 bomb attacks targeting Christian homes over Christmas and New Year’s, resulting in the deaths of at least four Christians, said Congressman Trent Franks (R-Ariz.)
On New Year’s Eve in Alexandria, Egypt, a suicide bomber killed about two dozen worshippers as they were leaving a Coptic Church. It was the worst violence against the country’s Christian minority in a decade.
‘Empty Iraq of Christians’
While these attacks and others have made Christians in both Egypt and Iraq and throughout the Middle East fearful, the situation in Iraq is particularly grave. Claiming responsibility for the Syrian church massacre, the Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al-Qaeda in Iraq, announced that all Christians in Iraq are deemed “legitimate targets,” said Rep. Franks.
One recent attack in Baghdad struck Rep. Franks for its callousness: “Islamic militants left a bomb on the doorstep of the home of an elderly Christian couple and rang the doorbell. When the elderly couple answered the door, the bomb exploded, tragically ending both of their precious lives.” This was one of several Christian homes targeted that evening.
