Islamic Tolerance Alert: more on the persecution of Christians in Iraq. By Sahar Al-Haideri in the Miami Herald (thanks to Elias):
MOSUL, Iraq — They have been threatened because of their religious faith, their distinctive clothing and their success in business. They have been killed because of a Danish cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
Many have sought safety by fleeing to the countryside, north to Kurdish-controlled territory or abroad to Syria.
They have seen their churches bombed, their clergy murdered and community members threatened with kidnappings.
The Christians of Mosul, once a substantial and predominantly middle-class community, have suffered the same fate as most other Iraqi citizens.
Christians are hardly the only religious minority under attack, as witnessed by this week’s coordinating bombings against members of the Yazidis community, which left more than 250 dead.
But their religious faith has made them especially vulnerable in a city where the rule of law is non-existent and Islamic militant intimidate and kill with impunity.
”Life has become difficult in Mosul,” said Ilham Sabah, a Christian attorney who conceals her faith by wearing a veil. “The militants threaten Christian women; they set them on fire or kill them if they refuse to wear Islamic dress as Muslim women do.
”We only have one choice, and that is to flee Mosul and the hell created by the militants,” she said.