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Syrian Christians fighting back against Islamic State jihadis

Jul 1, 2017 7:55 am By Christine Douglass-Williams

Christians are being killed en masse and tortured by Islamic State jihadists, and children are being beheaded in front of their parents; raped; and burned to death. Now Syriac Christians have decided to join other forces in a just war against Islamic State mujahideen and make a tough stance of defense against the heinous brutality of the Islamic State:

The ground assault is being carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a majority Kurdish and Arab alliance, but dozens of Christians from the Syriac sect have also joined the fight….The jihadists “blew up Raqa’s churches and forced Christians to convert to Islam.

Two years ago, news emerged that some Christian women were “leaving behind their jobs, studies and children to battle the Islamic State.” Austria recently became one of the first countries in the world to formally recognize the genocide being committed against Christians in Iraq and Syria.

“Rosaries and Rifles: Syria Christians Fighting Back Against Islamic State in Raqa”, Breitbart, June 29, 2017:

RAQA, SYRIA (AFP) – An ivory-coloured rosary swings from the rearview mirror of Abboud Seryan’s pickup truck as he speeds through Syria’s Raqa, inspecting the positions of fellow Christian fighters taking on the Islamic State group.

Lively music blasts through the car speakers while the thin 23-year-old, wearing a military-style cap and a revolver tucked into his waist, waves to comrades in the western district of Al-Romaniya.

IS was ousted from the neighbourhood earlier this month as part of the US-backed offensive to defeat the jihadists in their northern Syrian bastion.

The ground assault is being carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a majority Kurdish and Arab alliance, but dozens of Christians from the Syriac sect have also joined the fight.

“We’re participating in the liberation of Raqa in the name of all Syrians. There’s no difference between Syriacs, Kurds, or Arabs. We’re all brothers,” Seryan says.

The jihadists “blew up Raqa’s churches and forced Christians to convert to Islam. This is also why we’re participating in this battle.”

Thousands of Syriac Christians once lived in Raqa alongside Armenians, Kurds and the city’s mainly Sunni Arab population, but many fled when IS overran the city in 2014.

On June 29 of that year, IS declared the establishment of a self-styled “Islamic caliphate” straddling areas under its control in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Christians could remain in Raqa if they paid a special tax called the jizya or converted to Islam — but many of them chose to flee.

As the fightback against IS intensified the Syriac Military Council (SMC) — formed in 2013 to defend the community during Syria’s civil war — joined with the SDF.

After a months-long operation to encircle Raqa, the SDF burst into the city on June 6 and are chipping away at jihadist-held districts, with help from heavy US-led coalition air strikes.

Now the SMC’s fighters are battling jihadists on the frontline in Raqa, some proudly wearing their religion on their sleeves — literally.

Many fighters have tattoos of rosaries inked around their wrists and the word “JESUS” printed down their forearms.

From an SMC position in Al-Romaniya, its fighters look out over a landscape of buildings perforated with gaping holes, collapsed rooftops and concrete walls spilling into the streets.

“The coalition air force carried out intense strikes… This is why there’s a lot of destruction in this neighbourhood,” Seryan says.

Aleksan Chmou, a Syriac fighter in a beige cap, says Syriac fighters coordinate closely with the SDF’s other factions.

He says he is driven to fight by IS atrocities against Syria’s minorities.

“I’m sacrificing for what they did to our people, our sects, for the churches they blew up. For all these things,” Chmou says……

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Filed Under: Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Syria Tagged With: Raqa, Syriac Christians, Syrian Democratic Forces


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Comments

  1. Christianblood says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 8:11 am

    (..Syrian Christians fighting back against Islamic State jihadis..)

    That is right and they should get all the necessary support to fight back against ISIS and other jihadist groups which, by the way is fully backed, armed, funded and supported by the U$, the Saudis, Qataris, Turks, Jordanians and Nato.

    Christians, Yazidis, Alawites, Druzes and other minorities are fully protected under the Syrian government led by President Assad which the U$, Nato and their Takfiri allies have been trying to destroy for many years now. Two years ago when a similar Christian militia in Iraq asked the U$ for arms and support they were soundly rejected by the U$ administration and as result, for the first time, in 1800 years NO Christian mass is celebrated in Iraq today. More of this below:

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260821/dc-refuses-arm-persecuted-christians-fighting-isis-raymond-ibrahim

    • St. Manuel II Palaiologos says

      Jul 1, 2017 at 11:44 am

      Nestorians and Chaldeans are basically gone in Iraq at this point. The Syrian Christians, Orthodox, and Catholic, still exist, but their numbers have declined considerably.

    • gravenimage says

      Jul 1, 2017 at 7:41 pm

      Of course, “Chistianblood” is ignoring the US driving ISIS out of Raqqa–it doesn’t fit his claims that Jihad is caused by America.

      • Christianblood says

        Jul 2, 2017 at 7:53 am

        gravenimage

        Graven, U$ is fighting some ISIS groups but are backing and preserving some other ISIS groups and similar jihadist groups to use them to overthrow Assad. Last week U$ shot down a Syrian war plane bombing ISIS because the U$ is desperate to stop the defeat of ISIS and other jihadist groups in many parts of Syria by the Syrian army::

  2. Christianblood says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 8:28 am

    When Donald Trump was campaigning in his presidential bid last year, he courageously spoke on behalf of persecuted Christians in the M.E. He even suggested, since they are the most persecuted group, only Christian refugees should allowed to enter the US. After, he took office however, Donald Trump is completely transformed by the Anti-Christ, islamo-phylic, pro-jihadist, liberal globalist establishment also known as the “Deep State” neocons and he is now become as Anti-Christian as Obama and others before him. Christian from Iraq and now being rounded up in the U$ and are being forcibly sent to Iraq by the U$ authorities. Read more of it below:

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/52a3f1d1-0e3f-3d12-acef-53b042078b75/ss_ice-arrests-in-metro-detroit.html

  3. Frank Anderson says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 9:29 am

    Not in response to any other post: Why should others fight for me if I am unwilling to fight for myself? IMO, life and liberty are both gifts and trusts from the God of Exodus who removed those who accepted the message that we are not to live as slaves. Those who SUBMIT to slavery have lost the message, including ????????????????

  4. Guest says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    These good people have taken their first steps towards freedom

  5. Lydia says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    And, no one can force you to convert.
    It is a choice, no matter how much pressure is applied.
    You might be persecuted in any number of ways, you might be killed,
    but they still can’t force you.
    It all comes down to what do you love more.
    For me, it’s the Lord and I will die (etc.) for my faith in Him.
    We all have to make the choice for ourselves, if someone could ‘force you’ without your consent,
    you would not be a human but a robot with buttons to push and program.

    • carol says

      Jul 2, 2017 at 9:22 am

      They don’t stop at threatening the individual however – they kill and brutalize their loved ones. Most people would accept the veneer and hope to live and fight another day, in another way.

    • DrSique says

      Jul 2, 2017 at 12:08 pm

      Dying would be easy compared to watching your children be hacked to death. As a Christian, you might not want to judge those who have made a choice to protect their innocent loved ones.

  6. notmoron says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    Fight, Fight and Fight to defend yourself, don’t wait for the western world. Because there aren’t Christians here.

  7. gravenimage says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    Syrian Christians fighting back against Islamic State jihadis
    ………………….

    *Good*. Christians in Syria actually have a proud history of defending themselves. Glad to see this has not been destroyed.

    • Carpediadem says

      Jul 3, 2017 at 1:08 am

      Well overdue! Good on them!

  8. gravenimage says

    Jul 1, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    Christianblood, why are you denying that this happened?

    “Iraq declares end to Islamic State caliphate, Islamic State territory reduced by 60%”

    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/06/iraq-declares-end-to-islamic-state-caliphate-islamic-state-territory-reduced-by-60

    I suppose it just doesn’t fit with your claims that the United States is the funding source for ISIS.

    • Christianblood says

      Jul 2, 2017 at 7:59 am

      Graven

      U$ is fighting ISIS in Iraq but they are largely backing ISIS and similar jihadist groups in Syria. And remember that ISIS is born out of the regime-change wars that US carried out against Iraq more than a decade ago. When Saddam Hussein was ruling Iraq, before the U$ intervened there was NO ISIS in Iraq or in Syria.

  9. Allan Mandrowski says

    Jul 2, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Too bad the US aides supports funds ISIS and attacks Assad who protects non Muslim minorities.

  10. w2g says

    Jul 2, 2017 at 11:47 am

    a strong man armed keepeth his household

    how will the thief rob the house without first binding the strongman

  11. Robert Brooks says

    Jul 3, 2017 at 12:39 am

    To be honest outside of isis and iran, I can’t really say who is who……

  12. Stephan says

    Jul 3, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    Deus Vult!

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