Signs Of Hope In A Place Of Despair, Part 1

Since 2005-2007 Christians have been living through hard times. At least 800 have been killed, others kidnapped and forced to leave. Families(an estimated sixty percent) are split and scattered in various countries.

Iraq is our homeland—we have been here long before the arrival of Islam. We are an indigenous people, not a colonial entity coming from somewhere else. We Christians gave a lot to the Islamic culture during the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. We have become part of Iraqi culture and today we want to continue to exist in a spirit of love and respect for human rights.

There are signs that feed our hope:

Extremism and violence will never succeed in changing this situation. Dialogue, recognising the other as a brother, even respecting for him for his very difference shall save the country from conflict. And I think something is stirring within Islam in this direction.

The time has come for moderate Muslims to speak up. They are in the majority and must promote inter-ethnic harmony and religious tolerance in their own societies so as to actually demonstrate that Islam is a religion of tolerance and coexistence. Iraqi Christians have escaped because they do not feel safe and have little faith in coexistence. But their flight is a loss for the Muslim world. If Christians leave, it means an end to their contribution marked by open-mindedness, advanced skills and high levels of education.

The international community should help us formulate laws that guarantee open and tolerant societies in which each one of us has the right to participate as a citizen and where there are neither oppressive majorities nor oppressed minorities.

"Safe Haven" on the Nineveh Plains.

The Nineveh plan is being manipulated. Most of those who back this utopia live outside Iraq and don’t really know the internal situation. With the arrival of new refugees in the north there would not be enough space. A village that once had 2,000 residents, now has a population of 3,000. Renting a room can cost US$ 200 a month. There are no jobs, schools, university; services are lacking.

Many Christians are used to living in comfortable houses and would not be able to cope with life in camps and under tents. It is unthinkable to compare the Nineveh Plains to Kurdistan! A Christian ghetto there would mean endless violence.

I have met bishops, priests and party leaders in Iraq and most are against this project.

We Christians are a fundamental part of Iraq’s history and culture. We are a significant presence in the life of the country and feel completely Iraqi. Our identity was shaped and is being shaped within a history and tradition that is Christian. We have resisted threats and persecution in the course of our history and have found ways to continue living in our land and bear witness to the Gospel. Ours is a martyr Church; that is its charisma

The problem is not between Christians and Muslims—the problem is a fundamentalism which excludes others, annihilates them for religious or ethnic reasons. The solution is to encourage a culture of pluralism, help people acknowledge one another as humans and recognise in each other an absolute value. We should accept others as brothers and work for a better society based on respect for fundamental rights. Creating closed “cantons” for Christians or other communities would be a catastrophe for our world.

If we want peace, wise and moderate Muslims as much as Christian leaders must help ordinary people become integrated into modern society. They must modernise their religious discourse taking into consideration present-day realities. By the same token, politics must respect the will of the people and their rights. There is no other solution.