A Syrian Christian Reflects on Four Years of Conflict, Deprivation and Suffering
http://www.crossmap.com – 19/3/15
A letter from a Barnabas partner living in Aleppo, Syria, describes the plight of Syrians and especially Syrian Christians during the current conflict which began with the “Arab Spring” in March 2011.
“Just as I opened my computer to write this letter, the phone rang to inform me that mortars hit Azizié, a central neighbourhood of Aleppo, near the Latin Cathedral, just after the worship service ended. A few minutes later, Saint Louis Hospital informed me that several people with serious injuries were taken there. Several people were killed, including 19-year-old Sima.
Unfortunately, this has been our daily ‘bread’ for a long time now, especially over these past 20 days, when armed rebels have been raiding our neighbourhoods every day, throwing mortars and gas cylinders filled with explosives and nails, killing some and injuring others. They also have snipers; one of the latest sniper victims is 25-year-old Nour, a scout guide and basketball champion. They are innocent victims of blind violence.
A sad anniversary. In a few days we will begin our fifth year of war in Syria since it began in March 2011. Nobody in Syria had ever imagined that things would happen this way. Nobody wanted this war in Syria, even those who were the most critical of the government. Nobody in Syria wanted the destruction of the country, the death of 250,000 people, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of amputees and injured people, the exodus of millions of refugees and the displacement of eight million, what suffering.
A sad anniversary. It pains Syrians to see the name of their country associated with international terrorism. Thirty thousand people from 80 countries have come to do jihad in Syria as if jihad were part of the tradition of Syria and as if Syria were a country of Islamic extremists! But Syria was the example of tolerance and coexistence; Syrians, Muslims and Christians considered themselves Syrians before claiming their religious affiliation.
A sad anniversary. Syrians are in fear of Daesh (Islamic State), a monstrosity that wants to establish an Islamic state and has been ‘training’ thousands of Syrians long before they started killing US, British and Japanese hostages.
A sad anniversary. Christians in Syria are very upset about the attacks by Daesh (Islamic State) against the Chaldean Christians in Mosul, the brutal murder of Egyptian Copts in Libya, and more recently by the kidnapping of Christian Assyrians in Syria’s Hassake province. Who will be next? Christians in Syria are afraid.
A sad anniversary. We are still suffering from a shortage of everything: from fuel, gas, electricity, water, medicine and many other essentials. The people of Aleppo have had a cold, hard winter this year, with no alternative heating method. Water is provided only one day out of six (in areas controlled by the rebels).
A sad anniversary. The cost of living has soared; the prices of some products have become five to ten times the pre-war price. People have become poorer … unemployment levels are terrifying. Seventy per cent of the Syrian population now live below the poverty line.
A sad anniversary. Syrians are desperate. They see no way out of the crisis. There is a continual flow of people leaving the country without hope of return. Syria, and particularly Aleppo, is depopulated of its Christians. We are afraid of ending up like the Christians in Mosul … or the people in Hassake … or that we will die from a wayward shell, or be shot by a sniper.
With all of this tragedy, disappointment, suffering, anxiety, fear and despair, what can we do? Is there anything that can be done? Why stay? Are we heroes or fools? Is there any hope of returning to a normal life? Any hope of a return to peace?
The people of Aleppo who stayed have demonstrated how to be brave, giving us a reason to hope. When we see them do all kinds of work just to survive, to send their children to school and college despite the insecurity; to leave their home each morning with no guarantee of surviving bullets on the street, or stay at home knowing that the next mortar could fall on their building, day by day; trusting only in themselves and in God … Yes, when you see their courage and resilience, it silences our unanswered questions, it encourages us to continue.
Despite everything, even though we have lost some of our illusions, we keep our hope intact because without it our faith is meaningless.”
© Assyrian International News Agency.
