Iraqi exiles prepare for a sad Christmas
22/2009/09
AMMAN // Inside a church in Jordan’s capital one Iraqi Christian puts the final touches on a Christmas grotto. But for the 50-year-old man who fled Iraq with his family 10 months ago, getting into the spirit of the festive season will not be easy.
“Christmas is the new birth but we are not happy. We do not feel it is Christmas,” said the Iraqi, who did not want to give his name.
Years of persecution at the hands of extremist groups since the US–led war erupted in 2003 have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to flee their homes. Before the war, Iraqi clergy estimated there were one million Christians in Iraq, but now the number has dropped to 400,000.
“I did not leave my home in Baghdad because I wanted to. They [armed men] forced me to. They shot at us at home and threw a sound bomb in the kitchen,” he said.
His Christmas blues are a feeling shared by many Iraqi Christians. In the past six years, large numbers were either killed, kidnapped or threatened while several churches were bombed, and their clergy murdered.
Just last week, two Syrian Orthodox Christian churches and a church school were targeted in Mosul in the latest attacks against Christians. A few days before that, two Christian brothers were murdered in a village near Mosul.
About 20,000 Iraqi Christians live in Jordan, the vast majority of whom are adherents of the Chaldean denomination – followers of the eastern Catholic churches that are independent from Rome but recognise the pope. Another 50,000 Iraqi Christians are also in Syria.
“What is Christmas outside Iraq,” asked Michael Marroudi, an Iraqi who arrived in Jordan last year. “It is without its flavour. Christians are targeted deliberately by extremist Islamic groups. We are the biggest losers, even though we are the indigenous people of Iraq,” he said.
Five years ago, one of Mr Maroudi’s cousins was kidnapped and then killed. “The kidnappers asked for US$100,000 (Dh367,000) but we only managed to secure $2,000. I saw photos of his body. He was shot and there were burns on his feet with cigarette butts. He had four children. After his death, we became displaced … we knew our turn will be next,” he said.
Muna, 39, who requested her real name not be used, is an Iraqi Christian who arrived in Jordan with her husband and three children eight months ago after a failed kidnapping attempt on her husband. One of her sisters is still in Baghdad, while another, along with her mother, has already resettled in Canada.
“Christmas doesn’t have a meaning without family,” she said. “We are going to celebrate here by ourselves,” she said, her voice choking as tears filled her eyes.
Outside their country, Iraqi Christians cling to roots that date back to the early days of Christianity. At the evening mass this week inside the Chaldean church, Father Raymond Moussalli prayed in Arabic and Aramaic, the ancient language used by Christ. He also read a Bible chapter about Jesus’s birth.
A church choir sang Christmas hymns and Father Moussalli announced that Santa Claus would be distributing presents for Iraqi children as part of Christmas festivities.
But even for the priest, Christmas has its other side too.
“Christmas is becoming a sad occasion. At this time of the year, we remember the Iraqi children who were martyred,” he said in an interview. “Until now, Christians are threatened, and the churches are attacked. There is a deliberate campaign to drive Christians outside the country. There are satanic plans that are not only targeting Iraqi Christians in Iraq but Christians throughout the Middle East, starting with Palestine. This is scary.”
He said many Iraqi Christians are separated from their families, and without jobs, they are having trouble making ends meet.
“They are scattered and afraid to return … they are waiting to be resettled in a third country. They need spiritual comfort,” Father Mousalli said. “Life is tough for them.”
Over time, many Christians in the region have emigrated to the West for reasons of economics and education and because of regional uncertainty, particularly since the Naqba, or “Palestinian catastrophe”, of 1948 cast its dark shadow on the Middle East.
“Unfortunately, in Iraq it has been a catastrophe.” said Raouf Abujaber, a Jordanian historian. “All religious groups have been targeted and Christians among the rest were victims. Iraq is a special case and the fact remains that the actual presence of Christians there is declining.”
At the Mar Afram Syrian Orthodox Church in central Amman, Father Ammanuel al Bana was optimistic that Iraqi Christians who emigrated to the north would return to their country. “Although we are away from our churches, it is only a temporary phase,” the priest said. “Iraq, with its churches and parishes, is a cradle of Christianity. The churches are still open and they continue to perform their religious duties despite the attacks.”
After next month’s provincial elections, Father al Bana said he expected the violence to calm down. “If God is willing the situation will improve. Then we will notice that Iraqi immigrants, particularly those who emigrated to the north, will return. But when they do, they will find that the faces have changed.
“It will not be the same … everyone has a cross to bear. What Iraqis are experiencing is a test from God. It is not a question of one family who was forced to emigrate, but the entire people.”
By:
Suha Philip Ma’ayeh, Foreign Correspondent
smaayeh@thenational.ae
