JANUARY 2010

noteworthy
Leaders Mull Christian’s Future in Iraq
“ o Christians Have a Future in
DIraq?” More than 100 Iraqi Christian
leaders convened in Baghdad on
December 12 to address the possible
extinction of their community at Iraq’s
First Christian Leadership Conference
on Refugees and Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs).
Since the downfall of Saddam
Hussein in 2003, nearly half of Iraq’s
one million Christians have fled for
refuge abroad, while many of the
remnants live as destitute IDPs. According
to a report by the Hammurabi
Human Rights Organization (HHRO),
a co-sponsor of the conference, 518
Christians have been killed as a result
of politically inspired violence during
the past six years and 48 churches
have been destroyed.
In her keynote speech, Annette
Walder, international president of
Christian Solidarity International,
warned that the survival of both the
Iraqi state and the Christian community
are inextricably linked. She urged
Christian leaders throughout the world
to break their “eerie silence” surrounding
the crisis.
HHRO President William Warda
stressed that Iraq’s ancient Christian
community, together with the indigenous
Yezidi and Mandean minorities,
constitute the deepest roots of the
Iraqi nation. If Iraq’s Christian roots
are severed, he said, the Iraqi nation
and state will shrivel and die.
Habib Ephrem, president of the
Syriac League in Lebanon, urged
Western powers to help secure the
survival of Christians in Iraq by refraining
from the pursuit of economic and
strategic interests without due regard
for principles of democracy and human
rights.
In a written message, Dr. Adel Abdul-Mahdi,
vice president of Iraq and
patron of the Christian Leadership
Conference, declared, “Those who kill
Christians and bomb churches are enemies
of Iraq” and pledged that the Iraqi
state will “facilitate the return of refugees
and provide generous assistance
to those who have lost their homes,
their jobs and their loved ones.”
Mark Storella, the U.S. Embassy’s
senior coordinator for Refugee and
IDP Affairs, said the U.S. government
spent $387 million for Iraqi refugees
and IDPs in 2009, and cited President
‘Those who kill
Christians and
bomb churches are
enemies of Iraq.’
– Dr. Adel Abdul-Mahdi
Barack Obama’s February 2009 Iraq
pledge to “provide more assistance
and take steps to increase international
support for countries already hosting
refugees.”
In other news from Iraq, a church
and a convent were attacked on November
26, causing severe damage to
both but leaving no casualties.
One of the attacks hit the St Theresa
Convent of Dominican Nuns in the
western Jadida (New Mosul) district,
according to Fr. Yousif Thomas Mirkis,
chief representative of the Dominican
order in Iraq.
“These attacks are aimed at forcing
Christians to leave the country,” he told
AFP, noting that the bomb had been
placed inside the convent grounds and
caused damage to its building.
Another bombing struck the
Church of St. Ephrem in the same
Mosul district, causing major damage
to the Chaldean church building, said
Patriarchal Vicar George Basman.
“We cannot pray there,” he said,
referring to the damage. “There were
no casualties because it was a working
day.”
According to Voice of Iraq, a Christian
man was killed in a drive by shooting
on December 17, in Mosul. Zaid
Majid Yusuf, 30, was walking to his
home after parking his car when he
was shot from a car that drove in front
of his house. The gunman got out of the
car to make sure that Zaid was dead.
Reported by Christian Solidarity International,
AFP and other sources. Reprinted
with permission of the Assyrian
International News Agency, aina.org.
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10 CHALDEAN NEWS JANUARY 2010