Militant Islam strangles Christianity in Middle East

Christians of Iraq, Egypt in firing line on Xmas eve, celebrations called off.

Middle East Online

A victim of Israel-Palestine crisis, US invasion of Iraq CAIRO - As Christians across the world mark the birth of Jesus, their brothers and sisters in the Middle East are in the firing line of Muslim extremists, forcing many to flee their homelands. Al-Qaeda threats against the community in Iraq has forced Christmas celebrations to be called off in some parts of the country. Chaldean Catholic archbishop Monsignor Louis Sarko announced this week the cancellation of festivities in Kirkuk, except for daylight masses, out of "fear" after threats by Al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq. ISI claimed responsibility for an October 31 attack on a cathedral in Baghdad in which 44 Christian worshippers, two priests and seven security force personnel were killed. It was the single worst attack this year on Christians in the Middle East, the cradle of the religion with about 20 million followers out of a regional population of 356 million, according to the Vatican. Last week the UN refugee agency said thousands of Iraqi Christians have taken flight since the attack and that "churches and NGOs are warning us to expect more people fleeing in the coming weeks." Amnesty International on Monday urged Iraq's government to step up protection of Christians "from an expected spike in violent attacks as they prepare to celebrate Christmas." Egypt's Copts, the Middle East's largest Christian community, will be wary after six members of the community were killed last year on the eve of their Christmas, which they mark on January 7. Sectarian tensions has risen in Egypt since November when Muslims set fire to homes owned by the family of a Christian man rumoured to have flirted with a Muslim girl. In November, bloody clashes erupted in Cairo between Coptic protesters and police after authorities refused to let them turn a community centre into a church. The rise of fundamentalist Islam, sectarian violence and the perception that they are marginalised from senior public posts has exacerbated the Copts' feeling of exclusion in Egypt. Concerns for the region's Christians have been repeatedly expressed at the Vatican and were echoed again this week in Christianity's holiest city, Jerusalem, in a sombre pre-Christmas address. Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal, the region's senior Catholic cleric, expressed concern Tuesday about the plight of followers in Iraq and the collapse of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Pope Benedict XVI called this month for "Christ's followers" to be defended in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and warned governments not to allow "anti-religious fanaticism." Some 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq before the 2003 US-led invasion, but their number has since shrunk by a third or more as members of the community fled abroad, according to Christian leaders. Christians make up about eight percent of Jordan's 6.3 million population, between five and 10 percent of Syria's 20 million population, and 34 percent of Lebanon's estimated population of four million. Gulf countries have 3.5 million Christians of different denominations, and the right to practice their religion freely is recognised, except in Saudi Arabia which bans any form of worship other than Islam.