April 17, 2018

Assad is not protecting Christians

The Middle East Christian Committee (MECHRIC) firmly rejects the statement issued by John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Joseph Absi, Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem which condemns the US strike on Syrian chemical weapons facilities.

“This strike was designed to discourage Assad’s blatant effort to ethnically cleanse the suburbs of Damascus by the heinous use of indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction, in this case poison gas,” said MECHRIC co-chair Tom Harb. “By using these weapons, Assad is causing fear and flight. He is changing the demography to please Iran. If the US does not stop this now, where will it end? Will other inconvenient minorities be next?”

“These bishops have clearly been influenced by Syrian and Iranian propaganda,” added MECHRIC member John Hajjar. “The Alawite regime in Syria has facilitated the growth and arming of Hezbollah in Lebanon for decades which has destroyed the last Christian political stronghold in the Middle East. Assad is not concerned about the future of Christianity, his only concern is holding on to power.

“In the 1980’s and 90’s” continued Hajjar, “the Syrian Baath regime actively slaughtered the Christians of Lebanon by shelling Christian areas such as Ashrafieh, Jounieh, Zahle which killed over 150,000 people and forced over 700,000 people to leave the country.”

“If the Assad regime is so safe, so why there are over 4 million refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey? asked Mr. Harb. “Why don’t they go back? Some sources believe that the Assad regime is not allowing their return because his goal is to force demographic change.”

MECHRIC stands firmly behind President Trump in the belief that the US and the world cannot allow the use and spread of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.