The threatening actions of the extremists (cutting down Christmas trees, shouting violent slogans), as well as the fact that the supply chains in the city, including the food supply, are a cause for concern, says Tristan Azbej.
Aleppo, the Martyr City of Syria. In the summer of 2018, after the war, the hope of a fresh start was revived in the seriously wounded city. Then, at the end of the year, the restoration of the destroyed monuments began, and in February 2019, with a Hungarian donation, the construction of a child and family support center began for the benefit of traumatized children who survived the civil war.
And in May 2023, Azbej Tristan, the state secretary responsible for programs to help persecuted Christians, visited Aleppo, where the Hungarian state supported the Dar Basil Institute through the Hungary Helps - Magyarország segít Program, with the cooperation of the Antiochian Szír Melkite Church, giving the opportunity to protect the Christian cultural heritage and for gap-filling vocational training.
About 150,000 Christians originally lived in Aleppo, but today their number has decreased to 20-25,000 because many fled the city during and after the fighting. Unfortunately, history seems to be repeating itself. Over the weekend, jihadist groups broke into the settlement. The Islamist alliance, made up of various militias, is considered the successor organization of the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, from which the Islamic State (ISIS) was also formed at the time.
According to a report from Nius.de, 30 Christian churches were threatened, the jihadists began looting Christian homes and destroying public pine trees awaiting Christmas decoration.
Maronite Archbishop Joseph Tobji fears that the churches will be attacked again and said that the attack caught everyone by surprise.
Therefore, people did not even store any food, but the shops and bakeries are already closed and no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Some of the residents have now moved to even quieter parts of the city.
The Iraqi Christian Foundation reported on social media that militants had begun destroying Christmas decorations everywhere and beheading captured soldiers. The group also called for prayers for Christians and other minorities in Aleppo.
Syrian Christians in #Aleppo , #Syria , are in grave danger from the invading demonic #AlQaeda / #ISIS terrorists who have already begun removing all Christmas decorations and beheading captured soldiers. Western Media are cheering on the terrorists and calling them by the propaganda… pic.twitter.com/WhjHfikFHT
— Iraqi Christian Foundation (@iraqschristians) November 30, 2024
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that more than 300 people have been killed in Aleppo since the offensive began, but this is just the beginning.
President Trump's special representative for Syria, Ambassador James Jeffrey, admitted in 2021 that the current leader of the attackers, HTS (Haiat Tahrir al-Sham Jihadist Group), was covertly operating as an "instrument" of Washington's Middle East policy, despite being classified as a terrorist organization. qualified, said John Eibner, former president of CSI (Christian Solidarity International).
"Shortly before Election Day, President-elect Donald Trump promised to protect persecuted Christians. Now he will have a great opportunity to fulfill his promise," added Eibner.
A few days ago, in a Facebook post, Tristan himself wrote about: the suffering Syrian Christians are in danger.
The state secretary responsible for programs to help persecuted Christians met with His Beatitude III. with Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignác Junán, who informed him of the worrying developments: namely, that militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces had taken over the city of Aleppo and other areas.
"According to the news we received from the leaders of the two-thousand-year-old local Christian communities, Islamist extremists also appeared among the militias in the city.
Although Christians were promised good treatment and, thank God, there were no reports of violent atrocities, this situation leaves the approximately 20,000 Christians trapped in the city vulnerable. The threatening actions of the extremists (cutting down Christmas trees, shouting violent slogans), as well as the fact that the supply chains in the city, including the food supply, are a cause for concern," wrote the state secretary.
Cover image: This is how Christmas was once celebrated in Latakia, Syria
Source: X/Iraqi Christian Foundation
