Christians, targeted and suffering, flee Iraq
Pastor Dale Morgan
Christians, targeted and suffering, flee Iraq*
By Zaid Sabah and Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
BAGHDAD — In between messages of love and faith, Mushtaq Zanbaqa, priest
of the Holy Virgin Chaldean Catholic Church in east Baghdad, has a
weekly plea for his Christian flock:
Don't leave.
"I'm always telling them that we are a part of this society, and
terrorists are targeting all Iraqis," Zanbaqa said. "They are bombing
mosques as well as churches. So, please, don't leave your own country."
The flight of Iraq's Sunni and Shiite Muslims from their homes under
threat of violence has earned much attention. But Iraq's Christian
community has also been targeted and is steadily dwindling as well.
Although they make up only about 5% of Iraq's population, Christians
make up nearly 40% of the refugees fleeing Iraq, according to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Other Iraqis who are forced from their homes often relocate to another
city or neighborhood, but Iraqi Christians who have to flee often leave
the country, said Dana Graber, an Amman-based officer with the
International Organization for Migration. "They feel even more
vulnerable because they have few, if any, safe communities to where they
can escape," she said.
Long an integral part of Baghdad's diverse ethnic and religious
communities, Christians have lived side by side with their Muslim
neighbors for generations, said Abdullah al-Naufali, head of Iraq's
Christians Endowment.
But as Iraq's violence flared after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, churches
and Christian homes were targeted, al-Naufali said. Ten of Baghdad's 80
Christian churches have closed, and more than half of Baghdad's
Christian population has fled, he said.
Lately, Sunni militants have forced Christians to pay a jizya (or
"donation") to the insurgency, or be targeted themselves, al-Naufali
said. Still, like Zanbaqa, he urges Christians to stay.
"We were here 600 years before Islam and have archaeological sites in
Iraq from the first century of Christianity," he said. "I'm really
surprised when someone asks me why we're still in Iraq."
Iraqi Christians, known as Assyrians or Chaldeans, congregate in
churches similar to those in the West. A frocked priest leads the
hour-long Mass, sometimes interspersing the sermon with current events
of the day.
Bombs and targeted killings are not the only threats facing Iraqi
Christians. They also have to succumb to Islamic traditions enforced in
parts of the country.
Zaid Frangoul said his wife is forced to wear a hijab, a head covering
worn by Muslim women, each time they leave their Baghdad home for fear
they'll be targeted by militants. They will leave Iraq as soon as his
wife, who is pregnant, gives birth, he said.
"We have always been known for our forgiveness and our calls for peace,"
Frangoul said. "We don't carry weapons, and we will not carry weapons.
That's why we are leaving."