The unlikely allies of the Syrian Christians

Author: Aaron Goodrum

Publication Date: 5/7/2022

Source: Early Report

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, which is Shiite, is taking care of Christians in a way that France should, according to its promisesa Syrian soldier told aid workers. Alexander Goodarzy in 2016. In a new Sophia Institute Press translation of his French memoirs, Kidnapped in Iraq: a Christian humanitarian tells his storyHears examines How Christians in Syria Forged Unlikely Alliances Amid Jihadist Ravages in the Post-2011 Period ”Arab Spring.”

On multiple trips to Syria and the Middle East in general with the French Catholic Relief Society SOS Chrétiens d’OrientGoodarzy learned firsthand about the region’s Christians, historically oppressed since the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. when the jihadists dominance achieved in the revolt that broke out in 2011 against the harsh dictator of Syria Bashar al-Assadchristians wanted security with this relatively secular tyrant. While France often described by Catholics as the “eldest daughter of the church”, has historically considered himself as protector of Levantine Christians, alignment with Assad made Syrian Christians protégés of Iran and Russia.

In 2015, the Russian army intervened to help Assad, a key Russian ally, and Goodarzy describes the enthusiastic welcome Russian troops received in government-controlled areas.

THEY WERE RECEIVED AS HEROES THROUGHOUT THE TRIP. ALL THE OTHER DRIVERS ON THE HIGHWAYS OPENED THEIR WINDOWS TO GREET THEM, CHEER THEM ON, HONK THEIR HORNS IN CELEBRATION AND SIGNAL VICTORY, BUOYED BY THIS BRUTE FORCE THAT WAS ON THE MOVE.

While Russia provided air support and specialist military advisers, Assad key support came from Shia Muslims in the Islamic Republic of Iran forks Lebanese terrorist Representative, Hezbollah. Since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the Iranian regime has developed a sophisticated Hezbollah militia and supported the dictatorial Assad dynasty in Syria in an “axis of resistance” against Western Middle Eastern interests. While the Syrians, who are mostly Sunni Muslims, rebelled against the Assad regime, dominated by members of the Alawites stem sect from Shi’ism, this Shi’ite axis came to rescue its strategically vital Syrian base.

Both Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with Iran-aligned Shiite militias from places like Iraq, provided Assad with essential ground forces after the Syrian army collapsed along sectarian lines. Hezbollah and the IRGC also helped train the new regime’s militias dominated by Syrian Alawites and Shiites. As a result, Hezbollah and Iran became even more entrenched in Syria, with dire consequences for neighboring Western allies, including Israel.

Goodarzy personally witnessed these events, as in the regime-controlled areas of Syria “we saw Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanese Hezbollah flags everywhere.” Hassan Nasralasecretary general of the designated terrorist organization Hezbollahand his foreign sponsor, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ali Khameneiwhose theocracy press hard Christians hardly come to mind as Christian allies. russian dictator Vladimir Putin it’s equally difficult more christian that Assad.

However, Christians caught up in the cauldron of conflict in Syria, where Sunni jihadists cause murder and chaos, have another perspective, Goodarzy learned. He was in Aleppo shortly after pro-Assad forces regained control from the jihadis in December 2016, when he appeared in a building next to a Christmas tree.

POSTERS OF BASHAR AL-ASSAD, HASSAN NASRALLAH AND VLADIMIR PUTIN. I LAUGHED AT THE SCREEN AND TOLD THEM THAT ONLY ALI KHAMENEI WAS MISSING. WHEN I RETURNED THE NEXT DAY TO SEE THE FINISHED TREE, I SAW THAT KHAMENEI HAD BEEN ADDED TO THE WALL OF POSTERS; THE WHOLE TEAM WAS THERE! I LAUGHED OPENLY.

Aleppo’s Christmas tree attracted residents of all religious backgrounds, Goodarzy observed:

HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN THE SQUARE HAD GATHERED AROUND THE TREE, SOME OF THEM SINGING PATRIOTIC SONGS TO THE GLORY OF THE VICTORIOUS SYRIAN ARMY AND ITS LEADER, BASHAR AL-ASSAD. THERE WERE ALSO SOME WOMEN PRESENT WHO WERE VEILED IN BLACK MOURNING, EVEN OVER THEIR FACES, BEARING THE WEAPONS OF THEIR FALLEN HUSBANDS AS THEY STOOD IN FRONT OF THE GIANT CHRISTMAS TREE.

The Shias of Syria made a no less dramatic impression on the Goodarzys, whose father hailed from Iran. While the “Syrian army considered the Iranians their friends, the Shias were even friendlier to the Iranians,” he observes. Among the Syrian soldiers,

SOME OF THE MEN AROUND ME HAD MULTIPLE LONG SCARS ALONG THEIR ARMS, STARTING AT THEIR SHOULDERS AND RUNNING THROUGH THE SKIN TO THEIR FOREARMS. MY IRANIAN COUSINS HAD SCARS LIKE THAT; THE SHIITES MAKE THEM DURING RELIGIOUS CELEBRATIONS SUCH AS THOSE OF ASHURA AS A KIND OF PHYSICAL MORTALITY.

On Ashura, Shiites mourning the 680 martyrdom of Hussain, the grandson of Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Considered the third imam of Shia Islam, Hussain and his small group of followers met their deaths in the Battle of Kerbala in modern Iraq while rebelling against the Sunni Muslim caliph Yazid of the Umayyad dynasty. Some Shiites even remember this slaughtera central event in division of islam between Sunnis and Shiites after Muhammad’s death in 632, with mortifications search as self-flagellation and cutting.

In August 2018, Goodarzy himself observed the passions of Ashura in Damascus. Umayyad Mosque in Hezbollah custody. “The crowd at the entrance was huge: hundreds of people jostling each other, most of them Iranians and Afghans,” he writes. The “men began to sing back and forth, shouting war cries in lyrical crescendos, beating their chests, swinging their arms, and punctuating each refrain with a loud cry of the prophet-martyr’s name.”

Goodarzy elaborates:

ONE MAN FACED THE CROWD IN THE DARKENED ROOM, THEN BEGAN TO SPEAK. HE GENTLY AND EARNESTLY TOLD US ABOUT THE BATTLE OF KARBALA, THE BATTLE IN WHICH HUSAYN WAS KILLED. SOON MOANS AND SOBS PUNCTUATED HIS ACCOUNT, WHICH WAS THEN INTERSPERSED WITH SPONTANEOUS PRAYERS TO HEAVEN. HE WOULD EVEN COLLAPSE PERIODICALLY AS IF OVERCOME BY PAIN, AS WAS THE CUSTOM.

“Grief for a dead man some 1,300 years ago was very much alive and present to them at this time,” Goodarzy notes. The Ashura speaker declared: “Karbala was not yesterday. Karbala is today. The usurpers are back and the fight is not over.” “The emotional roller coaster was wild, and it was with beastly ferocity that the crowd left the mosque, ready to sacrifice everything for the cause,” concludes Goodarzy.

The Sunni jihadis who have fought these Shiites and other members of Assad’s coalition are no less enthusiastic, leaving Syria’s Christians no choice but to choose sectarian sides among strange bedfellows. The religious passions seen by Goodarzy reveal what the Christians of Syria seriously face at stake within the narrow margins of decision. However, as the final article in this series will examine, Islam’s conflicts have not been limited to Syria, but have also affected Goodarzy’s native France, with further far-reaching consequences.

Link: https://early-report.com/the-unlikely-allies-of-the-syrian-christians/