Genocide of Christians by the Islamic State

Short description: Overview of the Genocide of Christians by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

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Genocide of Christians by ISIL

Part of Syrian civil war War in Iraq (2013–2017) Sinai insurgency Terrorism in Egypt
Location|  Iraq
Egypt
Syria
Libya
Date| Ongoing
Target| mostly Assyrians, Arab Christians, Armenians, Copts, and other non-Muslims.

Attack type

| Genocidal massacre, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and forced conversions to Sunni Islam.
Perpetrators|  Islamic State
Defenders| Christian militias in Iraq and Syria

The genocide of Christians by the Islamic State involves the systematic mass murder[1][2][3] of Christian minorities, within the regions of Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya controlled by the Islamic terrorist group Islamic State. Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover.[4][5]

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, "While the majority of the victims of the conflict which is raging in Syria and Iraq have been Muslims, Christians have borne a heavy burden given their small numbers."[6]

On February 3, 2016, the European Union recognized the persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, by the Islamic State as genocide.[7][8][9] The vote was unanimous. The United States House of Representatives followed suit on March 15, 2016, declaring that these atrocities against minorities were genocide.[10] On April 20, 2016, the British Parliament unanimously voted to denounce the actions against minorities as genocide.[11]

## Contents

* 1 Background
* 2 Timeline
* 2.1 Northern Iraq (2014)
* 2.2 Libya (2015)
* 2.3 Syria (2015)
* 2.4 Egypt (2018)
* 3 Reactions
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Background

The mass flight and expulsion of ethnic Assyrians from Iraq and Syria is a process which was initiated during the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and the Multi-National Force and later it was initiated during the start of the Syrian civil war and the spillover. Leaders of Iraq's Assyrian community estimate that over two-thirds of the Iraqi Assyrian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced during the U.S.-led invasion which lasted from 2003 until 2011. Reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Assyrians have cleared out in the cities of Baghdad and Basra, and that Sunni insurgent groups and militias have threatened Assyrian Christians.[12] Following the campaign of the Islamic State in northern Iraq in August 2014, one quarter of the remaining Iraqi Assyrians fled the jihadists, finding refuge in neighbouring countries.[13]

## Timeline

### Northern Iraq (2014)

After the fall of Mosul, ISIL demanded that Assyrian Christians living in the city convert to Islam, pay jizyah, or face execution, by July 19, 2014.[14][15][16][17] ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi further noted that Christians who do not agree to follow those terms must "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate" within a specified deadline.[17] This resulted in a complete Assyrian Christian exodus from Mosul, marking the end of 1,800 years of continuous Christian presence.[18] A church mass was not held in Mosul for the first time in nearly 2 millennia.[19]

In October 2014, a release put out by the Assyrian International News Agency stated that 200,000 Assyrians had been driven from their homes by the violence and become displaced.[20]

ISIL has already set similar rules for Christians living in other cities and towns, including its de facto capital Raqqa.[21][22]

ISIL had also been seen marking Christian homes with the letter nūn for Nassarah ("Christian").[23][24] Several religious buildings were seized and subsequently demolished, most notably Mar Behnam Monastery.[25]

By August 7, ISIL captured the primarily Assyrian towns of Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Bartella, and Karamlish, prompting the residents to flee.[26] More than 100,000 Iraqi Christians were forced to flee their homes and leave all their property behind after ISIL invaded Qaraqosh and surrounding towns in the Nineveh Plains Province of Iraq.[27]

### Libya (2015)

On February 12, 2015, the ISIL released a report in their online magazine Dabiq showing photos of 21 Egyptian Copts migrant workers that they had kidnapped in the city of Sirte, Libya, and whom they threatened to kill to "avenge the [alleged] kidnapping of Muslim women by the Egyptian Coptic Church".[28] The men, who came from different villages in Egypt, 13 of them from Al-Our, Minya Governorate,[29] were kidnapped in Sirte in two separate attacks on December 27, 2014, and in January 2015.[30]

### Syria (2015)

On 23 February 2015, in response to a major Kurdish offensive in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, ISIL abducted 150 Assyrians from villages near Tell Tamer in northeastern Syria, after launching a large offensive in the region.[31][32]

According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, of the 232 of the Assyrians kidnapped in the ISIL attack on the Assyrian Christian farming villages on the banks of the Khabur River in Northeast Syria, 51 were children and 84 were women. "Most of them remain in captivity, with one account claiming that ISIS is demanding $22 million (or roughly $100,000 per person) for their release."[6]

On 8 October 2015, ISIL released a video showing three of the Assyrian men kidnapped in Khabur being murdered. It was reported that 202 of the 253 kidnapped Assyrians were still in captivity, each one with a demanded ransom of $100,000.[33]

### Egypt (2018)

On 2 November. 2018, Islamic State gunmen killed at least seven Coptic Christian pilgrims in Egypt on Friday and wounded at least 16 in an attack.[34] In April 2021, Islamic State gunmen executed a Christian businessman who was kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai.[35]

## Reactions

Demonstration in Sydney urging Australia to help save Iraqi Christian

On 2 and 3 August 2014, thousands of Assyrians of the diaspora protested the persecution of their fellow Assyrians within Iraq and Syria, demanding a United Nations-led creation of a safe haven for minorities in the Nineveh Plains.[36][37]

In October 2014, Kurdish-Danish human rights activist Widad Akrawi dedicated her 2014 International Pfeffer Peace Award "to all victims of persecution, particularly the Yazidis, the Christians, and all residents of the Kobanê region."[38] Chaldean Catholic Father Douglas Al-Bazi has spoken out strongly against the genocide.[39]

In December 2015, at a town hall event, the 67th United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called the systematic persecution a genocide.[40] The same month, David Greene, a radio journalist at NPR, stated that around 1,000 Christians had been killed "in areas where Islamic State fighters are targeting religious minorities", without specifying a source.[41]

In February 2016, Lars Adaktusson, a Swedish member of the European Parliament from the EPP Group, said of the unanimous vote to recognize atrocities as genocide: "It gives the victims of the atrocities a chance to get their human dignity restored. It's also a historical confirmation that the European Parliament recognized what is going on and that they are suffering from the most despicable crime in the world, namely genocide."[42]

## See also

* Armenian genocide
* Boxer Rebellion
* Mass Killing and Persecution of Christians Killed, in odium fidei, during the Boxer Rebellion in China 1899-1901
* Assyrian genocide
* Christianity and Islam
* Christianity in the Middle East
* Collaboration with the Islamic State
* Genocide of Yazidis by the Islamic State
* Iraqi Turkmen genocide
* Great Famine of Mount Lebanon
* Greek genocide
* Human rights in Islamic State-controlled territory
* Late Ottoman genocides
* Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State
* Syrian Civil War spillover in Iraq
* Persecution of Copts

## References

1. ↑ Rodriguez, Meredith (August 8, 2014). "Chicago-area Assyrians march against ISIL, others protest airstrikes". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicagoarea-assyrians-march-against-isis-others-protest-airstrikes-20140808-story.html.
2. ↑ Bowcott, Owen; Jones, Sam (August 8, 2014). "Isis persecution of Iraqi Christians has become genocide, says religious leaders". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/08/isis-persecution-iraqi-christians-genocide-asylum.
3. ↑ McQuade, Romsin (July 30, 2014). "Iraq's persecuted Assyrian Christians are in limbo". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11000168/Iraqs-persecuted-Assyrian-Christians-are-in-limbo.html.
4. ↑ "Syria: Opposition Abuses During Ground Offensive" (in en). 2013-11-19. https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/19/syria-opposition-abuses-during-ground-offensive.
5. ↑ Levs, Josh (August 7, 2014). "Will anyone stop ISIS?". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/07/world/meast/stopping-isis.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fernandez, Alberto M. (June 16, 2015). "The "Sayfo" Continues Responding to Global Christian Persecution". Georgetown University Religious Freedom Project. http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/cornerstone/global-christian-persecution/responses/the-sayfo-continues.
7. ↑ Moore, Jack (February 4, 2016). "European Parliament Recognizes ISIS Killing of Religious Minorities as Genocide". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/european-parliament-recognizes-isis-killing-religious-minorities-genocide-423008.
8. ↑ JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION, European Parliament
9. ↑ MEP's call for urgent action to protect religious minorities against ISIS, European Parliament
10. ↑ Bruton, F. Brinley (March 17, 2016). "Kerry: ISIS Is Committing Genocide Against Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims". NBC News. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/kerry-designate-isis-atrocities-genocide-n540706.
11. ↑ "Isis is committing genocide against Yazidis and Christians, British MP's unanimously declare". 21 April 2016. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/isis-is-committing-genocide-against-yazidis-and-christians-british-mps-unanimously-declare-a6994456.html.
12. ↑ "Population 'under attack'". Radio Free Europe. http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/05/A453003E-DEC4-491A-9069-81255C27A7FA.html2006.
13. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28686998.
14. ↑ "BBC News - Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News. 18 July 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28381455.
15. ↑ van Tets, Fernande (7 August 2014). "Isis takes Iraq's largest Christian town as residents told – 'leave, convert or die'". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-takes-iraqs-largest-christian-town-of-qaraqosh-9653789.html.
16. ↑ Jadallah, Ahmed (18 July 2014). "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iraq-security-christians-idUKKBN0FN29N20140718.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Convert, pay tax, or die, Islamic State warns Christians". Reuters. 18 July 2014. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-christians-idUSKBN0FN29J20140718. "It said that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whom the group has now named Caliph Ibrahim, had set a Saturday deadline for Christians who did not want to stay and live under those terms to "leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate". "After this date, there is nothing between us and them but the sword," it said."
18. ↑ "For the first time in 1,800 years, no Masses said in Mosul". Catholicworldreport.com. http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/3221/for_the_first_time_in_a_1600_years_no_masses_said_in_mosul.aspx.
19. ↑ "Iraqi Christian church burnings confirmed by EU delegation". Iraq news, the latest Iraq news. http://www.iraqinews.com/baghdad-politics/iraqi-christian-church-burnings-confirmed-eu-delegation/.
20. ↑ "Increasing Calls for Military Intervention to Save Assyrians and Yazidis". Aina.org. http://www.aina.org/releases/20140815163513.htm.
21. ↑ Abedine, Saad; Mullen, Jethro (28 February 2014). "Islamists in Syrian city offer Christians safety – at a heavy price". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/world/meast/syria-raqqa-isis-christians/.
22. ↑ Hubbard, Ben (23 July 2014). "Life in a Jihadist Capital: Order With a Darker Side". https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/world/middleeast/islamic-state-controls-raqqa-syria.html?_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Middle East&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article.
23. ↑ "Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum". BBC News. August 7, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28381455.
24. ↑ Loveluck, Louisa (August 7, 2014). "Christians flee Iraq's Mosul after Islamists tell them: convert, pay or die". The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10977698/Christians-flee-Iraqs-Mosul-after-Islamists-tell-them-convert-pay-or-die.html.
25. ↑ "Isis militants 'seize Iraq monastery and expel monks'". BBC News. August 7, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28408926.
26. ↑ "UN Security Council condemns attacks by Iraqi jihadists". BBC News. August 7, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28699832.
27. ↑ "BBC News - Iraq Christians flee as Islamic State takes Qaraqosh". BBC News. 7 August 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28686998.
28. ↑ El-Gundy, Zeinab (12 February 2015). "Islamic State publishes report on Coptic Egyptian workers kidnapped in Libya". Al-Ahram. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/122903/Egypt/Politics-/Islamic-State-publishes-report-on-Coptic-Egyptian-.aspx.
29. ↑ "Thousands mourn Egyptian victims of Islamic State in disbelief". Reuters. 16 Feb 2015. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-egypt-village-idUKKBN0LK1L420150216.
30. ↑ "ISIL video shows Christian Egyptians beheaded in Libya". Al Jazeera. 16 Feb 2015. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/02/isil-video-execution-egyptian-christian-hostages-libya-150215193050277.html.
31. ↑ Al-Khalidi, Suleiman; Holmes, Oliver (23 February 2015). "Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians". Reuters. http://www.reutecom/article/2015rs./02/24/us-mideast-crisis-christians-idUSKBN0LS0MH20150224. [yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
32. ↑ "Islamic State 'abducts dozens of Christians in Syria'". BBC. 23 February 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31601451.
33. ↑ "Isis appears to have killed three Christian hostages in Syria". The Guardian. 8 October 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/isis-killed-three-christians-hostages-syria-assyrian-ransom.
34. ↑ Walsh, Declan; Ezz, Mohamed (2018-11-02). "ISIS Says It Was Behind Deadly Attack on Christians in Egypt" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/02/world/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians-ambush.html.
35. ↑ Casper, Jayson. "ISIS Executes Christian Businessman Kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai" (in en). https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/april/egypt-isis-kill-coptic-christian-nabil-habashi-salama-sinai.html.
36. ↑ "Thousands rally against 'silent genocide'". 2 August 2014. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/assyrian-christians-protest-in-sydney-city-against-silent-genocide-taking-place-in-iraq-and-syria/story-fni0cx12-1227011070149?nk=c2dc639b829591b95df8725e7e2d2564.
37. ↑ "Assyrians Demonstrate Worldwide Against ISIS Persecution". Aina.org. http://www.aina.org/news/20140802155939.htm.
38. ↑ Kelly, Linda (22 October 2014). "Dr. Widad Akrawi Receives the Pfeffer Peace Award". Fellowship of Reconciliation. http://forusa.org/blogs/linda-kelly/dr-widad-akrawi-receives-pfeffer-peace-award/13064.
39. ↑ Simov, Stoyan (15 March 2016). "Iraqi Priest Who Terrorists Smashed Face With Hammer: US Must Recognize Christian Genocide". Christian Post. http://www.christianpost.com/news/iraqi-priest-isis-terrorists-smashed-face-hammer-us-must-recognize-christian-genocide-159180/.
40. ↑ Thomas, George (2 February 2016). "'It's Genocide,' Europe Says of Christian Slaughter by ISIS". Christian Broadcasting Network. http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2016/February/Its-Genocide-ISISs-Crimes-against-Humanity-Europe-Declares. ""I'm sure now we have enough evidence that what is happening is genocide, deliberately aimed at destroying, not only the lives but wiping out the existence of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East in territory controlled by ISIS," she said."
41. ↑ "As Christians Flee, Governments Pressured to Declare ISIS Guilty Of Genocide". NPR. 24 December 2015. https://www.npr.org/2015/12/24/460906980/as-christians-flee-governments-pressured-to-declare-isis-guilty-of-genocide. "At least a thousand Christians have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have fled."
42. ↑ Kaplan, Michael (February 4, 2016). "ISIS Genocide Against Christians, Yazidis? European Parliament Recognizes Islamic State Targeting Religious Minorities". International Business Times. http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-genocide-against-christians-yazidis-european-parliament-recognizes-islamic-state-2294384. "The European Parliament characterized the persecution as "genocide" Thursday."

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