Christians Face Increased Violence Since Arab Spring While Absent in Direct Conflict
Habib Afram, president of the Syriac League in Lebanon, said all Christians in the Middle East are targeted for violence.
He pointed out that Middle East Christians are targeted and the Arab and Islamic world should be aware of the seriousness of the exclusion of Christians in the region.
In a televised interview, Afram said Christians in the region are directly targeted even though they "are not a direct party in the conflict."
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"The whole Arab and Islamic world should be aware of the seriousness of the exclusion of Christians in the East," he added.
He stressed that there is a wide effort to "put an end to the Christian presence," while expressing hope that there are powers that respect people and their rights in the "new Middle East."
Muslim militants recently stormed the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Takla in Syria on December 2, after they seized the historical Christian town of Maaloula. They forcibly took away 12 nuns with no clear reason for the abductions. This comes after the kidnapping of two bishops Bolous Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim on April 22.
Afram stated that Christians in the Middle East have been suffering from frequent violence, especially after the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolutions in 2011.
The countries where these revolutions erupted are witnessing increasing attacks on Christians, their property and their churches, which leads to growing rates of migration among Christians from these countries.
