So quickly the headlines turn from Syria and the Middle East to debt ceiling debates and budget resolutions. In Syria war is a durable commodity. Just because America blinked doesn’t mean the conflict went away.
Even as Secretary of State John Kerry explained his “unbelievably small” war plan—and President Barack Obama polished his speech derailing that small plan—a new and menacing front opened in Syria’s two-and-a-half-year war.
Rebels blasted through a government checkpoint Sept. 5 outside Maaloula, a town of about 2,000 people 35 miles northeast of Damascus. Maaloula is one of the oldest continually inhabited Christian villages in the world yet retains a vibrant connection to its past.
Days after the attack 30 Christians were missing, and at least six had been killed. Mar Sarkis was bombed but the extent of damage wasn’t known.
Christians in Syria are increasingly targeted. What’s significant about the September confrontation in Maaloula is the rebels hit a protected Christian village, and Mar Sarkis—one of the oldest surviving monasteries and continuously used churches in the world—is a national landmark long treasured by Christian and Muslim Syrians alike.
What’s also significant is the attack began with a jihadist from the al Nusra Front blowing himself up at a government checkpoint, but the rebel onslaught included Free Syrian Army units, the so-called moderate rebel elements.
It’s no surprise, then, that Suzan Johnson Cook, the State Department’s ambassador for international religious freedom, said she had no comment on Sept. 10 when asked at a UN briefing what the United States is doing to protect religious minorities in Syria. “Right now we will refer that to the White House and we respect our marching orders from the White House to comment on that.” With that silence the Obama administration dismisses Syria’s 10 million-plus Christians (as the Bush administration did in Iraq, and has happened in Egypt and elsewhere).
Our brothers and sisters in Christ deserve our prayers if nothing else. Offer your prayers for these beleaguered believers today.