Will Christians And Muslims Be Able To Live Side By Side In Iraq After ISIS?
As news of Christian towns in Iraq being liberated from ISIS rolls
in, religious minorities in the country are now in desperate need of
help to begin rebuilding their lives, Christian Today has been told.
Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council (ICRC), said today that the sense of community in Iraq has been desecrated by Islamic State.
When militants overran the Nineveh Plain in 2014, capturing Mosul –
now the group's last stronghold in Iraq – they also took numerous
surrounding villages and towns. Among them was Qaraqosh, once home to
Iraq's largest Christian community. Hundreds of thousands of people
fled.
Christians were considered a particular target. Houses in Mosul were
sprayed with the Arabic letter 'N', a symbol meaning 'Nazarene' so that
the homes of Christians were easily identifiable and targeted. Militants
issued an ultimatum to Christians, telling them to convert to Islam,
pay a tax or flee. Those who refused to comply were killed, and there
are now believed to be none left in the city.
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