Christians In Crisis

Brother Wars between Christians in Ukraine will lead to more deaths of Christians in Syria.

*The above image is AI-generated and produced by giving Grok the prompt “Create an Image of Christians in Syria after Assad flees the Civil War”*

Christian lives are in danger in Syria.

Early this morning, Syria’s longtime Dictator Bashar Al-Assad fled Damascus and the city succumbed to rebel control. This ended half a century of control by the Assad family.

Assad’s regime was far from perfect and deserving of little sympathy. Yet, the dictator ingratiated himself with some Westerners by doing one thing: protecting Christians.

Christians Under Assad

Christians in Aleppo were protected from the expropriation of their land and property and were allowed to run their own public schools. The regime defended Christians against kidnapping by Islamic jihadis and would not kill Christian prisoners held in its custody.

For decades, Bashar and his father Hafiz, who ruled before him, represented themselves and largely governed as protectors of religious minorities.

Although the Assads are not Christians and their Ba’athist political party is non-religious, both were unusually tolerant of Christians compared to other regimes in the region.

Christians were once the majority in Syria until Islam arrived in the 7th century. Followers of Jesus were around 10% of the country’s population, until 2011.

2011: The Civil War Begins

A drought hit the Middle Eastern nation and exacerbated latent ethnic and religious tensions, in 2011.

At the same time, the U.S. was withdrawing from Iraq and its neighboring country fell to a power vacuum. The border between the two nations essentially dissolved in the chaos and weapons and Islamism moved freely between the two nations.

Both countries became hotbeds of terror as the Arab Spring began and revolutions swept the Middle East.

Not all of Assad’s opposition forces were anti-Christian but many were and atrocities against Christians became a regular feature in the headlines.

Christians Under ISIS and Others

Dozens of Christians were executed by the terror group Isis in one day after jihadis captured the small village of al-Qaryatain in 2016. Hundreds of Christian women and children would be taken hostage by Islamist rebels in other parts of Syria that same year. Often, these victims were sold into sex slavery.

The fates of many Christians are never known as press access to Islamist-controlled areas is almost non-existent.

There were systematic attacks on Christian heritage sites such as the Assyrian Christian Virgin Mary Church in the Syrian town of Tel Nasri on Easter Sunday 2015 and the historic Monastery of St. Elian later that summer.

It is impossible to know how many Christians are still alive in Syria. Some estimates put the number as low as 2.5%, although it is nearly certain that this figure is skewed by displacement and lack of adequate information.

How Assad Came Down

The end of the Assad regime was set into motion by the war in Ukraine in 2022.

The regime was on the ropes in 2016. Assad was escalating the war by using chemical weapons against opposition forces and civilians. At the time, the Obama Administration had said this action would be a “red line” for the United States and would provoke some sort of American response.

However, the regime’s employment of these weapons was not met with a response by the Obama Administration or any other international power.

Russia stepped in to support the Assad regime, supplying air support and new infrastructure to the embattled Syrian President. The tides of the war turned in Assad’s favour thereafter.

Flashword to 2023 and the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations is writing:

“The war whose brutality once dominated headlines has settled into an uncomfortable stalemate. Hopes for regime change have largely died out, peace talks have been fruitless, and some regional governments are reconsidering their opposition to engaging with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The government has regained control of most of the country, and Assad's hold on power seems secure.”

However, Russia’s support was spread too thin by 2023-2024 and again the American foreign policy establishment got every question wrong. Moscow could no longer supply the same resources to Assad with a new conflict going on to its west.

While parties can argue about what instigated the Ukrainian war: the result was that 500,000 Christians, almost an entire generation of men on both sides, would be wiped out.

(READ MORE: What You Were Never Told About Russia/Ukraine War)

Russia spent much of its arsenal prosecuting this war and it was not able to keep peace in its previous sphere of influence because of it. The diminished Russian capacity gave breathing room to Assad’s enemies.

The effect was that Christian blood running in the fields of Kharhkiev allowed more Christian blood to be spilled in Syria.

Ultimately, when rebels launched surprise counter-offensives against Assad just ten days ago, he was unprepared and undersupplied. Quickly, key strategic targets were captured and the rebels went almost completely unresisted as they marched toward the capitol.

What Is Next For Syrian Christians?

Nobody knows what is next for the small outpost of Christendom remaining in Syria.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of what was once Syria's branch of al Qaeda, is one of several figures who may take the helm. His organization has somewhat softened on religious minorities in recent years but it is unclear if this change is authentic.

Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, Assad’s Prime Minister, has reportedly contacted Golani and called for free elections. The fate of this transition is likewise unknown.

Notably, before the Assads took power in 1970, Syria was suffering a revolution roughly every two years for much of the mid and late 1960s.

As Assad takes refuge with his family in Moscow, it appears likely that there will be some continued degree of turnover as various parties scramble for power.

Footage obtained by the Cowtown Caller and only reported by this outlet shows chaos in the Capitol as the new regime takes hold

Street footage shows men firing guns into the air, people flooding the streets, and prisoners running out of jails in the wake of the change in leadership.

Other footage shows Syria’s numerous street checkpoints empty, fires, and grocery store shelves laid bare.

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