Christians wary of future in post Arab Spring
Shaping of the Middle East make-up remains unclear:
Lebanon: The rise of Islamist movements in countries swept by the
Arab revolutions has sent shudders through the region's Christians who
fear for their survival and question the future make-up of the Middle
East.
“Christians are rightly concerned,” said Odon Vallet, a French
historian and expert on religion. “Their future in the region is rather
bleak... and the current political climate is not in their favour.
“Thirty or 40 years ago, they had a better status,” he added. “You
notice that in one generation the situation changed as Islamism became a
sort of refuge to counter Western tendencies.”
Although Christians in the mainly Muslim Arab world for decades have
felt vulnerable, with each war or crisis prompting a mini exodus, the
Arab Spring has revived the debate as to their very existence in the
region. Many point to Iraq where the number of Christians has
drastically fallen since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein as many fled
overseas in the face of deadly persecution by Muslim extremists.
The number of Iraqi Christians currently stands at about 400,000,
from an estimated 800,000-1.2 million before the 2003 US-led invasion.
In Egypt, the Christian Coptic community has also been the target of
sectarian attacks.
And in Syria there are fears among the Christian minority that
Islamic extremists could rise to power should the regime of Bashar
al-Assad collapse.
The Christian communities' fears are fed by the fact that while the
Arab revolts that began a year ago initially appeared to be largely
secular in character, that has changed as Islamist parties gradually
came to the forefront, winning elections in Tunisia and Egypt.
In Libya, the new rulers said the country would make Islamic sharia
law the main source of legislation.
Lebanon is the only Arab country where Christians still play a key
role in politics. The community over the years has nonetheless dwindled
and currently represents an estimated 34 percent of the population of
four million, as opposed to more than half in the 1940s.
“The revolutions in Arab countries have driven the Islamists to
power,” said Farzat, a 55-year-old Syrian engineer who asked his last
name not be used.
“In 20 years at the utmost there won't be any Christians left in
Syria,” he predicted, reflecting the concerns of many fellow Christians
in the region.
Nardine, a Egyptian Copt who works at a bank in Cairo, said her
father was considering sending her and her brothers overseas in light of
the recent electoral success of Islamist parties. “He believes there is
no future for us in this country with the Islamists,” she said, also
asking her last name not be used.
There are between eight and 10 million Coptic Egyptians out of a
total mainly Sunni Muslim population of 85 million.
The impact of the Arab revolts on Christian minorities has prompted
much debate in Europe and the Middle East with the Vatican expressing
concern about their future role in the region. AFP
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