Christians Under Threat as Radical Islam Spreads in 'New Middle East'

Monday, 24 Oct 2011 12:43 PM
By Henry J. Reske

Attacked by mobs and terrorists, repressed by the growing popularity of fundamentalist Islamic law and cut off from crucial business ties, Christians are fleeing the Middle East in an unprecedented exodus.

More than half of Iraqi Christians — an estimated 400,000 people — have left that country over the last decade as power has fallen in the hands of increasingly hostile Shi'a Islamic leaders.

In Egypt, home to at least 8 million Copt Christians — a number that exceeds the populations of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia — at least 95,000 Christians have emigrated since March 2011. The number could reach 250,000 by the end of this year, reports the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights.

"At the present rate, the Middle East's 12 million Christians will likely drop to 6 million in the year 2020. With time, Christians will effectively disappear from the region as a cultural and political force," reports Daniel Pipes, a leading scholar of the Middle East.

The most popular destination for fleeing Christians was the United States, which took in an estimated 42,000 of the Egyptian Copts. Other destinations included Canada, Australia and western Europe.

The situation threatens to worsen as the Arab Spring removes dictators who, paradoxically, shielded Christian communities. The parties that are gaining power in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries tend to be offshoots of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.

In Libya on Sunday, transitional government leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil laid out a vision for the post-Gadhafi future with an Islamist tint, saying Islamic Sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation and existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified.

In Egypt, where Christians make up about 10 percent of the population, Coptic Christians have been subjected to a series of attacks. On New Year’s Day, 21 Coptics were killed leaving Saints Church in Alexandria, and dozens more killed in clashes that followed, all leading up to the Oct. 9 demonstration killed at least 24 Christians, many run over by military vehicles, and injured hundreds more.

In an attack on a Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation church in October of 2011, 58 Syriac Catholic worshippers were killed and 78 wounded. The al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the massacre.

On Sunday, in a speech that stirred fears among some Middle East observiers, Jalil called for all laws to conform to Islam. The myriad of practices that declaration covers is widespread and includes charging interest on loans, which Abdel Jalil promised will be abolished.

“We are an Islamic state,â€