While the United States leads the international community in many diplomatic and rescue initiatives, such as in Bosnia, many here and overseas wonder why parallel action is not taken in similar, sometimes worse, nightmares, such as the tragedies in South Sudan, Upper Egypt, and Central Lebanon, to name a few. To be sure, U.S. resources are limited to a certain extent and world hot spots must be evaluated for their priority within American interests and capabilities.
Problem areas, moreover, must also be examined on the basis of the interests of our allies. We must also be careful not to encroach on the sovereignty of foreign governments. At the same time, we must not fail to take advantage of the superior leadership position we have today or the opportunity we have for linkage between various kinds of U.S. aid and the human rights records of the countries we assist. Fine lines need to be drawn. I hope today's meetings will help delineate them.
When should Washington get involved? Of late, the United States participated in treaties to stop the massacres in Bosnia and to convey political rights to the Palestinians. The problems within these groups and the delicacy with which they had to be handled are well known. Less known, however, are the plight of various Christian minorities. Not supporting the rights of the Christians while supporting the rights of other communities, has at times seemed ironic, particularly given the Judeo-Christian religious roots of most citizens, as well as members of Congress.
Minimally, it had sent a message of indifference. In some cases, this disregard has been construed as a "green light" to proceed in actions taken against minorities in the region. At worse, the silence in the United States has actually caused an increase in persecutions against the eighteen million Christians in the Middle East.
How did we get to this state?
1.Over the past decades, the persecution and oppression of Middle East Christians were rarely reported in Western media. While other accusations of abuse in the region has been investigated exhaustively by audiovisual and printed media, the suffering of millions of Christians has been down played or ignored. It is only now, and after persecution has reached its zenith, that fact finding is underway, such as today's hearing.
2.Another problem stems from that lack of information. The groups which have a natural tie to the Middle East Christians have done little despite their vast resources and commitment to activism on better known topics. Domestic, as well as international, Christian churches have not paid enough attention in the past to the large scale persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Their resources can make a significant difference if they raised the issue nationwide with all their strengh (just look at the success of the much smaller Jewish community in the United States, when they pressed for an awareness of and commitment to the freedom of Soviet Jewry).
3.Even those who do not need the media to illuminate them have all too often by-passed the problems of Christians in the Middle East. I am now talking about many in the academic community of this country. Despite easy access to facts, many Middle East experts have chosen to research and write about the "majority" rather than the minorities of the region.
This course of study has been
facilitated by cooperation and financial support (either from governments or business with
interests abroad) to institutions or researchers who published about topics deemed
"acceptable."
1. Size, location and background
The Christians of the Middle East are a not a monolithic group. They are the descendants of the first Christians in the world, and the heirs of the ancient and native people of the region. While many Christians are recent converts, the overwhelming majority of Middle East Christians came from nationalities which did not convert to Islam after the Arab conquest of the seventh century.
a. The largest Christian community of the Middle East is found in Egypt, which has ten to twelve million Copts. This Christian group comprises 1/5 to 1/6 of the country's population. Egypt is also a major recipient of U.S. foreign aid, despite blatant violations of religious freedom which occurs weekly in this country.
b. The Southern Sudanese are about six million. Christians are the largest monotheist group.
c. The Christians of Lebanon: about 1.5 million still reside there and more than 6 million live in the diaspora, including about a quarter of that number in the United States. Among the Lebanese Christians, the largest group is the Maronites, which are Catholics which follow Rome. Other smaller religious entities include the Melkites and Orthodox Christians.
d. The Assyro-Chaldeans: Around one million in Iraq with large concentrations in the Kurdish zone.
e. The Christians of Syria: About 1.2 million including Aramaics, Armenians, Melkites and Orthodox.
f. There are small but significant Christian communities in other countries such as Iran, Jordan, Israel, and less significant in Turkey, Algeria. By law there are no Christians in Saudi Arabia.
2. Types of Persecutions:
There are various types of persecutions of Christians in the Middle East. We can sort them in two:
a) Religious persecution of individuals (human rights abuse): This persecution is conducted against individuals because of their religious affiliation. In Saudi Arabia and Iran, for examples, individuals are punished for displaying crosses or stars of David, jailed for praying in public, and in some cases punished by death, for not complying with the religious tenants. In these countries, as well as in Egypt and Sudan, converts to Christianity are sentenced to death.
b) Political oppression of religious communities (ethno-religious cleansing):
In this case, ruling regimes are oppressing entire religious communities on political,
security, and economic levels. The objectives of such oppression is to reduce the
influence of the Christian communities, and in certain cases, to reduce it physically.
The ethno-religious cleansing of Christian peoples in the Middle East alternate between
military suppression and political oppression. In Egypt, the large Coptic nation is
systematically discriminated against on the constitutional, political, administrative, and
cultural levels. Moreover para-military fundamentalist groups are conducting pogroms
against the Christians, which includes burning Churches and assassinating civilians.
In Sudan, the stated objective of the ruling regime is to Arabise and Islamize the African
Christian and Animist population of the south. Particularly since 1992, the Sudanese
government has been waging a military campaign aimed at dispersing, enslaving, and
subduing the southern Blacks.
Last but not least, let us review the third largest Christian community of the region, the
Lebanese, who are under political and security oppression in their homeland.
Under occupation by a Moslem power, Syria, the Christian community is systematically
suppressed by the Syrian-controlled regime in Beirut.
The smaller Christian groups do no better. In Iraq, for example, the Assyrians are another
group targeted by the Saddam regime. Growing numbers of Assyrians have been assassinated
by radical fundamentalist groups.
3. Slavery:
Religious persecution of Christians in the Middle East has reached extreme forms of human degradation: In Sudan, abundant reports by international human rights organizations have documented the enslavement by the northern fundamentalist forces of southern African Christians. According to the reports and experts, there are today between 600,000 and one million Black slaves from Sudan, who have either been taken to the north of that country to work as domestics or tending farms, or sold in other Arab countries.
4. The authors of persecution:
a. The religious persecution and oppression is normally conducted by one religious group against other religious group: for Christians, this case has been the case in Egypt, Sudan, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan. Of course, persecution can also conducted by members of one particular group against other members of the same religious group on the basis of religious fundamentalism (Algeria, Afghanistan, Iran), or racism (Mauritania), but this is not the topic of today's discussion.
b. Persecution of ethno-religious groups, the Mideast Christians in particular, is conducted by legal governments (Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan) or by organizations (National Islamic Front in Sudan, Front Islamique de Salut, the Hizbollah of Lebanon, etc.)
5. Evolution:
Under the Cold War, the oppression of Christians was mostly, but not
exclusively, conducted under pro-Soviet regimes such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, and in
the PLO-Islamic controlled areas during Lebanon's civil war. Since the Iranian revolution,
and after the end of the Cold War, persecution has spread in most of the region's
countries. Ironically, in the wake of the Arab-Israeli peace process, persecution has
reached larger scales and was conducted with bolder ideological attitudes.
a. Historical pattern: Persecution of non-Moslems in the Middle East is deeply rooted in history. It is the result of thirteen centuries of dominance by regimes which legally and politically discriminate against Christians.
b. Ideological pattern: More recently, Christians have become a specific target of radical Islamic fundamentalist movements. The more political fundamentalism grows, the more Christians are persecuted.
c. Regional pattern: In many cases the increase of persecution is caused by regional government toleration and participation (Egypt, Sudan, Iran).
d. International pattern: A less investigated factor is the American and Western political, intellectual, and moral abandonment of human rights policies as a priority. The less the U.S. intervenes in protecting the rights of Christians, the more these communities will suffer.
A. The victims of the persecution in the Middle East are denied the right to raise their plight, by their oppressors. While other minorities or non-state communities in the Middle East are allowed by their dominant regimes to express their cause, not one single Christian community is able to articulate its claim and protest peacefully.
B. As indicated above, the victims of the persecution have little access to American and international press. While the dominant national-religious movements from the Middle East have easy access to the TV, radio, newspapers, Mideast Christians do not because they lack the resources to purchase time, department chairs in universities, or expensive lobbyists. Their message is not getting out.
C. Their problems are not convenient ones either. Because of regional, diplomatic, and economic considerations, the causes of these persecutions are marginalized in the political and academic world of the United States.
D. Because of a variety of factors, including the above mentioned, oppressed Christian communities in the Middle East did not obtain a credible support from worldwide Christians
As a result of the factors I mentioned, grassroots of American Churches and the
general public in the United States are not aware of the persecutions, and therefore
cannot support these unknown and unpublicized causes.
I commend the current initiative which allowed this hearing to occur, and other similar initiatives in Congress. I also commend President Clinton for forming a special advisory commission to investigate the subject and report to the White House. I believe the United States government should take further steps.
The United States Congress must:
1.Take the leadership on this issue and encourage the Administration to take practical measures, which would have effect in the region.
2.Hold additional hearings and organize a conference on the rights of religious minorities in the region. It is crucial that representatives of these communities be invited to express their concerns.
3. Legislate linkage between foreign policy issues, such as foreign aid and
trade, and human rights abuse. Those countries and organizations responsible for the
persecution of religious minorities should be held responsible for their behavior.
CONCLUSION
The United States government can act in order to save the lives of and preserve the individual rights of millions of individuals in the Middle East. There is little hope for the eighteen million Christians in the Middle East if the United States does not take a leadership role.