Threats against Christians have appeared on the walls of churches and buildings in various locations across Syria. One such threat was written on St Cyril’s Church in Damascus on the night of November 6th: “There will be no Christians left. Our meeting is near, you pigs of the cross.”
These threats are causing fear among Christians. The 22nd of June is still seared in the memory as the low point of several attacks on churches. That Sunday, 22 Christians were killed when a terrorist opened fire and blew himself up in St Elias’s Church in Dweila, a suburb of Damascus. More than fifty people were injured, and in addition to the Christians, three others were killed, including the terrorist.
Christians threatened
The congregation of another Saint Elias Church, in Maaret Saidnaya, were terrified on Monday, November 10th . They found threats on the outer walls of their church referring to the attack on the church of the same name on June 22nd. “Christian infidel, there is no god but Allah. After Saint Elias in Dweila, it is now the turn of Saint Elias in Maaret Saidnaya.”
A week later, Christians in the town of Izraa discovered written threats on the walls in their neighbourhood: “We will stain your days with blood, you worshippers of the cross and people of other faiths. The Islamic caliphate will continue to exist”. On the doors of a shop, it said: “Terrorism will terrify you.”
“We will stain your days with blood.”
Insecurity after change of power
Christians have endured these kinds of threats and insults since the fall of dictator Basher al-Assad and his regime. On December 8, 2024, after a military operation lasting just a week and a half, the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) came to power. This marked the end of Assad’s brutal dictatorship, but the beginning of an uncertain era full of conflict and violence between various groups.
“It’s a constant challenge to keep up with the changes in Syria,” says Juliëtte*, a Christian woman from Aleppo. “It feels like I’m in a never-ending race. The conflicts between the national government and various groups, including the Kurds in the north and the Druze in the south, are still unresolved. There’s still a financial crisis, meaning banks still can’t give people access to their own money. Each person can withdraw about $20 per week, an amount they can barely live on.”
Violence tears families apart
Several families in Suweida, a city in the south of Syria with a Druze majority, have been torn apart by violence. Since July 13th, clashes have been ongoing between the Druze and Bedouin communities, and the army of the Syrian government. Reports suggest that all parties are guilty of extrajudicial killings. Christian fathers are sending their wives and children to safer areas.
Rama*, a Christian woman, fled Suweida with her children, leaving her husband behind. “We have always lived together peacefully. On the street, you cannot tell Druze from Christians. When the violence started, I wanted to leave with my children, but I couldn’t. The area was surrounded. We heard stories about how they attacked women and girls. I knew that my daughter, who is in her early twenties, couldn’t stay there. My husband said, ‘Protect the children and leave’. It took 26 days before we could do so. On that day, a humanitarian corridor was opened and we were able to leave for Damascus.”
“We know that God is at the helm of our lives.”
Hope amid fear
Surrounded by violence, Syrian Christians hold their breath. Will the graffiti on the walls remain just a threat? Will the new government be able to control the various extremist groups in the country? After 14 years of war, the attacks on churches and the threats exacerbate their trauma and fear.
A priest in Aleppo expressed the hopes of Syrian Christians: “We in Aleppo all share the difficult life experience of long days of war and attacks. But we are children of faith. We know that God is at the helm of our lives”.
Syria ranks 18th on the World Watch List.
Pray for Syria:
- Pray that all Syrians will soon be able to live in peace, protected by God’s hand.
- Pray for the reconstruction of the country, which has been severely damaged by war.
- Pray for Rama and other women who are currently receiving trauma counselling. Pray that these sessions will help them recover.
- Pray also for the situation in Suweida and for those who still live there.
- Ask God to protect Christians in Syria against violence and attacks.
- Pray that God will help His children not to be intimidated by the graffiti on the walls.
- Pray, too, for those who wrote these graffiti messages, that they may come to know the true Prince of Peace.
(* pseudonyms)
