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“The
killing of four innocent people within the last two days
has put a renewed fear in our hearts,” said Julian
Taimoorazy, president of Iraqi Christian Relief Council,
in an interview with International Christian Concern.
“What is important is to keep these continuous
atrocities in the media and on the policy makers'
radars. What we need is a more safe and secure Iraq for
all of Iraqi's especially for the Christians who have
faced ethno-religious cleansing.”
Since 2003, some 750 Christians have been killed in
Iraq, according to Archbishop Louis Sako, the Chaldean
Catholic Archbishop of Kirkuk. Dozens of churches have
also been bombed.
Islamic extremists often target Christians under the
assumption that they are supporters of the coalition
force since they share the same faith as the West.
Constant death threats, lack of economic opportunities,
and security instability have forced more than half of
the Iraqi Christian population to flee the country
within the past five years.
The U.N. High Commission for Refugees reports that
although Iraqi Christians make up only three percent of
Iraq's population, they account for nearly half of the
refugees leaving the country.
In October, more than 15,000 Iraqi Christians were
driven out of the northern city of Mosul after 13 local
Iraqi Christians were killed within four weeks,
including three within 24 hours. Several Christian homes
were also bombed.
And last March, a high-ranking Chaldean Catholic
archbishop was kidnapped and murdered outside of Mosul
in northern Iraq. The death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj
Rahho, who was the second most senior Catholic cleric in
Iraq, sparked outcry from the Christian community over
the increased violence towards the tiny Christian
community that is on the brink of extinction.
Other Iraqi Christian leaders who have been murdered
since the start of the U.S.-led war include Fr. Paulos
Iskander, who was beheaded; Fr. Mundhir al-Dayr, who was
assassinated in his Protestant church; and Fr. Ragheed
Ganni and three deacons, who were gunned down and whose
cars were bombed, according to Nina Shea, director of
the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson
Institute, in the National Review.
"The suffering of Iraqi Christians has been beyond
description and is not yet over. More than ever, the
Iraqi Christians need our prayer and support,” said
Jonathan Racho, ICC's regional manager for Africa and
the Middle East.
“The latest martyrdom of our brothers should serve to
awaken churches in the Western countries to come to the
aid of their Iraqi brothers and sisters,” he said. “We
call upon Iraqi officials and the allied forces in Iraq
to avert further attacks against Iraqi Christians. It is
simply unacceptable to watch the extinction of the
Christian community from Iraq.”
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