Iraqi Christians form militia to fight ISIS

As reported in the Catholic Herald (February 4, 2015):

Christians in Iraq have formed a militia to take back their Nineveh Plains homeland from ISIS.

The organisation, the Nineveh Plains Protection Units, has more than 3,000 troops serving or awaiting training, and has the backing of the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Peshmerga.

The force has 500 Assyrian Christian troops stationed in towns such as Alqosh in the Nineveh Plains to defend them from ISIS, with a further 500 being trained and another 3,000 men registered and awaiting training. Their aim is to take back the rest of the Nineveh Plains, a traditionally Christian part of Iraq, which was overrun by ISIS last summer. More than 100,000 Christians are currently displaced in the nearby Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq, along with a large number of Yazidis.

The Assyrian forces are allied to the Iraqi Army and Kurds but do not take orders from either, and their aim is to establish an administrate area for the Assyrians and Yazidis, as well as other minorities such as Shabaks and Mandeans.

The group are funded by members of the Assyrian diaspora, which is mainly concentrated in the United States, Australia and Sweden, and they are being trained by an American security company. However they are short of funds.

There are around 5,000 people of Assyrian descent in Britain, many of whom were given citizenship on account of their fathers and grandfathers’ service in the Assyrian Levies, who fought alongside the British in the First and Second World War.

British-Assyrians are currently awaiting a response from the Foreign Office on whether it is legal or not to financially support the group.

John Michael, a British-Assyrian, said: “This is our last stand, if this fails then Christianity will be finished in Iraq.”

Dec. 22, 23, 24 - Let us join the special pre-Christmas Fast of the Catholics of Iraq

Christian refugees in a Chaldean Catholic church in Erbil
Rorate reports:

The Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad Raphael Louis Sako calls on Iraqi Christians to fast on Christmas Eve in order to implore the Lord for the return of refugees in Mosul and the Nineveh plains. At the same time, he asks the faithful not to organise "any worldly celebration" for Christmas and New Year as "a sign of solidarity with their displaced brothers and sisters, who are going through indescribable suffering."

...

For this reason, he urges them to fast from Monday 22 December until night on 24 December, not touching food or drink until noon, as "in the days of Ba'utha". The Fast of Ba'utha commemorates what the prophet Jonah brought to the people of Nineveh for their conversion.

"We fast," the Patriarch said, "for the liberation of Mosul and the villages of the Nineveh plains, so that peace and security will return to these areas, and everyone will be able to return to his or her home, job and school." (Source)

Help Iraqi Christians

The Chaldean (Iraqi Catholic) churches in the metro-Detroit area have nearly drained themselves dry of funds for their daily operation by their generous contributions to aid for their Iraqi brothers and sisters who have lost everything in Iraq. If you can help in any way, here are a number of venues where you can donate:

• Iraqi Assyrian Christians Devastated by Isis
• Help Iraq: Sponsored by St. Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of the U.S.A
• Shlama Foundation

Below are a number of videos showing concrete examples of how donations are used to help Iraqis:







[Hat tip to Marcus J. Shammami]

How to help our Chaldean brothers and sisters in Iraq

Dear friends,

As some of you know, many of our students at Sacred Heart Major Seminary are from Chaldean Catholic families who have immigrated to the United States to escape deteriorating conditions in Iraq. If any of you are wondering what you can do to help our Chaldean brothers and sisters in Iraq or would like updates on the current situation there, please visit the OFFICIAL website of the St. Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of the U.S.A. at www.helpiraq.org.


[Photo credits: http://www.helpiraq.org/, hat tip to B.K.]

Antisemite blog trolls

"A Dialogue with a Troll" (Fringe Watch, January 26, 2011) recounts a combox incident attendant to our post, "Our brilliant dismal education results" (January 2, 2011), and begins by observing:

There's nothing like a blog-post about Israel to bring the loons out of the woodwork. So when Dr. Philip Blosser (aka. Pertinacious Papist) circulated a video demonstrating UCLA college students' appalling ignorance about Israel, it came as no suprise that his comments box would be infested by a troll.

All-too-often certain anti-semitic rad-trads, animated by the discovery that bad things are said about Jesus in the Talmud (a loose conglomeration of commentary on everything under the sun), assume that this gives them warrant for tarring all Jews as Christ-killers and sworn enemies of the Church -- which makes about as much sense as holding all white Americans responsible for the slave trade or holding all Germans responsible for Naziism, or holding all Italians responsible for Nero's execution of the Apostles Peter and Paul in ancient Rome. What they don't seem to know is that even these passages of the Talmud are strongly contested within the Jewish community.

Perhaps most appalling is the whole attitude that says 'let's dredge up the worst possible thing this or that Jew might have said about Christianity' and toss it into an internet conversation to stir the pot, as though it were a real argument. The poster's intent speaks for itself.

Another claim of the combox interloper calling for clarification is the 'Christians had it better under Saddam' statement. While we have called attention to the present plight of Chaldean Catholics in Iraq (see our post, "In Memoriam: Massacre of Chaldean Catholics in Iraq," Musings, November 21, 2010), we are also well-aware that those Catholics Iraqis who have lived or still live in Iraq are well-aware of the sufferings -- the torture, the rapes, the murders, the assassinations, the secret police under the previous administration -- on which the relative safety and security they enjoyed were sadly predicated. For an observer to smugly suggest that 'Christians had it better under Saddam' is akin to suggesting that the Germans might have "had it good" during the early days of the Third Reich. Such "observations" ultimately get us nowhere, but perhaps distract us from the real question: who are the oppressors and persecutors now?

The aforementioned Fringe Watch post does a thorough job of analyzing and debunking these common sorts of misconceptions. Topical headings of the post include: 1) Jesus in the Talmud; 2) Muslims or Jews - which are more hospitable to Christians? 3) What does it mean that Christians "had it better under Saddam Hussein?" Well worth the read.

Kidnapped Chaldean Catholic Archbishop dead

"The archbishop of Mosul is dead" (AsiaNews.it, March 13, 2008):

Bishop of Arbil: "A heavy Cross for our Church, ahead of Easter". The cause of death is still unknown. The pope's expression of sorrow.

Mosul (AsiaNews) - The Chaldean archbishop of Mosul is dead. Archbishop Faraj Rahho was kidnapped last February 29 after the Stations of the Cross. His kidnappers have given word of his death, indicating to the mediators where they could recover the body of the 67-year-old prelate.

"It is a heavy Cross for our Church, ahead of Easter", Rabban al Qas, bishop of Arbil, tells AsiaNews in response to the news.

The news of Archbishop Rahho's death "profoundly wounds and saddens" the pope, says the director of the Vatican press office, Fr Federico Lombardi. Benedict XVI hopes that "this tragic event may renew once again and with greater force the efforts of all, and in particular of the international community, for the pacification of this greatly tormented country". Three times in recent days, the pope had launched an appeal for the liberation of the bishop. Numerous Muslim leaders had also spoken out for the prelate's release, both Sunnis and Shiites, in Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan, and also condemned the action as "contrary to Islam".

A small gesture of Muslim-Christian unity in Baghdad

In a follow-up to our post ("New Cardinal celebrates first Mass in Baghdad," December 10, 2007), I wish to call your attention to a post on a "Reunion of Iraqi Christians and Muslims" (Against the Grain, December 15, 2007), which offers the following details based on Sameer Yacoub's account of last Sunday's Mass ("Baghdad Christians Celebrate Sunday Mass," AP). The post begins with excerpts from Yacoub's account:

Under heavy guard and broadcast live on Iraqi state television, the service was capped by a handshake from a visiting Shiite imam—a symbolic show of unity between Iraq's majority Muslim sect and its tiny Christian community. . . .

Delly presided over other services this week in Baghdad and the northern Kurdish city of Irbil, spreading his message of unity and forgiveness among Iraq's Christians.

"We are of one family, everyone should work for the progress of this country," he said during his sermon.

The frequent target of Islamic extremists, Iraq's Christians have been forced to flee by the tens of thousands or to isolate themselves in barricaded neighborhoods if they choose to remain.

"We pray today for the sake of each other and to forgive each other, as well to be directed to do good deeds," Delly said. "That is my demand for the Iraqis, moreover I urge the return home for displaced people and immigrants to their ancestral land."

Many people who filled the pews at the elegant brick Church of the Virgin Mary said they were taking advantage of a lull in violence to attend services and to congratulate Delly. The imam of a nearby Shiite mosque shook hands with him in the church's courtyard after the service.

"I came here to show the unity of the Iraqi people," said the black- turbaned imam, Jassim al-Jazairi. "We are happy with the cardinal. We are very proud of any person, whether Christian or Muslim, who raises the name of Iraq in the international arena."

This past November, the post continues, combat journalist Michael Yon released a truly epic photograph of Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John's Church in Baghdad ("Thanks and Praise" Against The Grain Nov. 8, 2007).


Further, Michael Yon provides the background to the story and the momentous events that occurred after the taking of the photo in a piece entitled "Come Home." This is truly an amazing piece of photo-journalism with an inside look at the Mass in Baghdad. Have a look!

The post continues: "On November 19, 2007, Most Reverend Shlemon Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of the St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Diocese for Chaldeans and Assyrians in Iraq officiated at a mass in St. John’s Church in Baghdad. He was welcomed home by a crowd of locals and American soldiers, who had fought hard to cleanse the streets of Al Qaeda. According to Michael Yon, "speaking in both Arabic and English, Bishop Warduni thanked those American soldiers sitting in the pews for their sacrifices":

. . . when al Qaeda came to Dora, they began harassing Christians first, charging them “rent.” It was the local Muslims, according to LTC Michael, who first came to him for help to protect the Christians in his area. . . . the Muslims reached out to him to protect the Christians from al Qaeda. Real Muslims here are quick to say that al Qaeda members are not true Muslims. From charging “rent,” al Qaeda’s harassment escalated to killing Christians, and also Muslims. Untold thousands of Christians and Muslims fled Baghdad in the wake of the darkness of civil war.

Michael Yon reports that the front pews of the Mass were filled with Muslims, in a spirit of solidarity with their Christian neighbors and to welcome them back to Iraq.


He concludes his post thus:

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen any fighting. I can’t remember my last shootout: it’s been months. The nightmare is ending. Al Qaeda is being crushed. The Sunni tribes are awakening all across Iraq and forswearing violence for negotiation. Many of the Shia are ready to stop the fighting that undermines their ability to forge and manage a new government. This is a complex and still delicate denouement, and the war may not be over yet. But the Muslims are saying it’s time to come home. And the Christians are saying it’s time to come home. They are weary, and there is much work to be done.

Amen to that. Also, as Against the Grain concludes, we can pray that this is only the beginning and, whatever opinions we may hold about the due cause of the Iraq war, have the decency to express our gratitude for the US and Iraqi servicemen whose assistance was indispensable in making this meaningful gesture of amicability possible.