Aleppo's Christians in Syrian crossfire
Christians in Aleppo fear an uncertain fate; Iran’s decisive role in the appointment of Haider al-Abadi as Iraqi prime minister-designate; battle for Arsal may not be over yet; Netanyahu is Israel’s "weakest prime minister" ever; lobbying profiles of Gulf countries to be released.
Aleppo’s forgotten Christians
While the dire situation of Iraq’s Yazidis provoked US military intervention against the Islamic State (IS) and nonstop media coverage, Aleppo’s Christians fear they are the war’s forgotten victims.
As Syrian government forces prepare for what may be a decisive battle against armed groups in Aleppo, Edward Dark reports that for Aleppo’s Christians, “fear of a new kind permeates this ancient and deeply rooted community. Genocide and ethnic cleansing are very real threats that haunt the collective conscience of Syria’s Christians. The terrible fate that befell their co-religionists across the border in Mosul has driven these points home in a rather blunt and frightening way.”
Most Christians in Syria have attempted to remain neutral in the three-year civil war, yet they find that, regardless of their political affiliations, they remain targets:
