'Deliberate campaign of terror': Syrian Christians facing 'accelerated cultural erasure,' advocate warns
By Samantha Kamman - Posted at The Christian Post:
Before the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Christians made up about 10% (2 million) of the Syrian population and co-existed with Muslim neighbors as the area is home to one of the world's oldest Christian communities. Today, fewer than 300,000 Christians remain in Syria.WASHINGTON — Radical jihadis and other extremist groups have carried out brutal mass killings and other human rights violations against Syria's religious minorities, prompting calls from religious freedom advocates for the United States to take action.
Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim, president of the Alawites Association of the United States, says the attacks against Syria's Christian, Alawite and Druze communities are not just random acts of violence.
"It's a deliberate campaign of terror," Ibrahim declared during a Wednesday press conference AAUS hosted on Capitol Hill to discuss the atrocities committed against Syrian ethno-religious minorities.
Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Syria's religious minorities are facing a rapid increase in violence from foreign jihadis, Assad loyalists and militias unleashed by Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Ibrahim said.
After the Islamic alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is made up of former Islamic State and Al Qaeda fighters, ousted President Bashar al-Assad, religious freedom advocates have feared for the safety of Christians and other minority groups.