There are many Christian communities in the Middle East and North Africa, which include about 15 million believers, according to some data. However, the number of Arab Christians who live there is reducing due to the Daesh group’s activity and other radical organizations which are destroying Christian shrines – monasteries, churches, graveyards, they destroy Christian villages, kill people who believe in Christ.
Roderick Khoury, Chairman of the Orthodox Party of the Middle East, says: “We have been exposed to many threats, not only in Syria, but also in Lebanon. Perhaps many of you don't know that inscriptions with threats to murder Lebanon Christians have recently appeared on churches in Tripoli. The Lebanese army is attacked every day by terrorists, and many members of our army, the Lebanese army, have been killed by terrorists in Lebanon and Syria. Earlier, we were subjected to such acts as kidnapping. Two Metropolitans were kidnapped from Aleppo, and more than 390 people were kidnapped in the northern part of Syria. Many churches were destroyed and burned.”
According to Khoury, the Christians of the Middle East pin their hopes on Russia's actions in the sphere of the anti-terrorist struggle. However, there is no clear answer as to whether the danger for Christians has decreased after Russia joined the fight against Daesh, “It is certainly a significant help. The cooperation offered to us by Russia at the request of the Syrian state has undoubtedly increased the morale of our people who are resisting terrorists. This is the first point. As for the fight in the field, so our land forces also have become stronger, but at the same time our opponents also became stronger and intensified the attacks on our churches and positions. Certainly, I want to thank Russia for what they have done, but there is another danger on the other hand. The danger to Christian villages. Their residents have a fear of terrorists' revenge due to the Russian actions.”
Khoury believes that Russia should help us at the beginning so that we could organize ourselves in order to be able to resist the terrorists: “Today Russia covers us from the air, but on the ground terrorists continue to attack our villages, so we have to be ready to resist them. Therefore, we are relying on Russia continuing to help us in the fight against terrorism.”
