Despite public domestic Christian support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, some members of minority Christian groups argue he manipulates and threatens them.
Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Christians have been divided over whether Assad is their surest bet for security, as many fear that they would be vulnerable to a fragile government or jihadists without him. But a report released earlier this month by the Syrian Network for Human Rights suggests Assad’s forces have endangered Christian places of worship more than other actors in the nearly decade-long conflict, a finding that undercuts some of the opposition to U.S. policy directed toward Assad’s removal.
The human rights monitoring group identified at least 124 attacks on Christian places of worship since March 2011 and alleged the Assad regime’s military forces are responsible for 60% of the attacks.
Wael Aleji, a spokesperson for the Syrian Network for Human Rights, told the Washington Examiner that Assad knows that Western countries are concerned about Middle East Christians, and so his forces often do not “directly” bomb churches, but rather place fighters inside churches, making them targets. In other cases, the regime has allowed extremists to occupy Christian places of worship and then liberated those places for the sake of propaganda to present Assad “as the protector of Christians.”
Two Christians who no longer live in Syria told the Washington Examiner Assad uses Christians and other sects to his own advantage.
Ayman Abdel Nour, a co-founder of Syrian Christians for Peace, which advocates for humanitarian relief to Syria, said Assad is using Christians “as a card to consolidate his power and to empower himself.” And George Stifo, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Organization, a political group banned by Assad, said the regime does not “care if you’re a Christian or non-Christian or a Shiite or Alawite … it’s a dictatorship. Anyone who opposes them will feel the wrath, regardless of what faith they belong to.”
Assad’s forces are also likely responsible for occasionally subjecting Christians and other religious minorities to unlawful killings via enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention, according to a State Department spokesperson.
In spite of evidence suggesting Assad has targeted religious minorities, Syria’s Christian leaders have tended to publicly back Assad, or at least avoid being critical.
After joint British, American, and French airstrikes in 2018 in response to Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons in the town of Douma, three Christian leaders, known as patriarchs, denounced the “brutal aggression that took place this morning” and praised the “courage, heroism and sacrifices” of the Syrian army, which “courageously protects Syria and provide security for its people.” Other members of the clergy have lobbied overseas on behalf of the regime.
And earlier this month, U.S.-based Bishop Nicholas James Samra of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which has a large community in Syria, expressed doubts about the report from the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
Yet, both backers and critics of Assad agree that Syria’s Christians worry the alternative to Assad would be a government led by extremists or a fractured opposition.
“People think well, we have no options really, we better stick with him. He’s bad, he’s brutal, he’s corrupt, but he’s better than complete chaos and probably al Qaeda-style government,” said Aleji.
“The big fear of the Christians — the majority — is if he [Assad] goes, who will come in? And that is the big, big fear,” Bishop Samra told Catholic News Agency earlier this month.
For the Trump administration, the fact that many of Syria’s Christians worry about a future without Assad is not fully consistent with a White House agenda that has emphasized supporting religious minorities while seeking a political solution to the conflict in Syria that could remove Assad from power.
Trump promised in 2017 to give priority to persecuted Christians, noting at the time it was “impossible, or at least very tough” for Syrian Christians to enter the United States. In January 2018, David Satterfield, then-acting assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, said the administration sought implementation of a U.N. security council resolution that called for free elections and a new Syrian constitution.
Satterfield added that “a stable Syria will require new leadership in Damascus,” and thus the removal of Assad from power. Earlier this year, Ambassador James Jeffrey, Special Representative for Syria Engagement, reiterated the administration’s support for the U.N. resolution.
The U.S. must also contend with Russia, which has propped up the Assad regime while claiming to protect Christians.
Russian leaders have supported efforts to develop close ties with Syria’s Christian communities, and Assad has labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin “the sole defender of Christian civilization one can rely on.” Melkite Catholic Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart called Russia’s intervention in Syria in 2015 a source of “hope” for the country’s Christians.
With armed opposition groups and ISIS present, but weakened, it appears Russia’s support for Assad will keep him in power for the foreseeable future. Still, some Christians insist the U.S. must pressure Russia to agree to a political solution that results in a post-Assad Syria.
Gabriel Mousheh Gawrieh, a Syria-based member of the Assyrian Democratic Organization, said he’s looking forward to a “democratic, secular state based on justice, equality, partnership and the rule of law.”
“We believe that this cannot be achieved without real pressure from the international community, especially the United States of America, on the regime and its allies,” Gawrieh told the Washington Examiner.
