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| Khatib with Erdogan at a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey, Dec. 30 |
Moaz el-Khatib, leader of
the Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, posted a
New Year Message to Syria’s Christians on his Facebook page
this morning.
I have paraphrased parts of
his appeal hereunder:
I wrote this article and
saved it while still in Damascus, hoping to publish it at some point.
Wherever I went, government
officials would ask me about (Syria’s) Christians, as if we were beasts prying
on everything dissimilar.
I told everyone: Christians
live with us in harmony and love – not because of international pressure but
because our religion, morals and upbringing taught us to be exemplary kinsfolk
and neighbors.
That’s how we lived and
that’s how we shall remain.
Yesterday, I accompanied
Turkey’s great Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a visit to a Syrian refugee camp of
27,000 people. Never in my life did I feel such warmth and love.
As soon as I started
talking of conditions in Syria and about the hands meddling in our lives and
destiny, a thunderous chant broke out spontaneously. Thousands started
repeating: “One, One, One… The Syrian
people are One.”
The same spontaneous and
rhythmic phrase was originally belted out in Douma in March 2011 at the funeral
of the first batch of the city’s martyrs.
I realized we’re okay, that
regardless of their outrages, we remain a great and courageous people that defy
death as well as fire and brimstone while staying interdependent.
I decided to publish this
write-up on the occasion of the New Year as a tribute to all the Syrian people,
chiefly the Christians among them.
It is also a tribute to two
faithful but deceased friends -- (Christian statesman) Prime Minister Faris el-Khoury and
(Islamic scholar) Muhammad Bahjat al-Bitar; and to whoever shed his blood to
document brutality in Homs, like (creative Christian filmmaker) Basel Shehadeh. It is an accolade as well
to my beloved sister, Hind Abboud
Kabawat…
Originally, the trigger for
this article was the (1 January 2011) Alexandria church
bombing and the earlier (31 October 2010) Baghdad church
attack.
The two attacks justified
Christians’ fears and awareness that immoral regimes -- whether local or global
– saw dissent among components of a society. They alone destroy love, torpedo
harmony and create hate amongst people to serve their political ends.
The bombs in the Alexandria
and Baghdad churches did not only blow up worshippers but also tore the heart
of every human being…
I feel at times more
anxious than the Christians. I fear the onset of an earthquake if we don’t wise
up.
Quite frankly, we are
letting each other down as Muslims and Christians. We need to reinforce bridges
between us.
Christianity was a pioneer
in opening its doors to Islam and in shielding the companions of Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH).
My eyes swell when I call
to mind how, when Jaafar ibn Abi Taleb recited some verses from the Quran from
the Chapter of Maryam (Mary), al-Najafi
(the emperor of Aksum at the time of Prophet Muhammad) and Eastern Ethiopian
Catholic priests in his court were so touched that they began to shed tears.
We, Muslims and Christians,
have lived together in the good times and bad times. We’ve respected our individual
religions. We see in each other an essential, civilized and humane component of
this universe, where Syria is one of the most beautiful mosaics of religious
tolerance, love, security and tranquility.
I am so proud Syria is the
only place in the world where the (Aramaic) language of the Spirit of God
(Jesus) survives.
Time is running short. We
have to consolidate what joins us. The Holy Book says: “He has made plain for you the religion with which He charged Noah and
that which We have revealed to you, and that with which We charged (prophets)
Abraham, Moses and Jesus, (saying): ‘Establish the religion and do not be
divided therein’.”(Chapter 42, Verse 13.)
Perhaps one of the most
beautiful words of compassion were those expressed by (great Syrian Druze
leader) Sultan Pasha al-Atrash
in his eulogy of (prominent Syrian nationalist) Abdel-Rahman Shahbandar: “Join your
hearts to ours and embrace our hearts in yours. Don’t shut the homeland’s doors
in the face of any honest hard worker because the paradise of this homeland is
sizable to accommodate everyone regardless of faith.”
Another example of
compassion among faiths in Syria was the death of the great (Alawite leader who
commanded the Syrian Revolt of 1919) Saleh el-Ali in the care
of his friend, Sunnite scholar Mohammad al-Majzoub...
For the sake of Christ and Muhammad
For the sake of innocent children
For the sake of the martyrs of the houses of God
For the sake of the next generation
O Christians, don’t leave!
I beg you to stay put with us!
Signed,
Moaz el-Khatib
