Molly Wharton reports:
The Islamic State presented Christians in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, with a deadly ultimatum last Friday: Convert to Islam, pay a tax, leave, or face death. The order from the militants said they had until noon on Saturday to leave the city, and almost all of them appear to have left.
The Islamic State, which controls parts of northern Iraq and eastern Syria, ordered Christians in Mosul a couple of weeks ago to pay a tax, known as “jizya,” in return for protection, according to the Blaze. Jihadi then started occupying churches and seizing the homes of Christians who had fled, and militants have now apparently removed the cross from one of Mosul’s cathedrals, replacing it with the black flag of al-Qaeda.
Christians living in Mosul make up one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, dating back 1,700 years. Their population has decreased dramatically since the U.S. invasion of the country in 2003, as it has in Iraq more broadly: The city’s Christian population dropped from 30,000 to just a few thousand, before the most recent jihadist offensive. In Iraq generally, there were about 1 million Christians before the U.S. invasion, a number that’s dropped to about 450,000 in the past decade.
According to a United Nations report released Friday, Christians are among several minority groups that are being systematically expelled or killed by Islamic State militants. Most of the Christians have reportedly fled to the areas of Iraq controlled by the Kurds, which are close to Mosul.
The Family Research Council commented:
For centuries, Christians have lived and worshiped in Mosul, but yesterday the churches in the Iraqi city that weren't engulfed in flames stood silent. When the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) took over the city last month, the majority of the city's Christians left, expecting the worse from the deadly ISIS invaders. Those who remained are now the focus of intense persecution. On Friday, the jihadist ISIS issued an ultimatum to all remaining Christians living in Mosul -- by noon on Saturday -- they must either convert to Islam, pay an extra religious tax, or be executed.
As the brief deadline approached, families who took flight were told to leave all their possessions behind. One refugee, Wadie Salim, told CNN that they were ordered, "...to leave all of your money, gold, jewelry and go out with only the clothes on you."
While a cathedral in Mosul burned, the city's Christians fled, and it is unclear now whether or not there are even any Christians left in Mosul.
Not surprisingly, the silence of the church bells in Mosul has been matched by the silence of the Obama administration. For an administration that wields such a heavy hand campaigning for the international embrace of LGBT practices, a strong stand against violent religious persecution seems to be an unwelcome third wheel. The months that the administration has left the post of Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom unfilled speaks volumes regarding the importance (or lack thereof) that President Obama places on defending religious freedom rights abroad. We've seen this with the administration's sluggishness on the Meriam Ibrahim situation in Sudan as well. When will the Obama administration speak up for persecuted Christians around the world? The issue of response in Iraq is certainly complex, but silence in the face of such overwhelming violence toward a particular religion risks being perceived as approval.
American Christians should not be silent about the plight of our persecuted brothers and sisters. We at FRC lift up our prayers for the Christians under attack in Iraq, and encourage you to as well.