Assyrian Democratic Organization ADO
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Leaders of Iraq’s dwindling Christian population say that bombings of their churches and attacks against their communities may force them to take up guns.
Two more churches were bombed in Mosul last week, and some Christians say that extremist Muslims are terrorizing them with the intent of ousting them and seizing their houses and belongings.
Iraq is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, made up largely of ethnic Assyrians, an ancient people who speak a modern form of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. But in the face of increasing turmoil, hundreds of Christian families are leaving each week for exile in Syria and Turkey.
Some Christians have called for the establishment of a safe haven in Iraq’s north, where they would be protected by special Iraqi army units. Others are threatening to add a Christian militia to Iraq’s already militarized society.
“Assyrians need security, so we need a legal army within the Iraqi army to protect ourselves,” said Michael Benjamin, a leader of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.
Another Assyrian leader, Yonadem Kanna, said: “We do not want to transform our movement into a militia, but if we need to, we can arm more than 10,000 people.”
Christians are only a sliver of Iraq’s population, but their leaders argue that driving them from Iraq would make it unlikely that Iraq could ever develop into a nation that values religious pluralism and tolerance. Estimates of how many Christians have left Iraq in recent months range from 10,000 to 40,000.
Christians have lived in the region nearly since the dawn of Christianity. They are thought to number about 800,000, or about 3 percent of Iraq’s population.
Many Christians are Chaldeans, or Eastern-rite Catholics, but there are also Christians who follow Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant lines.
Most Christians live in Baghdad or near Mosul, the modern city that surrounds the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh. Christian communities dot the Plain of Nineveh.
Many Christians have collaborated with U.S. forces, hoping that Iraq would become a democratic and free secular state. Their links to Americans, often as translators, have put them under threat. Some Sunni Muslims urge that anyone aiding the Americans be killed.
“The Christians have no future here,” said Athnaiel Isaac, a 23-year-old deacon in Baghdad. “We may be under the same pressures that made the Jews leave Iraq (following World War II).”
Isaac said he will leave soon for Syria and that his al Wehda district of Baghdad is emptying of Christians.
“I know about 100 families that have left the al Wehda neighborhood in the last three months,” Isaac said.
Other Christians said the nation’s turmoil leaves them vulnerable.
“The extremist Muslims are attacking us because the coalition forces are not controlling the country,” said Hayraw Bedros, an Armenian Christian.
Many of Iraq’s churches have thrown up protective walls or placed perimeter barrels filled with cement to protect against car bombs.
Some services have been canceled after coordinated church bombings in Baghdad and Mosul on Aug. 1, in which 11 persons died, and subsequent bombings Oct. 16, Nov. 8 and last Tuesday.
Tim Johnson of Knight Ridder Newspapers contributed to this report.
• Iraq’s besieged Christians are pondering taking up guns or fleeing into exile.
• As the turmoil worsens, some Christians say that Muslims want to seize their homes.
