The Future of Christians in the Middle East

A few days ago, writing about the continued unrest in Egypt, I made the comment that as a result of the political changes that will inevitably take place, "Sadly, I believe we can also expect increased persecution of Christians throughout the Middle East." [Egypt on the Brink - 11/28/11] I hope I am wrong, but new information out of Egypt and Europe seems to support this unwanted outcome.

For example, Egypt's Coptic Christians, who make up 10% of Egypt's population of 80 million, are not at all optimistic about their future in an Egypt led by someone other than President Hosni Mubarak. From the perspective of the Copts, Mubarak might not have always been a friend, but he was generally protective of their community and had aggressively prosecuted Islamist terrorists. Their concern is that the next government will either turn to groups like the Muslim Brotherhood for political support, or even include such groups in a coalition. Most likely such a government would be far less protective of the nation's Christians, leading to increased persecution. 

On Monday, Coptic Pope Shenouda III (photo at left) publicly supported President Mubarak on Egyptian state television: "We have called the president and told him we are all with you and the people are with you." Given the nature of the recent deadly attacks on Coptic communities that have taken dozens of lives, one can certainly understand their concerns. Although the protests seem to have almost exclusively secular aims, aims that the Copts also support -- free elections, economic freedom, elimination of state corruption, an economy that creates employment, democratic rights -- the Copts worry that amid the potential political chaos Egypt may end up with a government that has little respect for these aims. I believe their biggest fear is that sooner or later the Muslim Brotherhood will take control. [You can read more in this Wall Street Journal article: Coptic Christians Worry about Future without Mubarak]

Another report, this one out of Europe, addresses the status of Christians in the Middle East and claims that they are in danger of becoming extinct due to the greatly increased violence directed at them by Muslim extremists. The report was issued in the form of a recommendation adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Condemning the recent mass murders of Christians in both Iraq and Egypt, the Assembly stressed that these attacks, symptomatic of the growing violence against Christians, will ultimately lead to the large scale emigration of Christians from homelands which they have inhabited continuously for 2,000 years. Indeed, this emigration is already well underway.

It is heartening to note that the Assembly went on to call on its members to take a number of positive actions. And yet, at the same time, one senses that there is little likelihood the Council of Europe's 47 member states will actually do anything about this crisis. Although the recommendation passed overwhelmingly -- 125 to 9, with 13 abstentions -- like most recommendations from multinational organizations, it has no teeth, no real means of enforcement. By the way, the Turkish delegation was responsible for 7 of the 9 negative votes, and was the only delegation that failed to support the Recommendation. They were apparently upset that the Recommendation included a paragraph urging the Turkish government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the interruption of the celebration of Christmas Masses in Northern Cyprus. How sad that for some the truth is always perceived as an insult.

You can read the full text of the Assembly's Recommendation here: Violence against Christians in the Middle East

...or you can just read an overview of the Recommendation. This page also includes links to details on the Assembly's actions relating to this issue: Christian communities could disappear from the Middle East.