[tomm]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Ernst Niessen

Agitprop behoort inderdaad tot de denkpatronen van Ceaucescu-adepten.

Het feit dat de minister een christen was is geen agitprop, net zomin als wat ik zonet op wikipedia vond,

Christians

Christians in Syria make up about 10% of the population and are fully protected under Syria's 1973 constitution, which has guaranteed their religious freedom and allowed them to operate churches and schools.[12] Their general feeling is reported to be that the Islamic-dominated governments that have emerged from the Arab Spring have become less tolerant towards recognizing equal rights for Christians.[13] Some fear that they will suffer the same consequences as the Christians of Iraq and Egypt if the government is overthrown.[14]

Most protests have taken place after Muslim Friday prayer, and the Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo told the Lebanon-based Daily Star, "To be honest, everybody's worried, we don’t want what happened in Iraq to happen in Syria. We don't want the country to be divided. And we don't want Christians to leave Syria."[15]

Christians were present in early demonstrations in Homs ; the entire demonstration walked off when Islamist Salafi slogans were proclaimed.[9]

According to International Christian Concern, Christians were attacked by anti-government protesters in mid-2011 for not joining the then-burgeoning protests.[16]

According to a CBS News report, Christians are largely in favour of Assad because they think that their survival is linked to his government.[17]

Sources inside the Syrian Orthodox Church have claimed an "ongoing ethnic cleansing of Christians" is being carried out by the Free Syrian Army. In a communication received by Agenzia Fides, the sources claimed that over 90% of the Christians of Homs have been expelled by militant Islamists of the "al-Faruq Brigade" who went door to door, forcing Christians to flee without their belongings and confiscating their homes.[18] The Christian population of Homs had dropped from a pre-conflict total of 160,000 down to about 1000.[19] Jesuit sources in Homs said the reason for the exodus was the Christians' fears over the situation and that they had left on their own initiative to escape the conflict between government forces and insurgents.[20] However, other charitable organisations and some local Christian families confirmed to Fides that they were expelled from Homs because they were considered "close to the regime". Islamist opposition groups not only targeted those who refused to joined the demonstrations, but also other Christians who were in favour of the opposition.[21] According to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association opposition forces had occupied some historical churches in the old city district of Homs, leading to the Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt being damaged during clashes with the Syrian army. Opposition groups have also vandalised icons inside some of the churches.[13]

Christians were given an ultimatum by the opposition to leave town of Qusayr.[22]

There have been claims that armed Sunni groups have perpetrated several massacres against Christians and Alawites in Qusayr, a town near Homs. The Vicar Catholic Apostolic of Aleppo, Giuseppe Nazzaro, was unable to confirm these reports but noted that Islamist and terrorist movements are becoming more visible. He recalls a car bomb which exploded near a Franciscan school in Aleppo narrowly missing children present there.[23]

[edit] Alawites

Following the development of the 2011–2012 Syrian uprising, Alawites in Syria have been subject to a series of growing threats and attacks coming from Sunni Muslims, who are the majority of the Syrian population. Alawites in Syria are a minority, accounting for about 12 percent of the 23 million residents in Syria. Journalist Nir Rosen, writing for Al Jazeera, reported that members of the Alawite sect are afraid of Sunni hegemony, as they were oppressed by Sunnis during Ottoman times and in the early years of the 20th century, the Sunni merchant class held much of the country's wealth and dominated politics, while Alawites generally lived as poor peasants.[24] Following Hafez al-Assad's coup, Alawites' position in the society improved under the secular regime of Assad, himself an Alawite.[25][26] In the 1980s, Alawites were the main target of the Sunni-dominated Muslim Brotherhood during the Islamic uprising in Syria.[citation needed]

Reuters investigated the mood and the condition of the Alawite community in early 2012. Several Alawites said that they have been threatened during the uprising for their religion and that they feared stating their names in cities where Sunnis are the majority. Some with distinguishable accents have tried to mask their speech patterns to avoid being identified as Alawites, Nir Rosen reported at around the same time, a phenomenon he suggested was not unique to Alawites in the increasingly sectarian conflict.[27] An Alawite originally from Rabia, near Homs, claimed that if an Alawite leaves his village, he is attacked and killed. Reuters reported that the uprising appeared to have reinforced support for President Bashar al-Assad and the government among ordinary Alawites, with a group of Alawites witnessed by its reporter chanting for Maher al-Assad to "finish off" the rebels. They were also convinced that if Assad fell, they would be killed or exiled, according to the investigation. Several claimed acts of sectarian violence had been committed against Alawites, including 39 villagers purportedly killed by Sunnis. Some also said that in cities like Homs, Alawites risked being killed or abducted if they ventured into Sunni neighbourhoods.[25] Many are fleeing their homes in fear of getting killed.[28]

The Globe & Mail reported that Turkish Alawites were becoming increasingly interested in the conflict, with many expressing fears of a "river of blood" if Sunnis took over and massacred Alawites in neighbouring Syria, and rallying to the cause of Assad and their fellow Alawites, though the report said there was no evidence that Alawites in Turkey had taken up arms in the Syrian conflict.[29]

A Syrian opposition member said privately that all Alawite men were murderers, while an anti-Assad cleric living in exile in Saudi Arabia said that the Sunnis would feed Alawites to dogs if they seized power.[25] A voice purported to belong to Mamoun al-Homsy, one of the opposition leaders, warned in a recorded message in December 2011 that Alawites should abandon Assad, or else "Syria will become the graveyard of the Alawites".[30] Amateur video posted online and aired on French television appeared to show Abdul Baset Sarut, former goalkeeper in the Syrian national football team and a leader of the opposition in Homs, calling for the extermination of the Alawites during a demonstration.[31]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectari...yrian_uprising