Assyrians

By Yeganeh Torbati | – To deport Iraqi Christians, Trump’s immigration officials rely on testimony saying they won’t be at particular risk. But to justify funding and attention, officials elsewhere in the administration say the Christians face grave danger. (ProPublica) – Even as U.S. immigration officials have pushed to deport hundreds of Iraqi Christians over […]

Assyrians

A Subdued Christmas for Middle Eastern Christians amid New Wave of Popular Protests

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Chaldean Christians in Iraq have been asked by their Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, to hold subdued private Christmas ceremonies this year to honor the over 500 Iraqi protesters who have been killed by government security and paramilitary security forces. Public celebrations have been canceled. The Iraqi street crowds want an […]

Assyrians

Unconstitutional: VP Pence Directed USAID Help for Iraqis to tiny Christian Minority

ProPublica

by Yeganeh Torbati | (ProPublica) | – Officials at USAID warned that favoring Christian groups in Iraq could be unconstitutional and inflame religious tensions. When one colleague lost her job, they said she had been “Penced.” Last November, a top Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a candid email to colleagues […]

Assyrians

When Christians First Met Muslims (Emir-Stein Center Talk)

Emir-Stein Center

Michael Penn | Emir-Stein Center | Video Clip and Transcript | – If history matters, then getting right the history of the first encounters of the world’s two largest religions—Christianity and Islam—really matters. In this fascinating video, Prof. Michael Penn, the Teresa Hihn Moore Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University, sheds light on the […]

Assyrians

Middle East Christians, with the population of Sweden, Celebrate Christmas

Juan Cole

The Shadow of ISIL has Receded for Most Christians in the Region

Assyrians

Wealthy Baghdad Muslim raised 85′ tall Christmas Tree in Solidarity

contributors

NewsBeat Social | (Video News report) | – – “A Muslim businessman in Iraq put up an 85-foot-tall Christmas tree in Baghdad to show solidarity with Iraqi Christians and help Iraqis “forget their anguish”” NewsBeat Social: ” LOOK: Christmas Tree in Baghdad ‘Represents Love and Peace’”

Assyrians

Woman demeans Christian Assyrian-American as ‘Terrorist’ for Speaking Jesus’ Language

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus. Although the New Testament survives in koine Greek, likely it had an Aramaic substrate. The Gospels make clear that Jesus spoke Aramaic by occasionally quoting his original words in that language. Jesus says to the little girl he heals, […]

Alawites

Is Religion really Driving Middle East Violence?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pew Research has released a report saying that “As a whole, the region continued to have the highest levels of religious hostilities in the world. In 2014, the median level of religious hostilities in the Middle East and North Africa reached a level four times that […]

Assyrians

For Iraqi Minorities, ‘Immigration No Longer A Choice, It’s Inevitable’

contributors

By Saad Salloum | Baghdad| (Niqash.org) | – – In an interview, Raad Jabar al-Khamis, a representative of the Christian Sabean-Mandaean minority, talks about why all minorities in Iraq will leave the country over the next decade. Raad Jabar al-Khamis has held many senior political positions on behalf of Iraq’s Sabean-Mandaean minority. The Sabean-Mandaeans are […]