Lebanon's Daiy Star has an article on the ancient Christian Village, Maaloula, falling to the US backed rebels. The link and some quotes are below but the general take is that the Islamist rebel forces took the town, killed some Christians, burned a church or two, forced some conversions, and that most of the people have left town for the safety of Damascus, the Syrian government controlled city.
The US leaders couldn't have that story getting to our mostly Christian base so the Washington post paints a different picture. They show a war zone with some scary stuff from both sides (government warplanes screaming over Nun's heads while rebels overrun the city, untouched by time and still speaking the tongue of Jesus) but they do paint the US backed rebels in a completely different light with this gem...
They also vowed not to attack Christians and proclaimed, “We must not harm any church . . . we target only those who shoot at us,” a commander told the camera. “These people are our families . . . these icons of the church and those people here and there, they should stay in peace."Links and quotes below.
The Daily Star: Islamist rebels take Christian villiage
It was impossible to independently verify the reports from Maaloula.and
A resident, reached by phone, confirmed that regime forces had withdrawn and rebels were now in control.
“The rebels are inside Maaloula, all of Maaloula. The government troops have pulled out of Maaloula,” the resident said.
Another resident said the rebels, many of them sporting beards and shouting God is great, attacked Christian homes and churches shortly after moving into the village overnight.
“They shot and killed people. I heard gunshots and then I saw three bodies lying in the middle of a street in the old quarters of the village,” the resident said, reached by telephone from neighboring Jordan. “So many people fled the village for safety.”
Now, Maaloula “is a ghost town. Where is President [Barack] Obama to see what has befallen us?” he asked.and
He said the gunmen declined to allow fleeing people to take five dead bodies out of the village with them.
He said one of the churches, called Demyanos, had been torched and that gunmen stormed into two other churches and robbed them.
Most of the gunmen are foreigners, he said, adding that he heard different dialects, mainly Tunisian, Libyan, Moroccan and Chechen.
Another resident, a Christian man, said he saw militants forcing some Christian residents to convert to Islam.
“I saw the militants grabbing five villagers Wednesday and threatening them: ‘Either you convert to Islam, or you will be beheaded,’” he said.
The two other residents said they heard about the conversions but did not see them. A Christian woman who spoke to AP Thursday also said there were reports militants threatened villagers with death if they did not convert.
The exodus has left Maaloula virtually empty, residents say.
“There’s no one left in Maaloula, everyone has fled,” 73-year-old George told AFP by phone from the town.
He said he decided to stay behind with his brother, but his wife and two daughters had left for Damascus Friday.
“People are afraid, they are terrified,” he said.
A nun at the Maaloula’s Greek Orthodox Mar Takla convent said its inhabitants were safe.
“The sisters and the orphan children are fine,” she told AFP by phone.
“All the residents have left to Damascus. The houses are empty, it’s a ghost town.”
Syrian war makes sudden appearance at convent in iconic Christian town - The Washington Post:
so untouched by time that its inhabitants still speak the language of Jesus
"They also vowed not to attack Christians and proclaimed, “We must not harm any church . . . we target only those who shoot at us,” a commander told the camera. “These people are our families . . . these icons of the church and those people here and there, they should stay in peace.”"
'via Blog this'
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