{"id":281745,"date":"2025-04-14T15:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T15:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/ancient-syrian-town-seeks-interfaith-peace-after-long-war\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T15:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T15:27:11","slug":"ancient-syrian-town-seeks-interfaith-peace-after-long-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/ancient-syrian-town-seeks-interfaith-peace-after-long-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient Syrian Town Seeks Interfaith Peace After Long War"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/09\/00int-syria-maaloula-dispatch-88488-cover\/00int-syria-maaloula-dispatch-88488-cover-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Ancient Syrian Town Seeks Interfaith Peace After Long War\" title=\"Ancient Syrian Town Seeks Interfaith Peace After Long War\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Inside a centuries-old monastery atop a mountain in western Syria, a priest swung an incense holder on a chain, led his flock in melodic chants and delivered a timeless sermon on the importance of loving one\u2019s neighbor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But when the congregation gathered for coffee after the service, their current worries surfaced, about how peaceful Syria\u2019s future would be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Would the Islamist rebels who <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/21\/world\/middleeast\/assad-regime-syria-final-days.html\" title=\"\">ousted the strongman Bashar al-Assad<\/a> in December ban pork and alcohol, impose modest dress on women or limit Christian worship? Would the new security forces protect Christians from attacks by Muslim extremists?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cNothing has happened that makes you feel that things are better,\u201d said Mirna Haddad, one of the churchgoers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Elsewhere in the historic town of Maaloula, its Muslim minority had different concerns. Like their Christian neighbors, they had fled their homes here early in Syria\u2019s 13-year civil war. But unlike the Christians, they had been barred from returning by the Assad regime and a Christian militia it supported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe problem is the majority,\u201d meaning the town\u2019s Christians, said Omar Ibrahim Omar, the leader of a new local security committee. He had come home to Maaloula only after Mr. al-Assad\u2019s fall, after being kept out for more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe won\u2019t let that happen again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Maaloula, nestled between rugged outcroppings 35 miles northeast of the capital, Damascus, has long embodied Christianity\u2019s ancient roots in Syria and has served as an important piece of the country\u2019s religious mosaic. It is a rare community where locals still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus, and it boasts a history of coexistence between the two-thirds of its population who are Christians and the other third, who are Sunni Muslims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the war that began in 2011 set the two communities on different paths, tearing at Maaloula\u2019s social fabric. Many of the Muslims backed the rebels who fought to topple the regime, while the Christians largely stood by Mr. al-Assad, whom they considered the protector of Syria\u2019s minorities in a Sunni-majority country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, Mr. al-Assad is gone, the town is damaged and its people are struggling to figure out how they might live together once again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI want to live with you as brothers,\u201d the priest, the Rev. Fadi Barkil, said in an interview as if speaking to his Muslim neighbors. \u201cIf we keep going back to the past, it will never end.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Christians have been living in Syria since before the Apostle Paul\u2019s conversion on the road to Damascus. Before the civil war, they made up sizable minorities in Damascus, Aleppo and other places, but their numbers have plummeted since. Christians have emigrated to Lebanon and the West to escape the violence and economic hardship that have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/08\/15\/world\/middleeast\/syria-isis-assyrian-christians.html\" title=\"\">devastated their communities<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Maaloula, Father Barkil oversees its Greek Catholic Church and the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, whose fourth-century sanctuary is partially hewed from a peak overlooking the town. Next to it are the remains of the Safir Hotel. Once the town\u2019s finest destination for pilgrims and tourists, it was destroyed during the war and is now deserted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Its terrace overlooks the town, with the domes and crosses of Maaloula\u2019s many churches and the minaret of a mosque rising from amid its simple homes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The civil war first came to Maaloula when a suicide bomber blew up the main army checkpoint protecting the town in September 2013. Nearly all of its few thousand residents \u2014 both Christians and Muslims \u2014 fled as fighting erupted, and rebels led by the Nusra Front, an affiliate of Al Qaeda, took control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The rebels set up bases in the hotel and monastery, which allowed them to fire on government forces below. They kidnapped 13 nuns and three assistants from a Greek Orthodox convent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Its Christians returned to find their holy sites damaged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen the priests came back after the war, everything was destroyed in the monastery,\u201d Father Barkil said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The top of its altar had been broken, and shelling had punched holes in its stone walls and in the blue dome over the sanctuary, scattering debris across the wooden pews. Many of its icons were missing, and those that remained had been defaced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And in what Father Fadi described as a deeply symbolic blow, two giant bells had been stolen from his and another sanctuary, removing their rings from Maaloula\u2019s soundscape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the duration of the war, the Syrian army held the town along with a Christian militia that it armed. The Christian sites were restored, although few of the tourists who had once sustained the economy returned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When the rebels toppled Mr. al-Assad in December, there was little rejoicing among Maaloula\u2019s Christians. The army ran off, leaving the town unprotected, and residents feared that the country\u2019s new Islamist rulers would restrict their religious freedoms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhat do we want in Maaloula?\u201d Father Barkil asked. \u201cTo have a state and security, but we won\u2019t accept for the Muslims to rule us by force.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Exacerbating their concerns is the fact that the founder of the Nusra Front, the jihadist group that attacked Maaloula in 2013, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/25\/world\/middleeast\/syria-president-ahmed-al-shara.html\" title=\"\">is now Syria\u2019s president, Ahmed al-Shara<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Father Barkil acknowledged that Mr. al-Shara has said that he cut ties with Al Qaeda and has vowed to serve all of Syria\u2019s people. But the priest called on the new president to reinforce this inclusive message with a visit to Maaloula.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe can come and say in Maaloula that the Christians are important and that no one can harm them,\u201d Father Barkil said. \u201cBut if he never says this, what will happen to us?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After Mr. al-Assad\u2019s fall, the new authorities sent police officers to secure the town. At the local police station, a few of these new officers \u2014 former rebels, all of them Muslims and none of them from Maaloula \u2014 were fast asleep in the middle of the day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Elsewhere, a group of men from a newly formed security committee were crowded around a wood-burning stove, trying to keep warm. They were all Maaloula Muslims, who said that they had fled the fighting in 2013 but that the regime had barred them from coming home because it suspected them of backing the rebels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Akram Qutayman, 58 and a member of the committee, said that residents of different faiths had lived together peacefully before the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhere I live, I was surrounded by Christians,\u201d he said. \u201cThey would celebrate Ramadan with us, as if we were one hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he accused the local Christian militia of burning the Muslims\u2019 homes while they were away to try to keep them from returning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe don\u2019t have houses,\u201d said Mr. Omar, the committee\u2019s head, also noting that the main mosque was still damaged. But he remained hopeful that the tensions would pass and the town would rebuild.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI expect that there will be reconciliation, and we will live together again,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will let the past go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some positive signs have emerged in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The two bells stolen from the churches were returned. They were cleaned, polished and rehung in their belfries during a ceremony last month, their sounds resonating over Maaloula for the first time in 13 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHanging these bells provided relief to people,\u201d Father Barkil said. \u201cIn the end, they are the voice of God.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Muhammad Haj Kadour<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/14\/world\/middleeast\/maaloula-syria-christian-muslim-relations.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside a centuries-old monastery atop a mountain in western Syria, a priest swung an incense holder on a chain, led his flock in melodic chants and delivered a timeless sermon on the importance of loving one\u2019s neighbor. But when the congregation gathered for coffee after the service, their current worries surfaced, about how peaceful Syria\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/09\/00int-syria-maaloula-dispatch-88488-cover\/00int-syria-maaloula-dispatch-88488-cover-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[163200,218288,48990,163199,8221,54582,164238,163678,168520,32458,1404,30138,199854,163679,3166,5113,19366,54580,18149,3102],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281747,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281745\/revisions\/281747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}