JANUARY 2022

BRAVE BISHOP continued from page 15
Strong words for the West
The brave Metropolitan Nicodemus Daoud Matti
Sharaf, the Orthodox Syriac Archbishop of Mosul,
whose flock are among the last people who speak
Aramaic, the language of Jesus, does not mince his
words. He openly criticizes the West for placing
animal rights ahead of the well-being and survival
of Christians, saying, “The West cares more about
frogs than us.
“The USA, the UK and those who helped
America are responsible for destroying our life. If
they believe in human rights, then they should rebuild
our country. In Western countries, there are
animal rights, there are no human rights in this
part of the world.
“The leaders of these two countries destroyed
our country. They wanted to destroy one person,
Saddam Hussein, instead they destroyed the whole
country, they destroyed Iraq. They want to destroy
Bashar Al Assad, and they destroyed Syria. They
wanted to change Gadhafi and they destroyed Libya.
Is this policy clever or crazy?”
Nicodemus implores the West to wake up to the
threat of Islamism, and he faults past U.S. leaders
and their allies for ruining Iraq. He liked President
Trump, saying: “Let’s try the crazy one because we
tried the normal one, and he destroyed our lives.”
The Orthodox bishop was banned from visiting
Britain in 2016, despite being formally invited to
meet Prince Charles, because of his views on Islam.
In contrast, he greatly values the example set by
Hungary and its leaders for the support that they
have shown Iraqi Christians.
Metropolitan Nicodemus reflects on being denied
a visa to Britain. “Someone from the television
channel RT called me from England and asked
why I couldn’t get a visa. I told him: ‘Because I’m
not with ISIS.’ The British government gives visas
to those who support ISIS. I don’t.
“I have had permanent residence in Australia
and visas for all the world, except England. In
America, where I stayed for 5 years, Russia, India,
all these places, yet they don’t accept us and have
refused three archbishops claiming that they would
ask to be refugees in England!”
In addressing the European Commissioners in
November 2016, the bishop was equally blunt and
asked the representatives, “Why this new genocide
against the Christians and minorities in Iraq and
Syria in the 21st century? Is that because I am a minority?
Is our life so cheap? Are we worthless and
dispensable? Daesh robed us of everything, they took
our history, our manuscripts, our pride, our churches
that belong to the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C.”
The brave Bishop had harsh questions for President
Macron of France during his visit to Mosul on
August 29, 2021. “We know that the superpowers
have satellites in the skies watching our regions.
May I ask you where were you looking when 200
vehicles, same color and model, lined up and entered
Mosul during daylight to terrorize and expel
us from our ancestral cities, towns, and villages? Is
it possible that you could not see that? How come
they were able to stop the ISIS assault on the gates
of Kurdistan and not on Mosul?
“Who founded Daesh? Who financed its operations
and purchased its oil? Why should we become
part of disputes and pay for a conflict between the
Shia and Sunnis? What is the final purpose of all
of this? Uproot Christianity? We are the roots of
Christianity in the Middle East.
“We are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia
and today we are refugees and displaced in our
own ancestral land. I was born here and so was my
father, grandfather, and generational family. Why
should we accept that? We want to live in peace
in our homes and in the East. We ask for international
protection and to help us stay in our country
and Nineveh Plain region. You can take and keep
your exported democracy, we want peace.”
Solutions
First, we need a strong central government with
the rule of law in Iraq. Since 2003, we had to live
without law. No country in the world can live
without stability, peace, and rule of law.
Second, we need a political decision and guarantees
from the UN to designate the Nineveh
Plain villages as a safe zone, protected by international
power.
“We can’t go back to build our houses, our
churches, and villages without real security, or just
by verbal guarantees,” says the bishop. “The guarantees
cannot come only from Iraqi and the KRG
(Kurdistan) governments but from the international
community and the UN. Without help from all
these countries, we cannot do anything. We don’t
trust the government in Baghdad. We hope for an
internationally protected Christian autonomous region,
what happened to the Christian community
in northern Iraq under ISIS amounted to genocide.
“It would be stupid to go back with this situation
because when ISIS came to Mosul, they were
just 300 persons, and at that time there were 65,000
Iraq soldiers. So how can we trust this army again?
Ironically, our villages were protected by Peshmerga,
and they left us stranded! We feel alone with no
one to protect our people. How can we go back to
that situation?
“When I met the American consul, I told him
we need international guarantees, protection, anyone
to protect us. If not, we get another ISIS after
a few months, and we will get another one under
a new name. He said it’s difficult to put soldiers
there. I told him we don’t need soldiers; we need
the same air plan that stopped ISIS coming to Erbil
at midnight in 2014.
“If we don’t get these guarantees, it would be stupid
to go back into this situation because everyone
who is pushing us to leave these villages is still there.
The Arab villagers who wanted to take our land, our
homes, our villages, and those who support ISIS are
still there. The aggressor is still among us, it’s still the
same thing additionally, there’s weak government in
Baghdad, the parties who control this country are
the same, nothing is new.”
The archbishop was asked, if he cannot go
back, or obtain guarantees from the USA, the UK,
Europe, would he ask to prioritize Christians for
IRAQI CHRISTIANS
1.4 million: Christians living in Iraq according
to 1986 census.
1 million: Estimated number of Christians who
made Iraq their home prior to 2003 and the
invasion and toppling of Saddam Hussein.
450,000: Estimated number of Christians still
living in parts of Iraq as of 2014.
130,000: Estimated Christian population
in Mosul, home to one of the most ancient
Christian communities in the region, prior to
2003.
2,000: Estimated number of Christians still in
Mosul as of 2014.
300,000: Iraqi refugees from Ninawa province,
of which Mosul is capital, now living in the
Kurdistan region, according to the UNHCR.
1.2 million: Iraqi refugees displaced by fighting
in 2014, according to the UNHCR.
emigration? The bishop’s emphatic answer was,
“To leave this country is not a solution. The solution
is to help us stay in our land. It’s not just the
land we leave; it’s our historical holy land for us.
We will live or die in our land.”
The Archbishop’s Message
The archbishop has messages to his people and to
the West. The first message is addressed to Christians,
“Tell the world that Christians are a model of
peaceful coexistence, love, and peace. Join hands
with our Christian people in Iraq. Please listen to
us and urge your governments to provide support
for us to keep our hope alive and give us the confidence
that we will be able to live safely in this
country.”
To Western governments, he pleads, “Help us
for the sake of humanity, not for material gain. Do
all that is in your power to help us and to encourage
us to remain in our country.
“Safety and security, of course, are ongoing
concerns and something we cannot provide. That
will require cooperation among local and national
Iraqi officials – and interested third parties. To the
extent that there is peace in the area, it is up to
those governments and third parties (other nations
that have interests in Iraq and that are possessed of
moral consciences) to devise ways to protect the
newly returned citizens: Catholic, Orthodox, Yazidi,
and Muslim.
“What we need to establish in Nineveh is a
beachhead of sorts – a proving ground for the reestablishment
of multi-religious communities where
amity among different faiths previously did exist.
Muslims, who formerly lived in relative amity
with their Christian neighbors, cannot help but
be grateful for the efforts of Christians to rebuild
Nineveh, because they too will be beneficiaries of
renewed economic activity and, above all, peace. If
it can succeed there, it may succeed elsewhere. It
may be now or never.”
Special editing by Jacqueline Raxter