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The Fate of Iraqi Christians
As if sectarian divisions and murderous insurgency weren't
enough, the drafters of Iraq's new constitution have a new foe
to worry about: Mother Nature. A recent meeting of the various
factions drafting the document had to be postponed because of
a blinding sandstorm. But that's neither the only nor the most
damaging storm likely to be associated with this constitution.
In fact, the more you know about the Iraqi constitutional
process, the clearer three things become. First, Baghdad isn't
Philadelphia. Second, none of the people involved will ever be
mistaken for James Madison. And third, the document that will
emerge from these negotiations will bear little resemblance to
the U.S. Constitution.
Nowhere will this be more obvious than in the area of religion.
As Nathan Brown of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
recently said, the new constitution "will be fairly religious
in coloration."
By "religious" Brown means "Islamic."
The only question is whether this Islamic "coloration"
is mostly symbolic or whether the drafters are trying to implement
an "Islamic vision" of what a constitution ought to
be. Brown sees signs of the latter, including appointing "religious
figures to the constitutional court."
Nina Shea of Freedom House isn't that optimistic. She points
out that the most recent draft of the constitution went from
calling Islam "a source of law" to "the main source
of law." It also includes a "repugnancy clause"
that says no law can "contradict Islam."
Shea believes, with ample justification, that by "Islam"
the drafters mean "Sharia law," similar to that applied
in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia. The efforts of those countries,
combined with a possible "religious majority" in the
parliament, might eventually turn Iraq into a de facto "Islamic
Republic."
You can see a glimpse of what they have in mind in the draft
constitution. The rights of women are "explicitly tied to
a proviso that it not violate Islamic Sharia." And freedoms
of speech, association and, most significantly, religion "are
limited with the undefined phrase 'in accordance with the law,'"
presumably Sharia.
All of this spells trouble for Iraq's 600,000 Christians.
One man expected to wield power in the "new Iraq" is
the Shiite leader, Ayatollah Sistani, who is often called a "moderate"
in the press. While Sistani has urged "toleration"
for Iraq's Christians, he has also told his followers that "infidels
are best to be avoided." If this is "tolerance,"
imagine what intolerance might be.
Actually, we don't have to imagine. I've already told BreakPoint
listeners about attacks on Iraqi Christians. As one Iraqi nun
put it, "Christians live in constant fear of being attacked,
kidnapped and killed by radical Islamic groups."
Absent enforceable guarantees, the best Iraqi Christians can
hope for is a modern version of dhimmitude, the second-class
status accorded Christians and Jews in the old Islamic empires.
Shea is right when she insists, "No American blood should
be spilt for the creation of a [Sharia] rule state." We
ought to insist that our leaders do whatever's necessary to keep
that from happening. And the least we owe our Christian brethren
in Iraq is to protect them-and pray for them-from a storm we
can clearly see coming.
www.freedomhouse.org
The latest News:
According to ankawa.com, many Assyrian families in Dora Assyrian
District of Baghdad have received death threat through letters
from an Islamic group called the Brigade of Rashideen. The letters
ordered the Assyrian families to evict their homes and leave.
http://www.ankawa.com/forum/index.php?topic=7261.0
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Who are
the Christians of Iraq?
Shafting Nineveh:
The Fate of Iraqi Christians 8, 20, 05
Plea
for Assyrian Christians and Iraqi minorities 8, 18, 05
Undemocratic aspects
of the new Iraqi constitution draft 8, 17, 05
Iraqis vent rage on
call-in TV after bombs kill 43 8, 17, 05
Iraq's
Non-Muslims' Constitution Fears
8, 17, 05
Kurdish
Gunmen Open Fire on Demonstrators in North Iraq 8, 16, 05
Their suffering
continues 8, 14, 05
IRAQ:
Focus on constitutional concerns 8, 14, 05
Photos form homeland 6, 14, 05
Despite
Turmoil, Christians Place Faith in New Iraq 8, 13, 05
Iraqi-American Translators:
The Untold Story 8, 12, 05
Life
in Ankawa 8, 12, 05
Why
Torah's Hebrew script was Changed to the square Assyrian script 8, 11, 05
Assyrian
Restaurant in Chicago 8, 10, 05
Speech
at the Commonwealth Club of California By Fred Aprim 8, 10, 05
KURDS TAKE A HARD-LINE
STANCE ON IRAQI CONSTITUTION 8, 10, 05
72nd
Assyrian American National Convention 8,
09, 05
Unresolved
Iraqi Constitutional Points 8, 09, 05
Information wanted
for Upcoming Documentary about Iraqi women
8, 09, 05
Assyrian
Objection to the Nationality Law 8, 06, 05
Iraqi
Christians Remember Church Bombings One Year Later 8, 05 05
Looted history 8,
05, 05
Book
Release: Rosie Malek-Yonan's "The Crimson Field" 8, 05, 05
Iraq
Must Avoid a Rollback of Rights 8, 04, 05
Nina Shea: Rule of law, rule of Islam
8, 4, 05
Iraqis in U.S.
Won't Vote on Constitution 8, 03, 05
Bush's
Global War on Christians 8,
01, 05
An Open Letter to
Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I 8, 01, 05
Democracy
could struggle in Islamic Iraq 7,
30, 05
Assyrian Granny
Shimmes's Contribution to Rendezvous of Civilizations 7, 29,
05
House
amends funding bill to help Iraqi Christians 7, 29, 05
Iraq
draft constitution fails to protect religious, human rights,
USCIRF says 7, 29, 05
Iraq
Seeks New Religious Policies July 28, 05
From Lingua Franca
to Endangered Language, The Legal Aspects of the Preservation
of Aramaic in Iraq
7, 28, 05
A closer look
at the constitution 7, 27, 05
SKIP
THE PRELIMINARIES
7, 26, 05
Ambassador signals
U.S. will work to guarantee rights 7, 26, 05
Iraq Constitution
May Erode Women's Rights 7, 26, 05
Kirkuk
Conflict over the Identity of a City of all Races and Religions 7, 24, 05
Religious
Minorities in Iraq Worried Constitution Won't Protect Them 7, 23, 05
Iraqi
Christians fear prospect of Islamic law 7,
23, 05
Four dilemmas in Iraqi
Constitution 7, 23, 05
Babylon's dirty
secrets: No tablet left unturned Jluy 23, 05
Federalism can
prevent Iraq civil war July 22, 05
ENOKIAN:
Understanding will not fix the Middle East July 21. 05
REP.
ANNA ESHOO URGES SUPPORT OF IRAQI RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY July 21, 05
Iraqi Christians
find safety in Syria July 19, 05
Assyrians in northern
California press for inclusion July 18, 0 5
Appeal
of the Iraqi Women Movement July 17, 05
International
Meeting of Muslim Scholars July 17, 05
Turkmen
position on the democratisation effort in Iraq July 17, 05
Request
the Return of the Church in Turkey July 17, 05
Iraq's
Christians Fearful of Islamic Law July 17, 05
As
Many as 80,000 Assyrian Christians Have Fled Iraq July 16, 05
ASSYRIAN UNIVERSAL
ALLIANCE MEETING IN LONDON July 16, 05
Conference on Assyriology
to draw 300 scholars July 15, 05
Iraq faith minorities
fear being left out under law July 14, 05
Report to the U.K Parliament
about the Chaldo-Assyrians in Iraq July 13, 05
Debate in the U.K. Parliament
about the State of Christians in Iraq July 12, 05
Upcoming Press Conference in Washington
D.C.: Iraq's Imperiled Minorities July
11, 05
Teaching
and Broadcasting in Syriac Language July
4, 05
Assyrian Tennis Player
Wins in Wimbledon July 4. 05
Christians in Iraq face
threats from all sides July 2, 05
Philadelphia's IVC Joins
'Partners for Peace' Project with Iraq July 2, 05
Iraqi Dam
Will Obliterate Ancient Assyrian Capital July
1, 05
Converts
to Christianity Ostracised By Society and Family June 30, 05
Looting of ancient
sites threatens Iraqi heritage June, 30, 05
Turkey
and its Christians, Persecution complex June 29, 05
Assyrian
representative part of Iraqi Delegation to Japan June 29, 05
An Assyrian
Chaldean-Syriac Symposium in Iraq June 28 05
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Stollen
Art Buyers Funding Terrorists June, 24 05
Questions on constitutional
RIGHTS for CHALDO-ASSYRIANS IN IRAQ in UK Parliament June
24, 05
Evangelicals
Building a Base in Iraq June
24, 05
Turkey's
discrimination against Assyrian naturalised European citizens June 24, 05
Syria Stonewalls Prosecution of Murderers
of Two Assyrians June 21, 05
Appreciation
for Iraq's Historic Heritage June 20, 05
Interview with Donny
George Director of Baghdad Museum June 20, 05
Mar Delly meets Mar Dinkha
in Chicago June 20, 05
Assyrian
Brothers Delivering Democracy June 20, 05
Mystery
Which Shrouds Iraq's Missing Artifacts June
19, 05
Letter to His Holiness
Mar Emmanuel III Dally and His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV June
16, 05
Historical references
to the Assyrians and Assyria after the fall of Nineveh June 18, 05
Why chaldean clergies
undermine the future of Christians in Iraq? June 18, 05
Jordan
leads hunt for Iraq's looted treasures June 16, 05
Assyrians
around the world, Fans of Assyriska June 16, 05
Iranian Bombings May
be Connected with Minorities, Election. June
15, 05
Using Mass
Media to Spread the Gospel in Iran June
15 , 2005
Dishonoring
the Christian women June
12, 05
Iraq's Jihad: Past as
Prologue June 9, 05
About
the Teft of the Iraqi antiquities June 9,05
Iraqi
Activists Call for A Democratic Constitution June 9, 05
The Current
Situation of the Indigenous Assyrians of Iraq June 8, 05
A Song for Assyriska June 8 ,05
Ancient
church hosts Diyarbakr festival performances in Turkey June 8, 05
Between Iraq and
a safe place June 8, 05
Minority
groups in Iraq face tough times June, 3, 05
New Assyrian
archeological site in northeastern Syria June 2, 05
Iraqi Christian Campaigns
Struggle May 31, 05
Assyrians
the Indigenous People of Iraq May 31, 05
Picnic
an Assyrian family reunion May
31, 05
Measuring Progress
in the Arab World: Check the "Christian Barometer" May 31, 05
Liars Should
Have Good Memories: Muslim Abuse A Smokescreen May 26, 05
US Investigating Fate of Assyrian
Man Missing in Iraq May 25, 05
Assyrian church sees first ceremony
in 25 years May 25, 05
Fleeing Iraqi Christians on road
to Damascus May 24, 05
Murdered Assyrian American hostage not
a pilot May
24, 05
Deadly
Car Bomb Explodes Near Iraq School May 24, 05
JUST WHAT EVERY IRAQI
NEEDS: A BIBLE May 23, 05
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