This is the desert of Maaloula, in Syria. And this article about anti-Assad attacks on Maaloula, has spurred me to write this post.
To be honest, I never thought I'd write a post about international politics. I never get involved in other countries' politics. So much goes on that I'll never understand, and I expect I'd be a sitting target for any local political activist who knew how to manipulate foreigners.
To be honest, I never thought I'd write a post about international politics. I never get involved in other countries' politics. So much goes on that I'll never understand, and I expect I'd be a sitting target for any local political activist who knew how to manipulate foreigners.
But sometimes newspaper reports raise questions in my mind that won't go away. If you read the article linked to above (and the one linked to below) you'll see how certain anti-Assad rebels - yes, those anti-Assad rebels that the Western World wants to help for "humanitarian reasons" have finally moved in to Ma'aloula.
This amazing place is one of the true birthplaces of Christianity, and a centre of the Syrian Orthodox faith.
Aramaic, the ancient language which was Jesus' native tongue, has almost died out - but it is still spoken in Ma'aloula. Some of the village's holy places are so early that they are recognisably Roman temples, adapted for the "new" faith of Christianity. There are rock dwelling two thousand years old or more, too, and read here how anti-Assad rebels are now holed up in them and what they are doing there.
This amazing place is one of the true birthplaces of Christianity, and a centre of the Syrian Orthodox faith.
Aramaic, the ancient language which was Jesus' native tongue, has almost died out - but it is still spoken in Ma'aloula. Some of the village's holy places are so early that they are recognisably Roman temples, adapted for the "new" faith of Christianity. There are rock dwelling two thousand years old or more, too, and read here how anti-Assad rebels are now holed up in them and what they are doing there.
As you would expect, Ma'aoula has long been a place of Christian pilgrimage.
...a place which gave a glimpse of how it was in the desert where Christianity had its birth.
Will those who oppose Assad really allow this to continue? It hardly sounds like it from the reports.
Don't get me wrong. I HATE Assad. He is a complete monster, like his father before him. The Assad dynasty has made Syrians miserable for decades, and their rule has been evil and corrupt and thoroughly nasty. But, for political reasons, religious plurality was possible in Syria, up to a point, under the Assads' rule. For many years, most minorities have been allowed and tolerated, not least because Assad comes from a religious minority himself. And this relative tolerance - which lets us see a cross dominating a Syrian landscape - is obviously something that some of those opposing Assad, don't like to see..
I have read the words of "hawks" particularly American ones, who are apparently devout Christians yet feel an obligation to go into Syria. I don't happen to know any of them personally. If you do, please ask them if their Christianity takes second place to their desire for military action? And let me know what they say. (Or, if you are one, let me know. I'm genuinely interested).
I am not a practising Christian, and to me the idea of unleashing fire on the helpless people of all faiths in Syria is more horrifying than anything that happens even in the most remarkable religious shrine. And I know enough to know that the situation in Syria is very, very complicated, and I can't understand it. I remind myself that whatever happens there is not my business. At least I can speak out about here, and I can only say that I'm glad that our Parliament voted against our getting involved.
But the question remains in my mind - what do those Christians supporting intervention in Syria think about Ma'aloula?
Oh well. You might as well see some of the pictures I took when I visited Ma'aloula with friends - both Muslim and Christian - a few years ago.
Oh well. You might as well see some of the pictures I took when I visited Ma'aloula with friends - both Muslim and Christian - a few years ago.
We clambered through the rock houses and down the steep hillsides
Some of the places we visited were so, so old....
or beautiful
hidden away
And I wondered how much the little farms had changed over the centuries. See the horse eating the olive leaves?
I wait with sadness and fear to see how the swaggering and posturing, the lies and propaganda, will pan out. Certain people obviously stand to make a lot of money and get a lot of power out of putting soldiers into Syria. I went on the anti-war march against UK involvement in Iraq, years ago. It didn't do any good and I know we had 9/11 before that - but I still don't think the countless dead soldiers and the huge sums of money have brought us a peaceful and less threatening world.
Do you agree or disagree?
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