Regardless of what the new leader of Syria is saying, he doesn't have control over the many Muslim jihad factions operating in the country, whether he is telling the truth or not. Which is a little unlikely.
Syria: Muslims open fire on front door of
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Hama
headquarters, break nearby crosses
The cross is an affront to Islam. The Qur’an claims that Jesus was not crucified, although in somewhat equivocal language for what is supposed to be the perfect word of an omniscient god:
“And their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.” (4:157)
And a hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts).” (Bukhari 46.37.2476)
This means he will destroy Christianity (break the cross), force the Christians to obey the Islamic food laws (kill the pigs) and end the second-class dhimmi status (abolish the jizya) that Islamic law specifies for Christians, such that they will either have to convert to Islam or be killed.
SYRIA: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Hama targeted
in gun attack, graves vandalised
by Paul Antonopoulos, Greek City Times, December 19, 2024:
…The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Hama in west-central Syria was targeted in an attack, with gunfire damaging its façade and crosses on nearby graves vandalised and removed, Greco-Levantines World Wide reported….
Although several pro-Islamist news pages claim that the photos of the attack were from 2011, as Greco-Levantines World Wide pointed out, a closer examination reveals that one of the graves belonged to a person who died in 2021.
Islam has no regard for the truth.
“We firmly reaffirm that the attack occurred today and that the graves were desecrated today,” the volunteer initiative added.
The attack on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Hama follows on from the vandalism of Hagia Sophia Greek Orthodox Church of Suqaylabiyah (Seleucia, Greek: Σελεύκεια) by Turkish-backed Islamist terrorists on December 12.
Not THE Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Near Hama, the Greek Orthodox church is a small replica of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It was constructed in 2020 following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
On the same day as the vandalism of the Hagia Sophia Church, two Greek Orthodox Christians, Samaan Satme and Helena Khashouf, were murdered in the village of al-Jamasliyye in Syria’s Homs province.
Although the murder was initially reported as a burglary gone wrong, it later emerged that Samaan was beheaded and Helena shot, indicating that there were other motives….
Christmas tree burning ignites protests in Syria
Christians have held protests on the streets of Suqaylabiyah, Syria, after a group of Islamist fighters torched a Christmas tree in the town earlier this week. The incident has stirred anger among local residents, who view the act as a deliberate attack on their community and religious identity.
Islamist authorities in Damascus have attributed the arson to foreign jihadist elements operating within the region, and have pledged to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Video posted online on Monday showed a group of masked men starting a fire at the base of the tree, which towered above a roundabout in the majority-Christian town. Unconfirmed reports claim that the men prevented locals from extinguishing the blaze.
Within hours, another video circulated showing an unidentified rebel standing with a Christian priest next to the tree, promising that it would be “completely restored” by Christmas Eve. The rebel claimed that eight foreign fighters were behind the burning, and that they had been arrested.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – a UK-based organization aligned with the rebels – reported that the men were foreigners from the Ansar al Tawhid Islamist group.
Despite the unidentified rebel pledging to restore the tree, hundreds of Christians protested in Suqaylabiyah and Damascus on Monday and Tuesday. “If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here anymore,” one demonstrator told AFP.
“Syria is free, non-Syrians should leave,” a group chanted in Damascus, referring to the foreign jihadists who swelled the ranks of the rebels during their successful assault on the capital earlier this month.
Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists launched a surprise offensive in the northern Syrian provinces of Idlib and Aleppo late last month. After the city of Aleppo fell within days, the group advanced south on Damascus, capturing the towns of Suqaylabiyah, Hama, and Homs along the way before they were joined by US-armed Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants for a final push on the capital.
As his military stood down and rebel forces entered the city’s suburbs, former Syrian President Bashar Assad left for Russia, where he has been granted asylum.
Under Assad, Christians and other religious minorities were allowed to openly practice their faith. With HTS in charge, many now fear that they will face persecution.
HTS was formed in 2017 with the merger of Jhabat al-Nusra – a Syrian offshoot of Al-Qaeda – and other Islamist groups. Despite his history of violent Islamism, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has promised to respect the rights of Syria’s minorities. However, al-Jolani has stopped short of pledging to specifically safeguard Christians.
”[HTS] have not announced anything on stopping our celebrations… but there are Christians who don’t want to go out to celebrate because they fear that they might get attacked from rogue armed individuals,” a protester in Damascus told AFP.
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