On the outskirts of the old city of Damascus liesthe working-class neighbourhood of Al-Dwela. Mar Elias Orthodox church, a very important place for the residents of the neighbourhood and the entire Christian community, is found at the entrance of the neighborhood. It is a place where the scout divisions meet, where various religious and social events are held, and where two shelters for hundreds of people are located.
Sunday June 22 was one of the bloodiest days in the recent history of the Christian community in Syria. That day, at 6 p.m., as every week, more than 300 parishioners gathered for mass in the church. But the peace that any worshipper seeks in his church was interrupted by at least one attacker– some sources report two attackers, while others report three. Mere minutes after mass began, the attacker(s) entered the church’s main entrance leading to an internal courtyard and began firing an AK-47. According to witnesses, church guards Butros and Gerges Bechara tried to stop the attacker before he entered the church. During the hand-to-hand fight between the guards and the assailant, the attacker managed to reach the church’s door. There, the two guards embraced the man as he detonated his explosives-laden belt. All three were immediately pulverized, and 100 church goers were affected. The Ministry of Health confirmed 25 dead and 65 injured, let alone the psychological trauma for those who survived.
The scene was a harrowing collective shock. Those who were close to the explosion suffered an indescribable fate. Survivors ran in tears in any direction. Some people stood on the street corners, clutching their heads, while others knelt to ease the pain. Despair invaded the souls of the whole neighbourhood.
Motorists and minibus drivers assumed the roles of ambulances to assist the injured. Emergency personnel such as the White Helmets arrived as quickly as possible while available doctors applied resuscitation exercises for victims in cardiac distress. With the help of nearby neighbors, emergency personnel managed to clear the heavy traffic to make their way to one of two hospitals: Saint Louis Hospital and Damascus Hospital. Thirty-year-old general practitioner Sham from Saint Louis Hospital said they received more than 25 wounded individuals between the ages of 15 and 70 with multiple traumas, broken bones, and open wounds. Among them were three women who died, their identities still unknown.
The government attributed the attack to Islamic State. Although the organization did not issue an official statement, several of its members were detained in rural Damascus on the following day. Later on, “Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna” claimed responsibility for the attack. This group has operated in Tripoli, and has been involved in the coastal massacres against Alawites as well as in Arzeh, Hama province. Although they claim they can work with the government to eradicate the Druze, Alawites, and Christians, they clearly have their own agenda. This brings serious security problems for the country.
For Bishop John, representative of the Damascus Patriarchate in the heart of the old city, “the government is not acting correctly. The church was attacked several times before it was attacked,” he said.
During the six months preceding the attack, letters, graffiti, hate messages on social networks, and other items have been sent to the church with promises of murder “to all infidels”.
We have been on this earth since 60 AD, says the bishop. “They are not going to expel us.”
Bishop John also exclaimed that “hundreds have left the country, but we are not going to leave.”
On Monday, a mass was held to pray for the victims. The smell of blood around the explosion crater remained at the site, stuck to the walls. People wept as speeches focused on the unity of the country. At the end of the procession, a group of Christians gathered for a peaceful protest towards Abbasiya Square. Their demands focused on safety and security against such attacks.
Orthodox Bishop Arcelios stressed that Christians in the country “are always threatened, despite being a peaceful community.” He continued: “Such threats really intensified after the fall of the old regime,” despite the fact that they too celebrated Assad’s removal. Several attacks have also been taking place against Christians in Homs. The most recent was a fortnight ago, on June 8, when attackers opened fire on the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral in the city, fortunately without injury.
Since the fall of al-Assad’s regime, ethno-religious minorities have lived amid uncertainty and threats of attacks. At least two large-scale episodes have reminded many of scenes during the civil war. In March, over 1,500 people were killed in sectarian massacres in the coastal areas of Syria, including 102 children and 99 women, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. The same happened to the Druze community between April and May following a recording of a religious leader (from Germany) insulting the Prophet Mohammed, which led to 4 days of sectarian attacks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed a total of 134 fatalities following a week of clashes in Druze-majority areas across Sweida and the outskirts of Damascus, including Jaramana, Sahnaya, and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya.
The government claims that the perpetrators were “groups outside the law,” but in both cases ,the self-styled and well-known ‘Suicide Command Units’ and ‘Infiltration Battalion’ acted. In other words, they are groups without insignia that do not act officially under the aegis of the Ministry of Defense, which in the government’s view, are “isolated groups that seek to destabilize the country by exploiting religious differences.”
For the bishops of the patriarchate, the security of minorities is in no way guaranteed. Stability remains a long way off under the new Syria as Ahmad al-Shara’s administration faces the challenge of dealing with armed opposition groups. After fourteen years of tragedy, it is time to lay down the weapons in Syria to achieve the peace that Syrians so richly deserve.
