CENTRE for RELIGIOUS PLURALISM in the MIDDLE EAST

News and Analysis of Assyrian and Assyrian Related Issues Worldwide.

Syria Comment is a blog about politics, history and religion in Syria.

Yazda is a US-based, 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, established to support the Yazidi ethno-religious minority group in the United States and the Yazidi homeland in northern Iraq and northeastern Syria. Yazda’s mission is to support the Yazidi community in the aftermath of the August 2014 genocide, committed by the so-called “Islamic State”, that resulted in the death of three to five thousand civilians; abduction of five to seven thousand, mostly woman and children; and the

Al-Qalamoun is a Syrian mountain range extending from the eastern mountains of Lebanon. It is also the access point for Damascus, to the north, and a border crossing with harsh and steep, rocky terrain that is home to a number of small towns. Al-Qalamoun can perhaps be considered one of Syria’s hidden treasures, with stories and anecdotes hidden among its

BEIRUT — Lebanon has been witnessing activities by the Catholic and Orthodox churches. As the papal envoy to Lebanon, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, was meeting with Lebanese officials and politicians during his visit to

In his recent announcement that Australia would resettle additional refugees from Syria, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he wanted to give preference to those from persecuted minorities. So what are the minority groups that make up Syria? And are some more persecuted than others?

An Oct. 16 statement by the Russian Orthodox Church declaring Russia's intervention in Syria a “holy war” has sparked considerable debate and concern in Lebanon and other parts of the Arab Mashreq given the possible repercussions for the existence and role of Christians in the area.

The already high tensions in the Middle East escalated dramatically on Tuesday after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane along the country’s southern border with Syria. Turkey said the Sukhoi Su-24 fighter had violated its airspace, and released a map showing the apparent path of the jet over a chunk of Turkish territory bordering Syria. Russia denies the violation, and President Vladimir Putin denounced the downing of the plane as a “stab in the back.”

Armenians fled from Turkey to Syria 100 years ago, now they are fleeing again.

Islamic State bombers have killed more than 60 people near Syria’s holiest Shia shrine in Damascus as the country’s main opposition group met the UN mediator, Staffan de Mistura, for the first time.

Abstract

Is it accurate and/or expedient to use the word “genocide” to describe the persecution of religious minorities by the terrorist group known as Islamic State, Daesh or a variant of that name? Hypothetical as it might seem, that question is a real dilemma for people in high places in western Europe and America.

The CEMMIS Middle East Bulletin Issue 28/June 2015 is a Greek Review of Middle Eastern Affairs that explores the situation and the role of the Christian communities across the Middle East.

Tο τεύχος 28/Ιουνίου 2015 του Middle East Bulletin του ΚΕΜΜΙΣ είναι μια ελληνική ανάλυση των μεσανατολικών ζητημάτων η οποία ερευνά την κατάσταση και το ρόλο των Χριστιανικών κοινοτήτων στην Μέση Ανατολή.

Islamic State has perpetrated some of the most fearsome acts of the War on Terror. On Wednesday (3 February), the European Parliament will vote on a resolution that seeks to class their brutality as genocide, writes Lars Adaktusson.

Over the past three months, Yazda has been conducting a genocide documentation project to gather evidence and survivor testimonies regarding the crimes of genocide committed against the Yazidis. A significant part of our focus has turned to the mass graves which are now accessible for documentation and analysis.

On January 28, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following report by its correspondent in Damascus...

The head of the Middle East’s Franciscans said more help is needed to keep Christians in the region – as an international conference on Syria’s refugee crisis got underway in London.

When the Islamic State stormed the city of al-Mayadeen in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zour along the Euphrates River, they struck with particular vengeance at the homes of Syrian Sufis.

There is a rising tide of religious persecution emerging worldwide and it disproportionately threatens religious minority groups.

Pope Francis on Sunday urged the world community to make every effort to revive the Syrian peace talks and appealed for unstinting generosity for civilians fleeing the conflict.

“The European media have not ceased to suppress the daily news of those who are suffering in Syria and they have even justified what is happening in our country by using information without taking the trouble to verify it,” a Syrian Christian leader of the Melkite Catholic Church recently told reporters. Jean-Clément Jeanbart, who has been archbishop of Aleppo since 1995, was speaking at an event in France organized by the Catholic charity ...

Pope Francis's dynamic papacy has been one of many firsts, the latest being the monumental meeting in Havana on February 12 with Russian Orthodox patriarch Kirill. A convergence of Francis's great emphasis on ecumenism with the geo-religious context of virulent persecution of Christians, both Orthodox and Catholic in Syria, and throughout the Middle East and North Africa have resulted in the unprecedented meeting in Cuba. The systematic slaughter of Christians at the hands of IS and

WASHINGTON -- We hear a lot about the refugees fleeing Syria, but what is life like for the Syrian people still inside the country?

Rev. Harout, an Armenian evangelical pastor, refuses to move away from his church in Syria because he believes now more than ever it is so important for Christian leaders to be there for all those struggling inside the country. His full name has been withheld for security reason.