Crimes and Punishment in Maaloula – Terrorists target Christian community

The town is located 56 km to the northeast of Damascus, and built into the rugged mountainside, at an altitude of more than 1500 metres. It is known as one of three places where Western Aramaic is still spoken.

Religiously, the population consists of both Christians (mainly Antiochian Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic) and Muslims. For the Muslim inhabitants, the legacy is all the more remarkable given that they were not Arabized, unlike most other Syrians who like them were Islamized over the centuries but also adopted Arabic and shifted to an "Arab" ethnic identity.
 
But while Maaloula has lived peace under the rule of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and his father before, its people free to exercise their faith, the arrival of Al Nusra Front almost completely destroyed the city. Left a shadow of its former self, Maalooula has suffered dearly under the wretched rule of Islamic radicals.

According to several witness accounts, Islamists have committed atrocities in an attempt to force convert members of the Christian community to Islam. Nun Raghad – the former head of the Patriarchate School in Damascus - told Vatican Radio how she personally witnessed Islamists terrorized her community.

She explained how al-Nusra militant used to hand citizens' certificates of death, how they threatened to harm women and children should the men fail to comply with whatever orders were given to them. She recalled how Christians were told to pay tributes to Al Nusra in order to stay alive.

She revealed the horrific treatment imposed on those who refused to deny their faith. “They [the Christians] were punished with such violence and ferocity, words cannot describe … a son was forced to watch as his father was gunned down … Islamists decapitated men and played balls with their heads,” she said.

Following weeks of intense battle the government forces recaptured the town On October 28, much to the relief of the population.

But Islamists did not leave the city without leaving a trail of destruction behind them - Maaloula's monastery was destroyed. The monastery of St Sergius is dedicated to a Roman officer (Sergius) who was martyred in the Fourth Century, for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. For months it was occupied by Syrian rebels who took advantage of its commanding position more than Maaloula to assistance keep their grip on the village.

"I cannot describe my feelings because the terrorists are destroying the Christian religion," mentioned Imad, who stated he had been an electrician in Maaloula just before he joined the military and the rest of his family members moved to Damsacus two years ago. Samir claimed that the rebels had behaved brutally to young men of the town when they first arrived, killing quite a few.