Assad claims Israel aims to displace Christians throughout the Middle East

Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, has claimed that Israel is attempting to displace and drive Christians out of the Middle East, in a move to pose as the protector of the religious minority in the region.

According to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Assad organised a three-day International Ecclesiastical Conference in the capital, Damascus, last week, under the theme of ‘Church is a house of love’. It was attended by representatives of humanitarian, social and developmental associations and institutions, particularly from Syria’s Christian community.

He reportedly claimed to the Conference’s attendees on Saturday that “The displacement of Christians is a main goal for the external schemes for the region, but it is mainly an Israeli goal.” It benefits Israel, he stated, “when the countries of the region are divided into different sectarian states, each with a single colour … Therefore, maintaining the texture of the region and its diverse identity are a need that we should defend.”

Assad also insisted that “the Christian citizen in Syria is not a guest, nor a passing citizen but a partner, and the title of this partnership is work and production.”

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The Syrian regime has long attempted to court minorities, such as the Christian community in the country, in an effort to present itself as its only viable protector against the threat of Islamic religious militant groups, especially throughout the ongoing decade-long civil war.

Assad has also worked to build that image of a secular protector of Syrian Christians to present to Western nations. That image has been contested by many over the years, however, with rights groups having reported that the regime itself has intentionally destroyed or damaged over 124 churches throughout the war and that it has detained at least hundreds of Christian citizens.

The Syrian President’s highlighting of Israeli persecution against Christians is not entirely unfounded, though, with Tel Aviv and Jewish extremists having targeted Christians – from both the Palestinian and Greek Orthodox communities – throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, and having attempted to seize Christian holy sites and property.

READ: Christians face threat of ‘extinction’ from ‘radical’ Israeli groups, warn church leaders