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Friday, November 16, 2007

Iraqi Muslims ask Christian neighbors to come home.

In Dora, Iraq many Christians fled the area after al Qaeda had started to harass and kill local Christians and Muslims.

"Today, Muslims mostly filled the front pews of St John’s. Muslims who want their Christian friends and neighbors to come home. The Christians who might see these photos likely will recognize their friends here. The Muslims in this neighborhood worry that other people will take the homes of their Christian neighbors, and that the Christians will never come back. And so they came to St John’s today in force, and they showed their faces, and they said, “Come back to Iraq. Come home.” They wanted the cameras to catch it. They wanted to spread the word: Come home. Muslims keep telling me to get it on the news. “Tell the Christians to come home to their country Iraq.”" Michael Yon

Recently the Catholic Church in Dora has been reopened. Muslims and Christians, Sunni and Shia, all worked together to reopen the Church. I know many people I talk with here in the USA find it hard to believe that there was Christians living in Iraq. Well there is also many other religions represented by the population including Hebrews. In fact there is also some very interesting religions in Iraq. The Yazidi are interesting and found mostly in Northern Iraq. In Southeast Iraq there is religious followers of John the Baptist, they still do the Baptisms in the same river for the past 2,000 + years (I am not totally sure on the date - when was John The Baptist ??).  Many Christians had fled to Jordan, Syria, and to North Iraq (Kurdish region) after al Qaeda had taken control over the area. - Ian Bach 

Anyways very interesting stuff and I hope you read Michael Yons latest Article including many pictures of the event. It's very heartwarming and the mothers always want pictures of their children. There is also an Iraqi interputer nickname "ice" he is an Iraqi Christian, and you can see the pride in this community.  "Come Home" Click here..

Here is a portion of Michael Yon's latest Dispatch from Dora, Iraq.

"LTC Stephen Michael at St John’s. LTC Michael told me today that when al Qaeda came to Dora, they began harassing Christians first, charging them “rent.” It was the local Muslims, according to LTC Michael, who first came to him for help to protect the Christians in his area. That’s right. LTC Michael told me more than once that the Muslims reached out to him to protect the Christians from al Qaeda. Real Muslims here are quick to say that al Qaeda members are not true Muslims. From charging “rent,” al Qaeda’s harassment escalated to killing Christians, and also Muslims. Untold thousands of Christians and Muslims fled Baghdad in the wake of the darkness of civil war. Most of the Christians are gone now; having fled to Syria, Jordan or Northern Iraq........." M. Yon

Complete Article Click Here

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