The 'earthquake' of the Arab Spring: now Syria
With the immediate future for Syria hanging in the balance, one Arab source writes of "a corrupt and brutal dictatorship which is now creaking under the weight of popular discontent." Victor Mordecai gives a view on the implications for Christians in the region.
by Victor Mordecai
(prior to the Syrian uprising)
 THE last few months have seen an historical earthquake, or volcano if you will, in the Middle East. Islamic countries, some with sizeable Christian minorities are witnessing revolutions which on the surface seem to display a desire by the peoples of the these countries for genuine democracy, something only to be found outside of the Middle East, except for Israel.
The story begins with an economic trigger of $147 a barrel for oil in 2008, leading to the near collapse of the world economy. With this near collapse of the world economy, the barrel of oil dropped back to $30, even if for only a few days, and then slowly began to climb back, hovering now around the $100 dollar mark.
Whether or not the world economy recovers or not, we all know that food prices have gone through the roof as a result of this greed. Higher oil prices mean higher food prices. Food prices will continue to spiral upwards and starvation will increase in many more places.
The Tinderbox
When a Tunisian fruit and vegetable vendor self-immolated himself after a humiliating arrest that included being slapped in the face by a female officer and having his produce confiscated, ostensibly for not having a license (or paying a bribe), the word got out quickly thanks to mass online media like Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and massive riots ensued. The corruption, the lack of employment, the lack of freedom and democracy led these people in the Middle East to want and demand more, primarily what is to be found in the West where there is work, democracy and food.
These revolutions spread to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and other countries, and threaten to spread elsewhere as well, such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and perhaps even Iran.
The Egyptian Revolution is a case in point. Christians and Moslems demonstrated together in Tahrir Square and other places calling for the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in hope of a better future. The Mubarak regime suffered from the same corruption and elitist domination of the economy by certain chosen groups. US President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the "democratic revolution" in Egypt as they are now doing in Libya.
When the US Administration was warned of the dangers of the Moslem Brotherhood, Secretary Clinton's response was: "They are only a 30% minority."
The problem is that throughout the Middle East, the governments are usually controlled by the minority, not the majority. By the way, Hitler came to power in Germany in January of 1933 with only 30% of the German democratic vote. Khomeini in Iran came to power in 1979 leading a wall-to-wall coalition of democratic forces, but in the end it was his fanatic group of fundamentalist Shi'ites that eliminated all the other groups leaving only Khomeini's group in power.
So today, the Egyptian Army in partnership with the Moslem Brotherhood are now the ruling forces. And there should be no doubt that the agenda in Egypt has never been for democracy, nor is it now. On the contrary, the Islamic motto is: We kill the Jews on Saturday, and we kill the Christians on Sunday.
Egypt's Coptic Christians
Now that there are no more Jews in Egypt (Saturday people), the Moslems say: "We will go for the Sunday people" (the Christians).
There is no doubt that the condition of the Coptic Egyptian minority is indeed dire. Woman are being kidnapped, raped and forced to marry Moslem men who can anyway have multiple wives. When Christians protest about this, the Moslems riot and kill the Christians. Churches are being burned down and Christians gunned down. My fear is that the Egyptian Coptic community faces imminent and massive ethnic cleansing if not outright Holocaust at the hands of the Moslems.
When the Egyptian Christian community is terminated, the economy will completely collapse and Egypt will become a desolation with tens of millions of Egyptian Christians and Moslems fleeing to the West were the grass is greener and there is food, employment and freedom, at least for now.
In Syria, another country ruled by a minority, this time a pro-Iranian 10% Alawite minority, another volcano is about to explode. [Ed note: As we know it now has blown up.]
The Sunni population of 80% is seeking "democracy" or rule of the majority of the people. The Christian population is about 10%, and until now has been protected by the Alawites. But if Bashar Assad and his regime fall from power, the Sunnis, led by the same Moslem Brotherhood as in Egypt, will decimate both the Alawites and the Christians, thus terminating the Christian presence in Syria, and by extension the Christians in Lebanon as well.
We already have seen how the Sunni/Shi'ite struggle in Iraq killed Christians and forced them to flee to Syria. Now this is about to happen in Syria and, by extension, in Lebanon.
Western church silence
Unfortunately, the Christian world in the West is silent about this as are most of the churches and denominational leadership. No one in the Christian world is saying or doing anything about the slaughter of Christians in Africa. And, of course, as the fundamentalist Moslem Brotherhood takes over in Egypt and Syria as it already has in Turkey and Gaza, I believe we are witnessing the creation of a Sunni Caliphate that will soon be surrounding Israel as well.
Could this be a Gog and Magog scenario in the making? Will the world do anything about the Christians of Egypt and Syria? Will the world do anything to stand by Israel at that time?
It is time for Jews and Christians to awaken and unite in an alliance for the defense of Christians, Jews, and all of Western Civilization threatened by this rising tide of Sunni Moslem Brotherhood fundamentalism.
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