Defense of The Faith
What Another Crisis Could Cost the Middle East’s Orthodox
Renewed instability could threaten ancient Christian communities and their future in the lands where the faith first took root.
Over the past several days, Israel and Lebanon held talks in Tampa, Florida, aimed at gradually withdrawing Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and disarming Hezbollah. At the same time, the War in Gaza continues, with Israeli strikes on reported Hamas weapons stores. Sectarian violence continues in post-Assad Syria. And the media have been reporting that the United States and Israel are drawing up plans for renewed strikes on Iran after next month’s U.S. midterm elections.
Ongoing instability and violence in the Middle East have been catastrophic for the civilian population of those nations over the past 25 years. Between the Wars in Iraq, Gaza, and Iran, civil wars in Syria and Yemen, and other conflict points scattered throughout the wider region, 500-700,000 civilians are estimated to have died. Some counts put the death toll at well over a million.
