De-Retrogression: Maaloula, The Syrian Town Where The Last Remaining Speakers Of Aramaic (The Language of Jesus) Live, Under Attack From Al-Qaeda Linked Rebel Units Supported By The United States

The sound of artillery reverberated Thursday (Sep 5th 2013) through Maaloula, a predominantly Christian village north of Damascus, as government troops and al-Qaeda-linked rebels battled for control of the mountainside sanctuary. The hit-and-run attacks on the ancient village of Maaloula, one of the few places in the world where residents still speak Aramaic, highlighted fears among Syria’s religious minorities about the growing role of extremists among those fighting in the (so-called) civil war (which in reality is a World War) to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Maaloula is a mountain village of around 2,000 residents who are of the very few remaining people in the world that still speak the Aramaic language, the ancient language of biblical times also believed to have been spoken by Jesus. The town includes many holy sites such as the "Dawn" (Groove) rock which is said to have facilitated the escape of Saint Mar Takla who managed to flee her father's guards who wanted to kill her after adopting the Christian faith. It is also famous for two of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria – Mar Sarkis and Mar Takla.

Fighting in Maaloula began early Wednesday (Sep 4th 2013) when militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra stormed in after a suicide bomber struck an army checkpoint guarding the entrance of the town. The group – listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department – is one of the most effective fighting forces among anti-government armed militias. The suicide attack triggered battles that terrorized residents in the village. Jabhat al-Nusra militants committed appalling massacres, burned the Church of Mar Elias Zealot, one of the oldest churches in the world, sabotaged other churches in the town and destroyed included icons while inviting locals to abandon their Christian faith as to adopt Islam instead. Locals tried to stand up to this armed invasion but most of them were killed. Al-Qaeda militants detonated a car bomb at the entrance of the town while firing rockets at Mar Elias Zealot and Mar Girgis churches which they, later, managed to occupy and use them as platforms to launch their gunfire attacks on the town.

The fighting came as President Barack Obama’s administration pressed the U.S. Congress for its authorization of a military strike against the Assad regime, while the president arrived at a G-20 summit in Russia expected to be overshadowed by Syria.

Online video showed rebels in the streets, some firing truck-mounted heavy machine guns in all directions. The video appeared authentic and matched Associated Press reporting on the fighting. Residents said Wednesday the rebels took over the mountaintop Safir hotel and were firing in the direction of the community below (The footage clearly shows the terrorists are shooting randomly at the homes of the people, and not at government forces! They come, they terrorize, they murder in the name of their sick twisted form of religion, which they themselves, don’t even follow. They are heavily armed by the United States and gulf Arabs! Thank you John McCain and Secretary of State John Kerry).

Al-Mayadeen TV, a Lebanese station who has an embed with the Syrian army, broadcast live images from the area Thursday evening that showed smoke rising from behind the hotel, suggesting the military was shelling it. The nun said about 100 people from the village took refuge in the St. Takla convent that she helps run. The 27 orphans who live there had been taken to nearby caves overnight “so they were not scared,” she said.

Until recently, the town had managed to remain mostly unaffected by the civil war. Its worst suffering was the lack of pilgrims and tourists who are normally vital to the economy when the village was ringed by government checkpoints.

In 2008, Assad and his wife, Asma, visited the St. Takla convent, eating with Christian orphans there. In the same year, Assad took former U.S. President Jimmy Carter for a stroll in the area.

The attack highlights fears among Syrian Christians that the alternative to Assad’s regime, made up mostly of Alawites – followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam – would not tolerate minority religions.

The nun who spoke to AP said there were reports that the militants threatened villagers with death if they did not convert. The report could not be independently confirmed. “It’s a war,” she said.

Such fears have allowed Assad to retain the support of large sections among Syria’s minorities, which includes Christians, Alawites, Druze and ethnic Kurds, throughout the 2 1/2 year (so-called) civil war (which in reality is a World War).

(c) National Post 2013

PS: People of Maaloula drew up a letter to the US congress explaining how the Al-Qaeda linked and US supported militants attacked the town, terrorized and killed its people, and destroyed its historic Christian monuments. In this letter, and in reference to Jabhat al-Nusra's bloody attack on the town, the people of Maaloula condemn how the so-called "international conscious" is selective when it comes to categorizing who is a terrorist and who is not!

Red font = my comments and/or info collected from other sources.