Christian Solidarity Worldwide statement on fall of Aleppo

Source: CSI

Al-Qaida's jihadist offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) has captured Aleppo. The jihadists' offensive against the once prosperous, religiously diverse city resembles the Islamic State's sudden conquest of Mosul in 2014.

Christians, Alawites, Shiites and non-observant Sunnis are living in fear. They know that HTS is driven by a religious ideology that aims to subjugate and suppress "infidels." They recall the brutal religious persecution that Sunni supremacist militants brought to them in the aftermath of the so-called "Arab Spring" uprising.

Executions, torture, sexual violence, and arbitrary detentions have been characteristic of HTS rule, according to the UN's Commission of Inquiry on Syria. I have seen myself the widespread desecration of churches and have heard the testimonies of many Christians and others in Aleppo who lived through the horrors of the city's occupation by HTS and allied jihadist militias in 2012-2016.

The fall of Aleppo to Sunni jihadists has significance that transcends the city, Syria and the Middle East itself. It is the latest violent drama in a global power struggle that Pope Francis has rightly, since 2014, called World War III "fought piecemeal."

Washington and its allies have maintained close relations with HTS and its jihadist associates. In 2014, Joe Biden, then the vice president, admitted that Washington's regional partners - Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - had "poured millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into… al-Qaida and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world" to overthrow the Syrian government.

President Trump's special representative for Syria, Ambassador James Jeffrey, acknowledged in 2021 that HTS had been functioning covertly as an "asset" of Washington's Middle East policy, despite its designation as a terrorist organization.

The degradation of the Syrian state has been the common objective of the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations since the "Arab Spring" uprisings opened a new era of violent instability in the Middle East. Jihadi proxies like HTS have been principal instruments of this policy. They are used and rewarded on condition they do not act against American geopolitical interests. Washington's support for the Afghani mujahideen against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan established a model for the use of jihadist armies against adversaries. Draconian economic sanctions have been another destructive tool in Washington's toolbox for destabilizing the Syrian state.

The Syrian government's main backers, Russia and Iran, are now under enormous pressure on the Ukrainian and Lebanese fronts, respectively, of this global struggle. HTS has now received the green light from its international patrons to go on the offensive against Aleppo. The silence of the Biden administration and members of the incoming Trump administration is telling of the attitude of Washington's foreign policy establishment.

Shortly before election day, President-Elect Trump warned: "Christians around the World will not be safe if Kamala Harris is President of the United States." He went on to claim: "When I am President, I will protect persecuted Christians. I will work to stop the violence and ethnic cleansing."

The incoming president now has a golden opportunity to fulfill his pledge. Christians and others who value religious freedom and other fundamental human rights should insist that this pre-election pledge is honoured.