Joel Veldkamp, international communications officer for Christian Solidarity International, a persecution watchdog, is sounding the alarm about what will happen as the result of the toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a designated terror group. “It won’t be good for Israel,” Veldkamp told CBN News. “It won’t be good for the Christians. It won’t be good for anyone except Turkey, really.” The watchdog’s comments come after Syrian rebels entered Damascus and Assad fled the nation with his family, finding asylum in Russia. HTS is led by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a man who had longtime ties to al-Qaida — connections he has, in recent years, reportedly denounced. But an Associated Press report makes clear why his leadership is sparking deep concern. “Throughout his rise through extremist ranks, [Ahmad] al-Sharaa was only known by the jihadi nickname he adopted, Abu Mohammed al-Golani,” the Associated Press reported. “His ties to al-Qaida stretch back to 2003, when he joined insurgents battling U.S. troops in Iraq.”
Al-Golani eventually made his way to Syria, where he was sent to create the Nusra Front, an al-Qaida branch in Syria — also designated a terror group. After purportedly making it clear he opposed minority groups, he later tempered his image and language and began speaking in favour of pluralism. Now, many are sceptical about where he and HTS truly stand. “HTS has been putting out messages saying, ‘We’re not coming to hurt anybody. Christians don’t have to be afraid,’” Veldkamp said. “This is what you want to say if you’re in their position right now, because they’re angling to get the support of the world for their new regime, and they’re angling to be accepted by the Syrian people as the new regime, and the Syrian people are not an extremist people. They’re very diverse, they’re very well-educated, they’re very connected to the world. This is not a place where fundamentalism typically thrives.” The future of Syria remains up in the air, as Veldkamp and others worry about how shifting power dynamics will harm Christians and members of other minority groups.
And with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office next month, there are also international elements to these developments that must be considered. Veldkamp offered advice and warnings to Trump ahead of his second term. “When Trump was president the last time, he actually cut off U.S. support for groups like HTS for a time, because I think he recognized what a bad idea,” he said. “And I would say to him, look, these guys are now in the driver’s seat in Syria. They’re about to be in the driver’s seat in the whole region — and the U.S. still has some influence there. They have influence with Turkey, they have influence with Saudi Arabia, they probably have influence with HTS itself.’” Veldkamp cautioned Trump not to take a backseat on the Syria issue and pushed back against arguments that it’s not America’s job or responsibility to be involved, especially considering what’s at stake. “Trump has the chance now to keep Christianity from disappearing in Syria and probably the whole Middle East,” he said, going on to deliver a specific message to the incoming commander-in-chief.
Veldkemp said “I would say, ‘Think about it, reflect on it, reflect on your legacy, and have mercy on the people of Syria.’” Veldkamp also explored some of the history and backstory leading up to the current chaos in Syria, noting Assad’s family has ruled the nation for the past 50 years. He described them as “brutal dictators” and said, “lots of people have suffered under their rule.” The roots of the current crisis were set in 2011, when a peaceful uprising took hold and Assad pushed back. Over time, the fighting intensified, and other forces got involved. “The U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, and some other countries had a strong interest in trying to push Russia and Iran out of Syria,” he said. “And so they started sponsoring armed groups in Syria that were fighting against the Syrian dictatorship.” Another complicated facet, he said, is the Syrian dictatorship was secular in nature and not Islamic led. This opened a window for jihadist and extremist groups to push back on Assad.
“It turned out that the most effective armed rebels fighting against him were jihadist groups who also wanted to target the 2 million Christians living in Syria, the 2 million Alawites living in Syria, the many Druzes living in Syria,” he said. “And so, the civil war really spun out into a terrible conflict where millions of people were forced from their homes and the government killed tens of thousands of people.” Christians have been driven from their homes, abducted, and killed over the past 13 years, with the current conflict — which intensified over the past two weeks — leading HTS to advance and topple Assad. Veldkamp described a perfect storm that led to HTS’s successes. With U.S. sanctions purportedly weakening the standing of the Syrian military and society, and with Russia — Syria’s biggest backer — occupied with the Ukraine war, the situation was ripe to be manipulated. “It seems like the two things that happened are: Russia lost interest, and it turned out that the army was much weaker than we thought,” he said. “It’s not necessarily that HTS is stronger; it’s just that there was this power vacuum that got exposed all at once.”
Source: Faithwire
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