WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. State Department has issued a statement
deploring what it calls "continued threats against Christians and other
minorities in Syria" from militant Islamists at war with both Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad and fellow Islamic militants.
According to a March 3 statement from State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant (ISIL) announced last week in Raqqa it will force Christians in the city to "convert to Islam, remain Christian and pay a tax, or face death."
"These outrageous conditions violate universal human rights," Psaki said. "ISIL has demonstrated time and again its disregard for Syrian lives, and it continues to commit atrocities against the Syrian people. Although ISIL claims it is fighting the regime, its oppression of and senseless violence against Syrians, including the moderate Syrian opposition, demonstrates that it is fighting for nothing except the imposition of its own brand of tyranny."
The State Department's condemnation of ISIL comes as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the group -- a branch of al-Qaida also known as ISIS -- had given Christians in Raqqa an ultimatum to accept a "dhimma," a protection agreement much like those between mafia families and businesses. If the agreement was not signed, the villagers would have to convert to Islam or "face the sword."
Haaretz reported Christians in the city had signed the agreement, which commits them to a biannual tax of "four gold dinars" -- about $500 per person. Those deemed middle class Christians by Islamic clerics are only required to pay half the tax, while those who are poor will be required to pay one quarter of that amount.
The average annual income in Syria is only $4,800 (US), and much less since the civil war began. That means many Christians will be unable to pay the tax and will be forced into conversion or worse.
Read, more
According to a March 3 statement from State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant (ISIL) announced last week in Raqqa it will force Christians in the city to "convert to Islam, remain Christian and pay a tax, or face death."
"These outrageous conditions violate universal human rights," Psaki said. "ISIL has demonstrated time and again its disregard for Syrian lives, and it continues to commit atrocities against the Syrian people. Although ISIL claims it is fighting the regime, its oppression of and senseless violence against Syrians, including the moderate Syrian opposition, demonstrates that it is fighting for nothing except the imposition of its own brand of tyranny."
The State Department's condemnation of ISIL comes as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the group -- a branch of al-Qaida also known as ISIS -- had given Christians in Raqqa an ultimatum to accept a "dhimma," a protection agreement much like those between mafia families and businesses. If the agreement was not signed, the villagers would have to convert to Islam or "face the sword."
Haaretz reported Christians in the city had signed the agreement, which commits them to a biannual tax of "four gold dinars" -- about $500 per person. Those deemed middle class Christians by Islamic clerics are only required to pay half the tax, while those who are poor will be required to pay one quarter of that amount.
The average annual income in Syria is only $4,800 (US), and much less since the civil war began. That means many Christians will be unable to pay the tax and will be forced into conversion or worse.
Read, more
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