The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) in Jordan, Amman office, has organized an international conference in which a number reasearchers took part. The conference discussed what the Western countries can do, particularly Europe and the United States, to protect and guarantee the continued presence of Christians in the Middle East. This conference complements the conference which the KAS had held in cooperation with the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in October last year in Como, Italy, titled, “What Future Awaits the Christians of the Orient?” What are the countries of the West requested to do nowadays towards this main components of the Orient? Among the main recommendations made at the "Berlin" conference is to have the peoples of the West urge their governments to put out the fires in the region, otherwise it is not possible to do anything that ensures the continued presence of any component.
In the wake of the conference, Radio Monte Carlo in France organized an important symposium on the same subject titled, “The reality of the Christians and their future in the region.” The symposium was outstandingly moderated by renowned media specialist Ne'mat Al Matari in which representatives of several countries took part. I would like to highlight a question made by Matari at the symposium which says,” Everybody addresses nowadays the issue of the Christians of the Orient, is it really a relevant ‘issue’? Is it a cause separated from the other causes of the Orient or is it incorporated in them?”
The question is undoubtedly interesting and distinguished. The Christians of the Orient and the Arabs in particular, are part of the "fabric" of their peoples, their culture, and their countries. They have never been isolated from the issues of the region and its successive crises. Yet, the dramatic developments and the unprecedented emergence of movements, including those that adopt killing and consider oppression as their source of living, snowballed into something that ought to be given its proper name, namely open and direct “persecution” against —let us not say against minorities—the major and the active ethnic and religious components. We cannot hide our concerns over these components in their capacity as part of "this Orient" which is passing through uneasy times; since the “savagery” vacated whole areas of its Christians as has been the case in Mosul and the other villages of cities of Nineveh where the Christmas, Easter, and Sunday bells never rang again. It is regrettable to say that as the planes of the world transported numbers of the displaced to Jordan--which welcomed them two years ago, and provided them with all possible aid that would restore confidence, dignity, and preserve their faith—yet they are nowadays leaving the Orient via Jordan by taking planes that will touch down in the distant countries of the world.
There is another “issue” that has to be tackled, yet it is not pure Christian but relevant to the identity. It is the identity of the Orient to be pluralistic and rich in variations that result in creativity, excellence and holiness. Without this, the Orient would not be as is for the losses would not include one component, but rather history, the cultural heritage, and common culture.
It is to be said that the “Berlin” conference concluded on the very day the Royal Court announced His Majesty King Abdullah‘s benefaction (makruma) to provide for the restoration of Jesus’ Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem at His Majesty’s personal expense. All the delegations at the conference reiterated, “How lucky you are to have such a king!” We also replied saying, “How lucky are the Arab and Islamic nations to have such a Muslim Arab leader who knows how to associate beautiful words with noble deeds. A few days later, Pope Francis left for Greek Island Lesbos, met the homeless, and took with him three Syrian Muslim families to be housed in Italy at the expense of the Vatican. Amid the reports on the King’s benefaction to the Church and the Pope accompanying Muslims on his plane, there are courageous people who know how to confront the winds of extremism and alienation, and who work hand-in-hand not only to preserve one component by to preserve the entire humanity.
