Forsaken
about the book
Across the Middle East, Christian communities today find themselves the victims of widening repression: massacres, expulsions, and brutally enforced restrictions on the right to worship have all become commonplace. Such persecution has now reached the point where, in the region that was once its birthplace, Christianity's very existence is under threat.
Radical armed groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) justify their offensive against the “infidels” with reference to new interpretations of jihad, the Islamic tradition of holy war, that have burgeoned in the region since the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq at the beginning of the century.
The impact on Christian communities is visible for all to see. In Iraq, the Christian population has withered from well over one million to just 300,000. In Syria, where the word “Christian” was first coined more than two millennia ago, at least half a million Christians, one third of the total, have fled their homes. In Egypt, where the Coptic Church, with its seven million adherents, is as old as the Church of Rome, Christians are emigrating in waves after being squeezed between those who blame them for the 2013 ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood government and a new military dictatorship that is heedless of their civil rights.
In this compact, fast-paced survey, Dan Williams pulls together extensive, first-hand reportage, salient historical antecedents, and intelligent political analysis to trace the contours of an unfolding tragedy. The situation of the Christian communities, he notes, has always been a barometer of turbulence in the Middle East. On this reading, storms clouds are today gathering fast.
"Daniel Williams has given us a vivid portrait of what he rightly calls 'not only a human tragedy but a historic cataclysm'. His compelling blend of historical perspective and on-the-ground reporting in Christian communities across the Middle East gives authority to his practical proposals. This book should be required reading for policymakers in Western capitals." - Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor, The Washington Post
"Veteran Mideast correspondent Dan Williams provides a gripping account of the ongoing persecution and destruction of the Middle East's ancient Christian communities, while Western leaders continue to look the other way. Forsaken is required reading for anyone who cares about the survival of Christianity in the region of its birth or the fate of Christians forced to flee." - Trudy Rubin, Worldview columnist, The Philadelphia Inquirer
About The Author / Editor
Read An Excerpt
In Qaraqosh, the old, the weak, and the sick were stranded. Aida Hanna Nour, forty-three, a mother of four, stayed behind to take care of her blind husband. We were ten days in Qaraqosh. We stayed because we thought Daesh would leave. There was no electricity and no water. We were afraid. We asked for water and sometimes they gave it, sometimes not.
"After a few days, they asked us to convert or leave. Then they ordered us out by a certain day. If we refused, they would kill us. We were helpless. But we did not want to convert".
"Some Daesh wore black cloaks. One was an imam from a nearby village. They pointed out who had money. On August 22, a mini-bus came. 'We will treat you well', the people with rifles said. They were lying. They took everything, the gold, money, and documents, everything except the clothes we were wearing."
"Then a man in black grabbed her three-year-old daughter," Hanna Nour said, and burst out in tears. "He gave her to an imam, an old man with a long beard. The girl cried and cried. I said, 'Why do you take her?'' He said, 'If you come a step closer, I will shoot you.' I went to the bus." One young man, who was 20, and stayed to care for his parents, was also taken away.
We were dropped at a checkpoint, then walked for seven hours. We crossed a river on foot and then the desert. I didn't care. I just wanted my daughter. When we got to the peshmerga, they gave us water. They then let us pass.
in the media
Related Interest
Related Interest
Forsaken
about the book
Across the Middle East, Christian communities today find themselves the victims of widening repression: massacres, expulsions, and brutally enforced restrictions on the right to worship have all become commonplace. Such persecution has now reached the point where, in the region that was once its birthplace, Christianity's very existence is under threat.
Radical armed groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) justify their offensive against the “infidels” with reference to new interpretations of jihad, the Islamic tradition of holy war, that have burgeoned in the region since the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq at the beginning of the century.
The impact on Christian communities is visible for all to see. In Iraq, the Christian population has withered from well over one million to just 300,000. In Syria, where the word “Christian” was first coined more than two millennia ago, at least half a million Christians, one third of the total, have fled their homes. In Egypt, where the Coptic Church, with its seven million adherents, is as old as the Church of Rome, Christians are emigrating in waves after being squeezed between those who blame them for the 2013 ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood government and a new military dictatorship that is heedless of their civil rights.
In this compact, fast-paced survey, Dan Williams pulls together extensive, first-hand reportage, salient historical antecedents, and intelligent political analysis to trace the contours of an unfolding tragedy. The situation of the Christian communities, he notes, has always been a barometer of turbulence in the Middle East. On this reading, storms clouds are today gathering fast.
"Daniel Williams has given us a vivid portrait of what he rightly calls 'not only a human tragedy but a historic cataclysm'. His compelling blend of historical perspective and on-the-ground reporting in Christian communities across the Middle East gives authority to his practical proposals. This book should be required reading for policymakers in Western capitals." - Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor, The Washington Post
"Veteran Mideast correspondent Dan Williams provides a gripping account of the ongoing persecution and destruction of the Middle East's ancient Christian communities, while Western leaders continue to look the other way. Forsaken is required reading for anyone who cares about the survival of Christianity in the region of its birth or the fate of Christians forced to flee." - Trudy Rubin, Worldview columnist, The Philadelphia Inquirer
About The Author / Editor
Read An Excerpt
In Qaraqosh, the old, the weak, and the sick were stranded. Aida Hanna Nour, forty-three, a mother of four, stayed behind to take care of her blind husband. We were ten days in Qaraqosh. We stayed because we thought Daesh would leave. There was no electricity and no water. We were afraid. We asked for water and sometimes they gave it, sometimes not.
"After a few days, they asked us to convert or leave. Then they ordered us out by a certain day. If we refused, they would kill us. We were helpless. But we did not want to convert".
"Some Daesh wore black cloaks. One was an imam from a nearby village. They pointed out who had money. On August 22, a mini-bus came. 'We will treat you well', the people with rifles said. They were lying. They took everything, the gold, money, and documents, everything except the clothes we were wearing."
"Then a man in black grabbed her three-year-old daughter," Hanna Nour said, and burst out in tears. "He gave her to an imam, an old man with a long beard. The girl cried and cried. I said, 'Why do you take her?'' He said, 'If you come a step closer, I will shoot you.' I went to the bus." One young man, who was 20, and stayed to care for his parents, was also taken away.
We were dropped at a checkpoint, then walked for seven hours. We crossed a river on foot and then the desert. I didn't care. I just wanted my daughter. When we got to the peshmerga, they gave us water. They then let us pass.