Actual Situation of Christians in the Middle East and Lebanon












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            * Actual Situation of Christians in the Middle East and Lebanon
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            Despite a power shortage, around 25 people gathered in the Protestant Theological Faculty 

            Professor Gaby Abou Samra discuss the actual situation of Christians in the Middle East an
            Tuesday, October 27. Professor Abou Samra is a scholar, author, priest and monk. Being fro
            and living in a Christian village surrounded by Muslim settlements, he would be speaking f

            experience.
            The discussion started with the bold claim that the current situation was the same as it h
            Ages and thus commenced a brief history of the Christian and Islamic religions in the Midd

            Initially, despite denominational and state divides, the area had been prosperous and home
            freedom. However, in the last 10 years of the Prophet Muhammed’s life, 622-632 AD, the Chr

            began to be persecuted. The physical presence of Christians was constrained, especially in
            the Quran was used to justify the conversion to Islam by force and heavy taxes imposed on 
            population. Both Christians and Jews paid half their income to Muhammed.

            In the years following the Prophet’s death, those nearest to him carried on these practice
            of Umar, a treaty between Muslims and Christians in Syria, Mesopotamia and Jerusalem, enfo
            regulations on Christians including church building restrictions, the inability to adopt a

            and having to give up their seat for a Muslim member of the society. 
            Other important historical events in relation to the relationship between Muslims and Chri
            discussed briefly. These included the requirement of Christians and Jews to wear a yellow 

            850 AD and the destruction of 80,000 churches in Egypt during the 11th century. The local 
            in the 12th century prohibited Christians from worshipping in any language bar Arabic, whi
            attacks against Christians in Syria and Lebanon in 1860 resulted in approximately 100,000 

            Parallels were drawn between these events and the actions of ISIS today, including the pai
            letter “N” on Christian households. Today, Christians are given three options - flee, cove
            the population of Christians in the Middle East is shrinking faster than ever. There are n

            1.1 million Christians in Syria.
            Professor Abou Samra stated that many Christians in the region feel that they are stuck “b
            and hard place” as in their own countries they are considered as Western spies but that in

            West is indifferent to their persecution and demise. This led to the pertinent topic of re
            raised in the closing question and answer section. With a population of 4 million, Lebanon
            population of 2 million. This has caused numerous social and citizenship issues, but it wa

            several organisations are present and helping to combat the problems.
            During this finishing session, the future of these two religious communities was debated. 
            had a self-declared pessimistic outlook on the situation, stating that he saw no hope for 

            discussions between the two sides. Despite the existence of friendships and relationships 
            and Christians, he believed that the warring was only going to get worse. Several members 
            were more optimistic and believed that it was the presence of these bonds that would trium

            terror and that we should be wary of not only the rise in Islamic extremism but also Islam
            Overall, this was a very informative session, praised by those in attendance and it was in
            of such a relevant and broadcasted topic from personal experience.

                                                                                                      
            Katie Tener is a third year undergraduate student from Northern Ireland, the University of
            travel and learn from different cultures. Her host faculty at Charles University is the Fa