A group representing Syrian Christians told congressional members on Tuesday that the United States ought to stop funding the very same extremists who are trying to kill all the Christians.
Christian Solidarity International CEO John Eibner said Christians who are fleeing the violence in Syria have asked him, “Why is the U.S. at war against us?” CBN News also reported that Mr. Eibner has visited with Christians in Syria on many occasions and that “victims recounted to me the religious cleansing of Christian neighborhoods in Homs and Qusair.”
He said the violence was at the hands of “armed jihadists who threatened them with death if they did not leave their homes,” CBN reported. “A Christian woman told me that before she fled Homs, she had seen the beheading in broad daylight of an Alawite girl who was pulled off a public minibus by armed jihadists.”
Mr. Eibner made the statements during a congressional hearing on the fate of religious minorities in Syria. Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican and chairman of the House subcommittee on Africa, global health and human rights, opened the hearing with this statement, CBN News said: “Christians are even more fearful for their lives and safety than other segments of the Syrian population.”
Nina Shea, the director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, also testified that Islamic radicals have put Christians in their cross hairs, targeting them for “ethno-religious cleansing,” CBN News reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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