CHRISTIAN PEOPLE IN THE ARAB WORLD ARE FACING EXTINCTION.
By Paul Merkley.
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Most people in our part of the world who imagine that they are well-in formed about current affairs are under the impression that the indigenous people of the Middle East are the Arabs, and that where non-Arab communities exist these are the products of European missionary efforts in recent centuries. But this is just one figment of the righteous post-colonial imagination – only one among the political fantasies which are countless, like the sands of the sea.
The reality is that, far from being indigenous to this part of the world, the Arabs arrived in the late seventh and early eight centuries AD — quite recently, by the reckoning of Ancient History — and established by violent force their several regimes upon the truly indigenous populations– who were for the most part, Christians.
Ever since the Arab/Muslim conquests of the Eighth Century, these Christians had lived as subject communities, pledging allegiance to Istanbul, receiving in return the protection of the latter against the hostile local Muslim people.
(The term “Protection” in this context has to be understood as akin to its usage in the practice of the Mafia.)
But then, having joined the losing side in the Great War (1914-1918), the Ottoman Empire was forced by the European powers to release from its regime the whole of its Arab possessions. Independent, states, almost entirely Muslim, were carved out of this vast terrain. Christians made up a substantial minority within each of these regimes.
As with all other Christian people, everywhere and at any time, the reading of the Bible was at the heart of their religious practice; and so they sought out opportunities for literacy. This has set them apart from all peoples who have over time been their neighbours – except, of course, their spiritual parents the Jews. While originally grounded in spiritual purpose, literacy qualified the Christians for training and certification as medical doctors and other professionals, such as scientists, engineers, lawyers, et cetera. Historically, they have always moved in “elite” circles. But, so long as they remained within the Arab-speaking world, opportunities to serve in these disciplines were never sufficient.
All of this led to antipathy, jealousy and complaint, from the Muslim populations, among whom the Christians lived. And so this in turn drew the thoughts and minds of Christian Arabs to emigration.
For all these reasons, the Christian proportion of the population of the Middle East has declined steadily and rapidly since the dawn of the Twentieth Century.
In 1900 Christians made up 25 percent of the population of the Middle East; by 2000 they were less than 5 percent. Plausible numbers are hard to find for today’s Christian population, given that most of them have fled from the Middle East Wherever they may still be found in the Middle East, they live in the midst of chaos. Few reliable governmental services exist; and this state of affairs exists in spades in the matter of reckoning population—given that the ISIS state declared them enemies of the people, and forced them to hide or to flee. One percent or less is probably approximately correct. But however numerous, they are all bent on finding a way out.
The Arab states, ribs out of the side of the Ottoman Empire, have never given good government to their people. All became venal, tyrannical, anti-democratic regimes of one sort or another. Our politicians remain dedicated to the policy of pretending to see progress in these regimes. But this is dishonest fantasy, to which our governments imagine that they are bound by the needs of statecraft and economy policy, and which they have been promoting sedulously since the 1940s at least. .
In this and subsequent essays I intend to look more closely at these themes as they have played out in the several distinct political regimes within the Arab world.
To be continued….
The Bayview Review 