The rapid fall of the Asad regime (1971-2024) in Damascus in early December appears to have taken much of the MIddle East and its observers by surprise. Although a brutal civil war has raged with varying levels of intensity since 2012, with estimates suggesting that more than 500,000 people have died, the decisive advance of Ḥayʾat Taḥrīr al-Shām (HTS) and its allies led by Muḥammad al-Jūlānī in recent weeks was unexpected. The relationship of HTS to various militant Islamist movements, the question of former Asad regime elements, and the impact of interventionism from Israel, Turkey, the U.S., Iran, and Russia, among other entities, indicate an unstable and highly combustible environment. Despite all of these uncertainties, there is genuine hope for a new beginning in Syria.

Among the most pressing questions is whether the new Syrian leadership will be able to accommodate the mosaic of religious and ethnic groups that comprise the country. The rise of ISIS and the Syrian civil war led to the exodus of possibly one million Syrian Christians, but somewhere between 300,000 to 500,000 remain. The majority are Eastern Orthodox, but Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox, Catholic, Assyrian, and Protestant traditions are also represented. At Dialogue Across Borders, we have attempted to document some of their experience in recent weeks as it has surfaced in Arabic media (e.g. here, here, and here). In addition, our database editor, Noha Heraiba, has translated a key sermon delivered by Patriarch Yoḥanna X who leads the (Eastern) Orthodox church in Syria, the largest body of Christians in the country. The sermon was delivered in Damascus on December 15th and offers important insights into the patriarch’s vision for the future of his country. 

Needless to say, the Christmas season in Palestine is almost completely unrecognizable as Israel continues its brutal siege of Gaza and conditions continue to deteriorate in the West Bank. Hundreds of Christians have been huddled in a few churches in Gaza for more than a year. In an environment that has seen so much death, destruction, and despair, it is nonetheless moving to read reports that Pope Francis telephones the Christians in Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza almost nightly. Public Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, the historic site where Jesus was born, have been cancelled for a second year. Although Christian leaders in the United States and Europe routinely lament the fading influence of Christianity in the public square, it seems many are either unwilling or incapable of hearing Palestinian theologians like Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac as they express Christian faith from the heart of one of the world’s most painful and intractable conflicts. Even as we pray impossible prayers this Christmas season for a just peace, an end to Israel’s siege of Gaza, and the safe return of any surviving Israeli hostages, we recognize that what has happened in Gaza over the last year will leave a deep wound in the Middle East for decades to come.

Matthew Anderson

Director - Center for Arab-West Understanding

Executive Editor - Dialogue Across Borders (Brill)

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December 27, 2024