Convert, Flee, Or Die: The Grim Reality Facing Christians In Syria
By PNW Staff March 11, 2025
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The recent atrocities in Syria, where over 1,000 civilians, including many Christians, were massacred by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces, have cast a grim shadow over the nation's future. This Islamist group's rise to power has intensified fears among religious minorities, particularly Christians, who now face heightened threats to their existence.
Christian homes were raided. Women and children were dragged into the streets, forced to march naked and then executed. Entire families were wiped out. In Latakia, a city where Christians have lived for centuries, Tony Khoury was butchered in his own home. Elsewhere, Tony Boutros and his son, Fadi--members of the Greek Orthodox Christian community--were hunted down and executed.
In the city of Latakia, jihadist fighters were reportedly going door to door in search of victims. They asked residents for their IDs to check their religion and their sect to determine if they should be killed.
This is the same thing that ISIS did throughout the Middle East during their reign of terror. Those who held fast to their Christian faith died gruesome deaths.
What would you do if that happened to you?
Would you try to hide the fact that you are a Christian?
In the city of Baniyas, those that were rounded up were marched through the streets, lined up, and then shot. One resident of the west coast city Baniyas in Syria told Sky News: "They forcibly brought people down to the streets, then they lined them up and started shooting them. They left nobody. They left nobody at all. The scene that I saw was pure horror - it's just indescribable."
And a teenage boy was also handed a rifle and forced to shoot his own family, reports claim. Nobody knows exactly how many people have been killed.
One source says that hundreds of Christians have been slaughtered over the past several days. According to Asia News, a news agency that reports on Christian communities, more than 800 people, including women, children, and priests, were slaughtered in their homes solely because they were Christian.
However, some groups say the number of victims is much higher. According to the Iraqi Christian Foundation, which advocates for Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, the death toll is 1,800. It alleges that entire villages are being slaughtered.
Other sources are saying the death toll could be more than 7,000.
Survivors report that HTS fighters, along with local Islamist mobs, stormed Christian villages, shouting for the "infidels" to be removed. They looted homes, defiled churches, and seized properties. Christian-owned businesses were marked for destruction, their owners labeled as enemies of the new regime. In some areas, Christians were reportedly dragged from their homes and offered a chilling ultimatum: leave, convert to Islam, or die.
"We are afraid that after they finish with the Alawites, they will kill us en masse," one Christian survivor told The European Conservative. "After seeing the massacres yesterday, all people here are terrified."
The plight of Syrian Christians under HTS mirrors the tragic experiences of Iraqi Christians during the rise of the Islamic State (IS). In Iraq, IS militants systematically targeted Christian communities, offering them a harrowing choice: convert to Islam, pay a punitive tax, or face execution.
This led to mass displacements, with many fleeing ancestral homes to escape violence and forced conversions. Churches were desecrated, properties seized, and communities decimated. Iraq is now believed to have lost almost 90% of it's Christian population.
Similarly, in Syria, HTS has been implicated in forced conversions and the confiscation of Christian properties, perpetuating a cycle of persecution that threatens the very fabric of these ancient communities.
The situation in Syria also draws unsettling parallels to the dwindling Christian population in Bethlehem. Once a city with a vibrant Christian majority, Bethlehem has witnessed a significant decline in its Christian demographic over the past few decades.
Factors contributing to this decline include economic hardships, political instability, and instances of Islamist intimidation and violence. Land confiscations, attacks on Christian institutions, and social discrimination have compelled many Christians to emigrate, seeking safety and better opportunities elsewhere. This exodus has transformed the city's cultural and religious landscape, leading to concerns about the preservation of its Christian heritage.
Despite the severity of these persecutions, the global response has been alarmingly muted. The international community's inaction stands in stark contrast to the urgency of the crisis. The absence of widespread protests, significant media coverage, or decisive actions from global institutions like the United Nations underscores a troubling indifference to the suffering of Christian minorities. This apathy not only emboldens perpetrators but also deepens the wounds of marginalized communities, leaving them isolated and vulnerable.
HTS's rule has not only devastated Christian communities but has also eroded the fragile religious diversity that once defined Syria. Reports indicate that Christian churches are being systematically destroyed or repurposed into military outposts and mosques, erasing centuries of religious heritage in a matter of months. In some cases, pastors and church leaders have been kidnapped, their fates unknown, while Christian schools and institutions have been shut down or taken over by the regime.
The psychological toll on remaining Christians is immense--many live in constant fear, unable to practice their faith openly. Even those who attempt to flee face perilous journeys, as border crossings into safer regions are increasingly blocked by hostile forces.
Thousands of Syrian Alawites and Christians have now fled to Hmeimim Airbase, seeking Russian protection. "We need Russian protection" can be heard among the crowd. The airbase has effectively turned into an open-air refugee camp, with around 8,000 Syrians seeking shelter and more expected to arrive.
The silence of the world in the face of this horror is deafening. Where are the campus protests, the global marches, the emergency UN resolutions? Why does the West mobilize instantly for some causes but remain indifferent when Christians are massacred?
The persecution of Christians in Syria, Iraq, and Bethlehem is not just a tragedy; it is a warning. If the world continues to turn a blind eye, these ancient communities will vanish, and with them, a vital part of Middle Eastern history and faith.
