ishtartv.com - breitbart.com
By Thomas D. Williams,
Ph.D. 27 Mar 2017
In a
new video, a number of Christians living in Iraq expressed their admiration for
U.S. President Donald Trump, and their hope that he will make good on promises
to assist them and come down hard on the Islamic State.
Asked
“What do you think of Donald Trump?” several members of the clergy as well as
lay Christians answered that they sensed a positive change after the Obama
years, and felt that they were finally being noticed.
Father
Immanuel, a Syriac Catholic priest in Mosul, said simply: “I love Trump because
he understands this Christian matter in Iraq.”
Archbishop
Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Catholic bishop of Erbil, said that he was “really
encouraged to see that someone at least is thinking of the Christians and
giving, not a priority, but at least attracting attention.”
“For
me,” the Archbishop said, “I would say this is probably the first time that an
American politician like a president would say, ‘No, there are some people who
are dying or are suffering because of their faith and we have to think
seriously about that.’”
Though
in different words, a common thread running through the responses was the
belief that Trump actually cares about persecuted Christians in the Middle East
and would do something about it.
Yohanna
Toways, a Christian refugee from Qaraqosh, said that Christian and Yezidi
minorities had actually prayed to God for Donald Trump to win the election.
“We
have confidence in Trump,” Toways said. “Before he was elected, all the
Christians and the Yezidi are praying [for him] to win, all of them, and now
that he is the president we have the hope he will be the savior of these minorities
by his strong decisions. I think he can help us.”
People
also said that Trump offered hope to local Christians, after eight years of a
president who did nothing for them.
“People
here were more than disappointed with Obama, because he did nothing. So the
view of Obama was terrible,” said John Neill, a volunteer aid worker for the
Archdiocese of Erbil.
“I
think people here are feeling excited about Trump, that he will do something,”
Neill continued. “He stated in his election speech that he would do something
about Daesh. That is an indication that he will go further and help the
minorities in Iraq to get back their lives.”
“If
Trump cannot give them hope, then what hope is there?” he added.
Similar
sentiments were expressed Father Benedict Kiely, the founder of www.nasarean.org, a
Christian aid group that has promoted awareness of Christian persecution in
ISIS-dominated territory, especially through the spread of the Arabic ن symbol used
to mark the homes of Christians.
“Many
people said in our interviews with them that they had hope because he is a
strong man,” he said. “God bless him. Let’s be strong and help these people. He
promised during the election I remember specifically to be the president for
the Christians.”
“So
let’s put it into action,” he said.
To
watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqfvh7aJwME&feature=youtu.be
|