Ishtartv.com - syriacpress.com

 25/09/2025

NEW YORK — For decades, the Middle East has seen little peace, with Christians suffering disproportionately from conflicts and tensions in which they hold no direct stake. Wars have repeatedly brought atrocities and persecution, often carried out with no accountability or consequences for the perpetrators. This issue was highlighted by US President Donald Trump during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Speaking with characteristic bluntness, President Trump urged the international community to act, declaring, “Let us protect religious liberty, including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today. It’s called Christianity.” He sought to draw global attention to the plight of millions of Christians, particularly in the Middle East, warning that silence in the face of such suffering is no longer acceptable. Trump emphasized that defending freedom of belief must be treated as a global priority.

In closing his speech — where he also touched on illegal immigration, energy security, and rising global tensions — Trump called on nations to secure their borders, protect their people, and safeguard their cultures, heritage, and traditions:

“The best example is the number one political issue of our time, the crisis of uncontrolled migration. It’s uncontrolled. Your countries are being ruined. The United Nations is funding an assault on Western countries and their borders.”

US Senator Lindsey Graham praised Trump’s remarks in a post on X, writing: “I am very pleased that @POTUS highlighted the fact that Christians throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East, are under siege.” Graham stressed that “Lebanon and Israel are some of the only places where Christians can worship freely without fear in the Middle East,” urging that the persecution of Christians “should be more forcefully addressed by the civilized world.”

Roughly a week earlier, in a private meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, Trump raised the plight of Christians in the Middle East. He reaffirmed his support for religious freedom in the region and emphasized the urgent need to protect minorities — particularly Christians — amid ongoing political and security turmoil. Trump also expressed interest in the Patriarch’s efforts to promote Christian unity and voiced concern over the conditions of Christians in Turkey, including the Syriac, Assyrian and Chaldean people.

He also discussed the hardships facing Christians in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, from displacement and discrimination to the destruction of churches and religious sites, stressing that Christians remain among the most persecuted groups worldwide and insisted that preserving their presence in the Middle East is a shared responsibility. Trump called on the international community to increase efforts to secure a safe and lasting future for Christians in their ancestral homelands.

In 2020, during a meeting with genocide survivors after the signing of the Israel–UAE normalization agreement, Trump was asked about the situation of Christians in the Middle East. He responded: “If you look at the way Christians have been treated in some countries … it’s beyond disgraceful … what they do to Christians in the Middle East is disgraceful.” He added, “… with respect to Christianity … in the Middle East it is not treated well at all. It is treated horribly and very unfairly. And … it is criminal.”