{"id":19762,"date":"2013-09-05T23:55:55","date_gmt":"2013-09-06T03:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=19762"},"modified":"2013-09-07T00:30:24","modified_gmt":"2013-09-07T04:30:24","slug":"jabhat-al-nusra-and-other-islamists-briefly-capture-historic-christian-town-of-maloula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/jabhat-al-nusra-and-other-islamists-briefly-capture-historic-christian-town-of-maloula\/","title":{"rendered":"Jabhat al-Nusra and Other Islamists Briefly Capture Historic Christian Town of Ma\u2019loula"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A hard-to-reach tomb in Ma’loula, Syria. Photo: Matthew Barber \/ Syria Comment<\/p><\/div>\n

Jabhat al-Nusra and Other Islamists Briefly Capture Historic Christian Town of Ma\u2019loula<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"MatthewBy Matthew Barber for Syria Comment<\/p>\n

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Ma’loula (or Maaloula<\/em>) is one of those unique places you may be lucky to visit\u2014or perhaps were lucky to have visited, were you fortunate enough to have been in Syria before the conflict began. An ancient town in a hollow encircled by mountain cliffs descending from their heights to offer shelter to the homes built directly against their sides… exploring its many secrets is to be transported back in time. Ancient monasteries, old churches, rock faces with cave dwellings and tombs\u2014the place is brimming with rich historical treasures.<\/p>\n

\"Ma'loula,

Ma’loula, Syria. Photo: Matthew Barber \/ Syria Comment<\/p><\/div>\n

Ma’loula is also unique for being among the minority of Syrian towns where Christians comprise a majority, though this status has by now eroded to the point where Christians are only a slight majority. Still, the town represents the survival of the Christian community stretching back to the early days of Christianity.<\/p>\n

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A Church in Maaloula. Photo: Kellie Stirling \/ Syria Comment<\/p><\/div>\n

But the cultural wealth preserved in the town precedes Christianity; Ma’loula is one of the last places on earth where the pre-Christian language that once dominated the Near East, Aramaic, is still spoken. In use from almost 1000 years BCE, Aramaic was the most important language of Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia by the time Christianity entered the scene. Aramaic remained the lingua franca<\/em> of the Near East until its ascendent position was supplanted by Arabic when Islam spread east, west, and north from the Arabian Peninsula. Aramaic had been an important language for conducting trade from Egypt to the borders of India, until the arrival of a sacred text\u2014the Qur’an\u2014whose effect was strong enough to issue the challenge that its own language take the place of most important tongue.<\/p>\n

The dialect used in Ma’loula is labeled “Western Aramaic,” and is now only spoken in this small city and in two neighboring villages. A few years ago, President Assad began to officially support<\/a> the efforts of Ma’loulans to conduct language preservation through Aramaic education programs in local schools. Though the generous Ba’athists never extended this right to the Kurds, it was a positive step toward strengthening the health of the local culture of Ma’loula. But yesterday, both the actions of Syrian rebels, as well as the response of the regime, will have the opposite effect on this fragile community.<\/p>\n

Today, the position of such highly endangered languages is made more precarious by instances of violent conflict. It is important to note that most speakers of Aramaic dialects\u2014Eastern and Western\u2014are minorities: Christians, Jews, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Mandeans. We’ve been able to observe clearly the destructive toll that conflict in the Middle East takes on minority and Christian communities, a phenomenon that unfolded before the world’s eyes in Iraq, and which has also been recently intensifying recently in Egypt. As the Syrian conflict has developed, we’ve also seen that minority Christian communities are often some of the most vulnerable segments of the population, and their numbers have already vanished from many of their cities, after fighting has become intense, or after rebels gained control of their areas. Being caught between warring factions, as well as a sense of exclusion experienced as non-Muslims when something that Islamists call “Islamic law” is implemented, prompts many Christians to emigrate from their homelands in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\"Ma'loula,

Ma’loula, Syria. Photo: Matthew Barber \/ Syria Comment<\/p><\/div>\n

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Image: New York Times<\/p><\/div>\n

The Syrian conflict has certainly affected every Syrian to some degree, but it affects some areas more than others. Many towns have still managed to escape direct involvement, but given enough time, the conflict manages to find its way to everyone’s doorstep.<\/p>\n

Until yesterday, the community in Ma’loula had avoided the direct presence of the conflict, but that all changed in the early morning (Wed., Sept. 4, reportedly around 5:30 am) when a Jordanian suicide-bomber<\/a> named Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi (yes, same name as the famous al-Qaida figure) detonated a car bomb at the checkpoint guarding the entrance to Ma’loula, killing the soldiers there and allowing al-Qaida-linked rebels to roll into town in 20 pickup trucks with machine-guns mounted in the back.<\/p>\n

Here’s a photo of the bombing of the Ma’loula checkpoint from Jabhat al-Nusra:<\/p>\n

\"suicide<\/p>\n

Nusra also posted photos of the bodies of the soldiers they killed at the checkpoint:<\/p>\n

\"bodies<\/p>\n

The following video shows rebels in the center of Ma’loula, firing weapons. It’s not clear if they are firing at specific targets, or merely announcing their arrival by firing into the air. Regardless, it was quite effective in terrorizing the local inhabitants.<\/p>\n

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