The Blaze:
The head of the United Nations’ cultural agency strongly condemned the Islamic State group’s demolition of an ancient Christian monastery and exhumation of a saint’s tomb in Syria.
The monastery’s razing came amid new reports that more Syrian Christians had been abducted by Islamist fighters and were being forced to convert to Islam or pay off their captors with a so-called tax.
Images circulated by jihadists online showed Islamic State bulldozers destroying the Mar Elian Monastery. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, reportedthat Islamic State fighters claimed that “the monastery is worshiped beside Allah.”
Islamic State militants posted photos of the bulldozer razing the historic church that once served as a pilgrimage site for Syria’s Christian community. (Islamic State group photo)
The destruction of the ancient religious site as seen from the inside. A top U.N. official blasted the Islamic State group for engaging in the “cultural cleansing” of Syria. (Islamic State group photo)Construction of the monastery, also known as St. Elian, began in the 5th century A.D. Christian groups said the photos showed the dug up remains of St. Elian.
This photo appeared to show the dug up remains of the Christian saint. (Islamic State group photo)“The cultural cleansing underway at the hands of ISIL/Daesh must stop,” Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO, said in a statement Friday, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “The persecution of communities reflecting the great diversity of Syria, combined with the systematic destruction of some of the most iconic representations of Syria’s rich heritage, testifies to an ideology of hatred and exclusion.”
The monastery in Qaryatain in central Syria was seized by the Islamic State earlier this month.
There are 49 Muslim majority countries on earth, but there are 57 countries that are Muslim enough to enforce Sharia on their entire populations.
All of those countries, not just ISIS, believe in the right to destroy all pre-Islamic and non-Islamic , histories and relics.
The fact that Jewish and Christian graveyards are being desecrated all over the edges of Islamic control is not covered all that much on the news.
The fact that temples, churches and synagogues are being desecrated, too is rarely covered in the news.
The fact that genocide is being accomplished by Boko Haram in Kenya,(what? Don’t THOSE black lives matter?) by ISIS in all their territories, by Muslim Brotherhood whenever they can, by Muslims in Thailand, by Muslims in Russia, etc., is rarely covered by our media.
The fact that non-Islamic schools are being destroyed, their teachers and students being murdered is only rarely covered in our media.
The outrage will not reach here until the coverage reaches here.
@Nanny G: So? – what else is new under the sun? In 1957 I was in 6th grade and the 5th grade teacher from across the hall had the previous summer taken a trip to Italy and the ‘Holy Land” — he had a very clear assessment and explanation of the history of the ‘religion of the sword’ — until the west gets its collective head out of its PC smothered a$$ and exterminates with extreme prejudice the TREASONOUS LIE that: “Islam is a religion of peace” — I’d recommend trying to get in on the prayer rug and/or casket and knife sharpening markets!–
Maybe its time for another Christian crusade. Where is Pope Urban II when you need him? Now the Christian community can make 13 crusades, beating the old record of 12.