<B>As Syria's war rages, region's Christians hold their breath</B> By Christa Case Bryant, Staff writer / September 2013 One day, he says, some men came to his shop and gave him three options: become Muslim; pay $70,000 as a tax levied on non-Muslims, known as jizya; or be killed along with his family. <B>âBecause you are infidels, you have to pay jizya,â he recalled being told over the phone. âEither you pay jizya, or we will kill you or your son.â</B> Anas, their son, says he got threatening messages back in Syria: <B>âYour money is for us to take, your wife is for us to sleep with, and your children are for killing. This is all halal,â </B>or permissible under Islamic law. He escaped with his wife and children to Jordan, but not before his liquor store had been burned down. Another resident, Rasha, recounted how the jihadists had seized her fiance Atef, who belonged to the townâs militia, and brutally murdered him. "I rang his mobile phone and one of them answered,â she said. âGood morning, Rashrush,â a voice answered, using her nickname. <B>âWe are from the Free Syrian Army. Do you know your fiance was a member of the shabiha (pro-regime militia) who was carrying weapons, and we have slit his throat.â The man told her Atef had been given the option of converting to Islam, but had refused. âJesus didnât come to save him,â he taunted.</B> http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Midd...r-rages-region-s-Christians-hold-their-breath The noble rebels.
Jihad Bells, the christmas song of christians in the Middle East always cracks me up : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uK3jAzSv9c