The aftermath of the rebel invasion and occupation of the city of Qamishli in the northeast of Syria along the Turkish border are only now becoming fully known and follow a similar pattern of Christian persecution.
Among other atrocities, the Islamic-led rebels reportedly killed 70 Christians, beheaded three priests (to be added to all the others beheaded at their hands), and forced the rest of the ancient Syriac community to flee what has been their home since the dawn of Christianity two thousand years ago.
They also destroyed all the Christian icons in the Syriac Church, again following a similar pattern, and robbed the church of its ancient heritage, a reportedly 1,925 year old icon of the face of Christ.





Raymond Ibrahim is a Middle East and Islam specialist and author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). His writings have appeared in a variety of media, including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, World Almanac of Islamism, and Chronicle of Higher Education; he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, NPR, Blaze TV, and CBN. Ibrahim regularly speaks publicly, briefs governmental agencies, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and testifies before Congress. He is a Shillman Fellow, David Horowitz Freedom Center; a CBN News contributor; a Media Fellow, Hoover Institution (2013); and a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow, Middle East Forum . Ibrahim’s dual-background -- born and raised in the U.S. by Coptic Egyptian parents born and raised in the Middle East -- has provided him with unique advantages, from equal fluency in English and Arabic, to an equal understanding of the Western and Middle Eastern mindsets, positioning him to explain the latter to the former.