Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
Last Updated: Sunday, 4 March 2007, 11:10 GMT
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq's Mandaeans 'face extinction'
Iraq's Mandaeans 'face extinction'
By Angus Crawford
BBC News, Damascus
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
The Sabian Mandaeans - one of the oldest religious groups in the world - are facing extinction, according to its leaders.
They claim that Islamic extremists in Iraq are trying to wipe them out through forced conversions, rape and murder.
The Mandaeans are pacifists, followers of Adam, Noah and John the Baptist.
They have lived in what is now Iraq since before Islam and Christianity.
More than 80% have been forced to flee the country and now live as refugees in Syria and Jordan.
Even there they do not feel safe - but they say western governments are unwilling to take them in.
Victim voices
There are thought to be fewer than 70,000 of the Sabian Mandaeans spread across the world - only 5,000 are left in Iraq.
Mazen's legs are peppered with machine gun wounds
Nine-year-old Selwan likes watching cartoons and playing football.
But he is too scared to leave his flat. The other children tease him.
He has burns all down the side of his face and on 20% of his body.
He was kidnapped by Islamic militants who forced him to jump into a bonfire - because he is Mandaean.
Now his family lives in a tiny flat in a slum in Damascus.
I meet Luay. He is too scared to be identified and does not want to use his full name.
He was dragged off the street by armed men and forcibly circumcised - a practice not allowed in the Mandaean religion.
He is 19 and is now unlikely ever to find a bride from his own faith.
Worse, he was forcibly converted. That means in the eyes of those same extremists if he now declares himself Mandaean he is apostate.
That makes him a traitor to Islam, who may be murdered. He says he will not be safe in any Muslim country.
'Convert or die'
Then there is Enhar, raped by a gang of masked men in front of her husband - because she would not wear a veil.
Our ethnic minority and out ancient religion will die off
Kanzfra Sattar, Mandaean bishop
Mazen used to be a prosperous jeweller. Now he lives in a cramped flat, with his wife and children. Water drips through the ceiling.
His legs are peppered with machine-gun wounds, he can barely walk.
Shoaki wears a Manchester United hat and shows me the scars where a gang beat and cut him with a knife - he watched his brother murdered in front of him.
Mandaean elders use words like annihilation and genocide - they believe Islamic militants, both Sunni and Shia, offer them two choices - convert or die.
"Some will not consider us people of the book... they see us as unbelievers, as a result our killing is allowed," says Kanzfra Sattar, one of only five Mandaean bishops left worldwide.
'Wait in line'
He believes they are a litmus test for modern Iraq - in a secular state these doctors, engineers and jewellers would thrive.
Kanzfra Sattar is one of only five Mandaean bishops left
In the country as it is without law and in the grip of religious extremism, he fears they will be destroyed.
"We are small in numbers, we ask all the governments of the world to extend a hand of help," Kanzfra Sattar says.
He says he wants the West to accept his people as refugees.
I ask him what will happen if they do not - he replies simply: "Our ethnic minority and our ancient religion will die off."
The UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, says there may be as many as a million Iraqis who have fled to Syria.
"The numbers that will be resettled are tiny compared to the very large numbers that are here," says Laurens Jolles, the head of a UNHCR team.
He acknowledges that the Mandaeans will just have to "wait in line", with other vulnerable groups.
Roughly two million Iraqis have fled to Syria, Jordan and Turkey. But there are no plans to welcome large numbers to the West.
The US has offered places to 7,000, while Britain says it will consider every case "on its merits".
So the Mandaeans wait in line.
Shoaki puts it more simply: "Here, we live in despair."
I AM SO GLAD ISLAM IS A RELIGON OF PEACE.....CAUSE THEY ARE SO NICE NOW...JUST THINK IF THEY WERE MEAN.......
This will be THE USA in 100 years and Europe in 30.......convert or die....
Picture your Mom being raped by a gang of Muslim men for not wearing her Veil.......get some motivation......
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
bring back great spirit....just so we can kick him in the nuts one last time. YEE-HAA sorry Muhammad i meant jihad
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
Hey Libs...
Spin this article......
you can do it!.....( said like guy in the water boy)
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
Witches were burned at the stake for their beliefs..I wonder between the Three Big Timers Christians Jewishs Muslims, who have killed more in the name of GOD
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
Quote:
Originally Posted by eg420ne
Witches were burned at the stake for their beliefs..
that's a sorry attempt at spin. the fact that anyone is harmed in the name of idiotic mythologies is unacceptable and to excuse such acts because someone else did it first or more often is equally unacceptable.
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
Not a spin, the action of a few do not condemn a total group, by your reasoning I should hate all white people because of the lyncing that happened in my state a couple of years back, just not true. Most muslims are tolerant and caring people, thats come from perosnal experience.
And before you ask, Yes I am a vet, yes I have been to Iraq and no I don't hate the iraqis or agree that we need to wage some war on islam as awhole
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
that's a sorry attempt at spin. the fact that anyone is harmed in the name of idiotic mythologies is unacceptable and to excuse such acts because someone else did it first or more often is equally unacceptable.
So, my intelligent one, Does this include GW Bush and Abu Graib, Guantanamo, And the CIA rendition teams, or is it just relegated to official enemies of the state, (USA)?
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
I put all organized religion in the same category....just a bunch of power hungry leadership taking advantage of people who were forced as a child to believe and not given a choice. There are also people who can't accept the unknown and people who had no one else to turn to for hope in the wake of a tragedy or just plain suffering.
I will say most people that do follow Allah God or whoever are good people that don't want harm to come to anyone....its really the senior leadership that is to blame and the wacko extremists of all religions.
Iv made my choice to not believe and haven't given it a second thought...live your life to the fullest be happy and stress free. Thats my goal.
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
Quote:
Originally Posted by medicinal
.... Does this include GW Bush and Abu Graib, Guantanamo....[/COLOR]
of course it extends to everyone, but the list you include is an entirely separate subject.
Islamic militants forced Selwan to jump into a bonfire
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncnavguy
... Most muslims are tolerant and caring people....
that is not in question, it's not most muslims that are committing such atrocities. save your hatred for the few who are guilty of such crimes, here as well as there.
