01/21/2016 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) -The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) completely destroyed the St. Elijah Monastery-a 1400 year old Christian Monastery in Iraq. The Associated Press (AP) confirmed the news with exclusive satellite images published early on Wednesday, January 20. It had been preserved and treasured by the Christians in Iraq as the oldest in the country. The Obama Administration and the Vatican immediately condemned ISIS along with United Nations Economic, Social, and Cultural Offices (UNESCO) Director General Irina Bokova. Bokova stated that reducing St. Elijah’s monastery in Mosul to a “field of rubble was malicious and misguided.”

Calling the act a “war crime,” Bokova noted that the destruction of historical artifacts “reminds us how terrified by history the extremists [ISIS] are, because understanding the past undermines the pretexts they use to justify these crimes and exposes them as expressions of pure hatred and ignorance.”

Recently, US troops stationed in Iraq worked to restore St. Elijah’s for the Christian community outside of Mosul. The troops also worshipped there when away from home. What a blessing it was to worship “in a place that people had been worshipping in for 1400 years,” stated Army reserve Col. Mary Prophit. The Associated Press reported that Rev. Paul Thabit Habib, currently hiding in exile in Irbil, Iraq, “stared quietly at before and after images of the monastery that once perched on a hillside above his hometown of Mosul. . . . [stating] ‘I can’t describe my sadness. . . . Our Christian history in Mosul is being barbarically leveled. We see it as an attempt to expel us from Iraq, eliminating and finishing our existence in this land.'”

Rev. Habib’s statement is yet another reminder that ISIS intends to forcibly displace any trace of Christian history in Iraq. “Forcible Displacement” is considered a Crime Against Humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adding to the list of international crimes that ISIS (Daesh) has continually committed as part of their systematic plan to eliminate traces of Christianity, as well as many other religious minorities in Iraq including the Yazidis and the Muslim populations that do not adhere to ISIS’s ideology.

Iraq’s Christian population used to remain strong at approximately 1.3 million people. Today, the Christians remaining in Iraq total slightly under 300,000. Iraq’s Chaldean Christians view this attack and destruction as the erasing of a fundamental pillar of their history and culture. Their birthplace in Ninevah had been home to many Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians, as well as a large Yazidi community, but now former residents note that even the school books have been indoctrinated to identify Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities as “devil worshippers” and other insulting names.

The destruction of St. Elijah’s is yet another reminder that Christianity and all forms of minority religions in Iraq are being erased by ISIS. The United Nations reported this week that, in addition to holding slaves comprising of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq, they are also “indoctrinating and training Mosul children in jihadist ideology.” (Reported by AINA, citing UN Assistance Mission in Iraq report).

# # #

For interviews with Emma Lane, Regional Manager for the Middle East, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org

# # #
You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference International Christian Concern (ICC) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington D.C.-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.