Ongoing Exodus: Tracking the Emigration of Christians from the Middle East (original) (raw)
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Why Church Leaders Discourage Christians from Leaving Jordan: An Anti-Emigration Perspective
Exchange, 2020
Migration and refugee displacement are some of the most pressing issues facing the contemporary Middle East. Regional church leaders have cautioned against Christian emigration from ancient Middle Eastern churches to countries outside the Middle East; even Christian refugees who have already been displaced internally within the region are often discouraged from leaving. This article surveys some of the public statements that discourage Middle Eastern Christians from leaving the region, as presented from various denominational perspectives. Building on fieldwork conducted in Amman, Jordan, in 2018 and 2019, the article then argues that the attempts by Arab Anglican leaders in Jordan to dissuade church members from emigrating are based on a particular self-understanding of Middle Eastern Christianity that emphasizes an active, continuing Christian presence within the Middle East, as well as practices of unity among different Christian communities and longstanding coexistence with Musl...
Christian Migrations in Iraq Between 1980-2020 in the Context of Political and Humanitarian Dynamics
the Journal of Academic Social Sciences
The aim of this study is to examine the Christian (Nastorian, Chaldean, Armenian, etc.) migrations that occurred due to the war and terror events that occurred in the Iraq region between 1980-2020 in the context of the concept of migration. The main question of the study is: "What have been the political, religious, cultural and social dimensions of these migrations?" A literature review was conducted around this basic question and the data obtained were analyzed. Christians who have lived with Kurds for centuries in both Hakkari (especially Nastorian) and Northern Iraq have been subjected to migration many times in history. In this study, it was found that the Christians who migrated from Hakkari to Iran and then to Iraq in 1915, especially the Nastorians, migrated to European countries with the effect of political instability in the region. These instabilities are: The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1888), the Gulf War, the genocide initiated by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on the Kurds also affected Christians. In addition, the American invasion of Iraq (2003) and the terror launched by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in 2011 are other events that have influenced the migration of Christians. The study data were obtained by taking only the parts related to Christian migration from the works written on Iraq. When the literature on the subject was reviewed, although there was no data on Christian migration in particular, the information in the works that touched on Christian migrations without entering into the content was collected and translated. Both academic platforms and Google browsing did not find studies that only touched on Christian immigration in Iraq after 1980. In this
Middle Eastern Christianity Outside the Middle East
The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East, 2020
This chapter provides an overview of the presence and development of Middle Eastern Christians outside of the region. It explores three distinct themes relating to Middle Eastern Christian diasporas – the role of the church, interactions with wider society and transnational ties. It is important to note that communal associations separate from the churches have also been created and play an important role in developing community life including preserving their culture. These will be explored in relation to interactions with new societies, the Middle East and other parts of the diaspora. However, given that the denominational churches play a central role in shaping the identity of faith-based migrant groups, the first section will primarily focus on church-led activities. The needs and interests of the first and second migrant generations will also be explored. The three themes are devised from research findings from a collaborative project exploring Middle Eastern Christian Communities in Europe with case studies of Coptic Orthodox, Assyrian/Syriac and Iraqi Christians in the UK, Denmark and Sweden. While the findings have relevance to other denominations and countries, indeed some examples are given from the United States, Canada and Australia; it is not possible for the chapter to explore all denominations or geographic areas. Thus, the chapter concentrates on the larger denominations, which combine a faith and ethnic identity.
Intersections of Religion and Migration: Issues at the Global Crossroads
Scholars of religion and theology on the one hand, and academics in the broad field of migration studies on the other, have been examining the intersections between religion and migration from disparate theoretical, methodological, and religious perspectives during the past decade. This groundbreaking multi-authored volume seeks to bring these multiple points of view together both by elucidating each approach and then bringing them into conversation with each other. As the anchor volume in the Palgrave Religion and Global Migrations series, Intersections of Religion and Migration will provide state-of-the-art reviews of academic debates in the field and also suggest productive ways in which scholars may enhance their study of religion and migration by engaging with and employing a variety of approaches to the topic, which will set out a research agenda for the coming decade and beyond. Edited by Jennifer Saunders, Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Susanna Snyder. Contributions include: Jennifer Saunders, Susie Snyder and Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh: Introduction Holly Straut Eppsteiner and Jacqueline Hagan: Religion as Psychological, Spiritual and Cultural Support in the Migration Undertaking Kim Knott: Living Religious Practices Zayn Kassam: Muslims in America: The Challenges of Migration and the Construction of Religious Identities Khayti Y. Joshi: The Racialization of Religions in Migration Hugo Cordova-Quero: Embodied (Dis)Placements - The Intersections of Gender, Sexuality, and Religion in Migration Studies Ellen Posman: Home and Away: Exile and Diaspora as Religious Concepts Stephen M. Cherry: Exploring the Contours of Transnational Religious Spaces and Networks Daniel Groody: Migration - A Theological Vision Benjamin Schewel: Ethics, Transcendence and Borders Alastair Ager and Joey Ager: Religion, Forced Migration and Humanitarian Response Erin K. Wilson and Luca Mavelli: Taking Responsibility: Sociodicy, Solidarity, and Religious-Sensitive Policy-Making in the Global Politics of Migration Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Susie Snyder and Jennifer Saunders: Tracing The Ways Ahead
Journal for the Study of Religion, 2024
The emergence of the terrorist group, Daesh in 2014 and the international military campaign against it caused both a humanitarian crisis and mass displacement in Iraq. About 5.8 million people became internally displaced, and as of 2021, 1.2 million of them still remain in displacement. This article engages with the question of what motivates people to return from displacement to their area of origin. It investigates the role that religion played in the decision of internally displaced Christians to return to Baghdeda in the Ninewa Plain, Iraq's largest Christian town. Based on qualitative interviews, the article examines the factors influencing people's decisions to return. We find that religion contributes to an array of pull factors positively influencing the decision to return, within the nexus of other considerations such as security, reconstruction, and economic opportunities. Religion was found to contribute to the return decision through the respondents' Christian identity, the encouragement to return by religious leaders, and the reconstruction efforts led by the churches. However, while these factors contributed to motivating people to return, these alone are not sufficient to motivate Christians to stay in Baghdeda in the long-term if other important conditions like the security situation and economic opportunities are not in place.
Christian Presence in the Middle East
International Review of Mission, 2000
At the close of the second millennium since the birth of our Lord, much attention around the world is focussed on the Middle East, and particularly on the historic land of Jesus Christ's life and resurrection, the land of Palestine and Israel. Pilgrims have for centuries come to the so-called "Holy Land" to visit the places where the events of the scriptures took place. The biblical lands are indeed special. They offer the Christian visitor a spiritual journey endowed with many meanings and a sense of immediate connectivity with our faith history. It is to this context that so many have come and this that so many have sought.
Introduction: Articulating Intersections at the Global Crossroads of Religion and Migration
Intersections of Religion and Migration, 2016
The formation of a "Religion and Migration" program unit at the American Academy of Religion in 2007 is but one example of the growing attention paid to this important, complex, and often politically charged issue. As observers of the development of this field of research and practice, we argue that sustained consideration of the myriad ways in which religion and migration intersect allows us to examine simultaneously the complex roles that religion plays in shaping migration patterns and experiences, and, equally to recognize the malleability of religious traditions and practices in processes of (im)mobility and migration (see figures 1.3 and 1.4). Importantly, by centralizing the importance of religion in this volume, and in the Religion and Global Migrations Book Series of which it is part, we neither intend to reify religion, nor to argue that religion is the only, or even necessarily the most important, factor underpinning experiences of or responses to migration. xiii Rather, by exploring the ways in which religious identity, belief and practice intersect, for instance, with race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality throughout diverse processes of migration, the volume aims to redress the abovementioned imbalances by examining migration with religion at the center. As Ager and Ager write in Chapter Twelve, "religious dynamics [determine] the fundamental experience of migration" and should thus "be integrated with analyses of the migrant trajectories and experience, not seen as epiphenomenal to them." ***Figure 1.3-Caption: A statue commemorating Arab migration to Cuba from the Middle East, in the "Arab neighborhood" of Monte in Havana. Arab migrants to Cuba have historically been presumed to be Christians, and Qur'anic inscriptions are absent from Havana's "Arab neighborhood". © Fiddian-Qasmiyeh ***Figure 1.4-Caption: The ceramics adorning the patio of this house on the centrally located 23 rd Street in Havana document the religious convictions of the pre-Revolutionary owners of this building (pharmacists originally from the Middle East), declaring "There is no conqueror but Allah". © Fiddian-Qasmiyeh By integrating research undertaken by leading scholars working from within and about a range of religious traditions and disciplinary perspectives, this volume