One month after the president issued his Christmas message decrying persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the Obama administration on Tuesday spelled out the specific actions it is taking to protect Christians threatened in that part of the world.
“We are working tirelessly to monitor the needs of, and increase the assistance to, members of all vulnerable religious and ethnic minorities, including Christians,” Chanan Weissman, spokesman for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor said.
Administration officials contacted me two days after Naghmeh Abedini, wife of Christian Pastor Saeed Abedini (1 of 5 American prisoners freed by Iran), told Newsmax that while she appreciates the president’s message on Christian persecution, “he needs to talk about it more and bring more awareness to the issue. There is also an attempt to get rid of Christians in the Middle East and it is genocide. There should be action."
The president’s statement at Christmas noted that while Christians in America are free to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, “Michelle and I are also ever mindful that many of our fellow Christians do not enjoy that right, and hold especially close to our hearts and minds those who have been driven from their ancient homelands by unspeakable violence and persecution.”
Speaking on background, State Department sources pointed out to us that U.S. government officials and diplomats overseas are in “regular touch” with representatives of Christians and other targeted religious groups “to learn about their needs and threats against their communities, and how we might best respond.”
The key players in this outreach are the State Department’s ambassador at large for international religious freedom David Saperstein and recently-appointed special adviser for religious minorities in the Middle East and South and Central Asia, Knox Thames.
Both meet frequently with Christians, Yezidis and other victims of ISIL’s violence. They meet around the country, and in the Middle East “to learn first-hand about how best to address their situation and concerns,” according to State Department sources.
The same sources emphasized that the United States is the largest contributor of humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqis in the region, providing more than $603 million since October 2013.
“Our assistance has helped many of Iraq's minority communities, including but not limited to Christians, Yezidis, and other internally displaced persons and refugees,” according to a State Department source. “In Iraq, the United States has provided assistance which has facilitated the delivery of relief supplies; addressed emergency health needs; provided water, sanitation, and hygiene support; ensured emergency and transitional shelter; supported education programs; and provided assistance for displaced and vulnerable communities to rebuild their livelihoods.”
One sensitive area in which the U.S. has been assisting in the cause of persecuted Christians has been in helping meet the psychological needs of populations who have fled untold horrors.
In addition, the State Department said that the U.S. is providing community-based protection efforts, such as documentation of abuses and advocacy for reconciliation and accountability for victims of a wide range of atrocities.
Regarding ISIS’ assaults on monuments that are considered sacred to Christians in the Middle East, the State Department sources said the U.S. is “working to protect from destruction, looting and trafficking the historic monuments, objects, and archaeological sites that connect vulnerable religious ethnic minority peoples to their communities.”
These efforts notwithstanding, there is still a strong movement in Congress and among U.S. religious leaders for the president and other administration officials to call persecution in the Middle East genocide.
Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, said in a recent interview with Newsmax TV: “This is the deliberate, organized effort to eliminate Christians from the land where they have been a part of the very fabric of the country since Jesus's time. So I am often perplexed and certainly question why there's so much reluctance [to call the it genocide].”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
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