Christians in Syria: follow-up

Akram, Angry Arab's chief correspondent in Syria, answers his critics:

"I'm not a professional reporter and I've never pretended creating journalistic reports, nor am I obliged to adhere the journalistic standards. Actually, in many of my posts, especially in those who addressed the alleged persecution of Christians I used the word "impression". Thus requiring me to do more than I can is, somehow, unfair.

Back to the main issue, which is my posts:

1. I live within the Christian community, and I know too many people (Christians, Alwites and Muslims) from Homs and elsewhere. I've never heard a single word, or, let alone the dubious reports of Fides, read a single line about persecution of Christians.

2. And yes, the majority of residents of the city of Homs, Qussair and other towns in the province of Homs have been displaced. The same can be said about many other Syrian cities in the provinces of Idleb, Aleppo, Hama, and more recently Deir-Ezzor and Rural Damascus. The simple fact behind this is the following: those miserable people have left their homes due to the fierce fighting between the regime forces and the armed gangs. Both sides aren't concerned in keeping civilians out of harm. Both sides use immoral tactics: the regime by using heavy bombardment in order root the rebels out from their hideouts and the armed men by using the residents as human shields. Both parties violate and sabotage private and public properties though the regime surpasses his opponents with an additional ugly and gangster-like practice: that is looting homes and trading with the stolen goods openly in "markets" that every Syrian knows about.

3. I've never talked about the Catholic clerics as a whole, never said they, all, have the same position. I only said that a priest, with doubtful motivations, reported an unfounded story. And actually the one who, first, criticized du Clos and discovered his pertinence was, himself, a Catholic theologian, though it isn't clear whether he is a priest.

4. But saying Fides isn't a propaganda arm of the Vatican because the catholic clerical community is far from being monolithic is the same as saying Sana (the Syrian Arab News Agency) can't be a propaganda arm of the Syrian regime just because the Syrian society is far from having a unique point of view. It's, simply, too silly. The Vatican isn't a church, nor is it a congregation of saints. It is a state. And like any other state the Vatican's actions and positions are based on the interests of its ruling elite. Much can be said about this subject, especially the "apostasy" the Vatican has lived since the arrival of Pope John-Paul II. Enough here to mention the odious support of the Catholic church to the military dictatorships in South- America and the major role Cardinal Raztinger, the current Pope and the former head of the infamous Roman Inquisition, in fighting the Liberation Theology

5. The “Alawites to the tomb, Christians to Beirut” slogan is a fact. The cancellation by the Syrian churches of the celebrations that traditionally accompany the Easter season is another fact. But the two facts, with many similar ones, don't imply that the Christians are abused. Actually, that infamous slogan was a single event that never repeated nor translated into acts (at least against Christians), while the cancellation of the Easter festivities was motivated by a high sense of responsibility by the Christians towards the bloodshed that is occurring in Syria and, partly, by their fear that something could happen.

Picking dispersed events from the mass of the Syrian tragedy and putting them together in order to enforce a trend that doesn't exist isn't a journalistic work. Rather, it's a propaganda that isn't useful in understanding the reality and, in some cases becomes dangerous.

I hope this is the last thing I write about this subject."