Iraqi Christians flee Mosul after ISIS Islamists demand conversion or protection tax | End the Lie – Independent News

26.7.14

Iraqi Christians flee Mosul after ISIS Islamists demand conversion or protection tax | End the Lie – Independent News: “We offer them three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract – involving payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the sword,” ISIS said in a statement.

Christians are already fleeing into the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

“Christian families are on their way to Dohuk and Irbil,” Patriarch Louis Sako said to AFP. “For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians.”

Sako, one of the most senior Christian clerics in Iraq, said that ISIS militants were painting Christian homes with the letter “N” for “Nassarah.” The Qur’an refers to Christians as “Nassarah” in Surah 2:62.

This latest exodus is just part of a larger fleeing of Christians from Mosul. Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the increase in sectarian violence that followed, there were as many as 60,000 Christians in Mosul.

In June, only 35,000 Christians remained in the city, according to Sako. An additional 10,000 Christians fled Mosul after ISIS took control of the city in June and more continued to flee.

Al Jazeera put the number of Christians in Mosul before the attack at a mere 3,000.

The head of the UN assistance mission in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, condemned the ultimatum issued by ISIS on Friday.