The June 22, 2025, bombing of the Mar Elias Church in Damascus was not only an act of terrorism; it was also a calculated assault on Syria’s pluralism and identity and a declaration of war on coexistence, religious diversity, and the fabric of a society where Christians and Muslims, of different sects and ethnicities, have lived together for centuries.
What happened in Damascus is part of a growing pattern in which Islamist extremists backed by regional powers and legitimized by international actors pursue sectarian terror. This most recent attack, which targeted civilians at prayer, should leave no doubt about the true nature of the regime now in control of parts of Syria.
Those Islamist extremist terrorists and their backers must be held accountable and brought to justice.
Those Islamist extremist terrorists and their backers must be held accountable and brought to justice. Their crimes against the Syrian people and against humanity cannot be allowed to go unpunished.
Christians are an inseparable part of Syria’s soul and history. To allow terrorists to intimidate, divide, or drive religious minorities from their ancestral homeland would be a loss not only for Syria, but for the world. Successful sectarian cleansing by Islamist extremists in Syria would set a dangerous precedent, emboldening further acts of terror and persecution across the globe.
This crime is not an isolated act; it is part of a systematic campaign of terror waged by Islamist extremist groups that have taken power in parts of Syria with the direct support of Turkey and Qatar. In March 2025, they slaughtered thousands of civilians from the Christian and Alawite communities in the coastal region. In May, they launched new attacks against members of the Druze community south of Damascus. Their terror continues daily through kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder, targeting minorities and all who reject their ideology.
The world forgets who these extremists are: They are the same terrorists responsible for mass executions, crucifixions, beheadings, rape, stonings, and the sexual enslavement of women and girls. They institutionalized the barbaric practice of so-called “Jihad al-Nikah,” subjecting countless women to systematic rape and slavery under a distortion of religion. These crimes occurred not only in Syria but also in Iraq and Lebanon. Yet today, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have chosen to recognize this regime despite its atrocities. Through political recognition and the lifting of sanctions, they enable these groups to consolidate their grip on power and expand their reach.
This does not support peace; it enables evil. As God says in Surah Al-Ma’idah, 5:32, of the Holy Qur’an, “Whoever kills a soul—it is as if he had slain all of mankind. And whoever saves a soul—it is as if he had saved all of mankind.” That is the true essence of Islam. It is not the blood-soaked, twisted version these extremists promote. These criminals do not represent God. They do not represent Islam. And they most certainly do not represent Syria. They represent only hatred, darkness, and destruction.
Every day this regime remains in power, it recruits more jihadists, more foreign funding flows in, and the closer they come to achieving their goal: an Islamist caliphate without borders.
The international community must act. Every day this regime remains in power, it recruits more jihadists, more foreign funding flows in, and the closer they come to achieving their goal: an Islamist caliphate without borders, stretching from Africa to the Middle East, to Asia, and into any city in the West where they believe they are the majority. This is not speculation. It already happened in Idlib when they controlled just one province. Now, with control over a de facto state, they possess the legitimacy, infrastructure, and resources to scale that threat globally.
Syria needs a genuine representative democracy founded on a modern, secular, and progressive constitution that guarantees equality for all citizens under the rule of law regardless of religion, sect, ethnicity, or gender. A Syria with an independent judiciary free from religious and political influence and interference, and a Syria where justice is blind and no one is above the law. It does not need Al Qaeda in business suits. The time to choose sides is now.
