First on Fox: The growing violent attacks and murders in Syria under the Islamic rule of the new regime led by Ahmed al-Shara have placed the country’s Christian community on the shore, which feared many fear for their future.
“The situation for Christians in Syria has reached a significant extent for Christians in Syria, and I argue that they are tetting on the edge of the devastation,” Jeff King told Fox News Digital.
“A jihadi storm has started raining on them and, how long can trust?” The king said.
While the king’s organization is actively helping to persecute Christians in Syria as well as globally, a group of Syrian Christians in the country’s capital, Damascus, known as the Eagles of Antioch, came together to protect its communities and religious identity in east of former Syrian dictator Bashar al -Assad.
The Group leader says that we should save Syrian Christians from attacks by jihadi terrorists
Opposition of Antioch in Damascus after the burns of a Christmas tree by extremists. (Eagles of Antioax)
The importance of the group is even more important in view of the attacks by the Islamic extremists earlier this month, resulting in hundreds of minority Alvite community as well as many Christians who were targeted due to their faith.
“Eagles of Antioch,” is a volunteer organization made up of about 500 volunteers, working in Damascus three mainly within the Christian neighborhood. They look at Christian areas from evening to dawn, patrol the streets and protect the Christian temples from attacks.
Daniel Georgios, a manufacturing engineer living in Damascus, spoke to Fox News Digital about the group’s work in Damascus’ neighborhood. Georgios, 30, and Antioch’s eagles want to fill the safety difference until the stress decreases.
“We want to represent. Now we do not accept the idea of being marginalized or behaved like a second -class citizen,” he told Fox News Digital.
He said, “We see ourselves that we are equal to Muslim, addition and every Syrian citizen.”
The group receives its name from the ancient city of Antioch, which reflects their deep original relationship for Antiochian patriarchy. Members hail from three main Christian sects: Antiochian Greek Orthodox, Antician Melkite Catholic and Antiochian Syrian Syrian Orthodox.
Group members patrol their communities, which protect Christian holy sites, including temples, symbols and churches. If a site is damaged or vandalized, the group will repair it themselves, which expects to avoid an increase in communal conflict between the Christian community and their Sunni neighbors.
They advocate a system based on strong municipalities, or extreme local regime, which enable Christians in Syria to manage their own affairs and celebrate their religious festivals without fear of harassment. Since the emergence, the group successfully preserved liquor shops, churches, temples, and habitats by the theft and barbarity, according to the Eagles of Antioch.
Georgios and his associates were motivated to take action after a fire in Al-Scalbiah outside Hama after a Christmas tree in December. According to the radical jihadist, Georgios, they were responsible for vandalism. After this incident, he and his fellow Christians organized a large -scale peaceful protest inside Damascus, who chanting for equal rights for all Syrians.
Christians gather on 24 December 2024 to celebrate Christmas in the monastery of our Lady of Saidanaya in Syria, Syria. Christians are celebrating Christmas in newly free Syria, but can face an uncertain future after overthrowing the Assad regime. Christian Syrians are apprehensive that the new Islamist administration may marginalize minority communities. (Ali Haj Suleman/Getty Image)
“We want to be able to do our area internal the police,” Georgios said. However, he insisted that any work is in coordination with the HTS government and will not affect Syria’s sovereignty or challenge its rule.
Even if HTS is capable of providing complete protection in Damascus and other minority communities around Syria, Georgios said that the group would not dissolve, but will be open to join the state-provided local police forces under the right to HTS on continuing political transition.
“We want to represent, and we no longer accept the idea of being marginalized or behaved like a second -class citizens. We see ourselves that we are Muslims, additions and every Syrian citizen equivalent to,” Jegios said.
To highlight the atrocities of Assad rule in your ‘Death Factory’ on HIL
Since Assad fell and HTS took power, Georgios claims that most of the attacks against Christian communities were carried out by foreign groups or radical elements, and the government has not been approved.
Despite the reports and allegations that HTS members are targeting Christians, they claim, “This is not HTS, trying to avoid any clash with HTS Christians. HTS is now the state and we try to support Christian stability,” said Georgios.
The Syrian families who were clashing in Syria arrive on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 to cross the northern village of Arkar al-Dahar in Lebanon on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussain Malla)
HTS promised not to target religious minorities during its electric route to confiscate Damascus and Topping Assad. The group assured the communities that they had controlled that they would allow religious minorities to come in peace and would not be targeted for their faith.
Nevertheless, the king’s organization is not as optimistic. “Since HTS topped the Assad regime in December 2024, the environment has been the best uncertain. But the bloodshed in Latakia on 6-10 March has represented a terrible growth. According to the Syrian Observatory, violence has claimed more than 1,540 lives-” between Azni-“
He continued, “While HTS has not yet implemented an anti-official Christian policy (they are thinking carefully about public perception because they strengthen control), some groups and individual fighters are already targeting Christians with violence.”
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Jihadi Group head Abu Mohammad Al-Jelani checks the damage after an earthquake in Besania’s village in Syrian rebel-accepted Northwestern Idlib province on 7 February 2023. (Umar Haj Kadore/AFP Getty Image)
The king’s organization stated that the new interim Syrian Constitution states, “The Religion of the Republic is Islam,” Article III declares, and “Islamic jurisprudence is a major source of law.” The group says that “This language is a bit clear compared to the previous constitution of Syria, which has quoted Islamic law as only a source among others.”
The International Christian Consign (ICC) also stated that the interim constitution also guarantees security “for all divine religions”. The ICC wrote that the document “indicates that the government intends to bear Christians and other religious minorities.”
And according to the Eagles of Antioch, there are some encouraging signs that say that they coordinate closely with HTS in Damascus, according to Georgios, benefit from the presence of educated HTS fighters in the city. This cooperation ensures that the Islamic rules have not been implemented at the Christian neighborhood. In association with HTS police, they work to prevent crimes, to maintain security and harmony within these communities.
Click here to get Fox News app
In December 2024, a wooden cross and Syrian flag are seen in an eagles of antiox protest in Damascus. (Eagles of Antioax)
Some volunteers have weapons that are licensed and approved by HTS authorities. They communicate and coordinate with them and provide information about those who have committed a crime.
Nevertheless, despite some positive signs, the king said, “The Syrian Christian population has already experienced a disastrous decline, falling from 1.5 million to 300,000 and 500,000 before the conflict.
