Paul KeenanIslamists tighten grip on city
Islamist militants in Syria have forced the Christian population from the city of Raqqa and seized their property. According to reports, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group moved against Christian families on June 1, forcing them off their lands and ordering them to leave the region.
The action is the latest ISIL has undertaken against Christians since it seized control of a swathe of territory in northern Syria which includes Raqqa.
In addition to reintroducing the jizyah tax, a defunct system by which Muslims gained monies from members of other faiths in Muslim regions, ISIL ruled that Christians must not make renovations to churches or other religious buildings, display religious insignia outside of churches, ring church bells or pray in public. ISIL also staged anti-Christian actions, such as Bible burnings and church desecrations.
Raqqa’s main Armenian church has long been an ISIL office for the management of Islamic affairs and for the promotion of the sharia.