By Jaco Klamer
Late last year, Ismail fled Mosul with his
mother Jandark Behnam Mansour Nassi (55), the two having survived ISIS’ reign
of terror for two years. From the safety of Erbil, Kurdistan, the Iraqi
Christians, former residents of the town of Bartella, on the Nineveh plain,
told their story to international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need
(ACN).
“I was put in the
prison of Bartella,” confirms Ismail. “One day a Shiite was shot dead right in
front of me. The terrorists told me: ‘If you do not convert to Islam, we will
shoot you as well.’ That is when I converted to Islam. From that time on, we
concealed that we were Christians.”
“We received a
document from ISIS stating that we were Muslims,” continues Ismail. “That way,
I could go out on the street in Mosul, though you could not be sure of your
life. Once, I was beaten up because my trousers were too long.”
“Another time, when I
was going to the mosque with the jihadists, our path was blocked. Suddenly we
were passed by men in orange suits, held at gunpoint by a group of ISIS
children. The children executed them with pleasure.”
“Another time I ran
into a big crowd on the street. There was a woman; her hands and feet were
tied. The ISIS terrorists drew a circle around her. If she got out of the
circle, she would live, but that was impossible because she was tied up. While
her relatives were crying and begging for a pardon, the jihadists threw stones
at her until she died.”
Ismael’s story
continues: “ISIS put me in a correctional camp. I had to grow out my hair and
grow my beard. My mother got a black, all-concealing robe, but she was not
allowed to go outside. ISIS warriors wanted me to marry, so I would be one of
them. I objected, stating that I was too young: just 15. But even boys as young
as 13 were getting married.”
“My son was forced by
ISIS to practice Islam and I was tortured for not knowing anything about Islam
and the Koran,” says his mother. “I am embarrassed for having had to profess
Islam,” says Ismail.
He adds: “Men were
forced to pray in the mosque on Friday. Anyone who would walk the streets
during Friday prayers would be beaten. Preachers proclaimed that Assyrians were
evil and that Christians did not believe in the right way.”
“Then the ISIS
warriors discovered my necklace with a cross. They beat me and I had to study
the Koran for a month. I was hit whenever I could not answer their questions
the way they wanted me to, and my mother was stung with long needles because
she had not studied anything from the Koran.”
Then the battle for
the liberation of Mosul began in the fall of 2016. “When the terrorists grew
too busy with the battle, they abandoned us,” says Ismael, continuing: “We took
a taxi to the front, heading towards our freedom, but ISIS snipers tried to
shoot us. We ran for cover into a house.”
“After hours of
fighting, my mother and I were able to leave the house, waving a white flag.
Soldiers of the Iraqi army welcomed us. We were free!”
Ismael and his mother (© ACN, photo by Jaco
Klamer)
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the
Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul
II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work
in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed
worldwide.
For more information contact Michael Varenne at
michael@churchinneed.org or call
718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street,
PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org
