Bishop Hanna: Internal, External Groups Ignite Horror, Chaos in Syria

WASHINGTON,(ST)_ Bishop Atallah Hanna,  Archbishop of Sebastia of the Greek Orthodox Church stressed  that internal and external groups motivated religious ignorance or external factors to  ignite  horror and chaos in Syria, the same as happened in Iraq.

In a  speech at the Conference (IDC) in Washington yesterday on  the situation in Syria and its impact on the region in general and the Christians of the East, in particular before a crowd of Arab community  in the US and other invitees, bishop Hanna said  that  extremism and violence in the name of religion represents the forces of evil that does not believe in dialogue ,coexistence or human brotherhood , thereby affecting  Muslim and Christian alike, noting need for  concerted efforts , cooperation, dialogue and Muslim-Christian convergence in order to curb  this phenomenon.

 “Extremist elements faze Christians as all Syrians and commit murders and horror amongst  them , at the support of foreign countries which  have become a victim of the game of global politics in the region controlled by  colonial states that want to fragment the region, he emphasized ” .

 Bishop Hanna criticized foreign parties intervention  in Syria to make it  a state of chaos instead of taking it  to a new era of reform that ensures justice and stability in the region to contribute to solving the Palestinian issue and  maintain  Arab unity that paves the way for the establishment of a viable  Arab political Union .

 On the situation in occupied Palestine , Bishop Hanna noted that  practices and violations of the Israeli occupation authorities indicating that the occupation wants to  eliminate the Palestinians , criticizing the continued fragmentation of the Arab and Palestinian stance against these  Israeli occupation schemes.

T. Fateh