Syria: Amazing History, Humanitarian Crisis
The five-decades-long brutal rule of the Assad family ended on December 8, 2024, as rebel forces swept into Damascus, the capital. Syrians celebrated the president's ouster despite an uncertain future. Their new leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a known terrorist. “Is it the fate of Middle Eastern countries to be exhausted by a dictator and then handed over to an Islamist to remain in his grip until the emergence of another dictator?” asks Brother Rachid, host of the Arabic-language TV program “Let’s Be Clear."
This is an update to our earlier blog post about the country — its history and its need for prayer:
Some Americans travel to visit the Four Corners Monument, where the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. But have you ever heard of the “Shouting Valley”?
This spot in the Middle East lies in the no-man's-land of the Golan Heights — bordered by four countries: Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon. The 460-square-mile area is widely regarded by the international community as Syrian territory. Yet Israel has occupied this rocky plateau since the Six-Day War in 1967. The conflict creates not only a geographic and political divide but also an intensely personal one.
Syrians stand on what they call “the shouting hill” and use megaphones to call across the valley to family on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In between: the U.N. buffer zone, filled with razor wire and minefields.
Let’s look a bit more at Syria — both the history and the current-day reality of this war-torn country.
Cultural gems and curiosities
Few people might immediately guess that Syria boasts the world’s oldest library: a vast collection of clay tablets dating back to around 2,300 B.C., found in the ancient city of Ebla.
Syria is also home to what’s considered the longest continually inhabited city in the world: Damascus. Also mentioned in the Bible, this capital city is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site — one of six such designated sites in this country — and was once the capital of the entire Islamic world.
Syria’s flag showcases how the country once united with Egypt to be known as the United Arabic Republic (1958-1961) — its two green stars represent the two countries.
Syria’s original inhabitants: Christians
As many as 16 different ethnic groups call Syria “home,” with the primary ones being Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Christians, Druze, Kurds, Circassians, and Palestinian refugees. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that this Middle Eastern country has always been 87-percent Muslim as it is now. According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy:
“The Christians are not foreign to the Syrian land; they have not been imported; they are, in fact, the founders and original inhabitants. The name ‘Syria’ is derived from the Assyrian and Syriac Christian denominations, which constituted eighty percent of the country’s population before Islam arrived in the seventh century.”
But as is common in many parts of the world, Syria was conquered repeatedly by empire after empire, nation after nation: everyone from Egyptians, Hittites, Babylonians, and Greeks, to the Roman and Ottoman Empires, to the French. Not until 1946 did Syria officially become an independent country.
Ongoing civil war
According to an August 2023 article in the New York Times, renewed protests across the country hearken back to the 2011-2012 Arab Spring. At that time, the government arrested and tortured youth who inscribed walls with anti-regime graffiti, which led to a backlash of more protests and military reaction. The resulting decade-long civil war has left the country “mired” in economic crises, according to the New York Times. About 90 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, with about 70 percent needing humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations.
Then last summer, protestors hit the streets again as frustrations boiled over, demanding the ouster of the country’s authoritarian leader, President Bashar al-Assad.
The country remains in a humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 606,000 people killed since the start of the war, in a 2021 estimate from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. That much death, in a country not even twice the size of the state of Pennsylvania.
In 2022, WorldData.info declared Syrian the second-most corrupt country of all 114 for which it has data.
Spiritual warfare as well
Conditions have become even more dire for Christians in Syria, with the entry of Islamic State into the conflict. According to Open Doors, the extensive conflict has made room for increased persecution. As U.S. diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez reported in 2015, “Christians have borne a heavy burden given their small numbers.”
In 2022, we told you about a Syrian man named Ahmad, who came to faith through Brother Rachid’s ministry. At the time, several close family members expressed that they, too, were close to coming to faith in Jesus. Yet other relatives began threatening to kill Ahmad for his faith. So Ahmad contacted Brother Rachid to let him know of his plea: asking for prayer that God would make a way for him and his immediate family to escape to a safe place.
Imagine hundreds of other Christians pleading with God for the same safe escape.
Many Syrians reach out to us for encouragement, prayer, and spiritual answers. In fact, since January 2022, Brother Rachid’s website has seen more than 2,000 visitors from Syria!
Join us in praying that Brother Rachid’s messages nourish them as they trust God to protect them.
And ask God to restore this beautiful, ancient country to a place of peace with its neighbors, within its own borders, and within its people’s hearts.
Visit our website to learn more about our programming and how to powerfully pray for Syria.
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Sources: Maayan Lubell, "Explainer: What is the significance of the Golan Heights,” March 21, 2019, Reuters; “Syria-Golan: Shouting Mountains,” July 21, 2015, AP Archive; “Syria Interesting Facts,” enjoytravel.com; Greg Bradsher, “The Royal Archives of Ebla,” July 7, 2020, National Archives; Kenneth A. Kitchen, The Bible in its World: The Bible and Archaeology Today, Chapter 3: “Ebla—Queen of Ancient Syria” (Exeter: The Paternoster Press, 1977); CIA World Factbook: Syria, updated Sept. 11, 2023; “10 Oldest Cities in the World,” educationworld.in; UNESCO World Heritage Convention: Syrian Arab Republic; Flags of the World: United Arab Republic, CRW Flags; Lamis Khalilova, “Syria’s Christians: A Personal Story of a Stolen Legacy,” June 1, 2017, Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Raja Abdulrahim, “Rare Protests in Syria Summon Echoes of Arab Spring,” Aug. 31, 2023, New York Times; Mona Yacoubian, “Syria Timeline: Since the Uprising Against Assad,” Jan. 1, 2021, United States Institute of Peace; “Over 606,000 people killed across Syria since the beginning of the ‘Syrian Revolution,’” June 1, 2021, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights; CIA World Factbook; “A worldwide ranking of corruption” (based on 2022 data), worldata.info; “Word Watch List 2023,” Open Doors; Alberto M. Fernandez, “The ‘Sayfo’ Continues Responding to Global Christian Persecution," June 16, 2015, Berkeley Center Cornerstone, Georgetown University Religious Freedom Project. Retrieved 20 June 2015.