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Christians in the Middle East

November 15, 2016

At the beginning of the 20th century, Christians made up approximately 20 percent of the population of the Arab world. Today, only about five percent of the Arab world is Christian.

https://p.dw.com/p/2SkEJ
Bildergalerie Der Kampf in Tel Tamer gegen IS Messe
Image: DW/Y. Sayman

Many have fled because of war and persecution. Our documentary gives an insight into the lives of Christian minorities in Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.

Could Christian communities actually disappear from the Middle East? Is the West, its culture indelibly marked by its Christian past, turning a blind eye? Is an Arab world without its multiple Christian cultures even conceivable? In Iraq, Christian minorities have been displaced by the murderers belonging to the so-called Islamic State. Syrian Christians are also fleeing war and upheaval, while those in Turkey have almost completely disappeared over the course of the 20th century. Although Egypt has the largest Christian community in the Arab world, the Copts enjoy scant protection in law. Lebanon is the only country in the region where Christians continued for a long time to make up a majority, and even today, both the head of state and the army must be Christians.

 

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