No festivities as Raqa’s churches lie in ruins
RAQA: Two historic churches in Syria’s Raqa will be declared free of explosives just in time for Christmas, but the devastation in the city has left no one to celebrate in them.
As its three-year reign here came to an end in October, the Islamic State group planted booby traps all across the city, including the two cathedrals.
Deminers are giving the houses of worship one last sweep to make them safe, but they remain in a terrible state and church officials say they will not hold Christmas services this year.
The Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs in the city centre is barely recognisable, the cross atop its clock tower destroyed by jihadists years ago.
After IS took over in 2014, it used the church as a prison, digging an underground tunnel to an adjacent park.
Now, a six-person team from the Roj Mine Control Organisation use handheld detectors to track down the last of the mines in the church.
“With the holidays coming up, our aim is for our Christian brothers to come back to practise their traditions,” said technician Abdulhamid Ayo, 33.
“There’s absolutely nothing planned in Raqa,” said Boutros Mariati of the Armenian Catholic diocese in Aleppo, which oversees the Church of the Martyrs.
“The church is in ruins. Christians are going to visit, but there is no one living there.”
Behind Martyrs’ Church, Nayef al-Madfaa, a 65-year-old Muslim, is among the few to return.
“They destroyed the church, and we no longer find happiness in anything,” said Madfaa.
“There never used to be a difference in Raqa between Muslims and Christians. We lived all together, happy.”
Gesturing to the deserted homes of his Christian neighbours, he sighed.
“All the Christians fled Raqa.” “They used to put the Christmas tree on this corner here, and all the kids would enter the church with their parents,” Madfaa recalled, saying his grandchildren would get gifts from the church on Christmas.
“There was joy everywhere, but we were all kicked out. Everyone was displaced. When I look out and see nothing but ruins and destruction, I get sad.”
After finishing work at the Church of the Martyrs, the demining team began sweeping the Greek Catholic Church of the Annunciation in Thakana district.
In 2013, jihadists entered the church and torched the interior, daubing their extremist slogans over the walls.
“IS made this church a weapons warehouse. It burned all the books and Bibles inside,” said Mahmoud al-Jumaa, 23.
The Thakana resident riding by on his motorcycle stopped to look at the damaged church.
“When the clashes got intense, they blew it up and yelled, ‘God is greater than all the infidels, and we will blow up this church so that (United States President Donald) Trump cannot pray in it’,” Mahmoud said.
He, too, has pleasant memories of living alongside Christians.
“We were the church’s neighbours and used to celebrate with our Christian brothers during their holidays, and they did the same for us,” he said.
“But now, there are no more Christians. They all left, and with them the celebrations and beautiful Christmas holidays.”