Webinar | Syria’s Minorities in Crisis: Will Christians, Yezidis and Kurds Survive?

The sudden regime change in Syria has raised concerns for the survival of religious and ethnic minority communities and their presence in the Middle East.

The leader of Syria's Islamist Al-Queda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that headed a lightning rebel offensive snatching Damascus from government control, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has indicated religious minorities will be protected according to Sharia but Western human rights activists urge Western leaders not to be deceived.

Meanwhile, Turkey is mobilizing troops for an offensive into the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the area where Christians, Yezidis and Kurds have established democratic governance for the protection and inclusion of all minorities in the region, including allowing women to participate in full as political leaders.

Credible reports of atrocities including rapes, beheadings and mass killings, are beginning to surface. Will the U.S. act to protect those most vulnerable in northeast Syria? Or will Turkey be permitted to exterminate the souls living there in peace and release 50,000 ISIS fighters who are detained along the Syria-Iraq border by coalition forces led by the United States? And what does the fall of Assad mean for the security of Israel and stability elsewhere in the Middle East?

This STPC webinar examines these questions and more.

MODERATOR:

- Dede Laugesen, Executive Director, Save the Persecuted Christians

PANELISTS:

- Nadine Maenza, President of the IRF Secretariat; former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
- Topic: “What Happened in Syria and What Does it Mean for Christians and Other Religious and Ethnic Minorities?”

- Charmaine Hedding, President and Founder, The Shai Fund
- Topic: “Conflict of Interests: Israel and Other Regional Actors Response to Regime Change in Syria”

- Dr. David Wurmser, PhD, Director, Mideast Program, Center for Security Policy; former naval intelligence officer with the rank of Lieutenant Commander; former Mideast expert advisor to an Under Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and Vice President of the United States
- Topic: “Can a New Trump Presidency Bring Peace and Stability to Israel and the Middle East?”

- Lauren Homer, Esq., Founder & President, Law and Liberty Trust; lawyer and longtime religious freedom advocate
- Topic: “Do American Policy Makers Have the Political Will to Secure Democracy and an End of Terrorism in Syria and the Middle East?”