10th November 2012 as terrorist, extremist and militant groups invaded East Aleppo, one of the first targets for destruction was the Arabic Evangelical Church of Aleppo:
“The historic Arabic Evangelical Church of Aleppo, in the Jdeideh district (the old town), was mined with explosives and blown up “by armed men, for pure sectarian hatred”: This is what Pastor Ibrahim Nasir, spiritual leader of the Arabic Evangelical Church in Aleppo says, in a statement sent to Fides Agency, referring to the explosion which occurred two days ago.
Rev. Ibrahim Nasir expressed “bitterness and sadness of all Syrian citizens” for an act that makes Christians “inconsolable”. The message sent to Fides says: “Today we are announcing the destruction of the Arabic Evangelical Church, the first martyr Church. Today the Mosque of the Umayyad of Aleppo and the Evangelical Church of Aleppo met in an embrace of pain, as they were embraced, since 1848, in the worship of God and service to man. Today is the day when we cry out to Christ to say: my God, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
In the tragedy that the Syrian people live, says the leader, “every church, every mosque is a haven for all those who have been forced to flee their homes.” And states: “We will overcome our pain and rebuild our country, our church, our mosque and our humanity.”
The text concludes: “We cling with faith to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: I leave you my peace, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives you,” thanking “all those who have expressed solidarity” and praying to God “to pour out upon all Syrians the spirit of love.”
On the 13th December 2016 as East Aleppo was being fully liberated by the SAA and allies, we met with Pastor Nasir, with Reverend Andrew Ashdown and Jan Oberg.
Pastor Nasir discusses the corporate media “dirty games” in Syria. He brings up the issue of corruption in Syria but confirms that President Bashar Al Assad had been working on reforms to combat this issue and was fully aware of the need to fight it.
Nasir talks about the governments and authorities who are influenced by the vulgar Gulf monarchies who lead by money. If the governments serve money, then the church must serve God, Humanity, nature.
Nasir reveals that for the reconciliation to take place, there must be dialogue and that historically the extremist factions led by Nusra Front reject any such dialogue.
In response to the claims by western corporate media of SAA war crimes, Nasir describes how he has seen the SAA carrying old people out of the fires in East Aleppo. The media and western regimes distort the picture of the Syrian legal national army, while supporting the slaughter of the Syrian people by their proxies. He reminds us of Jisr al Shugour when extremist factions massacred 120 people and flung their heads into the river..
June 2011: A total of 120 police and security forces personnel were killed by armed gangs in the town of Jisr al-Shughour on Monday, according to Syrian state media.
Official figures mark the deadliest day yet for government forces since anti-government protests began nearly three months ago.
SANA reported that “hundreds” of armed gunmen were involved in a range of attacks, including an assault on the town’s security headquarters that left 82 dead.
The gangs were heavily armed, the news agency said, carrying guns, grenades and RPGs.
