Assyrians

That Jesus Christ’s two advents are set against the backdrop of a region rarely associated with good news is ironic, but this year that irony is less obvious. Good things are happening in the Near East if you know where to look.

The Simele Massacre, which occurred in 1933, is a largely forgotten tragedy that still awaits official recognition from both the Iraqi government and international community.

One important theme of the pontificate of Pope Francis has been a message of hope to Christians in the Middle East and Africa that they are not forgotten.

Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq was the first of its kind in papal history. The remaining Christians in Iraq long anticipated his visit, including to an Assyrian city just 23 miles (37 kilometers) east of Mosul.

President-elect Joe Biden must construct a foreign policy agenda that prioritizes confronting Turkey, on its belligerent international conduct, and stabilizing the spiraling economic, political, and security situation in Lebanon.

Extremists are slowly extinguishing of some of the world’s oldest Christian communities, while the world remains largely silent.

In their final presidential debate, Donald Trump and Joe Biden should address US-Turkey relations and Erdoğan’s increasingly aggressive posture.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Middle Eastern Christians like MP Neemat Frem and Dr. Issam Raad are living up to the best of their community’s tradition as healers of the sick.

Even as we remember that Jesus rose from the dead in Jerusalem, Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere experience some of the highest levels of persecution in the world.