Posted on 11/07/2007 6:21:09 PM PST by twntaipan
On Easter morning this year, I linked to this article on Iraqi Christians praying for peace:
A new wave of explosions and shootings killed or wounded dozens of Iraqis on Easter Sunday as the Christian minority celebrated the holy day, praying that this would be the last year they live through the violence and terrorism gripping their country.
Early Sunday, thousands of Christians throughout Iraq went to Easter Mass and some churches were uncommonly full. In recent years, after attacks on dozens of churches, attendance had fallen off dramatically.
St. Joseph Chaldean Church in central Baghdad was jammed with more than 1,000 people. Many had to stand through the service.
Security was tight outside the church. Every man entering the church was searched. Police cars blocked both ends of the street to prevent car bombs.
During the mass, Shiite Muslim leader Ammar al-Hakim, son of the head of Iraq’s most powerful Shiite political organization, walked into the church. Father Louis al-Shabi, the chief priest at St. Joseph, escorted al-Hakim to a seat near the alter.
“Sheik al-Hakim came to join us in our celebrations as we mark this feast,” al-Shabi told the worshippers. “We welcome this visit as a display of unity among the Iraqi people.”
Al-Hakim responded, “We are all the sons of Iraq, and we should put our hands together to build this country. We are confident that the Iraqi people will come out of this crisis and our pain will end.”
Seven months later, milblogger/essayist/photojournalist Michael Yon has captured yet another of his unforgettable iconic images pointing to signs of hope and unity. Of the above photo, Yon writes:
Thanks and Praise: I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome.
A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from “Chosen” Company 2-12 Cavalry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John’s, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope.
The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ” Thank you, thank you,” the people were saying. One man said, “Thank you for peace.” Another man, a Muslim, said “All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.” The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers.
Yes, Christian persecution remains rampant in the Muslim world and apostasy is still punishable by death. But there are glimmers of good news, and they won’t be broadcast on the nightly news or the front page of the NYTimes. Thanks to the lens of Michael Yon, we can see a fuller, truer picture of Iraq than the “grim milestone”-driven legacy media lens allows us to see. That deserves thanks and praise, too.
Yon’s latest image is spreading across the blogosphere. Glenn Reynolds has much more.
Support Yon’s independent journalism here.
marking for AM read
ping, have you seen this?
"You see? The Crusaders have come to destroy our religion!"
Christianity is not new to Iraq. In fact, it long predates Islam.
You are quite correct, by over 800 years, but I doubt that would be mentioned.
I've seen a lot of things like this lately. There are so many amazing, positive developments taking place now.
Al-Hakim responded, “We are all the sons of Iraq, and we should put our hands together to build this country. We are confident that the Iraqi people will come out of this crisis and our pain will end.”
This attitude is mpre prevalent among the Iraqi people than most would suspect.
Michael Yon reports on the good news in Iraq, the place MSM forgot.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/transcripts/Transcript.aspx?ContentGuid=2f5dfe0c-0c4c-480f-8f13-a5f6f437b4cb
HH: Special treat now. From Iraq, Michael Yon, online journalist extraordinaire. Michael, tell us where you are tonight.
MY: I’m in South Baghdad in a district called Rashid.
HH: And Michael, what is the circumstance, what is the situation in Baghdad on this, the 6th day of November, 2007?
MY: Well, there’s not a lot going on, Hugh. I’ve been going out on the streets every day. Yesterday, I saw a Church reopen, the St. John’s Catholic Church over here, and I watched them put a cross back up on the dome and videotaped it, made some photos, and went inside and watched the people sing, and that sort of thing. Actually, believe it or not, it was some Sunni Muslims that invited us over to watch it, but it was Christians that were actually doing the ceremony. But it was pretty interesting.
The War is Ending in Victory
Pray for W and Our Amazing Troops
That pretty much describes Baghdad these days. It is more that than it is what the media is making its last-ditch efforts to portray.
The Peace Train is speeding towards Baghdad and the momentum is such that the media can't do anything to stop it.
This is the blogger that our friend in the military requested we start reading.
Michael Yon.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
Can you ping the folks?
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