SYRIA: Disturbing footage shows radical sheikh "inviting" Greek Orthodox man to Islam

Disturbing footage has emerged from Hama Governorate, showing a Muslim sheikh and Islamist radicals entering a Christian man’s home to “invite him to Islam.”

In a video uploaded to social media last week, a sheikh remarks to a Christian man in the Greek Orthodox town of Suqaylabiyah (Seleucia, Greek: Σελεύκεια) in Syria, “It’s a shame for such a radiant face to be consumed by the fire,” and expresses hope that the man will convert.

The unease on the man’s face is palpable as the group insists they are acting as “callers to Allah’s message.” They claim their efforts are meant to “save him from Hellfire” and assert their belief in converting others to their ideology.

This incident highlights the growing pressures faced by Christians and other minority communities under the current regime, DD Geopolitics wrote. The targeting of vulnerable groups in their own homes is yet another alarming indication of the increasingly sectarian environment in parts of Syria.

Originally settled as the Ancient Greek town of Seleucia ad Belum, Suqaylabiyah was re-established in the 19th century, after being abandoned in the Middle Ages, by Greek Orthodox Christians who had emigrated from the Hauran region in southern Syria in the late 18th century to escape persecution by the Ottoman authorities.

At the same time, disturbing footage shows a liquor store in Kafr Buhum, an Antiochian Greek town in Hama, being broken into.

Greco-Levantines World Wide called on the authorities in Syria to "address these incidents very seriously to prevent further harm to the community and ensure the safety of all residents."

Meanwhile, former soldiers and officers of the Syrian Arab Army in the Valley of the Christians in Homs Governorate continue to hand in their weapons and reconcile with the new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham authorities, formerly associated with Al-Qaeda.

Most people in the Valley of the Christians are Greek Orthodox. It is ecclesiastically under the Archdiocese of Akkar, which has its seat in Cheikh Taba, Lebanon.

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