'The Black Day': A Decade of Displacement for Iraqi Christians
by Raymond Ibrahim • August 20, 2024 at 5:00 am
August 6 marked the tenth anniversary of "the Black Day," a day indelible to Iraqi Christians as the start of the unrelenting atrocities to which they were subjected on August 6, 2014, ten years ago.
On that day, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) unleashed a jihadi massacre of unprecedented terror, brutally attacking ancient Christian communities across northern Iraq. Villages were overrun, homes and churches looted and destroyed, and countless lives shattered. Christians were murdered, raped and sold into slavery.
Even though ISIS has largely been neutralized, the remaining 154,000 Christians [in Iraq] face "very high" levels of persecution.
"We stayed in Mosul for 39 days under ISIS control because they initially offered us safety. But then they declared that as Christians and People of the Book, we were infidels. They demanded we either pay the jizya, convert to Islam or face execution." — Saadallah, an elderly Iraqi refugee from Mosul, recalling August 6, 2014.
"There are very few NGOs left that focus on our displacement and who continue to provide assistance for Iraqi Refugees; but American FRRME is still on the ground and actively helping." — Nate Breeding, Executive Director of the American Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, interview with Gatestone, August 5, 2024.
August 6 marked the tenth anniversary of "the Black Day," a day indelible to Iraqi Christians as the start of the unrelenting atrocities to which they were subjected on August 6, 2014, ten years ago.
On that day, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) unleashed a jihadi massacre of unprecedented terror, brutally attacking ancient Christian communities across northern Iraq. Villages were overrun, homes and churches looted and destroyed, and countless lives shattered. Christians were murdered, raped and sold into slavery. Those who survived were forced to flee, leaving behind everything they held dear.
Bassam from Qaraqosh, Iraq, recalled the horror:
"We were abruptly warned at 12:30 AM by neighbors that ISIS was closing in. Imagine being securely at home when suddenly a stranger bursts in, giving you only minutes to escape. You're forced to abandon everything—your life, belongings and future—under the threat of imminent danger."
