The images of the Arabic letter ‘noon’ (N) for nasrani (Christian) spray-painted on the homes of Iraqi Christians in Mosul by Islamist extremists was a disturbing reminder of how quickly the situation in the region has spiralled to the ethno-religious hatred that may permanently change the demographic map. Iraq’s Christians are leaving the area in droves, and no one is stopping them, and the exodus is not likely to be reversed.
The fact that cannot be ignored and must be stressed is that some of the indigenous minority communities that risk extinction in the Middle East today called this region home much before majority population entered the scene. The Kurds, Assyrians, Maronites, Berbers, Turkmens and Yazidis all face threats to their identity to varying degrees. The inability to accept a pluralistic society being forced on the tolerant Arab majority by arrogant and ignorant groups of extremists has given the minorities the impression that they are left with two choices: to emigrate or to fight.
Both options are catastrophic for the region. The former strips the Middle East of the diversity that gave it its very character and history, and the latter promotes the herd mentality that leads to the region fragmenting into pieces. Today the Kurds and Iraq’s Sunnis appear to have come to the conclusion that they must look after themselves or face annihilation under domination by the narrow extremists who want to destroy the Arab world. Only time will tell whether the Maronites, Shiites, Alawites and Assyrians will follow suit and secede.
