Christians have lived in Mosul since the dawn of their faith. Over that more than 2,000-year period, armies conquered and left. Wars were waged. Governments fell. Civilizations collapsed. But the Christians remained in their cities and towns, with their church bells ringing tunes of diversity in the land between the two rivers, the cradle of civilization. 

But over the past few weeks, a band of criminals and thugs that calls itself the “Islamic State” has managed to drive them out of their homes. And although the entire world classifies the oppressors of Mosul’s Christians as terrorists, nobody has done anything tangible to help the victims. Instead, the world watches in deafening silence. Some Western nations have offered the Christians asylum, which helps the cause of the terrorists’ religious cleansing campaign.

The rise of ISIS is bewildering. 

With thousands of fighters and advanced weapons, the group now controls most of eastern Syria and northern Iraq. Where the ISIS acquires money and weapons for its fighters is a mystery. But there is no doubt that the organization, which was born out of Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, has regional— if not international— backers who share its goals of quelling the yearning of the Arab masses for progress and liberation.

The genocide against the Christians of Iraq amid world silence is a clear indicator that the enemies of the Arab World prefer reactionary chaos to  stable societies in the Levant.  

Christians led an Arab revival at the turn of the past century. The most celebrated modern Arab literature came from the pens of Christian writers ranging from Kahalil Gibran to Sargon Boulus. The roots of Pan-Arabism is often attributed to the writings of Christian novelist Jurji Zaydan.

Arab Christians predate Islam in the Arab World. They have survived more than 1,400 years in Islamic majority societies, living under different Islamic Caliphates. ISIS terrorists, whose ideology is to apply religious texts literally and out of context and follow precedents in the religious rulings, are committing an unprecedented crime in Islamic history by systematically targeting Christians.  

Stripping the Arab World of its diversity only benefits its foes. If Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt were to become Islamic states, it would be more feasible for Israel to become a Jewish state. 

History, social media campaigns and Muslims who were killed by ISIS while trying to defend their Christian neighbors prove that the religion of Islam does not stand for what the terrorists have done in Mosul.  

Whether by accident or design, Arabs and their ambitions for modern, democratic states are the ultimate targets of ISIS terror.