Giuseppe Federici Study Center – For a new onset
Press release no. 26/19 of the 25 March 2019, Ss. Annunziata
Syria: Christians in the trenches against terrorists
Under siege from 7 years, 20.000 Christians are bombed by terrorists. No media talks about them. They are alone fighting to survive. Powerless, they saw the convoys of jihadists transferred to Idlib pass by. 160 dead. Innocent civilians, fathers and teenagers, grieving families.
The daily battle of Mhardeh
Night falls on Syria . North of the city of Hama, a freezing rain sweeps the small town of Mhardeh. In the car, I am accompanied by Salem, a Damascene Christian who fought for more than five years to defend this city, which has become a symbol of Syrian resistance to international terrorism. The military controls intensify until we arrive at Mr. Simon's office, head of the National Defense Force in Mhardeh .
We are expected, the soldiers open the large door. Getting out of the car, the heavy atmosphere of war vanishes and we hear the typical Syrian welcome phrases, the ones that make you immediately feel at home. Accompanied by three armed soldiers, we begin to gather in front of the martyrs' tree: one hundred portraits in memory of those who fell under the bombs that wounded the city for more than seven years. I noticed that of a teenager, barely out of childhood, with dark blue eyes.
We gather for a few moments. Mr. Simon welcomes us into his office with open arms. Instinctively, this man inspires immense respect, without being inaccessible, on the contrary. In the middle of the neck, the scar from a bullet that failed to kill him is impressive. His smile instantly erases these stigmata of war. Mr. Simon survived three assassination attempts. He personally organizes the defense of his land, of his city, of his house, of the families of Mhardeh.
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