Tuesday’s CBS Evening News provided viewers with a rare look at an issue that’s often been ignored by the media in its coverage of ISIS gaining ground in the Middle East: Christians facing persecution.
Fill-in anchor Charlie Rose set the scene by stating the obvious that “Iraq today is a fractured nation” with “[m]uch of the north” now “controlled by ISIS.” Rose then tossed to foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata to report on “a town where people fear their way of life is disappearing.”
In the first of two Iraqi Christians interviewed, D’Agata spoke with Mayada-Abdul Rhani, who told him about how both she and her children found themselves in Alqosh at a shelter “after Islamic militants overran Mosul in the neighboring villages.”
When ISIS arrived, D’Agata provided translated voice-overs for Rhani as she explained the all-too-familiar ultimatum she was issued:
As a Christian, she was forced to make a stark decision — convert to Islam or face execution. Now, she told us, she doesn't trust any Muslims. “They recruit and train kids like mine to behead people,” she said. “How can I ever live with those people? It was difficult to live with them before ISIS. Now, it's impossible.”
The CBS correspondent added that she’s joined “thousands of others” in fleeing to Alqosh since “the entire population is Christian” and a long history of its own:
The site is also home to the St. Hormizd Monastery, carved out of the mountain, its origins dating back to the seventh century. It's one of the oldest symbols of the Christianity in this region, and as ISIS has forced Christians out of Mosul and surrounding villages below, it's becoming one of the last. For the thousands of Christian refugees, it’s not just ISIS, known here as Daesh, that keeps them from going back.
Father Gazwan Baho added his own layer to the grim and on-going situation by telling D’Agata that “people were shocked by betrayal of Muslim neighbors they had known for generations.”
Closing out the two-minute-and-five-second report, D’Agata circled back to an admission by Mayada that “Iraq is gone” as a safe haven for Christians and put in context of U.S. policy concerning ISIS: “None of this bodes wells for the U.S. plan to drive ISIS out of Mosul in the hope of putting Iraq's second largest city back together again, Charlie, especially since it's been under ISIS control for more than a year.”
According to our records at NewsBusters, this was not the first time that this newscast explored this troubling reality. On March 25, my colleague Matthew Balan chronicled how then-60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan gave ample attention on the CBS Evening News to the “cleansing of Iraq’s Christians” at the hands of the terrorist organization.
The relevant portion of the transcript from the CBS Evening News on November 3 can be found below.
CBS Evening News
November 3, 2015
6:40 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Inside Iraq]
CHARLIE ROSE: Iraq today is a fractured nation. Much of the north is controlled by ISIS. Charlie D'Agata visited a town where people fear their way of life is disappearing.
CHARLE D’AGATA: Mayada-Abdul Rhani and her children found shelter here after Islamic militants overran Mosul in the neighboring villages. As a Christian, she was forced to make a stark decision — convert to Islam or face execution. Now, she told us, she doesn't trust any Muslims. “They recruit and train kids like mine to behead people,” she said. “How can I ever live with those people? It was difficult to live with them before ISIS. Now, it's impossible.” Like thousands of others, she fled to the village of Alqosh, where the entire population is Christian. The site is also home to the St. Hormizd Monastery, carved out of the mountain, its origins dating back to the seventh century. It's one of the oldest symbols of the Christianity in this region, and as ISIS has forced Christians out of Mosul and surrounding villages below, it's becoming one of the last. For the thousands of Christian refugees, it’s not just ISIS, known here as Daesh, that keeps them from going back. Father Gazwan Baho told us people were shocked by betrayal of Muslim neighbors they had known for generations.
FATHER GAZWAN BAHO: Many of them, they were supporting Daesh, so we know that Daesh will go away from Iraq, but the mentality of Daesh will remain at Mosul.
D’AGATA: Mayada told us even if ISIS is one day defeated, she'll never go back. For Christians, she said, Iraq is gone. None of this bodes wells for the U.S. plan to drive ISIS out of Mosul in the hope of putting Iraq's second largest city back together again, Charlie, especially since it's been under ISIS control for more than a year.
ROSE: Thanks, Charlie.
