Punished for Protecting His Town From Jihadis

Will Suleiman Khalil get justice?

When Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former leader of a jihad terror group, took power in Syria, President Donald Trump met with him three times, and even welcomed him to the Oval Office. In Ankara in July 2026, Trump said of al-Sharaa: “He’s done a really fantastic job as President. He’s unified the country in a very short period of time – I’d say about a year and a half. … It’s amazing. In a short period of time it’s really been stabilized. … It’s a country that a lot of people are very proud of and they’re proud of the job he’s done.” Others, including Syria’s religious minorities, take a decidedly different view.

CBN News reported Thursday that the persecution watchdog group In Defense of Christians (IDC) is “rallying Christian advocacy groups to call on President Trump and Congress to help free a Syrian Christian leader, held without charges for 19 months. Suleiman Khalil is the former mayor of Sadad, a historic Christian town he helped defend against ISIS’s mass killings and kidnappings in 2015. Syria’s transitional government arrested him in February of 2025.”

Khalil was arrested when the jihad group Jabhat al-Nusra, which Ahmad al-Sharaa founded, attacked Sadad, occupied it for a week, and murdered 41 of its residents, Khalil took part in its defense. Christian Solidarity International noted: “This history raises the question of whether Mr. Khalil is being punished for protecting his town from attack by forces which now control the Syrian government.”

In prison, according to the Jerusalem Post, Khalil has been “denied his right to practice his faith as a Syriac Orthodox Christian, and there are reports that he has been subjected to torture.” Also, “on the rare occasions that his family has been allowed to visit, Khalil’s female relatives reported that they were forced to wear the hijab and abaya and were not allowed to bring him a cross or a Bible. Additionally, it was said he was forced to fast during Ramadan.”

Khalil has been denied other basic rights as well: “Advocates say he has been denied an attorney, and his family says he has been prevented from practicing his Christian faith in prison. They say his case reflects a broader threat facing Syria’s Christians.” IDC’s Richard Ghazal said: “He was abducted from his home and thrown in prison without access to counsel, limited access to family and medical care. The detention of Suleiman Khalil is not simply about an individual. This event is not unique; it’s happening all across Syria. But it sends a message to Christians that you are not welcome in Syria. You’re visitors, you are guests, and this is how you’ll be treated.”

Indeed. In June 2025, a senior commander of the Syrian army, Abu Dujana al-Turkistani, published a video in which he warned Christians: “Either you submit, or you will be subjected to the jizya, or you will face war. Otherwise, by Allah, I have brought you men who love death.” At least one of those men duly arrived on Sunday, June 22, 2025, at Mar Elias Church in the Dweila area of Damascus. A Muslim from the Islamic State jihad group entered the church and opened fire; then he detonated a suicide belt. All in all, he murdered thirty people and injured another 54. Father Fadi Ghattas, who was inside the church when the attack occurred, stated: “People were praying safely under the eyes of God. There were 350 people praying at the church.”

A year later, the situation had not improved. The Jerusalem Post reported on July 30, 2026 that “Christians and other minority groups have been arbitrarily detained by the Syrian Transitional Government for reasons that ‘sometimes appear to be motivated in part by the detainees’ ethnic or religious identity,’ according to a newly published report by Christian Solidarity International that was presented to the UN, which alleged that detainees are often forced to adopt Islamic practices and denied access to items connected to their own faith.”

Once again, the imperative to force Christians into the larger collective was paramount, as it was in Muslim countries all over the globe. If they could not be terrorized into submission through violence, they would be worn down gradually by means of deprivation and imprisonment. Suleiman Khalil is just one such victim. Given the world’s indifference, there will be many others.