Iraqi Christian children face beatings, scorn from teachers

ERBIL, Iraq — Nuria and her family, whose names must be withheld for their safety, are Iraqi Arabs who converted from Islam to Christianity. Whereas Assyrian Iraqis are accepted as Christians by ethnic identity, Iraqi Muslims believe Arabs have no business becoming Christians; it is not possible, according to society and the constitution. If the children say they believe in Jesus, then they face beatings and scorn from their teachers.

Nuria’s parents became Christians seven years ago. Her dad, a carpenter in Kirkuk, used to speak openly about his faith. These days he is not so brave; he has had to change jobs one too many times because his employers discovered his faith. In Erbil, a Kurdish convert to Christianity, Majeed Muhammed, is fighting for his children’s right to not have “Muslim” written on their IDs. And a 9-year-old Iranian refugee to Iraq, Surush Bidookh, has been beaten and insulted for his faith. His family fled to Iraq from Iran for political reasons before he was born and came to faith in Christ in Iraq. Like other converts to Christianity, his father, Siyamand Bidookh, said persecution was tolerable until it affected his children.

When Surush started first grade in Erbil, a teacher beat him in front of the class and told him he was an (infidel) like his father. Bidookh’s daughter, Sevda, came home from kindergarten last year and asked why her teacher said their family was going to “burn” for being Christians. After this she was too afraid and stopped attending school for the rest of the year. “When my kids go to school and say hello to the teachers, they don’t respond,” their mother said. “I say to them, ‘What kind of an example are you setting for these kids?’”