‘God is our Protector’ - Israeli Christians cling to hope amid attacks

"It is scary, but there is inner peace that I cannot describe."

Running to a bomb shelter has become a regular fixture in Samer Markarios’ day.

Since Israel attacked Iran a week ago, the 50-year-old Greek Christian has grown accustomed to hearing air raid sirens throughout Jerusalem.

Debris of ballistic missiles fired from Iran toward Israel. Credit: Eddie Gerald / Alamy Stock.

He has not grown accustomed, however, to the questions that his nine-year-old son, Michael, and 11-year-old daughter, Maria, ask him when the sirens begin wailing.

“My son always asks, ‘Are we going to die, Dad, are we going to die?’ Like a couple of times when he hears the sirens he will ask me immediately, ‘Shall we run? Are we going to die? Are the rockets coming to our house?’” Makarios told The Pillar.

“I always tell him, ‘No, don't worry. God is good to us. God is our protector’.”

On June 13, Israel conducted air attacks on various military installations within Iran, killing senior leaders and targeting nuclear assets. In response, Iran launched an air attack of their own against major Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Since then, the two countries have been trading attacks as the conflict continues to escalate, with the United States launching its own attack on Iranian nuclear establishments Saturday evening.

Locals seek safety in the bomb shelter under the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem. Photo courtesy of Father David Barton LC.

Father David Barton, LC, is the chaplain at the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem, a Vatican-owned guest house run by the Legionaries of Christ located next to the Old City.

Barton told The Pillar that everyone was shocked by the June 13 attack.

“Everybody received at three o'clock in the morning on June 13, one of those Amber Alerts that just starts making your phone scream,” he said. “When I went down to the lobby, everybody gathered there, and the employees that were still around came, and nobody could believe that it was happening.”

Ruby Aznaq-Abu Sada, a local Catholic tour guide, was also caught off guard.

“Each time Israel has a little conflict, like between us and Lebanon, between us and Gaza, Iran starts threatening Israel, and Israel says we need to hit Iran,” she told The Pillar. “But to be honest, we didn't expect it to happen for real. We always said that Israel will never hit Iran.”

Aznaq-Abu Sada said many Israelis support the government.

“Sooner or later, Iran was going to hit us, so we will hit first. It is like David and Goliath. We got the stone and hit first,” she said.

But not everyone agrees.

“Not everyone is supporting the attack of Iran,” Makarios said. “Some people believe that they should have waited until the negotiation between the United States and Iran, and some people said that there may be a better way to do that because Iran is not like Hamas, you know. Iran is not like Hezbollah. Iran is a country, and this war is not like the war with a group of terrorists. This is a country. We are fighting a whole country.”

Barton said the newest attacks come at a very difficult time for the Christian population, whose livelihood largely depends on pilgrims and tourism.

The country’s once-robust tourism industry has suffered during the war that was launched with the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas.

“The gift shops have all been closed. Most of the local restaurants have been closed for the past year and a half,” Barton said.

“People here tend to save up money for moments like this. The locals do. But this has gone on a lot longer than anybody anticipated, and the new attacks may draw it out even longer.”

Aznaq-Abu Sada, a Christian tour guide, has led only a few tours in the past year and a half. With dwindling savings, she began looking for new revenue streams and decided to open a massage parlor in Jerusalem.

She signed a lease the day before Israel launched its strike.

Now, her new business might also be upended.

“Everybody thought Israel was just talking and threatening Iran, and that's it, nobody will hit anybody, so I signed a contract, and I paid a year ahead for renting a clinic to do massages,” Aznaq-Abu Sada said. “If we were expecting this attack, I would not have signed such a contract.”

Barton said people were surprised by the attacks in part because they have come to expect a relative level of peace in the region.

“In the past 20 years here in the Holy Land, we've been very spoiled, because they've been 20 years of relative peace. There have been little, little hiccups along the way, but nothing, nothing like what the Holy Land has experienced for the past 2,000 years leading up to that, because Jerusalem has been one of the most fought over, bloodiest cities in history, in the world,” he said.

“I think people grew a little bit accustomed to being able to come here without any turbulence along the way, or anything happening.”

Now, he thinks the ongoing violence may push Christians out of the country.

“From talking with a lot of the younger Christian Arabs, they have a desire to try and move elsewhere if possible,” he reflected. “Being a minority here is not easy, and making a living when a lot of their livelihood depends on the hospitality industry is not easy. So many may try to leave after this, leaving an even smaller Christian population.”

Many non-locals, such as Barton, were given the opportunity to leave via emergency flights operated by the U.S. embassy or through Egypt or Jordan.

Iranian missiles passing over Jerusalem during the day. Photo courtesy of Father David Barton LC.

But Barton and the other Legionaries priests made a joint decision to stay.

“People were asking me, ‘You are an American, you can leave. Why don't you?’ And I said, ‘Well, because my mission that God gave me is to serve you all, this is what I'm here for’,” Barton said.

“I see in their eyes the respect that they have for that. A big part of this ministry is not running away when things get hard.”

Barton said daily Mass at the Notre Dame Center continues to be well attended.

“We have adoration every evening from 5:30 to 6:30, and then we have Mass every evening at 6:30. And even during the war, there has been a pretty good size crowd,” Barton said. “We have 40 or 50 local people that come to Mass on a regular…basis.”

At Aznaq-Abu Sada's parish, however, Mass attendance has been significantly lower, with people staying home in the last week.

“There were only 12 people at the church,” Aznaq-Abu Sada said. “Usually we have a full church, but only 12 people attended Mass. The sermon was about peace and to not fear…but it was tough to see so many people gone.”

Mass is not the only place people in Israel have avoided since the June 13 attacks.

Over the past week, shops have been closed down, airlines ceased operations, and many employers called off work.

Makarios likened Israel to “a ghost state.”

“No one on the street. No airplanes. No one is leaving. No one is coming,” he said. “Everyone is at home waiting for the sirens to start to go off. That is all we do.”

Makarios’ son Michael, sleeping in a bomb shelter. Photo courtesy of Samer Makarios.

When the sirens do go off, it is a mad dash to the nearest shelter, if there is one nearby. If not, people take cover within the centers of their apartments, away from any glass or windows.

“It is hard to sleep through the night when you do not know when the air raid sirens are going to suddenly go off…You’ve got about a minute or two to get to the bomb shelter under the hotel,” Barton said.

“People are affected by that. People are already kind of scared and sad, and then when you start losing a lot of sleep, it puts everybody on edge.”

The priest said he tries to help the suffering people around him hold on to hope - especially through Christ’s message of mercy and forgiveness.

“One thing you realize living here, is that one of the things that Jesus’ message of forgiveness and mercy did not exist before him and does not exist outside of him,” Barton said. “When Jesus speaks of that ‘eye for an eye’ and ‘tooth for a tooth,’ you see that being lived out in this part of the world: ‘You did something to me. I'm going to do something worse’.”

“My hope is that our Lord's mercy and forgiveness can really start to wipe away that culture of revenge throughout the Middle East.”

Many locals are also turning to prayer.

Makarios said he begins every morning praying Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd) with his wife and children.

“We are praying, we are praying day and night, we never stop praying,” Makarios said. “Our only hope is Jesus. Hope is not something. Hope is someone, and that someone is Christ, Jesus.”

Aznaq-Abu Sada said her faith has also kept her grounded over the past week. She said she finds herself turning to prayer, which has helped her to trust that God is and will continue to be at work, even with missiles flying overhead.

“When the siren goes on, it is scary, but there is inner peace that I cannot describe,” Aznaq-Abu Sada said.

“I know that I am protected with the blood of Jesus, and I choose to live in peace. This is kind of peaceful surrender, and I know that he is taking care of me and my family.”