As in so many urban centers across the Middle East, the marketplace in Erbil before the mosques’ calls to prayer is a whirlwind of bright colors and noisy, animated bargaining. On the fringe of the town square, opposite the antediluvian citadel, stands the Bazaar Nishtiman, a vast mall that hosts a plethora of cheap-denim stores on its lower levels—and 150 Christian refugee families in the upper levels.
The mall’s owner, a Christian, has given the refugees permission to use the converted stalls for as long as they need shelter. Last June thousands of Christian refugees fled to Iraqi Kurdistan from Mosul, Qaraqosh and other villages on the Nineveh Plain following the advance of Islamic State. Conversations with some of these displaced Christians reveal a common, striking theme: The greatest threat to the future of Christianity in Iraq is no longer Islamic State assault but the evaporation of hope.
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