WE ARE 100% INDEPENDENT AND READER-FUNDED. FOR A GUARANTEED AD-FREE EXPERIENCE AND TO SUPPORT REAL NEWS, PLEASE SIGN UP HERE, TODAY.
PULSE POINTS
❓WHAT HAPPENED: Anti-terror police in France raided a charity that aids persecuted Christians in the Middle East over allegations the group gave money to elements of the former Bashar al-Assad government in Syria.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: SOS Chrétiens d’Orient and its president, Charles de Meyer, French anti-terror police, and leftist media outlet Mediapart.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The raids took place over the weekend in France.
💬KEY QUOTE: “How could a Christian NGO defending Christians and working for peace be complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity! These qualifications demonstrate the folly of such suspicions. Totally delusional!” – SOS Chretien d’Orient.
🎯IMPACT: The raid is just the latest in an alarming trend of anti-Christian attitudes and attacks in France.
IN FULL
French authorities have launched an investigation into SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, a France-based Christian aid association, over allegations that it may have channeled donor funds to militias that supported former President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Between Tuesday and Thursday, investigators carried out “several search operations within associations, including the French association SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, companies or at the homes of individuals, as well as several hearings as witnesses or defendants,” the national anti‑terror prosecutor’s office (PNAT) confirmed over the weekend.
The inquiry focuses on whether some of the charity’s funds were diverted to the National Defence Forces (NDF), a militia aligned with Assad. French media outlets report that the investigation is being handled by the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity, Genocide and War Crimes (OCLCH).
“How could a Christian NGO defending Christians and working for peace be complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity! These qualifications demonstrate the folly of such suspicions. Totally delusional!” the charity said in a statement, blaming leftist media group Mediapart for harassing them and their members for a vicious hit piece.
Charles de Meyer, president of the association, acknowledged that his computer was among the items seized by the police and confirmed he was questioned as a suspect.
The case takes place against a backdrop of growing anti‑Christian incidents in France. Churches in the country have been targeted many times in recent years—according to the Observatory of Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, nine churches across the continent were struck by arson attacks in a three‑week span from late August to mid‑September of last year, including one targeting the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint‑Omer, France.
During the opening of the Paris Olympics last summer, organizers apologized after a performance was interpreted as mocking the Last Supper. The director of the ceremony defended the scene as inspired by pagan themes, claiming it was not intended to target Christianity.
Image by Bito Bito.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.
show less
