The Bishop Jerjis Al-Kass Mussa rejected the article published by Al-Zamman news paper about Qaraqosh, expressing his surprise to transform their demands to religious prejudices

Mosul – Ankawa.com

The Bishop, Baseliose Al-Kass Mossa, the Pastor of Mosul Parish and the Syriac Catholic vicinity, strongly denied that the Christian of Qaraqosh is source of threats to the other non-Christian people. He expressed his surprise from Al-Zamman news paper who published such allegations few days ago, entitled,” threats targeting the evacuation of Qaraqosh from non-Christian people” by the journalist Jareer Mohammed from Mosul.
  The Bishop adds in an exclusive statement to Ankawa. Com, there is no threats to the non-Christian inhabitants in Qaraqosh and we are surprised by adopting the subject in this dramatic way by Al-Zamman news paper. Such thing touches our moral, our values, our behavior, our history, our present and future orientations and we are an essential component of the province of Nineveh and our nation of Iraq.
  He added, we refuse to broach the subject in this way because the reader will develop excitement and we affirm that there are no threats. It is enough for us suffering and tragedies and the goal of rising new story with no root and no origin, but only to justifying other issues.
  He explained that there are dozens of non-Christian families living in Qaraqosh, since many years ago, and we were and are still dealing with them in brotherhood way, and who want to see and be sure about that let him come to see our houses and our hearts are open for them. About the demographic change in Qaraqosh, he said, we refuse the demographic change because in that way we will become the minority in our regions. The previous regime delivers 3000 residential lands in Qaraqosh, approximately 98% of which were given to stranger people from this region and other regions of Iraq. The current system has switched off 4000 residential lands for delivering, and so, bringing strangers from the other regions, workers and employees affiliated to government agencies, putting in mind that Qaraqosh houses not exceed 5000 house. So, if these lands are distributed, I am sure we will be strangers in our land, in addition to the effects on the social, cultural life and the fading of the privacy of the region. He talks also about Qaraqosh lands and how our ancestors struggled for decades in a case started in Istanbul and ended with people of the region gaining their lands.
  About covering the subject with a religious form by Al-Zamman news paper, he said we refuse to present the subject in a sectarian religious form between Christian and non-Christian and who try to sow discords and confusion is rejected by us. The history of Qaraqosh witnesses good relations with the surrounding neighboring villages and 90% of the educational staff in these villages are from Qaraqosh people.
  The Bishop asked, why focusing on the demographic change in Qaraqosh by bringing people not from the region to live here? As it is free for any Iraqi to live where he like, our refusal come from the programmed way of distributing the lands in official or semi official way.