Assyrians celebrate Palm Sunday in Syria’s Hasakah
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, Christians celebrated Palm Sunday in the churches in Hasakah, northeastern Syria.
Afram Athnel, the Bishop of the Assyrian church, said, “We celebrated Palm Sunday today, it is the Sunday that precedes Easter and recalls the entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem.”
He explained that over the past ten years of war in Syria, many Assyrians have left the country.
“On this day before the war, when you came to the church you found it full of people,” he added. “More than 1000 people were attending the occasion, but today as you see the number does not exceed 150.”
Ninawa Kena, an Assyrian pharmacist from Tal Nasriye, told North Press, “The church was crowded with people before ISIS entered the villages of Khabur in 2015,” adding that 33 Assyrian villages were left empty overnight.
“The future was unknown at that time, so the Assyrians migrated to other countries, especially Australia, and now according to the latest statistics, our number does not exceed 1000 people in Hasakah and Khabur,” she explained.
“All of our people abroad celebrate this occasion in order to preserve our traditions, customs, and religion,” Kena added.