IDC Decries Murder of Christian Lebanese-American and Targeted Violence Against Middle-Eastern Americans

08/18/2016 at 2:40 PM Posted by Mary Anne Hackett

The Christian Lebanese-American Family Fled the Lebanese Civil War in the 1980s, Only to Become a Target of Violence in the U.S.

Washington, DC August 17, 2016–In Defense of Christians (IDC) extends its heart-felt condolences to the family of Khalid Jabara, who was brutally murdered in his home of 12 years in Tulsa last week because of hatred for his ethnic identity.

Jabara, 37, was Lebanese-American and an active parishioner of St. Anthony Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Tulsa.

When Vernon Majors moved next door a few years ago, Jabara and his family began experiencing routine harassment including racists comments and hate-filled obscenities. In September of last year Majors hit Jabara’s mother, Haifa, with a car leaving her with multiple injuries before he left the scene.

On Friday, August 12, Jabara was found shot dead in his own home after calling 911 with concerns that Majors had approached the house with a gun.

IDC Executive Director Kirsten Evans made the following statement after hearing the news of Jabara’s violent death: “That anyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, could be targeted for violence, persecution and even death simply because of their ethnic or religious identity, is unconscionable. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Mr. Jabara’s family and community.

Mr. Jabara, an Antiochian Orthodox Christian from Lebanon, is a member of a Christian community that has a long and proud historical and cultural heritage in the Middle East, spanning back to the first centuries of the Early Church.

Today, Middle Eastern Christians are all too often the targets of violence, marginalization, and persecution in their native ancestral homelands, simply because of their Christian faith. In March of this year the United States officially proclaimed that Middle Eastern Christians and other religious minorities are being targeted for genocide in territories occupied by ISIS because of their faith.

Here, in the United States, Mr. Jabara and his family became targets of violence and hatred not because of their faith, but because of their Middle Eastern identity and culture.