More From IDC on Ted Cruz’ Despicable Behavior

Washington, D.C. – “In 1915, a German army officer named Armin Wegner… began to document a genocide that was taking place against Armenians. Over one million people, eradicated, marched into the desert, and murdered. Armen Wegner smuggled photos out at great risk to himself, to show the documented genocide that was taking place. In 1933 in Germany, Wegner became the only German author to publicly write an open letter in condemnation of what he saw coming down the road. For this, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp. The title of the letter was, In Defense of the Jews.”“This was the story IDC’s Executive Director, Andrew Doran, told in tears about the inspiration for the name ‘In Defense of Christians.’ The organization was founded to stand in solidarity with the Christian communities of the Middle East who are even now facing systematic genocide. Doran made these remarks after Senator Cruz abruptly left the stage during his keynote address.“Last night, over 1,000 people gathered from over 24 states and a dozen countries to stand in solidarity with the persecuted Christians of the Middle East. On Tuesday night, an ecumenical gathering of Christian leaders opened IDC’s three-day Inaugural Summit with a call for unity with all minorities of the Middle East. The heads of the major Churches of the Middle East—the Maronite Patriarch, the Armenian Orthodox Catholicos, the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch, the Syriac Catholic Patriarch, the Representative of the Antiochian Orthodox Patriarch, the Representative of the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, the Representative of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, the Representatives of the Assyrian Church of the East, and the representatives of the Protestant Churches—all came together to support Christians suffering across the region. It is the first gathering ever of the Eastern Patriarchs in the United States.“In last night’s