Near Eastern Christians who remained in their homeland had their own history of struggle as well. Balkan Christians regained (at least a portion of) their homeland, which became the modern states of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, FYROM, etc. Levantine and Egyptian Christians, constituting only a very small portion of the local population, had but to participate in the building of nation sates in the middle east, in which they were and still are a feeble minority. The only exception was Lebanon, in which roughly 40% of the citizens were Christians. Their population had been decreasing because of sporadic religious contempt. 

    Many founding fathers of modern Arab nationalism were Arab Christians who had their roots in Syria and Lebanon. For example, the famous Melkite (Byzantine Catholic) scholar Ibrahim Al-Yaziji advocated for the national awakening of all Arabs, regardless of religion (Al-Yaziji). The Melkite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch even went as far as to say that his church was a "church of Islam" to bring the Christians closer the mainstream Muslim society. This, however, did not stop them from being the subjects of Islamic religious violence. 

    Recent developments in Syria had a grave impact on them as well. Forces of Isis are particularly brutal on the local Christians, destroying centuries-old Christians monuments. Syrian and Lebanese Christians are mainly pro-Assad in the civil war, and just a few days ago, the Christian Bishops and Patriarchs drafted a statement condemning Trump's bombing of Syria (Catholic).