PHOENIX (AP) — Iraqi Americans have marched in downtown Phoenix to protest an insurgent group’s occupation of territory in their homeland.

Nearly 100 demonstrators came together from nearby mosques and the area’s Assyrian Christian community to take a stand against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIL or ISIS, and its seizure much of western Iraq.

One of the protest’s Christian organizers, Steven Nabil Ishaq (EE’-shahk), said “When Iraq calls, when it’s a question of its existence, we put all differences on the side.”

The Phoenix area is home to a sizable population of Iraqi refugees who fled turmoil in their homeland during the reign of Saddam Hussein and in the aftermath of his defeat.

Many of the protesters still have family in Iraq and fear for their safety.

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