Inside Story - Ancestral homelands under attack?

The unfolding conflict in Syria and Iraq is forcing thousands of Christians and other minority groups to leave their ancestral homelands, where they had co-existed with other religious communities for nearly 2,000 years.
It has moved one commentator to observe that "we are watching a living history and all that comprises disappear".
Inside Story asks: Is a rich tapestry of history at risk of being lost in the cradle of civilisation?