eChurch Christian Blog

National Post

This new decade has gotten off to a rough start for Christians living in the Islamic world. Just this week, hundreds of Nigerian Christians were killed by Muslims, though the religious dimension of that event is disputed. Just yesterday, in Manshera, Pakistan, suspected Islamists attacked the World Vision office, killing at least five people using bombs, hand grenades and guns. World Vision is the world’s largest Christian overseas relief and development agency, and its employees murdered yesterday — all Pakistanis — were assisting those still suffering from the Kashmir earthquake in 2005.

There was a massacre of Christians in Mosul, Iraq, on Jan. 2, and targeted killings of Christians throughout January and February. The “targeted killing” is an especially effective form of anti-Christian terror. A Christian — either a man or woman will do — is simply grabbed off the street by Islamists while walking to work or school, killed and the body dumped. No one can feel safe. When a Christian leaves home in the morning, he does not know if he will be killed that day solely for being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

There was a targeted killing of a Christian businessman on Jan. 17, the very day the city of Mosul received its new Catholic archbishop, Emil Shimoun Nona. Why the need for a new archbishop for Mosul? Islamists murdered the last one, Paulos Faraj Rahho, just two years ago.

Amid the general decline of Christians in the Middle East, the breakdown of order in Iraq has allowed Islamists to unleash constant violence against Iraq’s Christians. The goal is to drive Christians out from lands in which they have worshipped God since the early Christian centuries.

The figures show the general trend, and the acceleration due to recent violent persecution by Islamist bandits, unrestrained by the Iraq security forces. In 1932, Christians were 20% of the Iraqi population. By 1979, when Saddam came to power, they were 10%. After the first Iraq War in 1991, they were down to 5%. Since 2003 and the second Iraq War they are fewer than 3% and dropping rapidly.

There were some one million Iraqi Christians in 2003, and it is estimated that over half have fled since. Those who remain in Iraq have often fled their homes in the cities to live in the north, without homes or jobs. Hundreds of thousands have fled into neighbouring countries — Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey.

Even if the slaughter was to stop, most of these people could not return home safely. In order to flee Iraq without being killed en route, many Christian refugees have to pay for protection — a nasty combination of religious persecution, organized crime and rapacious banditry. The refugee family likely has no home, no property, no car — nothing to return to. All of it has been given over to the extortion racket, often with an explicit proviso that if the Christian family seeks to return, all will be killed.

It appears that little can be done to stop the Islamist drive to de-Christianize Iraq. But something can be done for some Iraqi Christians, and Canada is leading the way.

In February 2009, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney increased from 1,200 to 2,500 the annual number of privately sponsored refugees that Canada would accept for three years through the Damascus office, where the largest number of Iraqi refugees are. In addition to the privately sponsored places, there are 1,400 annual places in the government-assisted resettlement program for Damascus. Such places are not for Christians alone, but are an undeniable help to Christians seeking refuge.

Yet refugees have to be sponsored and helped once they arrive in a strange land. Canadian Christian churches had extensive refugee sponsorship programs during the Cold War to accommodate those fleeing communist persecution. Over the years, those programs atrophied, as happily there were fewer Christians fleeing religious persecution. Now with the rise of the Islamist threat, those networks have to be reconstituted. It is not an easy task, but an impressive lead is being taken by Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto, whose city will likely be a principal place of resettlement. He has been encouraging his fellow Catholic bishops to intensify their efforts as well, and similar initiatives are being encouraged in other Christian communities.

The possible end of the Christian presence in Iraq — the land of Abraham — is an unspeakable sadness. Writing about this two years ago, I prayed that “fearsome justice” would be visited upon those who slaughter our fellow Christians in Iraq. That does not appear to be imminent. So while justice is delayed in Iraq, solidarity and charity in Canada is the best we can do.

The Moroccan authorities are really ratcheting up the intimidatory pressure on Christians, which is disturbing. I posted about this back in February and wrote:-

This is a worrying escalation against the Christian community in Morocco.

Morocco is strategically very important for the Gospel, as it is the entrance point to Islamic North Africa and being geographically so close to Southern Spain, provides a very convenient jumping-off-point.

Of course the Moroccan authorities know this only too well.

And now this new “episode”:-

CBN

Expelled Christians Forced to Leave Orphans Behind

More than 40 Christians have been kicked out of Morocco this week, including members of a group that helped run an orphanage in the country.

The government says the missionaries were proselytizing, which is against the law in Morocco.

Many of the Christians worked at the Village of Hope where 33 orphans are currently housed. For the Moroccan children there, Christian aid workers are the only parents they’ve ever known.

The Village of Hope Web site shows a picture of two workers clearly devastated by the government order to leave the Islamic country.

The series of deportations began when a pastor visiting from the U.S. was expelled last February. To protect his identity, CBN News will not reveal his name.

“Understand that there were 60 officers involved, from Secret Service, from the police station and from the Army,” he recalled. “There were clearly-drawn weapons as we were escorted downstairs.”

The pastor added, however, that some of the police officers were secretly supportive.

“About 3 o’clock in the morning, one of the armed, dressed police officers went out and bought us a ‘tarjin’ and brought it in and set it down on the table for us… and we began eating,” he said. “I wanted the locals to be blessed with the food. He clearly wanted me to sit at the table. I sat down. He looked me straight in the eye and he said ‘God bless you.’”

Pastors around the world are calling for an international outcry on behalf of the Moroccan children who they say will suffer the most from the government’s actions.

The expulsion of foreign Christians could be linked to the rise of radical Islam in Morocco– a threat that CBN News has reported for years.

“I think we should be very concerned about the continued operation, cultivation, support and probably growth of al Qaeda cells in North Africa,” radical Islam expert Steven Emerson told CBN News in 2005.

Meanwhile, the workers expelled from Morocco are praying for their children and for the government to allow them to continue caring for the orphans.

UPDATE:-

Middle East Online – Morocco takes tough line against proselytisers – Communications Minister says Rabat will severe with all those who play with religious values after missionaries expelled.

Previous posts here, here and here.

CMS

Following the murder of more than 500 people in the latest shocking violence in the Jos area, we reproduce here in its entirety an open letter from the Rt Rev Benjamin Kwashi, Archbishop of Jos. He describes local peace moves and rails against lack of government action.

January 17th was a Sunday morning and as usual Christians left their homes to congregate in churches to worship. That day has since become a remarkable day in history with sad memories for Christian and Muslim communities in Jos and its environs. A few days after that, leaders began to gather to see how to resolve what the perceived problems, or real problems, or even imaginary problems were. I myself became a part of a group with industrialists, businessmen and women, academics and religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim, to discuss these matters. We even spent a day at a forum listening to elders and religious leaders in Jos and spent another day listening to the youth. In all the conversations the Christians and Muslims spoke up frankly and aired their understanding of the grievances they have. We are in the process of putting together ideas as to how to move forward.

News then broke on Sunday 7th March that two other villages plus Dogo na Hauwa had been attacked by Muslim Fulani from about 3am to 5am. Some of these communities may never again be recognised in history because generations have been wiped out. Hundreds of corpses of men, women, children and grandchildren littered the burnt houses, roads, bush paths, farm areas and hiding places. Tears and endless wailings until voices croaked and words are no more.

Is there no other way by which matters can be resolved except through this sadistic and cruel way of making peoples’ lives miserable? For me, as a Christian, human life is so sacred that no-one, absolutely no-one, should tamper with it, no matter what religious faith you belong to.

Human life is so sacred and we have to teach and train people to value it: it is a gift from God.

What bothers my heart are a few questions:

* It was curfew time when these attackers came in and carried out their heinous activities. Who are responsible for these areas? What happened to those who should enforce the curfew? The purpose of the curfew is to stop events like this.

* Failure of government to provide full security for its citizenry leaves a people with very little option but to provide for their own kind of security. History has shown that these kinds of security are bred in vengeance, retaliation, bitterness, hatred and malice. This gives birth to an almost endless cycle of senseless violence as can be seen in many nations of the world today. Where is our government in all the levels of governance? Where were they on this night? Where were they on 17th January? Shall we continue to have the ugly sight of mass burials? Are there no leaders who fear God, who will swallow their pride and choose to be humble before God for the sake of those faces of slaughtered children?

* The new dimension these attacks are assuming is revealing a system of well-trained terror groups who rights now have attacked these villages, and only God knows which community will be next. Their merciless precision and fearlessness should give any government serious concern. The earlier that these kinds of groups are rounded up, the better for everybody. I know as of fact of many Christian religious, political and community leaders who are willing and prepared peacefully to arrive at workable conditions for people to live with. I also know as of fact that there are Muslim religious, political and community leaders who are willing to find solutions.

I am convinced that the prayers of the church world-wide are ascending like a sweet smelling sacrifice to the throne of mercy. It is my firm determination to encourage all who trust in the Lord to keep praying and never give up. One day God will enthrone good over evil, truth over lies, righteousness over wickedness and justice over injustice. It may be soon; it may be later, but “My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary”. I urge believers to clean and clear their minds of any form of bitterness, resentment or even any thought of vengeance against one another from within the fellowship, and then we can see clearly how to respond in times of difficulty such as this one.

The promises of the Lord are true and the way of the Lord is just. The good news is: we do not have anywhere else to turn to. In the words of the apostle Peter, in John6:68: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” These times call for a full turning of our hearts and lives to the Lord.

The Lord be with you,

+The Most Rev Dr BA Kwashi
Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria

Cross-post by David at Virtue Online:-

There is a growing and intensifying attack on Christians around the world.

It is not just confined to the Middle East and Islamic countries.

Christians from Egypt to Iraq, from Pakistan to Nigeria are being attacked and killed by Muslims and Hindus.

For all its vaunted advances in technology, there is a growing hatred and intolerance of Christians by Hindus in India, a country whose laws, civil service, roads and military were established by Christians over a century ago.

Hindu hatred of Christians is growing around the country and you can witness this in the state of Orissa.

In India, where these videos were shot, you can see Hindus attacking and killing Christians with clubs while the Police look on and do nothing.

Please note these tapes are gruesome and should not be watched by children or young adults.

These are not tapes you will see at so-called interfaith gatherings or groups of high level clergy gabfests meeting in Washington DC where everybody talks pleasantries about “niceness” and “friendship”.

These are brutal attacks of Christians that occur on streets far from the halls of power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH1FcKXCZ48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCHPmzk0kEQ&NR=1&feature=fvwp

In Zanzibar, Christian girls are being kidnapped by Islamic militants and forced to convert on the Island of Zanzibar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcI5qVdxMuM

Remember the words of our Lord: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:10-11)

I’ve already blogged twice in two days about the large-scale massacre of Christians in Jos, Nigeria, here and here.

As is sadly the case when blogging about the decimation of Christian communities across at the hands of Islamic extremists, it rarely drives much Internet traffic to our blog, simply because there is a high degree of apathy in the Western world, and yes, I am including the Christian community.

As long as it’s not on our doorstep, then it really isn’t that important.

However, I’ll not stop highlighting the plight of our Christian brothers and sisters in Islamic lands on this blog, as long as I draw breath.

Anyway, Melanie Phillips has put up a poignant short post in the Spectator:-

The jihad in Nigeria

Utterly appalling violence by Muslims against Christians in Nigeria where the latest tally after weekend attacks on three mostly Christian villages is some 500 dead. The media have described these events as ‘riots’; I would call this a jihadi pogrom. It is but the latest episode in what the media persist in characterising as inter-ethnic violence, but which is in fact a systematic attempt by Muslims to murder and ethnically cleanse the Christian community. The onslaught is described as ‘retaliation ‘ for violent attacks in Jos last January, in which the majority of the victims were Muslim. But as the Barnabas Fund reports, there is evidence that those January attacks were in fact Christian retaliation against Muslim aggression — in particular on that occasion an attack on a church — which has been going on for years.

The fact that the jihad in Africa is widely ignored in the west is not just a moral dereliction of duty. It is a refusal by the west to understand what it is actually up against. What is happening to Nigeria’s Christians makes a mockery of the frenzied western obsession with Israel. To understand the real cause of global tumult we should look carefully at Africa, and the appalling suffering of those upholding the religion that underpins the western world.

Please bear in mind that this harrowing letter comes from Bishop Ben Kwashi, who is “on the ground” in Jos, Nigeria. If you need to catch up on recent events from Jos, then click; here, and here.

Anglican Mainstream:-

People were in deep sleep and woken up by about three this morning to meet with death. Men women children and pregnancies were all littered on the road as they were  killed as they were probably fleeing to God knows where. This is a premeditated killing in the worst way. Please continue in prayers for us. The cost of being a Christian is rising by the day.

+ben

Bloody heartrending…

Here is a report from the LA Times today:-

Nigeria massacre leaves more than 120 dead – Witnesses say Muslim herdsmen armed with guns and machetes attacked three Christian villages outside Jos. The violence may have been in revenge for an attack last month.

Reporting from Kano, Nigeria – The attacks came in the night, as the villagers slept. Hundreds of Muslim herdsmen armed with guns and machetes swooped down on three Christian villages outside Jos in central Nigeria, killing more than 120 people early Sunday, according to witnesses.

There were contradictory reports on the casualties. Some said more than 120 were killed, while others put the number at about 200.

The massacre in volatile Plateau state — long beset with ethnic-religious violence — was apparently a revenge attack. Nomadic Fulani herdsmen had accused a group of local indigenous Christians — Berom people — of attacking their camp late last month, killing four people and stealing about 200 cattle.

In the latest violence, which appeared unrelated to national sectarian political frictions, hundreds of herdsmen launched coordinated attacks about 3 a.m. on three villages, Dogo Nahawa, Ratsat and Zot, about six miles south of Jos.

The herdsmen charged the villages, firing in the air, then cut down villagers as they fled their huts, witnesses said.

“Some people, whom we believed to be pastoralists, attacked three villages including our own with machetes, killing and burning people,” said Fidelis Tawkek of Dogo Nahawa in a phone interview. “They burned down most of the houses. They killed many women and children.

“They escaped after the attack. Up to this moment, houses are still burning and barns are smoldering.”

Jos and the surrounding areas had seen a series of violent attacks in January, which left more than 320 dead, police figures show.

Plateau state is on the dividing line between Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south, but the recurrent violent outbreaks have as much to do with bitter rivalry between the indigenous Christian Beroms and Muslim Hausas who came later, settling in Jos about a century ago.

The city lives on a knife’s edge, with friction between the Christians and Muslims who compete for jobs, business, land and resources. Similar tensions radiate throughout the state: Thousands have died in ethnic-religious violence in Plateau state in the last decade.

Sunday’s violence — allegedly involving the nomadic Fulani herdsmen — was slightly different. Because it was said to involve nomads, who reportedly fled after the attack, it was probably not related to the usual flare-ups resulting from the bitterness between the Christians and Hausa Muslims in the Jos area.

But the violence underscores the Muslim-Christian rivalry that permeates Nigerian political and economic life. The most recent example has been the bitter power struggle in the ruling People’s Democratic Party between southern Christians and northern Muslims over the presidency, following the illness of President Umaru Yar’Adua, a Muslim.

The country’s political stability hinges on a ruling party deal that the Muslim north and Christian south should rotate power: eight years to the north and eight to the south. The jostling over the presidency was resolved when the PDP affirmed that a Muslim northerner would rule until 2015.

On Sunday, acting President Goodluck Jonathan placed security forces in Plateau state on alert and ordered them to track and arrest the killers.

UPDATE: The BBC report has upped the number of murdered to 500.

BBC

Some 500 people were killed in Sunday’s revenge attack after religious clashes near the Nigerian city of Jos, local officials say.

The figure had previously been put at about 100 – it is always difficult to get accurate figures for such clashes in Nigeria.

Officials say two mainly Christian villages near Jos were attacked from nearby hills by people with machetes.

There is a long history of local tension between Muslims and Christians.

The attacks are said to have been in revenge for the killing of several hundred people in January.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has put security forces on alert to stop the flow of weapons to the area.

Many of the dead in the villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa are reported to be women and children.

Jos lies between the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria and its largely Christian south.

Some further Internet links on this:-

Muslims slaughter hundreds of Christians in Nigeria (Catholic Culture)

Violence Erupts in Nigeria’s State of Jos (Vatican Radio)

Nigeria: Radical Islam and the challenge of dialogue (ACN News)

400 Killed in Fresh Jos Crisis (Lagos Daily Champion)

Cross-post from Calvin L Smith (Principal of King’s Evangelical Divinity School) and nuff said:-

Why Does the BBC Do This?

See this story on the BBC News website concerning horrific violence in Nigeria overnight leading to the death of over a hundred people, mainly women and children, macheted to death. Now read the same story as reported on the CNN website. Notice the major difference in how the story is reported? (Hint: One of the report identifies the religious affiliation of the victims, the other expressly avoids doing so, even to the extent that the report seems incomlete and somehow artificial).

Why does the Beeb do this? Is it driven by fear, either of opposition from or alienating a proportion of its Muslim audience? Or perhaps disdain for Christianity? All of the above? Lest someone feel I’m being overly-sensitive here, it’s important to note the BBC doesn’t have a particularly good track record when it comes to Christianity, while many feel Islam gets rather better treatment. Whether that is the case or not is for others to decide. But I suggest when a Christian village is attacked on a Sunday morning and a hundred people – predominantly women and children – are slashed to death with machetes, yet our national tax-funded broadcaster fails to report the full facts, it has hardly a wise act by a corporation regularly fending off accusations of anti-Christian bias.

An interesting article from The Point of no Return blog, affording us an insight into the psyche of the Iranian regime, especially in relation to how they view Jews and Christians.

Point of no Return

The Sh’ia prejudice behind Iran’s foreign policy

The force driving Iran’s foreign policy is ideology: a Shi’ism that considers Jews ‘unclean’ and the unauthentic Jews and Christians of today ‘infidels’ – not protected peoples. Menashe Amir, chief editor of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Persian-language website explains in this JCPA brief (with thanks: Eliyahu):

“To grasp Iran’s ambitions and foreign policy, one must first understand the Islamic Republic’s religious ideology. The Iranian regime believes that the right religion for humanity is Islam, and the right sect of Islam is Shi’ism. An Iranian’s religious and national duty is to restore Shi’ism to its rightful position of leadership.

“To express his enduring respect for Judaism and Christianity, Ayatollah Khomeini used to say, “Moses is my right eye and Jesus is my left.” But in a meeting with Islamic ambassadors in Tehran, he also aired the view that today, given how diluted those faiths have become, there are no authentic Jews or Christians left.

“Iran’s ultimate aim is to establish global Islamic rule, a new Islamic empire, but this time under Shi’ite leadership. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself endorses the Shi’ite belief that once the Mahdi (“the Guided One”) makes his prophesied return, the whole world will convert to Shi’ism. This belief, strange as it may sound to Western ears, lies at the heart of Iran’s foreign policy, including its ambition to acquire nuclear weapons. It is for this reason that this ambition presents a grave problem not merely for Israel, but for Arab countries, Europe, and the whole world.

“Ahmadinejad once visited a painting exhibition in Tehran and remarked that there are two main arts in life: jihad and shahadah (“religious war” and “martyrdom”). That’s the essence of his ideology. During the Iran-Iraq war, the regime was criticized for engaging in a futile conflict that took the lives of half a million Iranians. The reply was that during the eight years of war, some seven million Iranians were born, so why cry over half a million killed “for the sake of Islam”?

“In his book Towzihol-Masael (The Explanation of Problems), Khomeini contended that Jews, Christians, Bahais, and Zoroastrians are considered infidels insofar as they refuse to accept Mohammad as a prophet, as are Sunnis, insofar as they don’t accept the twelve Imams of the Shi’ites. Khomeini then ruled that a Muslim mustn’t touch infidels, deal with them, or come into contact with them. Jews, in particular, are considered unclean. In his 1970 book Velayat-e faqih (Islamic Government), he portrayed the Jews as crooks, liars, and enemies of Islam.

“Iranian leaders call for the annihilation of Israel because these “unclean Jews” occupy the Muslim land of Palestine and hold the keys to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and other Islamic holy places. For tactical reasons, the Iranians take up the banner of the Palestinian cause in order to show the Arab countries that while they are making peace with the Jewish enemy, the Iranians are the only Muslims who uncompromisingly fight on behalf of the Palestinians.

“Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust for tactical considerations, too. By denying the Holocaust, the Iranians deny the legitimacy of the State of Israel and thereby gain respect in the Islamic world.

“When Ahmadinejad declared that Israel ought to be wiped off the map, he added that this was merely the first stage of the confrontation with the West, which, for all intents and purposes, means Christianity. Indeed, part of the animosity that Iranians express toward Judaism and Israel stems from the fact that they consider Judaism to be a pillar of the Christian faith. ”

Read article in full

This is of course a positive move and is indicative of how bad things have got for some Christians, especially in Islamic lands.

Christian Today:-

The European Union has reportedly formed an association to protect the rights of Christians in countries where they face persecution.

“We’ve set up a working group and are defining what bilateral action can be taken between Europe and the individual countries where Christians’ rights are in danger,” said Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

“We’re studying which international initiatives the EU can adopt to bring this problem more clearly into focus.”

In an interview with Italian daily Avvenire, Frattini further indicated that the European Union would draw up a manual for EU countries’ embassies in nations where persecution is present.

“By the end of April we’ll have a manual for European embassies in the rest of the world, focusing in particular on the treatment of Christian religious minorities,” he said.

Such a “common protocol”, he noted, was never before been implemented and if brought out will help “closely monitor the treatment of religious minorities, especially Christian minorities, in the most sensitive countries.”

He clarified that ‘monitoring’ would only be in regard to religious freedom. The EU intends to use a document published recently by Open Doors that contains detailed analysis of Christian persecution worldwide and identifies a list of countries where the situation regarding religious freedom ranges from “persecution”, “serious persecution”, “limitations” to “problematic”.

Ranked first in the list is North Korea, followed by Iran, Somalia and Saudi Arabia.

Keeping that in mind, Frattini stressed the need for a group of like-minded countries that could voice for the right of Christians to profess their faith anywhere in the world.

“You see, Christians have never had a political group offering them strong support through their governments. We discovered this when we found ourselves alone in contesting the ruling on crucifixes.

“We campaigned vigorously and succeeded in attracting the consensus of at least 15-16 countries which, formally or informally, came round to our position,” he pointed.

Earlier this month, a delegation of the European Union visited Kandhamal – the scene of the 2008 riots – where they met government and police officials.

The 11-member delegation led by the EU’s head of political affairs Christophe Manet reviewed the ground situation and met with victims of violence. The EU has strongly condemned the violence and called for protection of minorities.

Cross-post by Joseph at the Rosh Pina Project:-

If you are a Christian in leadership, please copy and amend the following letter with your name, and email it to the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus at: christianalliescaucus@gmail.com.

Do also write to the Israeli embassy in your country.

Dear Sir,

We write to you as Christian leaders who are staunch supporters and friends of the state of Israel.

Our concerns surround the organization in Israel ‘Yad L’Achim’ which calls itself an “anti-missionary” organization. Over a prolonged period of time, Yad L’Achim has been actively hostile towards people who hold to beliefs which they consider heretical.

In November 2009, a man named Yaakov Teitel confessed to having murdered two Palestinian Arabs, attempted to murder a Messianic Jewish family, and deliberately wounded an Israeli professor. Yaakov Teitel placed a bomb in the home of a Messianic Jewish family, which resulted in serious injuries to the family’s teenage son Ami Ortiz. In particular, the case of Ami Ortiz has concerned many Evangelical Christians outside of Israel.

It has recently emerged that Yakov Teitel was actively involved in the Yad L’Achim organization over a 5 year period prior to his arrest. I would draw your attention to the recent petition from attorney Calev Myers of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice to the Attorney General of Israel, Mr Yehuda Weinstein. Myers’ letter regarding the Yad L’Achim organisation may be read online:

http://www.jij.org.il/articles/JIJ-AG%20Request_ENG_.pdf

The report shows that Yad L’Achim activists and leaders have consistently spouted propaganda against individuals and charitable organisations whose beliefs do not correspond to their own. Yad L’Achim has also been connected to actual cases of physical attack, as well as several cases of harassing and intimidating individuals and communities over a long period of time.

We would urge the Government of Israel to disband the Yad L’Achim organization so that both the quality of Israeli democracy and the freedom and security of all Israeli citizens may be improved. To disband Yad L’Achim, we believe, would be in-line with the interests of the state of Israel and of the wider international community.

Many thanks for your assistance. I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

Christian Today – Christian families in Iraq are fleeing the northern town of Mosul in droves after a string of unprovoked murders left at least 10 believers dead, a ministry working with persecuted churches have reported.

&

Catholic News Agency – Bishops in Iraq urge government to halt slaughter of Christians

&

Spero News – The Vatican newspaper, Osservatore Romano, published on February 26 a letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. to Nouri Kamil al-Maliki, prime minister of Iraq, expressing Pope Benedict’s concern over attacks against Christians there.

&

Spero – Mosul – More Christian blood shed in Mosul in northern Iraq. This morning an armed commando killed a young university student and wounded a friend who was at the place of the attack. The umpteenth targeted attack against the community is just the latest in a long streak of blood, a short distance from where the double murder of two traders took place and the kidnapping of a man, on 13 February.

Pray, pray, pray.

In my last post on the “cleansing” of “undesirable” Christians from Iraq by Islamic extremists, I made this comment:-

It’s not just the Christians but the Jews as well of course, as we together are the despised “People of the Book”.

Coincidentally the ElderofZiyon blog have just posted this:-

Are Muslims obligated to hate all Jews and Christians?

Last week, an op-ed was written by a Dr. Hamad Al-Majid in Asharq al-Awsat, calling on Muslims to interpret the Quran in liberal ways that would allow respect for non-Muslims:

I think that with a careful Shariaa reading of a number of texts on this subject, and by confining this [hatred] to specific cases, many problems and dilemmas would be solved, and this could even have help in consolidating social peace, especially in the Muslim countries where acts of violence are being carried out against their Christian minorities such as Egypt and Nigeria. This is something would also need to be taught as part of the academic syllabus, and this may be the key to solving this problem.

When I was working for the Islamic Center in London in the 1990s, I saw for myself the state of confusion in the British people who had recently converted to Islam when they were taught the principles of hatred, rather than [peaceful] disagreement. This had a negative impact in the way in which they treated other people; their parents, their brothers and sisters, their family and friends, and so Islam lost a number of potential converts who might have been attracted to the religion had they been treated with more respect and compassion.

It appears that many Muslims were very unhappy with Dr. al-Majid’s liberal interpretation. So much so that he felt compelled to write a follow-up, possibly out of fear, saying that the Muslims that passionately hate Christians and Jews have solid textual evidence for their feelings:

Continue Reading

Sums it all up really. I’m sick to my stomach of reading every single day of fresh murders of Christians in Islamic lands, I really am.

It’s not just the Christians but the Jews as well of course, as we together are the despised “People of the Book”.

BETHPAGE, TN (Catholic Online) – Across the Middle East where Christianity was born and where Christians have maintained a presence for 2000 years, Christianity is in decline, most dramatically in Iraq. Against the enduring beauty and attraction of the Gospel, this decline is due to an alarming rise in political, jihadist Islam that is systematically annihilating Christians all over the world.

It is a persecution few dare name, because to do so means confronting powerful religious and political realities that have defied resolution for millennia and rising, popular anti-Christian sentiment worldwide. Christians are simply not seen as victims at all.

Iraqi Christians are part of historic indigenous communities that have been in the area now known as Iraq since nearly the time of Christ; they predate Islam by several centuries. The Christian community took root there after the Apostle Thomas headed east in the year 35.

The majority are Chaldean Christians, the largest concentration of which remain in Baghdad, Iraq. There are ten Chaldean dioceses in Iraq, four in Iran, and four others in the Middle East. The Chaldean, (East Syrian), liturgy is in use there, along with a number of Latin customs, and their liturgical language is Syriac.

But now after nearly 2,000 years, Iraqi Christians are being hunted, murdered and forced to flee – persecuted on a biblical scale in Iraq’s religious civil war. These brothers and sisters in Christ who can trace their history in the region back some 2,000 years have fled to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and to northern Iraq by the hundreds of thousands to avoid certain martyrdom.

Neither Muslims nor Kurds, they are victimized for several reasons. Some of them aligned themselves with coalition forces; others are targeted because they do not follow Islamic laws that forbid alcohol and compel women to wear scarves on their heads. In addition, crimes against them are often motivated by money because the Christians there are often merchants.

But fundamentally, it is a religious war. Muhammad commanded, “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.” The worst episodes have occurred in regions with diverse ethnic and religious groups, such as Baghdad and Mosul, where the majority of Iraq’s Christians live. The State Department reported last year that Muslim extremists warned Christians living in Baghdad’s Dora district to convert, leave or be killed.

Additionally, traditional Islamic law mandates that all non-Muslims who submit to Islamic rule pay a special jizya tax from which Muslims are exempt; that non-Muslims must not hold authority over Muslims; not build new churches or repair old ones; and that they submit to various other humiliating and discriminatory regulations that motivate the murder and persecution of Christians by Muslim jihadist gangs who knock on their doors to collect what Islam dictates is their religious “due.”

Christian students and men are kidnapped and never seen again. A 6-month-old baby was beheaded, roasted and then presented to his mother. A Syrian Orthodox priest was kidnapped, murdered and dismembered in Mosul, even though his parish submitted to ransom demands by a Muslim group for $40,000 and the public renunciation of Pope Benedict´s remarks in his address in Regensburg, Germany that caused rioting all over the Islamic world.

The traditional, discriminatory Islamic laws that have led recently to widespread and violent persecution of Christians have not been enforced in Iraq since it was an Ottoman province, because under Western pressure in the 1850´s the Ottoman Empire abolished the system. In Saddam Hussein´s Iraq, as well as Syria and other countries where relatively secular governments have been in power in recent decades, lawmakers took their cues in many areas more from Western law than Islamic law, and Christians enjoyed relative equality with Muslims.

But the invasion and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that removed Saddam Hussein have created political instability and an authority vacuum that has allowed a jihadist and supremacist power insurgence that preys on Christians in their midst with increasing brutality and boldness. In Iraq, half of the nation´s prewar 700,000 Christians have now fled the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Hundreds of thousands have been tortured and martyred.

In addition, the new, post-Taliban Afghani regime´s constitution stipulates that “no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.” Unfortunately the traditional Islamic classification of apostasy as a capital crime is often included in this stipulation, and Christians are executed with full protection of the law.

Now that President Obama is removing U.S. troops from Iraq, resurgent Islamic supremacism is only gaining momentum. His pledged support of Islamic nations emboldens attacks and Christians are the principal victims of this militant religious resurgence, while their pleas for protection fall on deaf ears.

Tragically, human rights groups and even Christians in the West remain strangely silent while Islamic extremists push to eliminate ancient Christian communities in Islamic lands, and to render Christianity extinct. These are our Catholic brothers and sisters in Iraq, and they are being uprooted and massacred. Unless the violence stops, it is thought there may be no Christians left in Iraq in a decade.

See this link also:-

Pope Makes Plea for Safety of Iraqi Christians

And this:-

Christian father and sons killed in their Mosul home

Oh and this:-

Christians fleeing Mosul as targeted murders continue

And of course my most recent Iraq post:-

Gunmen killed two Christian shop owners in separate attacks within 24 hours in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, police said as the community’s leaders hit out at the violence.

I think you get the picture, if not click here. You don’t see much of this in the mainstream western media do you.

This violence will not end until Islamic extremism has “cleansed” Iraq of all Christians and Jews. What a bloody mess, most Christians have already fled Iraq. Will this make it into mainstream Western news, normally it doesn’t.

PTINews

Mosul (Iraq), Feb 16 (AFP) Gunmen killed two Christian shop owners in separate attacks within 24 hours in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, police said as the community’s leaders hit out at the violence.

Greengrocer Fatukhi Munir, an Assyrian Catholic, was gunned down inside his shop in a drive-by shooting late yesterday in western Mosul’s Sahaba district, police said.

Armed assailants also killed Rayan Salem Elias, a Chaldean Christian who ran a business dealing in a traditional meat dish, outside his home in the city’s east on Sunday.

“The Christian minority has become an issue in the elections, as it always is before the elections,” said Hazem Girgis, a deacon at an Orthodox church in the town centre.

“Two Christians have been killed since the start of the campaign,” which opened on Friday, said Girgis. “We are terrified… and the security forces are not able to offer us any security.

UPDATE:-

AFP – MOSUL, Iraq — A Christian student was shot dead and another wounded in Mosul on Tuesday, taking to three the number of Christians killed in the restive northern city in as many days, Iraqi police said.

Hat-tip Rosh Pina Project:-

Cross-Post by Gev over at the Rosh Pina Project:-

As the trial date looms and anti-missionary mandarin Alex Artovski, ex-Soviet police officer, takes the stand to answer for the riot he is accused of inciting against a Messianic Jewish Congregation in Beersheva, lets remind ourselves of the violent invasion of a place of worship.

This is a worrying escalation against the Christian community in Morocco.

Morocco is strategically very important for the Gospel, as it is the entrance point to Islamic North Africa and being geographically so close to Southern Spain, provides a very convenient jumping-off-point.

Of course the Moroccan authorities know this only too well.

Christian Post:-

Approximately 60 officers from the Moroccan security services on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 4) raided the home of a Christian in Amizmiz, a picturesque city of 10,000 mainly Berber people 56 kilometers (35 miles) southeast of Marrakech. A church Bible study was in progress at the home with visitors from western and southern Morocco, the leaders said.

Five of the 18 people held for 14 hours were small children, two of them infants no more than 6 months old. The other small children ranged from 20 months to 4 years old, and also detained was the visiting 16-year-old nephew of one of the participants.

The Christian leaders said authorities interrogated participants in the Bible study for 14 hours. The authorities filmed the interrogations with digital video cameras and cell phones.

The leader of the Christian group, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the raiding party was unusually large. It included an accompaniment of 15 vehicles led by a colonel and two captains.

“It’s the first time in our current Moroccan church history that the Moroccan government used this size of a legion to attack a small Christian meeting,” he said. “All the time they kept repeating that this was ordered personally by the new Moroccan Justice Minister [Mohamed Naciri] and by the highest level General of the Gendarmerie [Housni Benslimane].”

Quoting a statement by the Interior Ministry, the state-run Maghreb Arabe Presse news agency reported that a “foreign missionary” had been arrested for trying to “spread evangelist creed in the Kingdom and locate new Moroccan nationals for recruitment.”

The statement added that the raid took place “following information on the organization of a secret meeting to initiate people into Christianity, which would shake Muslims’ faith and undermine the Kingdom’s religious values.”

The U.S. citizen, whose name has not been released, was deported immediately after interrogation. The Christian leaders said the visiting Moroccans were sent back to their homes in western and southern Morocco.

Authorities seized Bibles, books, two laptops, a digital camera and one cell phone, they said.

“I don’t think this number of Moroccan government forces was ever used even against Muslim fundamentalists,” the leader of the Christian group said.

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Disgusting.

These “blasphemy” laws are used to control and terrify non-Muslims and spurious accusations have even been used as excuses for violence and to settle disputes over land and money.

Thank the Lord (literally) that there is so much opposition to the “defamation of religions” U.N. resolution proposal by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which would usher in a “global blasphemy law” and would only benefit Islam of course.

Jihad Watch:-

I’m pleased about this, previous post here and also check out previous posts on Orissa here.

Ekkleisa:-

The Church of England has disinvested from the controversial mining company, Vedanta Resources, after sustained pressure from campaigners, including many Christian groups.

The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board announced today (5 February) that they have sold their shares in the mining company on the advice of the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG).

As a result, none of the three national investing bodies of the Church of England now hold shares in the company.

Read More

BBC:-

In a statement released on Friday, the church said that it was not satisfied that the company, Vedanta, has shown enough respect for human rights.

Campaigners said that the lives of indigenous people were threatened by the mining project.

Vedanta has not commented on the church’s move.

But in the past it has vigorously defended the project.

Continue Reading

The BBC is covering this news:-

A delegation of the European Union is due to visit a region which was hit by anti-Christian riots in the eastern Indian state of Orissa last year.

Check out this previous post to find out why this delegation will not see the reality of the dire situation for Christians in this region.:-

Authorities in India’s Orissa state are reportedly forcing Christian refugees out of the makeshift camps ahead of a visit this month by a European Union delegation.