Nigeria’s Christmas Present: Blown Up Christians

December 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Anti-Christian Violence 

Several churches in northern Nigeria were bombed December 25, in what has been describedas “Nigeria’s blackest Christmas ever.” The attacks, perpetrated by the Muslim militant group Boko Haram, killed at least 39 people, “the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church [in Madalla near the capital of Abuja] after celebrating Christmas Mass as blood pooled in dust from a massive explosion.” Charred bodies and dismembered limbs lay scattered around the destroyed church.

As usual, the world offered the requisite, if perfunctory, condemnations. Of note, however, is the word so many Western leaders, from the White House to the Vatican, used to characterize this latest Muslim attack on Christians—”senseless”—a word that implies no motive, no goal, no rhyme, no reason.

Although Boko Haram has been bellowing its straightforward and far from “senseless” goals for a decade—enforcing Sharia law and, in conjunction, subjugating if not eliminating Nigeria’s Christians—one can see why so many are decrying the Christmas Day bombings as “senseless”: the mainstream media’s coverage offers little by way of context or continuity concerning the attacks.

Consider the New York Times‘ coverage, as reported by Adam Nossiter, in an article titled “Nigerian Group Escalates Violence With Church Attacks”:

The sect, known as Boko Haram, until now mostly targeted the police, government and military in its insurgency effort, but the bombings on Sunday represented a new, religion-tinged front, a tactic that threatens to exploit the already frayed relations between Nigeria’s nearly evenly split populations of Christians and Muslims…

This sentence is fraught with problems. For starters, Boko Haram has been terrorizing Nigerian Christians for years, killing thousands of them, and destroying hundreds of their churches. Considering that just last Christmas Eve, 2010, Boko Haram bombed several churches, killing nearly 40 Christian worshippers, the New York Times‘ characterization of these latest attacks as “represent[ing] a new, religion-tinged front” is not only unconscionable, but unprofessional.

Boko Haram—whose full name in Arabic is “People of Sunna for Da’wa [Islamization] and Jihad [Holy War]“—has, for a decade, been representing a very “religion-tinged front,” that is, anIslamic front, one that is hostile to all things non-Muslim, with Christians at the very top.

In just the last couple of months, Boko Haram has carried out attacks on dozens of other churches, bombing some, torching others. In one instance, they opened fire on a congregation of mostly women and children, killing dozens; they executed two children of an ex-terrorist because he converted to Christianity; they murdered Christian pastors in cold blood; they “went to shops owned by Christians, ordering them to recite verses from the Quran,” killing those who could not.

Just last month, hundreds of armed Muslims from Boko Haram invaded Christian villages, “like a swarm of bees,” killing, looting, and destroying. At the end of their four-hour rampage, at least 130 Christians were killed. Forty-five other Christians in another village were slaughtered by another set of “Allahu Akbar!” screaming Muslims. Hundreds of Christians are missing; thousands have fled the region.

Of course, you would not know any of this reading Nossiter’s NYT report, which asserts that Boko Haram’s attacks on Christians are somehow “new.” The report willfully refracts reality through the approved paradigm of political-correctness—a paradigm that always minimizes or ignores Muslim persecution of Christians around the world (lest it appear to “side” with Christians), while always putting the best spin on Muslim violence (lest it appear critical of Islam).

Moreover, the assertion that there are “already frayed relations between Nigeria’s nearly evenly split populations of Christians and Muslims” suggests both camps are equally hostile—even as one seeks in vain for Christian terror groups that bomb mosques in Nigeria to screams of “God is Greatest!”

The report goes on to offer more canards, including the suggestion that the Nigerian government’s “heavy-handed” response to the terrorists is responsible for their terror:

Critics of the government campaign against Boko Haram say that the effort has not only failed but has increased the sect’s appeal, because the security forces’ heavy-handed tactics have given it new sympathizers.

The NYT report even manages to insert another mainstream media favorite: the myth that poverty-causes-terrorism—this despite the acres of evidence that many of the most notorious Islamic terrorists are well educated and come from wealthy families, and that the terrorists’ Christian victims are often worse off than they. Regardless:

The sect’s attacks have been further bolstered by festering economic resentment in the impoverished and relatively neglected north, which has an exploding birthrate, low levels of literacy and mass unemployment.

In short, Boko Haram’s actions have been anything but ”senseless”: its terror campaign has seen Christians reduced in number—whether by killing them off or tormenting them into fleeing their villages—and has seen hundreds of churches eliminated. These results correspond quite well with Boko Haram’s own stated goals of creating an anti-infidel Sharia state.

“Senseless” is better reserved for the New York Times and other mainstream media that—by disinfecting, delousing, and deodorizing events until they correspond to the ideals of their writers and editorial boards—distort and lie about the truth.

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Cross posted from Middle East Forum

Muslim Persecution of Christians: November 2011

December 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Anti-Christian Violence 

The so-called “Arab Spring” continues to transition into a “Christian Winter,” including in those nations undergoing democratic change, such as Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis dominated the elections—unsurprisingly so, considering the Obama administration has actually been training Islamists for elections.

Arab regimes not overthrown by the “Arab Spring” are under mounting international pressure; these include the secular Assad regime of Syria, where Christians, who comprise some 10% of the population, are fearful of the future, having seen the effects of democracy in neighboring nations such as Iraq, where, since the fall of the Saddam regime, Christians have been all but decimated.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that “Christians are being refused refugee status [in the U.S.] and face persecution and many times certain death for their religious beliefs under Sharia, while whole Muslim communities are entering the U.S. by the tens of thousands per month despite the fact that they face no religious persecution.”

Categorized by theme, November’s batch of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed according to theme and in alphabetical order by country, not necessarily severity.

Churches

Ethiopia: More than 500 Muslim students assisted by Muslim police burned down a church, while screaming “Allahu Akbar” (and thus clearly positing their attack in an Islamic framework); the church was built on land used by Christians for more than 60 years, but now a court has ruled that it was built “without a permit.”

Indonesia: Hundreds of “hard-line” Muslims rallied to decry the “arrogance” of a beleaguered church that, though kept shuttered by authorities, has been ordered open by the Supreme Court. Church members have been forced to hold services on the sidewalk, even as Indonesia’s leading Muslim clerics warned Christians that it would be “wise and sensible” for the church to yield to “the feelings of the local believers, specifically Muslims.”

Iran: The nation’s minister of intelligence said that house churches in his country are a threat to Iranian youth, and acknowledged a new series of efforts to fight the growth of the house church movement in Iran.

Nigeria: Islamic militants shouting “Allahu Akbar” carried out coordinated attacks on churches and police stations, including opening fire on a congregation of “mostly women and children,” killing dozens. The attacks occurred in a region where hundreds of people were earlier killed during violence that erupted after President Jonathan, a Christian, beat his closet Muslim rival in April elections.

Turkey: The ancient Aghia Sophia church has been turned into a mosque. Playing an important role in ecumenical history, the church was first transformed into a mosque in 1331 by the jihadist Ottoman state. As a sign of secularization, however, in 1920 it was turned into a museum. Its transformation again into a mosque is a reflection of Turkey’s re-Islamization.

Apostasy and Proselytism

Afghanis around the world are being threatened for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity. One exile, who changed his name after fleeing Afghanistan in 2007 when an Islamic court issued an arrest warrant for his conversion, is still receiving threats: “They [Afghan officials] were very angry and saying that they will hit me by knife and kill me.” Even in distant Norway last September, an Afghan convert to Christianity was scalded with boiling water and acid at a refugee processing center: “If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you,” his attackers told him.

Algeria: Five Christians were jailed for “worshiping in an unregistered location.” International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group investigating the case, states that the five Christians are charged with “proselytizing,” “unauthorized worship,” and “insulting Islam.”

Iran: Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who caught the attention of the world after being imprisoned and awaiting execution for leaving Islam, remains behind bars as officials continue to come up with excuses to force him to renounce Christianity, the latest being that “everyone is [born] a Muslim.” A Christian couple “who had been snatched and illegally-detained” by authorities for eight months without any formal charges, were finally released, beaten again, and have since fled the country. While imprisoned, they were “ridiculed and debased” for their Christian faith.

Kashmir: Muslim police arrested and beat seven converts from Islam in an attempt to obtain a confession against the priest who baptized them. After the grand mufti alleged that Muslim youths were alternatively being “lured” and “forced” to convert by an Anglican priest “in exchange for money,” the priest was arrested in a “humiliating” manner. Recently released, his life is now “in serious danger.”

Kenya: A gang of Muslims stabbed and beat with iron rods a 25-year-old Somali refugee, breaking his teeth; he was then stripped naked, covered with dirt, and left unconscious near a church. Although he was raised Christian since age 7, he was attacked on the “assumption that as a Somali he was born into Islam and was therefore an apostate deserving of death.”

Nigeria: The Muslim militant group, Boko Haram, executed two children of an ex-terrorist and “murderer” because he converted to Christianity. When still a terrorist, he “was poised to slit the throat of a Christian victim” when “he was suddenly struck with the weight of the evil he was about to commit.” After finding he converted to Christianity, “Boko Haram members invaded his home, kidnapped his two children and informed him that they were going to execute them in retribution for his disloyalty to Islam. Clutching his phone, the man heard the sound of the guns that murdered his children.”

General Killings

Egypt: After a Christian inadvertently killed a Muslim in a quarrel begun by the latter, thousands of Muslims rose in violence, “collectively punishing” the Copts of the village. Two Christians “not party to the altercation” were killed; others were stabbed and critically wounded. As usual, “after killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian-owned homes and businesses.” Even so, “Muslims insist they have not yet avenged” the death of their co-religionist, and there are fears of “a wholesale massacre of Copts.” Many Christians have fled their homes or are in hiding.

Kenya: Suspected Islamic extremists, apparently angered at the use of wine during communion—Islam forbids alcohol—threw a grenade near a church compound killing two, including an 8-year-old girl, and critically wounding three others. The pastor of another congregation received a message threatening him either to flee the region “within 48 hours or you see bomb blast taking your life and we know your house, Christians will see war. Don’t take it so lightly. We are for your neck.”

Nigeria: In the latest round of violence, soon after mosque prayers were heard, hundreds of armed Muslims invaded Christian villages, “like a swarm of bees,” killing, looting, and destroying virtually everything in sight; at the end of their four-hour rampage, some 150 people had been killed—at least 130 of them Christians. Another 45 Christians were also killed by another set of “Allahu Akbar!” shouting Muslims who burned, looted, and killed. Hundreds of people are still missing; the attacks have included the bombing of at least ten church buildings. Nearly all the Christians in the area have fled the region.

Pakistan: A 25 year-old Christian was shot dead by “an unidentified gunman in what his family believes was a radical Muslim group’s targeting of a Christian.” According to the son, “We firmly believe that my father was killed because of his preaching of the Bible, because there is no other reason.” He began to receive threats “after voicing his desire to start a welfare organization for the poor Christians” of the region.

“Dhimmitude”

(General Abuse, Debasement, and Suppression of non-Muslim “Second-Class Citizens”)

November’s major instances of dhimmitude come from two Muslim nations notorious for violating Christian rights—Egypt and Pakistan—neither of which is even cited in the U.S. State Department’s recent International Religious Freedom report:

Egypt: Following October’s Maspero massacre, when the military killed dozens of Christians, some run over intentionally by armored vehicles, Egypt’s military prosecutor detained 34 Christians, including teens under 16, on charges of “inciting violence, carrying arms and insulting the armed forces”; many of the detainees were not even at the scene and were just collected from the streets for “being a Christian.” Three are under 16 years of age, including one who, after having an operation to extract a bullet from his jaw, was chained to his hospital bed. Hundreds of Christians also came under attack from Muslims throwing stones and bottles, after the Christians protested against the violence at Maspero: “Supporters of an Islamist candidate for upcoming parliamentary election joined in the attack on the Copts.” Meanwhile, a senior leader of the Salafi party, which came in second after the Muslim Brotherhood in recent elections, blamed Christians for their own massacre, calling “Allah’s curse on them.” Muslim Brotherhood leaders asserted that only “drunks, druggies, and adulterers” are against the implementation of Sharia—a clear reference to Egypt’s Christians.

Pakistan: A new U.S. government commission report indicates that Pakistani school textbooks foster intolerance of Christians, Hindus, and all non-Muslims, while most teachers view religious minorities as “enemies of Islam.” “Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful,” notes the report. Accordingly, in an attempted land-grab, Muslim police and cohorts of a retired military official, beat two Christian women with “batons and punches,” inflicting a serious wound to one of the women’s eyes after the women spoke up in defense of their land, and shot at Christians who came to help the women. “In the last few years Muslims have made several attempts to seize the land from the Christians, usually succeeding because Christians are a marginalized minority.” Likewise, under a “false charge of theft,” a Christian couple was arrested and severely beaten by police; thepregnant wife was “kicked and punched” even as her interrogators threatened “to kill her unborn fetus.” A policeman offered to remove the theft charges if the husband would only “renounce Christianity and convert to Islam.”

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Cross posted from the Middle East Forum.

Cigarettes, statistics, and Islam

December 6, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
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It is no secret that an irrefutable link exists between lung cancer and cigarette smoking. Empirical studies supporting the link were published beginning 50 years ago. In 1964 the Surgeon General of the United States wrote a report about the dangers of cigarette smoking, and in 1965 Congress passed a law requiring every pack of cigarettes sold in the USA to have  a warning label on its side stating “Cigarettes may be hazardous to your health.” Then in 1984 Congress passed a new law requiring even more explicit warning labels, including “Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy” and “Smoking by pregnant women may result in fetal injury, premature birth, and low birth weight.”

Earlier this year the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an even more agressive campaign against smokers including new, bold warnings for cigarette packs. The FDA determined such a bold move was required to to bring public awareness to an issue that was causing far too many preventable deaths yearly.

How does the FDA justify such a bold move? Data. Evidence.

For example, the Centers for Disease control has stated unequivocally that smoking causes cancer. Not “may” cause cancer. Another report states that for all death caused by lung cancer, in 90% of men and 80% of women smoking was the culprit responsible for the cancer and death. The Surgeon General in 2004 released a report on the dangers of smoking. And yet another article has the audacity to claim “tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally.”

What does this have to do with Islam?

If the authorities require warning labels on cigarettes because of the irrefutable link between smoking and serious health consequences including death, the same authorities should require warning labels on the Qur’an, because there exists an irrefutable link between the Koran and Islamic terrorism and violence.

Not everybody who smokes cigarettes develops cancer. Likewise, not everyone who reads the Koran becomes radical or violent. Statistics show, however, a direct connection between those Muslims who are violent radicals and the Koran. Indeed, the radicals claim justification for their actions by citing verses from Islam’s holy book. Indeed, ninety-five percent or more of the terrorism committed in the last 20 years has been at the hands of radical Muslims, and one hundred percent of those used the Koran as justification. Statistics, those stubborn facts that demonstrate reality, though unpleasant to some, must be faced squarely and dealt with.

Dawah is the Islamic word for proselytism, or inviting others into the fold of Islam. In his 1992 book “The Dawah Program Towards Establishing The Kingdom of Allah,” Shamim Sidiqqi quotes the Koran. Noteworthy is the fact that, despite arguments from CAIR and its ilk, Mr. Sidiqqi does not attempt to contextualize the Koran and relegate its violent verses to a 7th century context, but believes all of the Koran is relevant for today. He quotes Sura 9:111 which says

Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight  in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise  that is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the  Qur’an. Who fulfilleth  His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the  supreme triumph.

Is Mr. Sidiqqi taking verses out of context, a claim made by Muslim apologists when confronted with violent verses in the Koran that call for slaying infidels and unbelievers? Not at all. In fact, while referencing Koran 61:9 and 9:33, he says

Dawah Ilallah is not an end in itself as many Muslim have  misconstrued. Dawah is the first step. It must be carried out  to its logical conclusion. It will end only when Allah’s Deen  becomes dominant on this earth in its totality and the  forces  of Kufr and Shirk (disbelievers and idolaters) are subservient  to it. This was the mission of Prophet Muhammad (S). He  and his companions did it in their lifetime. We are now to do  it as our obligation in our lifetime. The Qur’an has emphasized this mission of Rasulullah (S) in Chapters  – AlTauba, Al-Saf and Al-Fath: “He it is Who hath sent His messenger with Guidance (Al-Huda) and the religion of truth  (Deen Al-Haq), that He may make it the conqueror of all  religion however, much the idolaters may  be averse.”

Is Mr. Sidiqqi’s opinion his alone, not shared by the rest of the umma, or worldwide Muslim community? Not at all. On the website of the Middle East Media Research Institute, one can find dozens, if not hundreds, of articles and video clips of Muslim religious leaders around the world calling for Muslims to wage war against infidels. Their support for such calls comes from the fact that the Koran contains over 160 verses calling on Muslims to fight those who refuse to accept Islam.  And this study shows, among other aspects of jihad, that the Koran even teaches that participation in jihad is required of every able bodied Muslim as a condition for salvation or admission to paradise.

Can peaceful verses be found in the Koran? Absolutely. But taken in context, the peaceful verses were quoted by Muhammad only when he was weak politically and militarily, early in his career as Allah’s prophet while still in Mecca. After he moved to Medina, his revelations turned from peace to violence and the Muslim community became influential politically and militarily. See this study for the context of peace and warfare in the Koran.

If the federal government is going to require warning labels on cigarette packs warning of the health risks of smoking, they need to require a similar warning label on each and every Koran sold in the United States stating “Warning: Reading this book may lead to uncontrollable fits of violence and rage, up to and including death, against anyone who disbelieves its message.” Consistency requires it. The link is undeniable.

Muslims Use Taqiyya to Deceive Non-Muslims About Islam

November 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
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by Clare Lopez, from RadicalIslam.org

The Arabic word Taqiyya means “deceit” or “dissimulation.” Unlike the Christian or Jewish religions, Islam not only permits its believers to lie but actually commands it in some circumstances. For the most part, Muslims are not supposed to lie to one another; but, exceptions are made for smoothing over differences between friends (“He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar,” Bukhari vol. 3:857 p.533.), lying to one’s wife, and lying in warfare. (Recall: Muhammad himself said, ‘War is deceit,” Bukhari vol. 4:267 and 269)

Lying to non-Muslims, though, is another matter. In fact, Islam permits Muslims to lie anytime they perceive that their own well-being, or that of Islam, is threatened. Taking it a step further, if there is an objective to be achieved that is desirable in Islam, then it is permissible for Muslims to lie in order to achieve that objective. The book of Islamic law, Reliance of the Traveller (or the ‘Umdat al-Salik), states on pg. 746: (more…)

All American Muslim: Taqiyya, pure and simple

November 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
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By Clare Lopez, reposted from RadicalIslam.org

America’s answer to the Canadian CBC TV series, “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” premiered at The Learning Channel (TLC) on 13 November 201l: “All-American Muslim” is airing as an 8-part series styled as a kind of faux-reality show and follows members of five Shi’ite Muslim families of Lebanese descent in Dearborn, Michigan.

The idea is to show that these Muslims are just like any other Americans and to dispel what TLC terms “misconceptions, conflicts and differences they face outside — and within — their own community. . . .” Misconceptions about Islam do, in fact, abound; but it is not likely that “All-American Muslim” will do much to clarify how Islamic supremacism and violence against non-believers derive directly from the doctrine, law, and scriptures of Islam itself.

That every Muslim believer does not behave in conformance with such fundamental tenets of the faith is obvious and to be acknowledged with relief. Unfortunately, though, television shows that gloss over the reality of Islamic ideology not only obscure the full truth about Islam from non-Muslims who then remain unprepared to defend against its hostile elements, but also leave no space for Muslims who themselves oppose jihadist terrorism, inequality between Muslims and non-Muslims, misogyny, honor killings, the apostasy death penalty, and vicious hudud punishments. (more…)

Muslim Persecution of Christians, October 2011

November 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Anti-Christian Violence, Islam 
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Egypt’s Maspero massacre—where the military killed dozens of Christians protesting the destruction of their churches—dominates October’s persecution headlines. Facts and details concerning the military’s “crimes against humanity” are documented in this report, and include videos of armored-vehicles running over civilians, a catalog of lies and deceitful tactics employed by Egypt’s rulers and state media, and other matters overlooked by the West.

More damning evidence continues to emerge: not only did Egypt’s military plan to massacre Christians to teach them a “lesson” never to protest again, but “death squads” were deployed up buildings the night before to snipe at protesters. Instead of trying the soldiers who intentionally ran-over demonstrators, the military has been randomly arresting Copts simply “for being Christian.” Finally, the fact-finding commission of Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights just submitted its report which, as expected, “white washes” the military’s role, “asserting that no live ammunition was fired on the protesters by the military, as the army only fired blanks in the air to disperse the protesters,” a claim eyewitnesses reject out of hand.

Meanwhile, not only are Western governments apathetic, but it was revealed that “Obama’s top Muslim advisor blocks Middle Eastern Christians’ access to White House.” Newt Gingrich asserted that Obama’s “strategy in the Middle East is such a total grotesque failure” and likened the “Arab spring” to an “anti-Christian spring.” Ann Widdecombe accused the British government of “double standards in its threats to cut aid to countries which persecute gay people while turning a blind eye to persecution against Christians.” Even Christian pastors in the West, apparently more concerned about promoting interfaith dialogue with Muslims, are reluctant to mention persecution to their flock

Categorized by theme, the rest of October’s batch of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is hardly limited to) the following accounts, listed according to theme and in alphabetical order by country, not necessarily severity.

Churches

Afghanistan: Ten years after the U.S. invaded and overthrew the Taliban—at a cost of more than 1,700 U.S. military lives and $440 billion in taxpayer dollars—the State Department just revealed that Afghanistan’s last Christian church was destroyed. The report further makes clear that the Afghan government—installed by the U.S.—is partially responsible for such anti-Christian sentiments, for instance, by upholding apostasy laws, which make it a criminal offense, punishable by death, for Muslims to convert to other religions.

Indonesia: Muslims and authorities expelled Christians from their church and shut it down ”for allegedly engaging in ‘proselytizing’ in a predominantly Muslim area.” As in previous instances when churches were seized, “the fundamentalists were aided and abetted by the local administration.” Also, the Muslim behind a September church attack that left three dead confessed that he was operating under his jihad leader’s orders, “based on the Koran and Sunna.”

Kazakhstan: The Muslim majority nation enacted new laws further restricting freedom of religion: “All registered churches must now re-register with the government, and only churches meeting new criteria will be registered.” Accordingly, “police and secret police agents reportedly raided a worship meeting of the officially registered Protestant church New Life, saying that under the new Religion Law the congregation ‘cannot meet outside its legal address.’ During the raid, a 17-year old woman was hit by a policeman, leaving her unconscious.”

Sudan: Soon after President Bashir “confirmed plans to adopt an entirely Islamic constitution and strengthen sharia law,” “emboldened” Muslims, “claiming that Christianity was no longer an accepted religion in the country,” attacked Christians trying to construct a church. Likewise, authorities threatened to demolish three church buildings ”as part of a long-standing bid to rid Sudan of Christianity.”

Christian Symbols

Egypt: A Christian student was strangled and beaten to death by his Muslim teacher and fellow students for refusing to cover his cross. When the headmaster was informed of the attack in progress, he ignored it and “continued to sip his tea.” In the words of one prominent Egyptian commentator: “a teacher forced a student to take off the crucifix he wore, and when the Christian student stood firm for his rights, the teacher quarreled with him, joined by some of the students; he was beastly assaulted until his last breath left him.”

Saudi Arabia: A Colombian soccer-player “was arrested by the Saudi moral police after customers in a Riyadh shopping mall expressed outrage over the sports player’s religious tattoos, which included the face of Jesus of Nazareth on his arm…. A similar event occurred in Saudi Arabia last year when a Romanian player kissed the tattoo of a cross he had on his arm after scoring a goal, which also caused public outrage.”

Maldives: Police arrested a 30 year-old teacher from India for having a Bible and rosary, and finally deported him after a two-week interrogation. According to the principal, he “was a very good teacher, we’ve not had any complaints of him in the past.” Such cases are not aberrant: “Last year, Maldivian authorities rescued another Christian teacher from India when Muslim parents of her students threatened to throw her into the sea for ‘preaching Christianity’ after she drew a compass in class, which they alleged was a cross.”

Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism

India: A mufti summoned a Christian priest to appear before his court: according to the mufti, the priest “is involved in converting young Muslim boys and girls to Christianity. This warrants action as per Islamic law…. I will take all necessary measures in exercise of the powers vested in me by Islamic Sharia.”

Iran: Militants with suspected ties to Iranian security threatened to kill nearly a dozen evangelical Christians who fled Iran; unless they “repent and ask forgiveness” and return to Islam, they must die. Likewise, a “group of four officers engaged in a commando-style raid on the house” of a Muslim convert to Christianity, arresting him, confiscating his Bible, and “transferring him to an unknown location…. His family was also threatened to remain silent and not to talk about this incident to anyone.” Also, a Christian named “Muhammad” was arrested, interrogated “for the charge of Christianity.” And Iran’s Supreme Court has ordered the retrial of the pastor sentenced to death for refusing to renounce his Christian beliefs, partially because “Iran is feeling the pressure” of the growing international community supporting the pastor.

Pakistan: A female prison-officer assigned to provide security for Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five sentenced to death on “blasphemy” charges, beat her, “allegedly because of the Muslim officer’s anti-Christian bias, while other staff members deployed for her security looked on in silence.” A new report reveals how the nation’s legalization of blasphemy laws has given great rise to Christian persecution.

“Dhimmitude” (General Abuse, Debasement, and Suppression of “Second Class” Citizens)

Egypt: The military threatened a Coptic monastery with a “new massacre” in an attempt to demolish the monastery’s fence “which guards it from unauthorized visits and criminals.” The military has “stormed several monasteries since the January 25 Revolution, demolished fences, and fired on monks and visitors.” Also, a Christian man sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for “insulting the military” has been ordered to a mental health hospital, from which, according to some analysts, patients often emerge as “devastated human beings.”

Iraq: A new report entitled, “The double lives of Iraq’s Christian children” tells of their suffering—”If the children say they believe in Jesus, they face beatings and scorn from their teachers”—as well as the struggle of their parents. “The first years of my faith,” says a father, “I brought so many people to church, because I was motivated, so excited. Now I don’t encourage anyone to be a Christian, because in my experience it is very hard.”

France: Stone-throwing Muslims attacked Christians during a Catholic celebration, although the media largely ignored it: “it would seem that the media silence on these facts, which are occurring more and more frequently, serves to exonerate, even protect, the Muslims in their racist and anti-religious acts.”

Pakistan: Along with one dead man, “two dozen Christians including children, men and women were seriously injured” when “Muslim gangs” hired by an influential Muslim attacked them “to grab a piece of land” which the church had purchased to build an orphanage. Also, Muslim landowners raided a Christian home, beat a sick father and abducted two brothers, whom they claim are in debt; the kidnapper added an extra 70,000 rupees in ransom. “The men’s mother tried to file a report with police , who refused because one of the suspects is a fellow police officer,” not to mention also a Muslim.

Turkey: The Education Ministry in Ankara published a 10th grade textbook which distorts the role of Christian Assyrians, “denouncing them as traitors who rebelled against Turkey.” Still denying the historic slaughter of Christians, “today’s Turkish Government is not hesitant to distort historical events by inverting victim and perpetrator… About half of the Assyrian population, were killed or died from starvation or disease in a series of killings orchestrated by the Ottoman Turkish government during World War I.”

USA: A Muslim convert to Christianity was violently attacked by Muslims because of a poem “which expresses pain over the loss of six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis.” The attackers carved the Star of David on his back with a knife ”while laughing as they recited his poem.” In a separate incident, a Muslim physiotherapist “tore into” a Christian patient, saying her faith was “wrong” and had “killed more people than any other religion.” She later wrote: “I found Mr. Ali to be extremely racist against my Christian faith. I have had doctors, nurses and staff of all different religions look after me but this is the first time I’ve been treated by such a bigoted man as Mr. Ali.”

Pakistani Rape

As usual, Pakistan—which, along with Egypt, oddly missed being categorized as a “country of particular concern” in the State Department‘s recent religious freedom report—dominates the headlines regarding the sexual abuse of Christian women:

  • Kidnapped last Christmas Eve, “a 12 year-old Christian [was] gang raped for eight months, forcibly converted and then ‘married’ to her Muslim attacker.” Now that she has escaped, instead of seeing justice done, “the Christian family is in hiding from the rapists and the police.”
  • “A Christian mother of four was slaughtered by a Muslim colleague in Pakistan after she resisted his attempt to rape her at the factory where they worked.”
  • A new report asserts: “The forced conversion to Islam of women from religious minority groups through rape and abduction has reached an alarming stage… It appears today that no one, from the judiciary to the police and even the government has the courage to stand up to the threats from Muslim fundamentalist groups. The situation is worse with the police who always side with the Islamic groups and treat minority groups as lowly life forms.”

Killings

Iraq: “Two Christians were murdered in northern Iraq this week; their deaths come as three kidnapped Christians were released following the payment of a hefty ransom.” A source in Iraq laments: “The attacks on Christians continue and the world remains totally silent. It’s as if we’ve been swallowed up by the night.”

Nigeria: Months after Muslims from Boko Haram murdered a pastor, another pastor was targeted and murdered. The jihadists have “claimed responsibility for several church bombings and other attacks;” many Christians have fled the region, and some churches have shut down as many of their flock have been killed. Likewise, three Muslim soldiers, in the context of subduing civil unrest, “shot and killed a Christian mother of five” and a Christian boy, without “any justifiable reason.”

Somalia: Weeks after a convert to Christianity was beheaded, al-Shabaab, “who have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity,” decapitated another 17-year-old Christian in his home: “It is usual for the al-Shabaab to decapitate those they suspect to have embraced the Christian faith, or sympathizers of western ideals.”

About this Series

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching epidemic proportions, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of Muslim persecution of Christians that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

  1. To document that which the mainstream media does not: habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
  2. To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is ultimately rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who “offend” Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya, tribute expected from second-class citizens, or dhimmis; overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed dhimmis (second-class citizens); and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to India in the east, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Sharia, or the supremacist culture born of it.

Where are the calls for arrest? Where are the charges of war crimes? Where are the requests for these criminals to be brought to trial before the International Criminal Court or International Court at the Hague?

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Original posted at Middle East Forum

Egypt’s Massacre of Christians

November 1, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Anti-Christian Violence, Islam, Radical Islam 
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Western media coverage of the recent massacre of Coptic Christians in Cairo, Egypt—in which the military killed dozens of Christians and injured some 300—was, as discussed earlier, deplorable. It merely repeated the false propaganda of the complicit state-run media, without checking facts. Since then, further proofs of the lies and brutality surrounding the massacre have emerged; they are compiled in the following report which consists of facts and videos from Arabic sources—many of which have not appeared in the Western media.

This report documents: 1) the activities of the Supreme Military Council of Egypt and de facto ruler; 2) the lies and duplicitous tactics of both the Military Council and its media mouthpiece, Egyptian TV; and 3) the anti-Christian sentiment pervading all aspects of this incident.

The Egyptian Military

Along with a new report by Magdi Khalil asserting that the day before the planned march, a “death squad” of snipers hid atop buildings and shot at protesters, armored vehicles intentionally chased after and ran over protesters, killing and mutilating many:

  • Here is perhaps the clearest video; it shows a high-speed armored vehicle willfully plowing over unsuspecting Christian demonstrators.
  • This video shows another armored vehicle chasing protesters, and a soldier opening fire into the fleeing crowds.
  • This video shows high-speed armored cars running amok in the middle of the crowds, including chasing protesters on the curb, as well as soldiers beating protesters.
  • As for eyewitness testimonies attesting to the brutality of the massacre, they are many, and include Muslims.

The Tactics of the Military Council ( or “War is Deceit“)

After the incident and notwithstanding crushing evidence, Egypt’s Military Council held a news conference wherein senior official, Mahmoud Hegazy, spun lie after lie: he stated that the military would “never, never” run over civilians; that the very idea was “impossible,impossible!” and “Shame on those who accuse the Egyptian military of such things!… Never has our military run over a single person, not even when combating the Enemy [Israel].”

Hegazy portrayed the Christian protesters as the aggressors, attacking and killing “honorable” soldiers. To prove his point, he showed an image of a protester on top of a stalled armored vehicle, throwing a rock at the soldier inside, and a video of a military vehicle—that he claimed was hijacked by a protester—driving wildly into the crowd.

Hegazy’s deceit lies in the fact that the “hijacked” vehicle running amok, and the one stalled and attacked by a protester, were one and the same vehicle: Al Dalil revealed that both vehicles had the same identification number. In other words, when the vehicle in which a soldier was chasing and running over protesters finally stalled, the protesters then attacked it. Egypt’s leaders willfully manipulated the footage to exonerate themselves and portray the Copts as violent aggressors.

Several eye-witnesses, including Muslims, further stated that, to hide the “evidence,” they saw soldiers hurling the mutilated bodies of those run over into the nearby Nile River. Likewise, among the slain, a dead Muslim soldier, whom the military said was killed by protesters, was actually killed by friendly-fire—although there are indications that he may have died elsewhere, and his corpse thrown among the dead for show.

As Copts have long suspected, the “thugs” (al-baltagiyya) who always appear in protests attacking Christians seem to be men whom the military uses to create an excuse to open fire and exercise brutality. Muslim eyewitnesses say they saw the thugs coming with State Security: Al Dalil showed a video clip of a soldier exposed dressed as a civilian, interspersed among Coptic protesters, and other videos showing the thugs cooperating with the military.

This video might offer the greatest proof: Days before the massacre, when Copts were protesting the destruction of their latest church, around 20 Egyptian soldiers and security personnel captured a protester and mercilessly beat him (while calling him an “infidel,” to put the beating in context). Mixed among the military (camouflage uniforms) and security (black uniforms) is what appears to be a plainclothes civilian, who proceeds to stab the Christian protestor in the head with a knife several times; the victim later received 20 stitches. The plainclothesman is most likely a member of the military or security, dressed as a civilian for stealth purposes, otherwise he would not have been able to move among them so casually.

The Role of the Egyptian State Media (or “War is Deceit“)

“Egyptian TV”—demonstrating, unsurprisingly, that state-run media always serve dictatorial regimes—merely propagated the lies of the Military Council.

Even as armored vehicles were mowing down Christian protesters, Egyptian TV broadcast footage of reporters saying, “Help, the Copts are killing our heroic, patriotic soldiers and burning Qurans!” One segment on Egyptian TV had an outraged reporter condemning Christians—”as if they were the Israeli enemy”—for killing “our noble protectors [soldiers], who never once fired a single shot.” As a result, many Muslims took to the streets brutally attacking Christians and their property.

Egyptian TV also lied by saying three soldiers died at the hands of Copts: officials at the TV station later confessed to making it up. That, however, did not stop a barrage of op-eds in Egypt blaming the Christians for their own massacre.

Due to Egyptian TV’s misinformation, several Egyptian reporters unequivocally condemned it. Anchorwoman Dina Rasmi said: “I am ashamed that I work at this despicable TV channel… Egyptian TV was effectively calling for civil war between Muslims and Christians… Egyptian TV has proven that it is a slave to those who rule.” Another news anchor, Mahmoud Yousif, announced that he “washes his hands of what Egyptian TV is broadcasting.”

Anti-Christian Hate

Although it should be clear that anti-Christian sentiment fueled this latest Muslim slaughter of Christian minorities, a few specifics follow:

  • Soldiers screamed “Allahu Akbar!” (Islam’s primordial war-cry), and cursed “Infidels!” as they approached and attacked the protesters—which of course is not so unexpected when one considers that, even in olden times and in movies, the Egyptian military was called the Jihadiyya (the organization that wages holy war).
  • A video of a soldier boasting that he shot a Christian in the chest is greeted by the crowd around him with “Allahu Akbar!”
  • After the incident, Dr. Hind Hanafi, president of the University of Cairo, recommended separating wounded Christians from wounded Muslims admitted into the hospital, thereby institutionalizing religious discrimination, even in hospitals.

Conclusion

A massacre at this level never occurred during the thirty-year reign of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, and yet Mubarak is being charged with “crimes against Egyptians.” What about the Military Council? It has committed greater crimes—even though it has been in charge for less than a year. Saddam Hussein was condemned by the international community for using chemicals on his own people; where are the international community, the media, and the so-called human rights groups when it comes to a government running over its own civilians with armored vehicles and having “death squads” of snipers shooting at them?

Finally, if this report testifies to crimes against humanity, consider what it says about diplomacy: If Egyptian leadership lies and deceives to suppress its internal ”infidel” citizens—whose “crime” was to object to the continual destruction of their churches—how credible can it be to external ”infidels,” Israel and the U.S.?

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Reposted from the Middle East Forum. Original here.

Top Muslim declares all Christians ‘infidels’

November 1, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Islam, Radical Islam 
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To what extent was Egypt’s Maspero massacre, wherein the military literally mowed downChristian Copts protesting the ongoing destruction of their churches, a product of anti-Christian sentiment?

A video of Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa (or Gom’a), which began circulating weeks before the massacre, helps elucidate. While holding that Muslims may coexist with Christians (who, as dhimmis, have rights), Gomaa categorized Christians as kuffar — “infidels” — a word that connotes “enemies,” “evil-doers,” and every bad thing to Muslim ears.

After quoting Quran 5:17, “Infidels are those who declare God is the Christ, [Jesus] son of Mary,” he expounded by saying any association between a human and God (in Arabic, shirk) is the greatest sin: “Whoever thinks the Christ is God, or the Son of God, not symbolically — for we are all sons of God — but attributively, has rejected the faith which God requires for salvation,” thereby becoming an infidel.

Gomaa then offered a hypothetical dialogue between Christians and Muslims to illustrate Islam’s proper position:

Christians: You have the wrong idea about us; we don’t worship the Christ.

Muslims: Okay, fine; we were under the wrong impression — but, by the way: “Infidels are those who declare God is the Christ, son of Mary.”

Christians: But these are philosophical matters that we are unable to explain.

Muslims: Okay, fine; God is one—but, by the way: “Infidels are those who declare God is the Christ, son of Mary.”

As a graduate of and long-time professor at Al Azhar university and Grand Mufti of Egypt (a position second in authority only to Sheikh Al Azhar), Ali Gomaa represents mainstream Islam’s — not “radical Islam’s” or “Islamism’s” — position concerning the “other,” in this case, Christians. Regardless, many in the West hail him as a “moderate” — such as this U.S. Newsarticle titled “Finding the Voices of Moderate Islam“; Lawrence Wright describes him as “a highly promoted champion of moderate Islam”:

He is the kind of cleric the West longs for, because of his assurances that there is no conflict with democratic rule and no need for theocracy. Gomaa has also become an advocate for Muslim women, who he says should have equal standing with men.

How does one reconcile such sunny characterizations with reality? The fact is, whenever top Muslim authorities like Gomaa say something that can be made to conform to Western ideals, Westerners jump on it (while of course ignoring their more “extreme” positions). It is the same with Gomaa’s alma mater, Al Azhar, the “chief center of Islamic and Arabic learning in the world.”

MEMRI, for instance, recently published a report titled “The Sheikh of Al Azhar in an Exceptionally Tolerant Article: Christianity, Judaism Share Basic Tenets of Islam.” Of course, the day after this report appeared, this same sheikh — Islam’s most authoritative figure — insisted that the American ambassador wear a hijab when meeting him: just as Muslim “radicals” compel Christian girls to wear the hijab, “moderate” Al Azhar compels U.S. diplomats.

In short, yes, many religions “share basic tenets,” but they are secondary to the differences, which are more final and define the relationship. Or, to put it in Ali Gomaa’s paradigm: Fine, Christianity and Islam have commonalities — but, by the way: “Infidels are those who declare God is the Christ, son of Mary.”

The fact is, this Quranic verse is as much a cornerstone of Islam’s view of Christianity as the unity of God and Christ is a cornerstone of Christianity, articulated some 1700 years ago in the Nicene Creed. The issue is clear cut for all involved.

Accordingly, how can one fault Gomaa? As Grand Mufti, he is simply being true to Islam’s teachings. Indeed, his consistency is more commendable than the equivocations of Western ecumencalists who, by falling over themselves to assure Muslims that they all essentially believe in the same things, demonstrate, especially to Muslims, that they believe in nothing.

Incidentally, if Gomaa upholds the plain teachings of the Quran concerning who is an infidel, is it not fair to assume he also upholds the Quran’s teachings on how to confront them, as commanded in Quran 9: 29: “Fight … the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] until they pay the Jizya [tribute] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” Of course, prudent Muslims, undoubtedly like Gomaa himself, know that now is not the time to talk openlyabout such things.

Either way, here is another reminder of how Quranic verses and terms that Western people brush aside as arcane or irrelevant have a tremendous impact on current events — such as Egypt’s Maspero massacre: For the same word Gomaa, the nation’s Grand Mufti, used to describe Christians is the same word Muslim soldiers used when they opened fire on and ran over Christian Copts; the same word twenty Muslim soldiers used as they tortured a protesting Christian; and the same word Muslims hurled at Christians during the funeral procession for their loved ones slain at Maspero: Infidel.

Raymond Ibrahim, author of The Al Qaeda Reader, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Reposted from the Middle East Forum. Original here.

Germany silencing criticism of Islam

October 28, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Islam, Politics 
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The German government is now actively seeking out those who openly criticize Islam or speak out against the ideology and attempting to silence such critics. An article published on September 27, 2011 suggested this action may be forthcoming. It is now a reality.

Yesterday morning, a man I know in Germany who is an apostate from Islam and now openly warns others of the evil of Islam had his personal computer and hard drives seized by German authorities. Here is his story in his own words:

Dear friends,

On Thursday morning Oct. 27 2011 the German Federal Police knocked on my door to search my home for evidence about spreading hate threat and racism against Muslims.

They accused me of spreading diffamatory documents and articles about Islam and spreading hate threat against a religious minority.

They confiscated my PC and hard drives and questioned me for a couple of hours.

Because the language of my website is English they were very suspicious and didn’t want to believe there was no hate threat or racism on the site.

They had to organize a sworn English-German interpreter which took a lot of time. Because of this bullying I refused to speak German and only spoke English pretending this was more convenient to me.

They were trying to tell they had enough evidence that with my actions on Facebook and on my website I was insulting the Muslim community and insulting Islam as a religion, mind you, without any knowledge of Islam.

Since Islam is a “religon of peace”, complaints had been coming in from the Muslim Community in my home town.

Using my own website by just clicking on the right articles and help of my interpreter I tried to convince them of my integrity.

These were the links I used:

http://apostates.weebly.com/verses-of-violence.html
http://apostates.weebly.com/violent-hadith.html
http://apostates.weebly.com/hatred-terror-and-intolerance-in-the-quran.html

To convince them I’m not racist at all was very easy because of my background and my Jewish soul.

Being born in the far East form Indonesian parents, it was very easy to propound this. I don’t even look like an “Übermensch” or Aryan with blond hair and blue eyes.

Nevertheless the German Fed have filed an accusation for the earlier mentioned allegations.

I picked up my PC this morning and I thanked the Fed for copying my drives and installing spy ware on my PC.

Just have to wait now for my appearance in court. This will take a long time though.

A couple thoughts come to mind.

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something some time in your life.” – Winston Churchill

‎”No belief system or set of ideas, be they religious, scientific, philosophical, political or otherwise, should be protected from open honest criticism.” – Amil Imani, former Muslim

The Third Terrorist by Jayna Davis, Forward by David Shippers

October 25, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Politics, Terrorism 
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On the morning of April 19, 1995, my tranquility and feelings of security were demolished in one horrific explosion. I, together with millions of other Americans, watched in torment, as what had once been the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, collapsed into a mass of smoking ruins. I listened intently to the reports of an obvious terrorist bombing in the United States. My eyes filled with tears as the images of dead children and bloody victims appeared on the television screen.

Along with many other citizens, my suspicions initially focused on a possible Middle Eastern connection. The bombing and murder of innocents was a classic operation of Arab terrorists, and the method conformed to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York and the attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Those suspicions were later buttressed when it was learned that the FBI was looking for several Middle Eastern men-in particular, an individual known as “John Doe 2.” A sketch of that individual was distributed throughout the media and an all-points bulletin went out calling for his apprehension. Then, within a week, the entire objective of the investigation changed dramatically and without explanation.  (more…)

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