The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."
The protesters were quickly ushered out of the service
As thousands of
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Times Square earlier in the day
for "Palestinian Land Day," they took their protest to the Easter Vigil
service at St. Patrick's cathedral in New York City on Saturday evening.
During the second reading, chants of "Free, free Palestine" could be heard ringing out during the service.
The protesters were quickly taken out of the service moments after, as many in attendance did not acknowledge the outburst.
St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
All over the world, millions gathered Saturday to protest the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a call for
prayer for peace in the Middle East and an end to the Israel-Hamas war
in a statement before the start of Holy Week.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
"As the Church enters Holy Week
and Christ’s suffering on the cross and his resurrection are made
present to us so vividly, we are connected to the very source of hope,"
the statement said.
Since the start of the war in Israel, the
USCCB has consistently issued calls for peace, prayer, fasting and the
release of hostages captured by Hamas. The conference has also decried
the deaths of civilians.
"Thousands
of innocent people have died in this conflict, and thousands more have
been displaced and face tremendous suffering," the bishops said. "This
must stop."
Fox News Digital's Christine Rousselle contributed to this report.
Israel is bracing for intensifying demonstrations this week after Saturday night saw one of the largest anti-government gatherings since Oct. 7.
Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held
in the Gaza Strip and against the current Israeli government outside
Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, March 30, 2024. Photo by Miriam
Alster/Flash90.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators calling
for early elections and the release of the hostages being held by Hamas
in the Gaza Strip took to the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities
across Israel on Saturday night in one of the country’s largest protests
since the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre.
For the first time since 253 people were
abducted during the Hamas-led attack on the northwestern Negev, some of
the families of the 134 hostages remaining in Gaza announced that they
will be joining the anti-government protests.
, you agree to receive emails from JNS and allied pro-Israel organizations.
Demonstrators
protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza
Strip and against the current Israeli government outside Hakirya Base in
Tel Aviv, March 30, 2024. Photo by Itai Ron/Flash90.
In the nearly six months since Hamas’s
bloody invasion of southern Israel, regular rallies have been held at a
public plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, organized by a
group representing the families of hostages. The plaza was renamed
Hostage Square. These rallies were separate from demonstrations against
the right-wing and religious government led by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu that have been taking place in a diminished form since the
terrorist attack.
However, Eli Elbag, father of hostage Liri
Elbag, 19, said on Saturday night it would be the last time a separate
protest was held at Hostage Square.
“This is the last Shabbat that we’ll be here,” said Elbag, as quoted by The Times of Israel. “We won’t meet here anymore, we will be in the streets…this is the moment where we turn off the lights.”
His daughter Liri was kidnapped from the
Nahal Oz military post, where she was serving as a spotter, alongside
Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa, Karina Ariev and Agam Berger.
During the Hamas-led attack, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, and thousands of others were wounded.
A giant screen in Hostage Square called on
the rallies to join the larger anti-government protests: “Come with us
to Begin [Street] and Dizengoff Street to make our shouts heard. All of
them, now!”
Sixteen people were arrested during the
anti-government protest in Tel Aviv for blocking roads and violating
public order, according to police, who used water cannons to disperse
the demonstrators.
Police
clash with demonstrators during a protest for the release of Israeli
hostages held in the Gaza Strip and against the current Israeli
government in Jerusalem, March 30, 2024. Photo by Chaim
Goldberg/Flash90.
Protesters also clashed with police in
Jerusalem, where some 200 people broke through barriers to protest near
Netanyahu’s residence. Protesters were also detained in the seaside town
of Caesarea for blocking roads close to Netanyahu’s private home. The
demonstrators called for the prime minister to resign in a familiar
chant heard during the judicial reform protests in the months preceding the Oct. 7 attack.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of Hamas
captive Matan Zangauker, in a speech on Saturday night in Jerusalem
called Netanyahu an “obstacle” to a hostage deal.
On Saturday, the Israel Business Forum,
which includes around 200 heads of businesses, announced that workers
would be able to attend the Jerusalem rally to “participate in the
democratic act.” A “tent city” was set up across from the Knesset in the
capital’s Givat Ram neighborhood, where this week nightly rallies will
take place against the government and in support of the hostages’
release.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a
group representing relatives of the captives, called for a deal as soon
as possible in a tweet on Saturday.
“We need you with us. A deal is possible. No more delays, no more excuses. We want our family back. #bringthemhomenow,” the post read.
For his part, Netanyahu on Friday greenlit
trips to Cairo, Egypt and Doha, Qatar for the Israeli delegation to
continue indirect truce talks with Hamas brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
“Pursuant to reports on the negotiations
for the release of the hostages, it should be clarified that Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with the Director of the Mossad
and the Director of the [Israel Security Agency], and has approved the
next round of talks—in the coming days—in Doha and Cairo, with
guidelines for moving forward in the negotiations,” according to a
statement release by the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a Cabinet meeting at the Kirya
military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Dec. 24, 2023. Photo by Miriam
Alster/Flash90.
Truce talks will resume in Cairo on Sunday, according to reports. A Hamas official told Reuters that the terrorist group would wait to hear from mediators in Cairo before responding.
The negotiations in Doha
collapsed last week after Hamas told mediators that it was sticking to
its demands for a “permanent ceasefire,” hours after praising the
passing of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a temporary
halt to fighting in Gaza.
Israel “did not respond to any of the
basic demands of our people and our resistance [Hamas]: a comprehensive
ceasefire, withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced
and a real exchange of prisoners,” the terror group said.
The terrorist organization further claimed
that “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his extremist government
bear full responsibility for thwarting all negotiation efforts and
obstructing reaching an agreement so far.”
Jerusalem has dismissed the terror group’s
demands, which also include an Israeli military withdrawal from the
coastal enclave, a return of displaced Gazans and the release of
hundreds of terrorists from Israeli prisons, as “delusional.”
“Israel will not submit to the delusional
demands of Hamas, and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of
the war: to release all the abductees, to destroy the military and
governmental capabilities of Hamas and to ensure that Gaza will no
longer pose a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Canada is experiencing an unprecedented spike in antisemitic incidents
Antisemitism in Canada has reached soaring levels as the country’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces intense criticism for capitulating to anti-Israel activists and abandoning the Jewish state.
A
survey of some statistics of outbreaks of antisemitism shows what is
expected to be an unprecedented spike in Jew-hatred in Canada when the
full data is released in the summer. A March 18 report from the police
in Canada’s largest city, Toronto, showed that of the 84 registered hate
crimes in 2024, a startling 56% of the crimes were animated by
antisemitism. Jews make up approximately 1.4% of the country's
population.
In February, Toronto experienced the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the last three years.
In
November, a Montreal synagogue and Jewish center were firebombed. Shots
were also fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal in the same month as
the arson attack. A suspected arson attack on a Jewish-owned grocery
store in Toronto took place in January. The antisemitic slogan "Free
Palestine" was scrawled on the rear doors of the business. Assaults
targeting Jews have also unfolded across Canada.
People
attend Canada's Rally for The Jewish People at Parliament Hill in
Ottawa. Over 20,000 individuals participated in Canada's Rally for The
Jewish People at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The event was
organized by UJA (United Jewish Appeal), which aims to uphold and
enhance the quality of Jewish life in Greater Toronto, Canada, Israel,
and globally through philanthropic efforts, volunteer work, and
professional leadership. It also shows support for Israel, fights
antisemitism, and calls for the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
(Photo by Shawn Goldberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Richard
Marceau, Vice President, External Affairs and General Counsel, Centre
for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada, told Fox News
Digital, "Canada’s Jewish community has not only been grieving the
horrific October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas, but we are also
worried — for good reason," he said.
"For the past six months, the community has been under siege, confronting levels of antisemitism
unseen since the Holocaust that has manifested in firebombings of
synagogues, community centers and Jewish-owned businesses; shootings and
bomb scares at Jewish schools; harassment of community members;
intimidation of Jewish students and faculty on campus; cheerleading of
Hamas by unions; and many other hateful iterations."
Marceau
continued that "antisemitism isn’t solely a Jewish problem, and we need
everyone to stand against this toxic hate. Governments need to implement
safe access zones around Jewish institutions and introduce online hate
legislation; law enforcement needs to protect Jewish community members
and institutions and manage rowdy anti-Israel protest crowds that spew
hate-filled vitriol and glorify terrorists; schools and businesses need
to better tackle antisemitism as soon as it manifests."
Pro-Palestinian
protesters gather outside Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogue
hosting 'Israeli Real Estate Event' in Thornhill, north of Toronto,
Ontario on March 7, 2024. (Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty
Images)
When approached by Fox News
Digital about the criticism that Canada has failed to combat
antisemitism and contributed to the rise in the world’s oldest hatred by
stopping arm sales to Israel during its existential war against Hamas,Laurent
de Casanove, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Trudeau said, "Our
government is taking very seriously the rise in antisemitism and other
forms of hate."
He continued, "We have put forward a number of key
measures, from holding the first-ever national summit on antisemitism
to making historic investments in combating racism and hate. We invested
an initial $5.6 million (Canadian dollars) for the creation of the
office of a special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and
combating antisemitism to push back against religious discrimination,
hateful rhetoric, and racism at home and abroad."
Canadian
PM Justin Trudeau addresses local Liberal Party supporters at a private
fundraiser organized in the Edmonton Convention Center, on August 26,
2023, in Edmonton, Canada.(Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Trudeau’s
spokesperson continued that "Last fall, we also appointed Ms. Deborah
Lyons, a respected diplomat with 25 years of experience, as Canada’s
Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting
Antisemitism to lead efforts on that front at home with communities and
around the world, adding a continued support of $1.2 million. In
addition, we launched in January a ‘Building Community Resilience’ call
to action to empower communities by facilitating events that strengthen
connections, foster unity, build resilience. We’re also currently
working to soon launch Canada’s first-ever Action Plan on Combatting
Hate."
People
gather to stage a demonstration for Palestinians in Ottawa, Canada, on
November 25, 2023. (Photo by Kadri Mohammmed/Anadolu via Getty Images)
De
Casanove declined to answer questions about Trudeau pulling the plug on
arms sales to Israel and whether anti-Zionism, the view that Israel
should be abolished, is an expression of modern antisemitism.
Casey Babb,
who teaches courses on terrorism and international security at the
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, told Fox News
Digital, "Antisemitism in Canada is as bad as it's been in
three-quarters of a century, and what's been fueling these successive waves of antisemitism over the last number of years — long before October 7 — is anti-Zionism."
He
continued, "While it is well-known that Jew-hatred comes from a variety
of ideological backgrounds, it is most acute in Canada within the
country's Arab population and the far-left, which is precisely why
decision makers here have done so little to address it: They'd rather
Jews feel vulnerable and unsafe than offend groups of people which are
either off-limits politically or who represent potential votes. Because
of this — because there is no political or social will to address these
things — we've seen a sort of Hamasification of Canadian society."
Antisemitism dressed up as “family friendly!” If you’re questioning what a protest about a war in the Middle East has to do with Purim, the answer is “nothing.” Our question is how many condemnations we’ll hear about this obvious Jew hatred. We hope the answers aren’t the same. pic.twitter.com/ewXjRTiCKM
Babb said that "we've seen pro-Palestinian protesters call for the
erasure of Jews from Israel, and we have groups like Samidoun, a
registered Canadian not-for-profit with a direct link to a listed
terrorist entity, operate with impunity here. Frankly, it's hard to
describe the moral decay we're seeing here."
The German government outlawed the
pro-Palestinian NGO Samidoun after the Hamas massacre on October 7 of
1,200 people in southern Israel because of claims that the group aids
Palestinian terrorists.
Babb said that "decision makers in Canada have signaled to Hamas,
other terrorist organizers, and the countless thousands of supports and
sympathizers they have in this country, that not only does terrorism
work — but that Israel isn't allowed to win a war — a war which was
forced upon them in the most sadistic manner possible. From calling for a
ceasefire almost immediately after Israel started making gains, to
funding UNRWA again despite its perverse terrorism problem, to pulling
arms sales to Israel when they need it most, the elite in Canada have
made it clear which side they're on."
UNRWA is an acronym for the scandal-plaguedUnited
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East. Israel accused UNRWA employees of participating in the October 7
massacre. The United States government suspended funding to UNRWA after
pumping $1 billion into the agency since 2021.
Emily
Schrader, an Israeli-American human rights activist who campaigns
against antisemitism, told Fox News Digital, "I’m alarmed and appalled
by the sharp rise in blatant antisemitism in Canada. This is the
byproduct of weak government policies that refuse to defend the liberal
values that make Canada a freedom-loving and human rights-respecting
democracy. For years, Canada has allowed foreign interference and the
unchecked immigration of individuals associated with terrorist groups
like the IRGC, and they have used the very values of liberal democracy
to undermine it."
Schrader added, "Trudeau’s publicity stunt
catering to these radicals by stopping arms sales to Israel, as well as
his support for UNRWA, emboldens the supporters of terrorist
organizations and gives a green light to continue this campaign of
antisemitism throughout Canada as well. Combating extremism requires
deterrence — Trudeau is instead rewarding them and their thuggish
bullying tactics."
Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal.
"[One of the Muslims] shouted that no Christian in the area should be left alive." — morningstarnews.org, February 6, 2024 - Pakistan.
Her family immediately went
to police, who told them not to go public, and that they would help
return Irene.... In early February, however, the family finally did go
public -- and hinted that the authorities were complicit in the
abduction and know exactly where she is. — copticsolidarity.org,
February 292, 2024 - Egypt.
Muslim terrorists launched raids on several Christian villages.
They murdered 23 people—six were burned alive—wounded 10 and abducted
five more, along with setting 28 homes on fire. — persecution.org,
February 21, 2024 - Nigeria.
[A] Nigerian cleric asserted that, because Nigeria's First Lady,
Oluremi Tinubu, is Christian, she should be put to death. —
naijanews.com, February 22, 2024 - Nigeria.
"[One of the Muslims] shouted that no Christian in the area should be left alive." — morningstarnews.org, February 6, 2024 - Pakistan.
"...[T]hese pernicious laws... are deeply entrenched in Islamic
Sharia law, and the determination to abolish them is lacking in a
radicalized nation." — Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for the British Asian
Christian Association, britishasianchristians.org, February 26, 2024 - Pakistan.
"He replied to me that he was acting in the name of Allah because
it was not normal to have statues and that he had come to correct
that." — charentelibre.fr, February 2, 2024 - France.
On February 9 — a Friday, when Muslims assemble at mosques
and get riled against "infidels" — Islamic State militants torched
several churches and Christian homes in Cabo Delgado Province. Pictured:
Burned and damaged huts in the village of Aldeia da Paz outside
Macomia, Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique on August 24, 2019. On August
1, 2019, the village was attacked by an Islamist group. (Photo by Marco
Longari/AFP via Getty Images)
The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of February 2024.
The Abduction, Rape, and Forced Conversion of Christian Girls
Egypt: On Jan. 22, Irene Ibrahim Shehata, a 21-year-old medical student at Asyut National University, disappeared
between midterm exams. Her family immediately went to police, who told
them not to go public, and that they would help return Irene; the family
complied. In early February, however, the family finally did go public
-- and hinted that the authorities were complicit in the abduction and
know exactly where she is. Their fears appeared confirmed: in late
February, her family learned that the religion field on Irene's ID had
been electronically changed
from Christian to Muslim. Weeks before that, Irene had managed to make a
desperate, tearful call to her brother, before a man seized the phone
and said, "Okay, you heard her voice and know she's okay, right? Now go
to hell!" and slammed down the phone. According to one source familiar with the case (name withheld for fear of reprisals),
"Her brother heard her screaming, someone was yelling at
her, and then the call ended. It seems that she used his phone without
his permission. This was a great piece of evidence that she was
kidnapped."
The family then began its own investigation, but when they contacted
police with the information they had gathered, "The police officers
threatened to arrest the family if they tried to rescue her and warned
them that the kidnappers are armed." As of mid-February, authorities
"concluded" that Irene was never abducted but had rather run off with a
Muslim man and had willingly converted to Islam. As her father said
in an interview, though: if Irene had intended to run off, why would
she do it in between exams, while carrying medical supplies as opposed
to travel gear? The family's experiences with the authorities, the
unnamed source concluded, are "Another way to mislead families." He
added:
"The Muslim Brotherhood Sharia Association in the Asyut
Governorate, under security cover from Asyut and Sohaj cities,
coordinated the kidnapping of Christian college student Irene Shehata."
The abduction and Islamization of Christian girls in Egypt and is well-documented in a 2020 report by Coptic Solidary, "Jihad of the Womb": Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt, which documents "the widespread practice of abduction and trafficking" of Coptic girls.
Pakistan: On Feb. 12, four Muslim men kidnapped a 10-year-old Christian girl.
Since then, Laiba Suhail was apparently compelled to convert to Islam.
The man behind the child's abduction, Shaukat Shah, "is well-known in
the area for forcibly converting children to Islam under duress,
coercing them to file court statements that they willfully converted and
later taking them from shelter homes on the pretext of giving them
religious education." According to the child's handicapped father,
"This is Shah's modus operandi. No one knows what happens
to his victims after they are handed to him. We fear that he and his
accomplices are involved in sex trafficking, and they sell these minor
girls when they see that the families are in no position to pursue the
matter further in courts."
Police, arguing that the 10-year-old "willingly" converted, have refused to help the father recover his child:
"On Feb. 15, police informed us that an application had
been filed by Laiba in the court of a magistrate in which she had
claimed that she had converted to Islam of her own free will 'after
being impressed with Islamic teachings.' We immediately went to the
court where we saw our minor daughter surrounded by several policemen.
We were not allowed to talk to her despite our repeated requests. The
police later presented her before the magistrate where she reportedly
repeated the contents of the application. She also sought to be sent to
the Dar Ul Aman [women's shelter], which the magistrate admitted...
"It is a blatant lie that my daughter has changed her faith
willingly. Whatever little religious education she has is from the
church's Sunday school. She has had no interaction with Muslims, because
she used to stay at home all day long to take care of me and her
mother."
"Laiba's case is yet another example of how sharia
[Islamic law] is invoked to undermine the age of a minor. In her
statement before the magistrate, the girl claimed that she's an adult,
but her official birth document states her age is 10 years and two
months."
The Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Nigeria: Between Feb. 16 and 19, Muslim terrorists launched raids on several Christian villages. They murdered 23 people
— six were burned alive — wounded 10 and abducted five more, along with
setting 28 homes on fire. A resident from one of the affected villages
in Kajuru county said that "The attackers were on many motorcycles, shouting 'Allah Akbar [Allah is greater].'" Another resident said "We are killed because of our faith in Jesus."
On Sunday, Feb. 18, Muslim Fulani tribesmen ambushed
six Christians as they were returning home from church. One man was
killed, three sustained gunshot wounds, and a woman was raped.
On Feb. 28, Muslims terrorized a Christian village. According to local resident, Patience Ali,
"The attackers, who we know to be Muslim bandits
terrorizing Christians in Kaduna state, attacked the Angwan Auta area of
Gonin Gora and killed two Christians. They also broke into about 10
houses belonging to Christians and kidnapped dozens of members from
these households."
According to a Feb. 15 report, Muslims killed about 200 Christians during raids on several villages in January, and then renamed the "conquered" villages with Muslim names.
On Feb. 14, while discussing this unaddressed genocide, Nigeria Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi said,
"The violent persecution and massacres in my diocese have
increased exponentially since I was appointed as bishop in 2014 and
continue to increase ... What is occurring in Benue State and elsewhere
in Nigeria is an organized, systematic and brutal cleansing of
Christians. Between November 2023 and January 2024, Nigeria has lost
over 1,000 lives to these bandits, to these Fulani terrorists, and no
arrests [have been made]."
Also in February, a Nigerian cleric asserted that, because Nigeria's
First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is Christian, she should be put to death. In
a video, he could be heard saying,
"Now, Tinubu, his wife, is an infidel (Christian). As an
infidel, she is a leader among the infidels. Allah's judgement says she
must be killed. She's a pastor... a leader of infidels (Christians);
Allah says they must be killed..."
Burkina Faso: On Sunday, Feb. 25, Muslim gunmen stormed into a Catholic church during service. They opened fire and murdered 15 Christian worshippers (12 immediately, three died later from their wounds). The report adds:
"This is just the latest in a series of atrocities blamed
on terrorist groups active in the region, some of which have targeted
Christian churches while others have involved the abduction of clergy."
Uganda: Two months after a former Muslim couple had put their faith in Christ, the parents of four young children were "slashed to death." On Feb. 2, according to the neighbor of Twaha, 38, and his 27-year-old wife, Nadiimu,
"I heard people talking and conversing loudly in Arabic
and the Lugwere language, saying that Twaha is to reap the fruits of
leaving Islam. After a few minutes, I heard loud wailing coming out of
Twaha's house."
The neighbor contacted police; when they arrived, they found the married couple's corpses "with deep cuts." The husband also had
"a swollen neck, possibly indicating strangulation." Several long
Somali swords, knives, and an axe were left at the scene of the murder,
presumably "as a warning to other Muslims considering conversion to
Christianity." The slain couple leave behind four children, aged two,
three, five, and seven.
Pakistan: On Feb. 5, six Muslim gunmen opened fire on a group
of Christians at a marketplace. A 14-year-old Christian boy, Sunil
Masih, was killed. According to the boy's uncle, who was with him at the time,
"We were talking to each other when suddenly Zaman Butt
and his accomplices ... came there on motorcycles... [One of the
Muslims] shouted that no Christian in the area should be left alive,
after which Zaman opened fire on Sunil with his pistol, hitting him in
the chest.... The other assailants also opened fire on us with their
weapons, but we managed to save ourselves by taking cover of a wall."
Another Christian youth was also shot but the bullet only grazed him. The murderers fled the scene "while hurling threats at the Christians and so far have not been arrested."
A day earlier, on Feb. 4, this same Zaman Butt, at the head of a group of intoxicated Muslims,
"attempted
to kidnap Sharoon Masih, also 15 years old, for sexual assault at
gunpoint. When Sharoon bravely resisted, he was subjected to a brutal
beating that rendered him unconscious. To intimidate the community and
deter any intervention, the assailants fired shots into the air."
It was to "avenge" himself on Sharoon's family, who had dared to
contact police, that Butt, the following day, launched his fatal
marketplace attack on random Christians, killing Sunil. Discussing this
latest murder, Asif Masih, a local church pastor, said,
"The perpetrators were known for their consistent pattern
of harassing and assaulting young Christian men in the community. They
are part of a growing local paedophile ring that is known to the police
but being ignored. Their vile depredations target the weak Christian
community because authorities ignore our pleas for help."
Juliet Chowdhry, of the British Asian Christian Association, said,
"The tragic murder of an innocent Christian teenager
could have been prevented. Fearful families, following a previous
shooting incident [on a Christian wedding and church], opted to accept a
peace deal ... fearing that the police would not provide adequate
protection if they pursued justice through the courts. It is a damning
indictment of the Pakistani law enforcement and justice system that the
perpetrators of last year's shooting incident have escalated their
violence to the extent of cold-bloodedly killing a 15-year-old. What is
even more distressing is the fact that, to date, not a single arrest has
been made."
This latest murder in the Punjab is the second in three months. On
Nov. 9, 2023, a 20-year-old Christian medical technician student, Farhan
Ul Qamar, was shot to death by a Muslim who reportdly hates Christians.
Separately, on Feb. 23, Asif Masih, a 38-year-old Christian man, was discovered in a water pond with his throat slit.
The family eventually learned that Asif's Muslim employer had killed
him and dumped his body in the water a month earlier, when the slain
man's family first started frantically searching for him, with virtually
no help from police. According to Juliet Chowdhry, Trustee for the
British Asian Christian Association,
"The murder and disposal of Mr. Masih's body in such a
cold and calculated manner by an employer or anyone with a vendetta
against non-Muslims is sadly not a new occurrence. Wealthy Muslims have
long exploited the horrific Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, a law that has
fostered one of the most despicable mindsets among sections of
Pakistan's populace. Pakistani human rights activists have tirelessly
campaigned for the removal of these pernicious laws, but they are deeply
entrenched in Islamic Sharia law, and the determination to abolish them
is lacking in a radicalized nation."
Iran: On Feb. 20, a Muslim convert to Christianity, who was exiled and imprisoned, was "found" dead
at the age of 37. Authorities claimed natural causes, namely, a heart
attack. During the Christian man's funeral, eulogist Mansour Borji,
said:
"Ebrahim's untimely death is devastating. We have
followed his case since he was arrested by the Iranian regime for going
to a house-church and for being in possession of Bibles. The Islamic
Republic of Iran had sentenced Ebrahim for 'acting against national
security', but nothing could have been further from the truth. The
freedom for everyone to have access to and possess a Bible was central
to Ebrahim's life and ministry. It was the reason he was initially
arrested and served almost seven years in prison for."
Ebrahim's experiences in Iran are not uncommon. The headline of a separate report from Feb. 19 says, "At Least 166 Christians Arrested in Iran Last Year for Their Faith."
Muslim Attacks on Freedom: Apostates, Blasphemers, and Preachers
Pakistan: A Muslim judge sentenced a Christian man to life in prison for allegedly committing "blasphemy" against Muhammad on social media. According to a Feb. 9 report,
"Fanson Shahid, 56, had been beaten in his home in Lahore
when arrested in March 2022 and tortured into confessing after he was
accused of posting a derogatory remark about the prophet of Islam in a
comment on a post that another Christian had shared, his wife said. The
phone on which the Facebook comment was made had been stolen from him in
2019, she said."
The report adds that it is only on a technicality that the accused "lucked out" and was not handed a death sentence:
"Fanson Shahid was convicted under Section 295-C of
Pakistan's blasphemy statutes, which calls for a mandatory death
sentence for derogatory comments about Muhammad, but [Justice] Chadhar
cited as a 'mitigating circumstance' that the comment was posted 'only
once.'"
Uganda: Muslims beat and torched
the home of Philemon Shuha, a 34-year-old Christian father of three,
due to his evangelical work. According to his colleague, Titus, Muslims
approached them on Jan. 30 and said,
"Why did you give out Christian literature to our people?
Have you come to kill Islam by converting our people? Today you can't
go unpunished."
Titus fled, but they managed to grab Philemon. After mobilizing a group of Christians for assistance, Titus returned:
"[W]e arrived at the scene of the incident, and the
attackers fled in different directions. We found Shuha almost lifeless
and unconscious and lying in a pool of blood. He had a deep cut on the
right side of the head near the ear and blood coming from his right
hand. He could not open his eyes."
They rushed him to a hospital. Later that night, sometime after 10:30
p.m., Titus received a phone call from Shuha's wife saying that an
arson attack on her home was in progress:
"The church members who were with me in the hospital
urgently rushed to the home of Shuha using the church van, but upon
arrival the house was on fire. We tried to put out the fire, but
unfortunately a big portion of the house had been destroyed."
South Sudan: A Muslim man beat and abandoned his wife,
a mother of seven children, for converting to Christianity during their
stay at a displaced persons refugee camp bordering Sudan. "My husband
told me, 'Why did you believe in Issa [Jesus]? You are an infidel,"
before thrashing her, Hawa Abdalla, 44, said. According to the Feb. 14 report, 2,000 of the 9,000 refugees she lives with have also been persecuted for their Christian faith:
"The Christians who are fleeing the war in Sudan are
facing persecution from Muslim refugees in both Darfur and the Wedwiel
camp in South Sudan... [T]he 2,000 refugees and internally displaced
people in Sudan who have converted to Christianity from Islam all face
the threat of persecution."
Muslim Attacks on Churches and Crosses
Mozambique: On Feb. 9 — a Friday, when Muslims assemble at mosques and get riled against "infidels" — Islamic State militants torched several churches and Christian homes in Cabo Delgado Province. The report adds
that, "although insurgents do not usually distinguish between Muslims
and Christians, they have carried out attacks against specifically
Christian communities, including cases where they separated people based
on their religion, and executed Christians."
Another report states that on Feb. 12, Islamic State militants torched a Catholic mission in the town of Mazeze. According to its priest, who managed to escape, the Muslim terrorists,
"attacked and destroyed the mission buildings,
particularly the presbytery, the church and the parish office, some of
which were recently built, but without causing human casualties.
Everything was machine-gunned, everything was razed, not even a single
item of clothing remained."
Malawi: On Feb. 9 — the same Friday — Muslims in Machinga went on a "rampage
... burning to ashes a church and a house of a church minister. The
Muslims claim Islam is under threat after Living Waters Church converted
a number of Muslims to Christianity and joined the church." The report adds that "some church members were severely beaten up and undressed..."
France: On Feb. 2 — another Friday — a Muslim man desecrated
the St. John the Baptist Church in La Couronne. He removed a large
cross from the altar and repeatedly swung it at a large statue of St.
John. It was completely destroyed and the cross badly damaged. Police
arrested the man at the scene. The parish priest, Fr. Sylvain, arrived
and questioned the man as to his actions:
"I
told him what he did really hurt. He replied to me that he was acting
in the name of Allah because it was not normal to have statues and that
he had come to correct that."
"This act has spread a lot of violence, it is extremely
painful. We feel sadness and revolt, but also a very strong feeling of
insecurity and we hope that justice will do its job to prevent the
irreparable from being committed."
The man was soon thereafter released — although he may need to undergo psychiatric treatment.
On Feb. 14, another Muslim man who had also been arrested for threatening a church and "glorifying terrorism,"
fled the hospital in which he was being treated but was rearrested on a
train platform in Paris. According to witnesses, he was heard crying "Dirty Christians, I'm going to kill you all! The first one who comes, I'll kill him; the first who speaks, I'll kill him!"
Separately, in Dordogne, four large public crucifixes
(cavalries) spread out in separate towns were defaced with references
to Islam. One cross, built in the 1800s in a village of 146 people, had
the word "Islam" and a crescent moon sprawled on it. Another had
"Allah." Yet another
was spray-painted with, "Today is the land of infidels, tomorrow the
land of Islam." Responding to this latest act of anti-Christianism and
Islamic supremacism, Quentin Marty, a Catholic farmer on whose land one
of these crosses was desecrated, said,
"It's despicable, sickening, childish... And it's a
reflection of today's society. Everyone makes fun of everything. I am
ignoring the sacrilege and I am not going to engage in hateful speech,
but those who wrote this are imbeciles who do not respect the religion
of our ancestors."
Thierry Niquot, a priest and administrator of an affected parish, said "There is no need to add fuel to the fire," and that accusing Muslims "must be avoided at all costs."
Several other churches and statues were attacked and desecrated in France throughout February (such as here and here).
Germany: Soon after 5,000 "leftist" Germans demonstrated
against the AfD, an anti-immigration political party, in the city of
Hamm, the Church of Hamm was spray-painted with the Arabic words "Allahu akbar." ("Allah is greatest"). As the Feb. 21 report points out, such is the "gratitude" the Germans received for marching against "anti-Islam" and "racism."
There were many other attacks, including arson, and desecration of churches in Germany throughout February (for instance: here, here, here, here, and here).
Italy: On Feb. 26, the Church of the Madonna in Vasto was broken into, vandalized, and plundered. According to a report,
"The perpetrators furthermore left human excrement on the
floor of the church. The parish priest expressed his shock and disgust
about this gesture of degradation and disrespect.
"It is not the first time that the churches of Vasto have been the target of vandals and petty thieves."
It is also not the first time a European church in an area with a large Muslim presence has been smeared with feces.
Lebanon: Three people, two of whom are Syrian "refugees," were arrested for vandalizing and plundering
ten churches in Mount Lebanon and Beirut. After adding that "These
arrests come after several crimes were reported at the start of the
year," the report cites that in just nine days, between Jan. 15 and 24, six churches were attacked.
Artsakh: Despite claiming that it will not desecrate ancient
Christian heritage sites in Artsakh, Azerbaijan continue to deface
churches. According to a Feb. 6 report,
"Vankasar Church, a world-renowned historical and
cultural monument, stands proudly in the ancient cradle of Artsakh, a
region marked by deep history and rich heritage....
"With deep concern, we learned about the recent malicious actions of
Azerbaijani vandals who attacked the Vankasar church. Shocking footage
has surfaced revealing that the sacred cross, a symbol of faith and
spirituality, has been removed, leaving a heartbreaking void in the
integrity of this revered relic....
"This act of vandalism represents not just an attack on stones and
mortars, but a deliberate attack on the soul and heritage of a nation.
"It is imperative that the international community mobilizes to
condemn these barbaric acts and urge Azerbaijan to respect international
conventions protecting cultural and religious sites."
Turkey: After transforming the Hagia Sophia — originally one
of Eastern Christianity's oldest and grandest cathedrals — into a
mosque, authorities have targeted yet another iconic Christian monument,
the Chora Church, for transformation into a mosque. According to a Feb.
6 report,
"The conversion of Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage
Site and a powerful symbol for the world's Orthodox Christians, sparked
an international outcry and caused an additional strain in tense ties
between Athens and Ankara. Chora Church, or Church of the Holy Savior,
is another emblematic monument listed among the masterpieces of UNESCO's
World Heritage List.... Chora Church was the first to be looted when
the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and was converted into a mosque
under Sultan Bayezid II in the early 16th century, when it was renamed
Kariye Camii and a minaret was added to the structure. The building was
designated a museum by the Turkish government in 1945."
Chora Church is set to open as Kariya Mosque for Muslim worshippers by May 2024.
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of
Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such
persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place
irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents
that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
The Tikva Forum denounced statements by some hostages' relatives calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Protesters at Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv call for the
ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the immediate release of
the hostages held in Hamas captivity, March 30, 2024. Photo by Itai
Ron/Flash90.
The Tikva Forum for Families of Hostages
has criticized calls by some hostages’ relatives on Saturday night to
join anti-government protests.
The group has been described as a
right-wing and religious alternative to the Hostages and Missing
Families Forum, the main organization representing relatives of the
hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. It consists mostly of religious Zionist
supporters of the government.
In a statement issued against the backdrop
of some hostages’ relatives announcing on Saturday evening that they
will be joining anti-government protests and demanding the resignation
of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the group said that “a
significant number of abductees’ families are shocked by the political
activity that the abductees’ families have chosen to act from this
evening.”
In addition, the Tikva Forum
demands that media outlets reporting on the matter note that “families
of abductees” is not a uniform group, and that the anti-government
protests do not represent all the families.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators
calling for early elections and the release of the hostages being held
by Hamas in the Gaza Strip took to the streets of Tel Aviv and other
cities across Israel on Saturday night in one of the country’s largest
protests since the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre.
For the first time since 253 people were
abducted during the Hamas-led attack on the northwestern Negev, some of
the families of the 134 hostages remaining in Gaza announced that they
will be joining the anti-government protests.
In the nearly six months since Hamas’s
bloody invasion of southern Israel, regular rallies have been held at a
public plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, organized by a
group representing the families of hostages. The plaza was renamed
Hostage Square. These rallies were separate from demonstrations against
the right-wing and religious government led by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu that have been taking place in a diminished form since the
terrorist attack.
However, Eli Elbag, father of hostage Liri
Elbag, 19, said on Saturday night it would be the last time a separate
protest was held at Hostage Square.
“This is the last Shabbat that we’ll be here,” said Elbag, as quoted by The Times of Israel. “We won’t meet here anymore, we will be in the streets…this is the moment where we turn off the lights.”
A giant screen in Hostage Square called on
the rallies to join the larger anti-government protests: “Come with us
to Begin [Street] and Dizengoff Street to make our shouts heard. All of
them, now!”
Einav Zangauker, the mother of Hamas
captive Matan Zangauker, in a speech on Saturday night in Jerusalem
called Netanyahu an “obstacle” to a hostage deal.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called for a deal as soon as possible in a tweet on Saturday.
“We need you with us. A deal is possible. No more delays, no more excuses. We want our family back. #bringthemhomenow,” the post read.
The Tikva Forum supports the continuation of the government’s war efforts to defeat Hamas militarily and return the hostages.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on
Sunday addressed accusations by some family members of hostages that
Netanyahu is an obstacle to an agreement with Hamas.
“The only person responsible for the
hostages not returning home is the vile Nazi Yahya Sinwar,” Smotrich
wrote, referring to the Hamas leader in Gaza and architect of the Oct. 7
attack.
האדם היחיד שאחראי לכך שהחטופים לא חוזרים הביתה הוא הנאצי השפל יחיא סינוואר. כל הלחץ הצבאי והמדיני בארץ ובעולם צריך להיות מופנה אך ורק כלפיו. כל דבר אחר פוגע בסיכוי להחזיר אותם בשלום ובמהרה הביתה ובניצחון במלחמה.
He added that “all the military and
political pressure in Israel and in the world should be directed
exclusively towards him. Anything else harms the chance of returning
them safely and quickly home and our emerging victorious in the war.”
Smotrich continued: “So too with the
demand for flexible positions on our part in the negotiations—as has
been proven time and time again, it only makes Sinwar harden his
positions even more and pushes the return of the hostages further away.”
“I call on the prime minister to stand
firm in the face of irresponsible pressures that endanger the State of
Israel and harm the goals of the war,” he said.
The antisemitic protesters also “repeatedly heckled” an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, according to the Jewish Community Relations Council.
Students hold up anti-Israel signs and Palestinian
flags at an anti-Israel protest in front of Sproul Hall at the
University of California, Berkeley, on Oct. 25, 2023. Credit: Kefr4000
via Wikimedia Commons.
Anti-Israel activists disrupted a
Berkeley, Calif. City council meeting last week, yelling antisemitic
slurs and “repeatedly” heckling an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, per
the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area.
“The agenda of the meeting included an
item on marking Holocaust Remembrance Day and funding educational
programs around this commemoration. There was nothing on the meeting
agenda about the Israel-Hamas war,” the JCRC stated.
“Demonstrators called Jews ‘Zionist pigs,’
intimidated a Holocaust survivor, stole and threw a Jewish man’s phone
toward the dais and implied city council members were being bought by
the Jewish community,” the JCRC added.
It warned that video footage it shared of the meeting contained explicit language.
At one point during the meeting, a woman
yelled, “You’re traitors to this country,” “You’re spies for Israel” and
“genocide enabler.” Another, who wore a keffiyeh, said, “You’re all racist Zionists.”
“Susanne DeWitt, an 89 year-old Holocaust
survivor who was arrested and sent to Dachau Concentration Camp at age
four, was repeatedly heckled by demonstrators as she spoke in favor of
the City of Berkeley’s Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation,” the JCRC
stated.
“A demonstrator laughed when a Jewish
parent talked about an antisemitic incident at her child’s elementary
school,” it added. “Berkeley Unified School District is currently under
federal investigation after numerous allegations of antisemitism across
its campuses.”
Susan Wengraf, a member of the city
council, said that “our meetings have been horrendous since October” and
“extremely difficult,” the J. The Jewish News of Northern Californiareported.
The paper added that some 10 pro-Israel activists and 30 anti-Israel ones attended the meeting.
“I am outraged over the hateful and deeply antisemitic behavior we saw at Tuesday’s council meeting,” stated
Jesse Arreguín, Berkeley’s 39-year-old mayor. “Heckling people
including Holocaust survivors, then co-opting its message for an
anti-Jewish agenda, threats and hate speech will not be tolerated. We
will not be intimidated.” (The JCRC thanked him.)
“Heckling a Holocaust survivor is bad
enough, but these antisemitic, Holocaust denying, Hamas supporting, city
business-disrupting protestors who are assailing people are evil and
need to be condemned as such,” stated
the Democratic Majority for Israel, an advocacy group in Washington.
“Public officials should unite in condemning their outrageous behavior.”
“This is vile. This isn’t opposition to
the actions of Israel’s government. This is explicit antisemitism. At a
city council meeting. In California. In 2024,” wrote Jeremy Burton, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston.
From civilian casualties to the use of disproportionate force.
[Pre-order a copy of David Horowitz’s next book, America Betrayed, by clicking here. Orders will begin shipping on May 7th.]
“Occupied Gaza.” Prior to October 7, there were
roughly two million Arab citizens of Israel but no Jewish citizens in
Gaza. Gazans in 2006 voted in Hamas to rule them. It summarily executed
its Palestinian Authority rivals. Hamas cancelled all future scheduled
elections. It established a dictatorship and diverted hundreds of
billions of dollars in international aid to build a vast underground
labyrinth of military installations.
So Gaza has been occupied by Hamas, not Israel, for two decades.
“Collateral Damage.” Hamas began the war by
deliberately targeting civilians. It massacred them on October 7 when it
invaded Israel during a time of peace and holidays. It sent more than
7,000 rockets into Israeli cities for the sole purpose of killing
noncombatants. It has no vocabulary for the collateral damage of Israeli
civilians, since it believes any Jewish death under any circumstances is cause for celebration.
Hamas places its terrorist centers beneath and inside hospitals,
schools, and mosques. Why? Israel is assumed to have more reservations
about collaterally hitting Gaza civilians than Hamas does exposing them
as human shields.
“Disproportionate.” We are told Israel wrongly uses
disproportionate force to retaliate in Gaza. But it does so because no
nation can win a war without disproportionate violence that hurts the
enemy more than it is hurt by the enemy.
The U.S. incinerated German and Japanese cities with disproportionate
force to end a war both Axis powers started. The American military in
Iraq nearly leveled Fallujah and Mosul by disproportional force to root
out Islamic gunmen hiding among innocents. Hamas has objections to
disproportionate violence—but only when it is achieved by Israel and not
Hamas.
“Two-state solution.” Prior to October 7, there was a
de facto three-state solution, given that Israel, the West Bank, and
Gaza were all separate states ruled by their own governments, two of
which were illegitimate without scheduled elections.
It was not Israel, but the people of Gaza and the West Bank who
institutionalized the “from river to the sea” agenda of destroying its
neighbor.
Israel would have been content to live next to an autonomous Arab
Gaza and West Bank that did not seek to destroy Israel in their
multigenerational efforts to form their own “one-state solution.”
“Ceasefire.” The so-called international community
is demanding Israel agree to a “ceasefire.” But there was already a
ceasefire prior to October 7. Hamas broke it by massacring 1,200 Jews
and taking over 250 hostages.
Hamas violated that peace because it thought it could gain leverage over Israel by murdering Jews.
Hamas now demands another ceasefire because it thinks it is no longer
able to murder more unarmed Jews. Instead, it now fears that Israel
will destroy Hamas in the way Hamas sought but failed to destroy Israel.
Did Hamas call for a cease-fire after the first 500 Jews it massacred on October 7?
“Ramadan.” Joe Biden believes that the Muslim religious holiday of Ramadan requires Israel to agree to a ceasefire.
But did either Hamas or any other Arab military ever respect Jewish—or even its own—religious holidays?
The October 7 massacre was timed to catch Israelis unaware while
celebrating the Jewish religious holidays of Simchat Torah, Shemini
Torah, and Shemini Atzeret on Shabbat.
Moreover, Hamas’s surprise attack was deliberately timed to
commemorate the earlier sneak Arab attack on Israel some 50 years
earlier.
On October 6, 1973, the Israelis were the target of a surprise attack
when celebrating the religious holiday of Yom Kippur. Arab armies also
assumed they would achieve greater surprise when attacking during their
own religious holiday of Ramadan.
So, Arab militaries fight opportunistically both during Jewish and
their own Islamic holidays. Egyptians and Syrians still boast of their
1973 surprise attack on Israel as the “Ramadan War.”
Only Westerners, not Arabs, believe there should be no war during Ramadan.
“Civilian Casualties.” Israel risks the lives of its
soldiers to prevent civilian deaths. Hamas risks the lives of its
civilians to prevent terrorists’ deaths. Israel considers it a failure,
and Hamas considers it globally advantageous when more civilians die
than its soldiers.
“Foreign Aid.” The Biden administration threatens to
cut off or slow-walk aid to Israel if it continues to retaliate against
Hamas even though they started the war. So the administration promises
to give more aid to Gaza after the October 7 Hamas massacres than it
gave to Gaza before them.
“Prisoners.” The international community that favors
Hamas, nevertheless, knows it would be safer to be a prisoner of Israel
than of Hamas. It knows women are not going to be raped in custody by
Israelis but are by Hamas. And the unarmed are more likely to be
mutilated and decapitated by Hamas than Israelis.
Is the international community more likely to charge Israel than
Hamas for war crimes because the Jewish state seeks to avoid civilian
deaths that Hamas finds useful?
