‘Climate Of Fear’: Christians Worried As Upsurge Of Islamist Attacks Continue To Shake Niger

Charisma News – “Four attacks within the last three weeks in Niger have raised the specter of a growing Islamist threat in the country.

In the latest attack on Tuesday, unidentified armed men attacked a paramilitary barracks on the outskirts of Niamey, the capital.

At the time of writing, Niger authorities have not made any announcement, but local media say there were no casualties and the attackers managed to flee.

On May 23, two suicide attacks in the north of the country targeted a military base in Agadez and a French-run uranium mine in Arlit, respectively.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) and the Signed-in-Blood Battalion (two Islamist groups active in Mali) claimed responsibility for the attacks, which left 36 dead—most of them soldiers—and threatened further violence.

Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou said the insurgents came from neighbouring southern Libya.

On June 1, more than 20 prisoners escaped from the main detention center in Niamey, the capital, following an attack that Niger authorities attributed to members of Boko Haram, an Islamist sect operating in neighbouring Nigeria.

Among the escapees was Malian-born Cheïbane Ould Hama, a suspected Islamist leader serving a 20-year prison sentence for the murder of four Saudis in 2009. Hama is known for his involvement in the assassination of William Bultemeier, a U.S. military liaison officer, in Niamey in December 2000 and the kidnap of Canadian-born U.N. diplomat Robert Fowler in Niger in 2009.

The recent attacks have come in the middle of the French troop withdrawal from Mali, four months after recapturing northern cities Timbuktu and Gao from Islamist insurgents.

The French-led military intervention enabled them to dismantle the militants’ main base in the Ifoghas Mountains in northeastern Mali, near the Algeria border.

A French army spokesman in Mali told media that more than 400 jihadists have been killed and 100 captured since the beginning of the operation in January. An undetermined number of militants have fled to southern Libya via Algeria and Niger, he said.

Local sources say the upsurge in attacks has set a climate of fear in Niamey. Authorities have reinforced security across the capital, with checkpoints near strategic offices and areas around Western embassies.

‘The militants’ activity is a global threat that goes beyond Niger,’ Reverend Kimso Boureima, president of the Alliance of Missions and Evangelical Churches in Niger, told World Watch Monitor.” Read more.

Somalia: Christian Woman Imprisoned, Tortured By Muslim Extremists For Doing Christian Work

All Christian News – “According to reports, another Christian woman has been imprisoned recently in Somalia, where Sunni Islam is the official religion and where there is a widespread assumption that all Somalis are born Muslims.

 Apparently the woman, known only as ‘Fatima,’ was arrested on Monday, May 27, for taking part in underground Christian work for the last 10 years.

Reports say that she has been beaten, questioned and tortured by Somali authorities and the authorities say that they will keep her in prison for three months.

Fatima’s exact location is not known, and she is not allowed to use her cell phone or have any contact with anyone outside the prison.

Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991, has been experiencing continuous conflict, especially with Christians, for more than 10 years, and is reportedly the most corrupt country in the world.

With Sunni Islam being the official religion of Somalia and no official religious freedom allowed, if you’re not Muslim then you’re likely to be a target for violent attacks.

According to reports 99.7 percent of the population of Somalia, around 8 million, are Muslims with 0.3 percent being Christian.

Somali Christians have to go underground and worship in secret because Islamic radical groups, like the al-Shabab group, have openly stated that they will rid Somalia of all Christians.” Read more.

Flashback: Somalia: Muslims Gather To Watch Convert To Christianity Beheaded By Al-Shabaab Islamists – “Islamic extremists from Somalia’s rebel Al-Shabaab militants on Friday (Nov. 16) killed a Christian in Somalia’s coastal city of Barawa, accusing him of being a spy and leaving Islam, Christian and Muslim witnesses said. The extremists beheaded 25-year-old Farhan Haji Mose after monitoring his movements for six months, Christian sources said… A crowd assembled in the coastal city on Friday morning to watch the slaughter of Mose…” Read more.

Flashback: Somalia: Islamists Again Behead Another for Leaving Islam and Converting to Christianity – “Hungry minority Christians in Somalia faced another struggle Sunday, September 18, after suspected Islamic militants beheaded a Christian convert and foreign aid workers were banned from reaching a dying population. Somali Christians and human rights activists confirmed that the body of Juma Nuradin Kamil, a kidnapped Christian who converted from Islam, was found decapitated near the southern town of Hudur on September 2.” Read more.

Flashback: Al-Shabaab Vows To Continue Killing Those Who Do Not Worship Allah – “Somalia militia group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s twin attacks on two churches in Garissa County that left 17 people dead… An Al-Shabaab loyalist Sheikh Hassan Takar said that the militia killed people who did not profess allegiance to Allah. ‘The mujahedeen (holy warriors) punished with their hands those believing and worshipping other than Allah,’ he said. ‘The militants will continue until such practice is eliminated.’ He added” Read more.

Tanzania: Christian Pastor Nearly Hacked To Death As Nation Continues To Witness The Rise Of Islamism

The Voice of the Martyrs – “The persecution of Christians in Tanzania continues. Two pastors have recently been attacked, and the police are doing little about it.

On the night of Sunday, June 2, a large group of radical Muslims attacked the home of pastor Robert Ngai in Geita town, northeastern Tanzania. The attackers broke into the home and attacked Pastor Ngai with machetes. The pastor received serious cuts on his hands and arms when he raised his arms to protect his head from the blows. Doctors at the local hospital said the injuries were beyond their ability to treat and urged that he be rushed to a hospital in a nearby, larger city for treatment.

Ngai is the pastor of the Evangelical Assemblies of God Church. At last word from Voice of the Martyr contacts, he was still in the intensive care unit. Geita town is less than 50 miles from Buseresere, the city where Pastor Mathayo Kachili was killed by radical Muslims in February. Kachili’s story, and that of his widow, Generosa, is featured in Voice of the Martyr’s June newsletter.

Two nights before the attack on Pastor Ngai, the home of Pastor Daudi Nzumbi in Geita also came under attack. Pastor Nzumbi leads the Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania congregation in Geita.” Read more.

Flashback: Tanzania: Christian Pastor Beheaded By Angry Muslim Mob Demanding That All Christian-Owned Meat Shops Be Closed – “A PASTOR with the Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG) Church at Buseresere has been beheaded during religious-linked conflicts at Buseresere town, in Geita Region. A spokesperson for the Geita Regional Police Commander’s Office, Mr Denis Stephano, identified the deceased pastor as Mathayo Kachili. He said conflicts had been boiling for quite a while now in the area where a section of what are believed to be Muslim leaders had demanded immediate closure of butcheries owned by Christians.” Read more.

Flashback: Tanzania: Mob Of Islamists Destroy Dozens Of Churches, ‘We Want The Heads Of All The Church Pastors’ – “Dozens of Christian worship places have been destroyed by Islamic extremists in Tanzania and church leaders are fleeing its heavily Muslim island of Zanzibar, as the persecution of Christians spreads throughout East Africa… a mob of Muslim protestors carrying clubs, swords and machetes invaded two churches shouting ‘We want the head of Bishop Shayo’ … When they failed to break into the church, the mob moved on to the Anglican church of Reverend Emmanuel Masoud where the crowd broke windows and were seen hacking at the doors while chanting: ‘We need the head of Masoud!’ and We want the heads of all the church pastors in Zanzibar!’” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Prepare For Disaster’: Islamists In Tanzania And Kenya Threaten To Destroy Christian Homes And Churches – “Christians and their churches here in Tanzania and Kenya are on alert this Easter weekend in anticipation of potential attacks against them. Many have armed police guarding their buildings. A militant Islamic group known as Muslim Renewal has threatened to burn ‘homes and churches.’ They say they ‘are not finished, at Easter, prepare for disaster.’ The Al Shabaab-linked group is believed responsible for the murder in Zanzibar last month of Catholic priest, Father Evarest Mushi. It may also have been involved in the killing of Pastor Abdi Welli in Garissa, Kenya. Militant Muslims have killed church leaders and they’ve attacked more than 30 churches in Tanzania and Kenya in the past year.” Read more.

Flashback: Tanzania: Christians Increasingly Worried As Islamism Spreads At Alarming Rate, Seeks To Impose Sharia Law Upon All – “Islamisation is increasing at an alarming rate in Tanzania, according to a bishop from the country. Bishop Bernadin Mfumbusa of Kondoa warned that religious freedom and other civil liberties were under threat from intolerant radical Muslim influences sweeping in from countries neighbouring the east African nation… ‘We see more and more itinerant preachers from Saudi Arabia and Sudan entering this country – and Muslims are increasingly making political demands.’” Read more.

Egypt: Islamists ‘Invite’ Christian Man To Convert To Islam By Threatening To Kidnap His Wife And Children If He Refuses

For peaceful purposes …

By Raymond Ibrahim – “Two weeks ago in Egypt, a Coptic Christian man named Milad living in Tanta in northern Egypt submitted a formal complaint to authorities, saying that ‘unknown persons’ invited him and his family to renounce Christianity and submit to Islam and convert.  ‘They also snatched at the crucifix he was wearing around his neck, and threatened to kidnap his children and wife if he refused to convert to Islam.’  The man identified them as members of the Salafi movement in Egypt—as they wore the trademark white robes and long beards.

Such incidents—threatening Coptic Christians to convert to Islam and kidnapping their children—are becoming commonplace in post ‘Arab Spring’ Egypt.  Some months back, Coptic priests were threatened with death if they did not convert to Islam, and the jihad on Egypt’s Christian children is an ongoing phenomenon, most recently resulting in the abduction and slaying of a 6-year-old boy.” Source – Raymond Ibrahim.

Flashback: New Egyptian Terror Group To Christian Leaders: Convert To Islam Or Face Death – “A group of Christian priests from a local Coptic church in Egypt were told to convert to Islam or face death, according to an Arabic news site. The incident, which comes in the midst of continued persecution and pressure on Egypt’s Christian community, took place this week in the town of Safaga, near the Red Sea, the El Balad site reported. According to El Balad, the threats are from a new group in Egypt, Jihad al-Kufr, whose name translates to Jihad against non-believers or non-Muslims. The group targets non-Muslims, and reportedly pressures them to convert to Islam.” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt: Attacks Against Christians Under Way In Northern Egypt After Call To Murder All Who Refuse To Convert To Islam – “Christian Copts in Upper Egypt are under attack, hours after a call for their eradication appeared in the form of leaflets calling on Muslims to kill Copts, specifically naming regions of Upper Egypt… Christians are being beaten, their stores destroyed, and their properties plundered. The attackers are declaring that ‘any Christian who dares to leave his house will be killed’; and the Copts are complaining that the police only arrive after the damage has been completely done… persecutors warned Christians from leaving their homes, promising death to whoever dared try. They said they did not want to see a single Christian in the street, which made many Christians lock themselves in.” Read more.

Egypt: Islamist Organizations Distribute Leaflets Calling For The Killing Of All Christians Who Will Not Convert To Islam – “According to today’s issue of El Fegr, ‘Elements of terrorist, jihadi organizations distributed leaflets today inciting for the killing of Copts in Suez, Ismailia, and Upper Egypt, promising them [Copts] a tragic end if they do not return to the truth.’ An image of a copy of the letter appears on El Fegr’s website. Titled ‘An Urgent and Important Notice,’ it begins by calling on ‘all brothers and sisters’ to ‘kill or physically attack the enemies of the religion of Allah—the Christians in all of Egypt’s provinces, the slaves of the Cross, Allah’s curse upon them…’ It proceeds to promise a monetary reward for whoever helps ‘achieve Allah’s rights against his enemies.’” Read more.

Nigeria: Islamists Attack, Torch Four Churches, Slit Pastor’s Throat For Refusing To Convert To Islam

Romans 8:35-37, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, ‘For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

By Maina Maina, Daily Post – “One month after the declaration of emergency rule to fight insurgency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, violence has erupted again, as gunmen suspected to be members of Islamist terrorist sect attacked four communities of Hwa’a, Kunde, Gathahure and Gjigga of Gwoza Hills settlements, torching four churches with Improvised Explosives Devices,IEDS, and petro-bombs Thursday afternoon.

According to Tada Garuta, a resident of Kunde, the gunmen climbed the hills on foot with explosives and petro-bombs, and chanted [Allah is greater], in Arabic, before setting four local churches ablaze. Thereafter, they ransacked and emptied their bans of grains along with some livestocks. Gathahure and Hwa’a communities were also affected.

The attacked communities are located in Gwoza council area of Borno state of Mandara Hills, and 151 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the state capital.

Two churches at Hrazah and Hembe,hilly communities were also torched by the gunmen in April this year with the killing of two residents.

Garuta also told newsmen in Maiduguri, Bama road Motor Park yesterday that after torching another church in Hwa’a community, the gunmen also killed Rev. Jacob Kwiza (rtd) of Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), while picking mangoes at his father’s orchard on the hills settlement of Hwa’a.

He said: ‘as the gunmen threw some explosives at our church, they forced the retired Reverend to renounce Christianity and be converted to Islam, but Rev. Jacob defied the gunmen’s threats of being killed, as he insisted on being a Christian among his people on the hills of Hwa’a. They slit his throat with sharp objects; and we started to flee for safety, as we don’t know the next targets of these gunmen.’

He said because of fears and terrorizing around Hwa’a’s community, none of the residents came to pick the body of the slain Reverend for burial and prayers.

Lamenting on the continued fears of hills dwellers, Garuta said: ‘after the church at Hrazah was also torched by the gunmen, the people had to flee.’” Read more.

Flashback: Nigeria’s Borno State

• Christians Stand Firm After Islamists Destroy 96% Of Borno State’s Catholic Churches
• Islamists Target Christians For Slaughter, Burn Down Their Homes, Churches
• Christians Paralyzed Amid Islamist Attacks, Fear Venturing Outside Day Or Night
• At Least 12 Christians Murdered By Islamists During Christmas Celebrations
• Nigerian President: End Times May Be Close As Islamists Continue Massacring Christians
• Islamists Follow Pastor Home From Church, Shoot Him Dead In Front Of Daughter
• Lawlessness: Nigerian President Declares State Of Emergency As Entire Villages, Towns Across Northeast Now Controlled By Islamists

Obama Admin Concludes Assad Crossed ‘Red Line’ In Syria, Will Now Offer Military Support To Syrian Rebels

Interesting timing. Before the Benghazi, IRS, AP-Snooping, Rosengate, Did-Holder-Lie and NSA scandals, Obama remained unconvinced that Assad had used chemical weapons. Now, however, the kitchen heat may be forcing Obama to cook up something new. Considering all the revelations that have been unfolding recently with respect to Obama’s Syrian rebel allies, it looks to me like we’re reading the ingredients of a recipe for disaster, and one that may soon go from bad to worse …

By STEVE CHAGGARIS, STEPHANIE CONDON, CBS News – “The Obama administration has concluded that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government used chemical weapons against the rebels seeking to overthrow him and, in a major policy shift, President Obama has decided to supply military support to the rebels, the White House announced Thursday.

‘The president has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition that will involve providing direct support to the [Supreme Military Council]. That includes military support,’ Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes told reporters.

President Obama has repeatedly said that the use of chemical weapons is a ‘red line’ that, if crossed, would be a ‘game changer’ for more U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war.

‘The President has been clear that the use of chemical weapons – or the transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups – is a red line for the United States,’ said Rhodes in a separate written statement.

‘The President has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has,’ he continued.

In terms of further response, Rhodes said, ‘we will make decisions on our own timeline’ and that Congress and the international community would be consulted.  Mr. Obama is heading to Northern Ireland Sunday for a meeting of the G8 group of nations; Rhodes indicated the president will consult with leaders of those countries.” Read more.

Flashback: Obama’s Syrian Rebel Allies

• Syrian Rebels Pledge Their Allegiance To Al-Qaeda
• Syrian Rebels: After Assad ‘We Have A Big Fight Against The Jews Ahead Of Us’
• Thousands Of ‘Free Syrian Army’ Fighters Join Al-Qaeda, ‘Entire Units Have Gone Over’
• ‘Nowhere In Rebel-Controlled Syria Is There A Secular Fighting Force To Speak Of’
• Islamist Ultimatum To Syrian Christians: Convert, Leave, Or Die
• Rebels Behead Christian, Feed Body To Dogs As Fears Grow Over Islamist Atrocities
• Rebel Commander Injects Syringe With Diesel Fuel Into Christian, ‘Die Slowly, Christian Dog’
• Rebels To Christians: Prepare To Die If You Refuse To Convert To Islam Or Pay The ‘Jizyah’
• Rebel Persecution Becoming a Steadily Growing Reality, ‘It Will Never Be the Same Anymore’
• ‘If An Islamic State Becomes The Reality … Expect A Full-Out Genocide Against Christians’
• Islamist Rebels In Syria May Be Using American-Provided Weapons To Slaughter Christians
• Christians Could Now Face Bloodbath From Islamist ‘Free Syrian Army’
• ‘Free Syrian Army’ Rebels Executing Soldiers Were Reportedly Executing Christians

 

Pakistan: Muslim Landlords Torture, Strip, Parade Christian Women In Village After Goats Wander Into Their Fields

Pakistan Christian Post – “A shocking case have surfaced in a village of District Kasur where Christians women were tortured and paraded nude in village while their Christian men badly treated by Muslim landlords.

The Christian women Arshad Bibi, Sajida Bibi and Saruyia Bibi were beaten by armed Muslims who entered at about 11;00 PM while they were sleeping in their house and no man of the house was present in the house except one 73 years old man Sadiq Masih and his wife Bibi Rani 70 years old. The Muslim landlords of the village Sereser Chak No.21 Abrahim, Muhammad Rafique, Munir, Ahmad, Asif, Ahmad, Abid, Usman, Waseem, Waqas and Shabir and three unknown persons after beating made them publicly naked and no one showed courage to save them from that torture.

‘Few days ago some goats were entered in the fields of Muslim landlords and they made them locked up in their house. I went to requested them to give back my goats but they refused and abused me and slapped at my cheeks in front of many people on which I returned back home,’ told Shoukat Masih.

‘On June 2, 2013, they blocked the way of my brother Shoukat Masih when he was going to his work and exchanged hot words. In revenge of this that being Christian how I dared to speak in loud voice with them, they beaten and tortured and made naked our women when we were on our work and they also tortured our 73 years old father and wounded his one leg’ told Boota Masih.

‘On June 3, 2013, at morning we contacted Rev. Saleem Gill, DS Pattoki Church of Pakistan and along with him approached to SHO Pattoki but he did not bother to hear our request and rejected to receive our complaint,’ and at evening some police officials also raided at our house along with Muslim Landlords and threatened us to make involve us in criminal case,’ told Shoukat Masih.

On June 4, 2013 in the morning Rev. Saleem Gill informed Advocate Sardar Mushtaq Gill, National Director LEAD, to help the persecuted family and give them legal aid in this case.” Read more.

Flashback: Pakistan: Christian Woman Brutally Tortured by Muslim Mob, Paraded Through Village Streets for ‘Anti-Islam Views’ – “A Christian woman was brutally tortured and paraded in the streets of a village in Pakistan’s Punjab province by a mob for her alleged ‘anti-Islam views’, local residents and police officials said today. Some 30 residents of Kot Meerath village of Sialkot district, 80 km from Lahore, dragged Seema Bibi out of her house on February 26 and paraded her in the streets after shaving her head. She was targeted by the mob for her alleged ‘anti-Islam views’, members of the Christian community said.” Read more.

Flashback: Somali Convert From Islam Whipped, Paraded In Front Of Hundreds of Public Spectators For Becoming A Christian – “A Somali convert from Islam was paraded before a cheering crowd last month and publicly flogged as a punishment for embracing a ‘foreign religion,’ sources said. Sofia Osman, a 28-year-old Christian from Janale city in Somali’as Lower Shabelle region, had been taken into custody by Islamic extremist al Shabaab militants in November; the public whipping was meant to mark her release. She received 40 lashes on Dec. 22 while jeered by spectators.” Read more.

‘Barbaric’: Muslim Persecution Of Christians March 2013 (And The US Defends The ‘Human Rights’ Of Muslim Mass Murderers)

By Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute – “The Islamic jihad against Christians in Nigeria is proving to be the most barbaric. A new report states that 70% of Christians killed around the world in 2012 were killed in that African nation. Among some of the atrocities committed in March alone, at least 41 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a bus station in a predominantly Christian neighborhood. According to the Christian Association of Nigeria, these attacks ‘were a signpost of the intended extermination of Christians and Christianity from northern Nigeria.’

According to the Rev. Jerome Ituah, ‘Out of the 52 Catholic churches in Maiduguri diocese, 50 of them have been destroyed by [terrorist group] Boko Haram. When two Christian brothers were returning home after Sunday church service, jihadis opened fire on them with machine guns, killing the brothers, as well as three others, and injuring several more Christians.’

Another 13 Christian factory workers in Kano were ‘gruesomely’ slain. According to the local bishop, ‘Reports of the attack reaching us disclosed that on that fateful Saturday at about 7 p.m, Muslim faithful were conducting their prayer close to the affected compound occupied by Christian families, when two taxi cabs stopped in front of the compound and the occupants, who all concealed their arms, dashed into the complex and demanded to know why the residents were not part of the 7 p.m. Muslim prayer. They responded by telling the visitors they were Christians and so could not be part of the Muslim gathering. At that point, they separated the men from their wives and children and shot them dead on the spot after ordering the women and children into their homes’ to be enslaved.

The bishop added that, ‘government should show more concern, like it has always done when Muslims are affected; I have not seen that in the case of Christians—that 13 Christians were killed in one straight attack and nothing is heard from the government reflects selective justice because we are aware of compensation paid to Muslim families in situations of this nature.’

However, the Nigerian government recently did go on the offensive to try to contain the jihadis in northern Nigeria—only to be chastised, according to Reuters, by the Obama administration, in the person of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, ‘in a strongly worded statement, saying: ‘We are… deeply concerned by credible allegations that the Nigerian security forces are committing gross human rights violations…..’ against the jihadi mass murderers.

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

Church Attacks

Egypt: According to El Watan News, three Christian brothers were shot dead at their home by automatic weapons a few weeks before two of them were set to have their weddings. The victims’ family was earlier accused of trying to build a church on land they owned after purchasing building material to build a house on that land. The rumors about the building of a church spread during the Friday sermon at the mosque, following which, 2,000 Muslims stormed the land and tried to destroy the house, a car and a tractor, resulting in the murder of the three Christian brothers.

Indonesia: Authorities demolished a church building with a bulldozer in West Java, even as Muslim bystanders cheered and denounced Christians as ‘infidels.’ According to Pastor Leonard Nababan, the government is ‘criminalising our religion.’ The congregation had gathered around the church in an effort to save it; so did Muslims, shouting, ‘They’re infidels and they’ve built their church without permission;’ ‘Knock the church down now,’ and ‘Allahu Akbar’ ['Allah is Greater'].

Iraq: According to Fox News, before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, there were more than 300 Christian churches. Today, a decade after a jihad was unleashed on Christians and their churches, only

Former Lebanese President Warns Christians Face ‘Existential Crisis’ From Both The State And Society In Mideast

JNS News Service – “Former Lebanese President Amine Gemayel warned that Middle East Christians face an ‘existential crisis’ due the threat of ‘religious cleansing’ in the region, at a speech sponsored by Christian Solidarity International.

Gemayel, a Maronite Christian who was president from 1982-1988 after taking over for his brother Bashir, who was assassinated during the bloody Lebanese Civil War, said Christians ‘are often victims of persecution by both the state and society in the Middle East.’

Gemayel specifically mentioned the ongoing civil war in his neighboring Syria, saying the abduction in April of two Christian archbishops in Aleppo highlighted the plight of Syrian Christians. Currently the leader of Lebanon’s Maronite Christian Kataeb Party (also known as the Phalange Party),Gemayel said that the international community must do more to help the Arab world.

‘The international community can and must assist in the process of transitioning to democracy in the Arab world,’ he said, especially in ‘critical areas such as democracy and human rights.’

‘The challenge for Arab Muslims now is to prove to the world that the region is capable of achieving pluralist freedom,’ Gemayel said. ’Now is the time to formulate and implement solutions.’” Source – JNS.

Flashback: Christians in the Muslim World

• Islamist Ultimatum To Syrian Christians: Convert, Leave, Or Die
• Iraq: Cleric Issues New Fatwa To All Iraqi Christians: Choose Islam Or Be Killed
• Egypt: Muslim Terror Group To Christian Leaders: Convert To Islam Or Face Death
• More Than 100,000 Christians Slaughtered Every Year, And The Numbers Are Increasing
• Muslim Group: ‘Christianity Should Be Destroyed And Wiped From The Face Of The Earth’
• Christian Persecution Increasing in Muslim World from One End of the Globe to the Other
• Pakistan: Christians Told To Convert Or Leave, ‘Otherwise They Will Face Consequences’
• Syrian Violence Drives 50,000 Christians From City Of Homs, Many Fear a ‘Second Iraq’
• Egypt: Christians Seeing Worst Time in Recent Centuries, Many Unable to Buy or Sell
• Ethnic Cleansing in Sudan: Islamists Move From House to House in Search of Christians
• Men Running, Women Pleading For God’s Mercy, Children Screaming Out Of Fear: ‘Cleansing’ In Iraq Of Christians Continues Unabated
• ‘A New Evil is Sweeping the Middle East: Religious Cleansing’, Anti-Christian Violence Throughout Middle-East Concerns London
• ‘Catastrophe’: Islamists Exterminating Christians From Muslim Nations As Media Largely Ignores Intensifying Savagery, ‘The End Is In Sight’
• Nigeria: Islamists Pull Over Bus Near Maiduguri, Kill All Christian Passengers, Embark On Door-To-Door ‘Islamisation Campaign’ At Gunpoint

Pakistan: Christians Are Being ‘Treated Like Animals’ By Muslims In Punjab

Agenzia Fides – “Christians are ‘treated like animals’, they are denied the dignity of human beings: is the complaint that reaches Fides from Kasur district, in the Punjab province, a district already known for the case of rape, still unpunished, regarding the Christian 15-year-old Fouzia Bibi (see Fides 04/06/2013). The non-governmental organization ‘Lead’ (‘Legal Evangelical Association Development ‘), reported to Fides another episode in which the Christians of Kasur suffer abuse and ill-treatment by the Muslims.

In recent days, some local Muslims abused, mocked, hit and publicly humiliated Christian men and women, agricultural workers or pastors. As reported to Fides, to unleash the physical and psychological violence was a minor encroachment of some flocks of the Christian Shoukat Masih, in the lands of a few Muslims. The animals were seized and when the faithful went to claim them, the beating started. On June 2, some Muslim men broke into the home of a Christian family, hitting the three women Arshad Bibi, Sajida and Saruyia, stripping them and then forcing them to run naked through the streets, while they were ridiculed and harassed, under the eyes of all the inhabitants of the village, who did not intervene. The same humiliating treatment was reserved to two Christian elders, Shoukat Masih’s parents. When they expressed the willingness to report the matter, ‘some police officers also raided our house along with Muslims owners and threatened ì to get us involved in a criminal case,’ says Shoukat Masih.

The faithful turned to rev. Saleem Gill to seek legal assistance. It was thus possible to register a formal complaint (‘First Information Report’) on the incident. Other Christian family said they had suffered abuse and were ill-treated by Muslim landowners, who are their employers.” Source – Agenzia Fides.

Flashback: Pakistan: More Than 250 Christian Families Driven From Homes By Angry Muslim Mobs Threatening To Set Fire To Entire Christian Village – “More than 250 Christian families have been threatened and thrown out from their homes in the village Chak 31 in Khanewal district, in southern Punjab. A report drawn up by two human rights groups said: ‘What happened in South Punjab reflects the increase of violence and abuses against religious minorities in Pakistan’ and ‘recalls the serious episode of the attack on Joseph Colony, a Christian area of Lahore, which happened two months ago’.” Read more.

Flashback: Pakistan: Muslims Threaten, Warn Christians Against Celebrating Easter in Punjab – “Islamic fanaticism is casting a dark shadow over Easter celebrations this year in Pakistan. The country’s Christian community has already received threats and warnings against celebrating the occasion. Now sources in Sarghoda District in Punjab tell AsiaNews that someone tore down Easter signs and decorations at the Eidgah Christian colony. The unknown attackers also threw black paint on the community’s sacred images and made threats against those present, warning them not to continue in their preparations. When residents turned to the local police to file a report, no one at the station would do it.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Burn Their Homes To The Ground!’: Pakistani Cleric Calls Upon Muslims To Violently Attack Christians Over Mosque Loudspeakers – “A Muslim political candidate suspected of murdering a Christian has instigated calls from mosque loudspeakers for attacks on Christians, whom he blames for his May 11 election loss. Tensions were high in Punjab Province’s Okara district after provincial assembly seat candidate Mehr Abdul Sattar, sought by police in connection with a 2008 murder, on May 13 arranged for mosque calls for violence against Christian villages. ‘Burn their homes to the ground … Punish them such that they forget Gojra and Joseph Colony,’ blared village mosques …” Read more.

Syria: Foreign Islamists Taking Over Mosques Call Upon Muslims To Kill Anyone Who Does Not Practice The Religion Of Mohammed

Revelation 13:15, 18, “The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed… This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate ['psēphizō' - reckon] the number ['arithmos' - multitude, people] of the beast, for it is the number ['arithmos' - multitude, people] of a man. That number ['arithmos' - multitude, people] is ‘χξς‘”

Mohammed Engulfed In “Sacred Fire” During His “Ascension Into Heaven”

AsiaNews – “The public execution of Muhammad al-Qatta, a young coffee seller brutally assassinated on Sunday by a group of jihadists in Aleppo for insulting Muhammad, ‘is a terrible event that shocked the entire population of the city, Muslims and Christians, who do not want an Islamic state in Syria,’ Mgr Jean Clement Jeanbart, Melkite Archbishop of Aleppo, told AsiaNews. For the prelate, such an act is yet another example of the brutality of foreign militants fighting in Syria.

‘Christians,’ he explained, ‘are terrified by these militias and fear that in the event of their victory they would no longer be able to practice their religion and that they would be forced to leave the country.’ Sending more weapons to the country would only lead to more such cases of violence, he added.

Reported by Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organisation run by rebels in exile Muhammad al-Qatta’s case has been repeated around the world…

For Mgr Jeanbart, Islamic Courts are a scourge that plagues most of the areas controlled by al-Qaeda affiliated foreign militias, which are also opposed by local pro-rebel groups, not to mention by supporters of Bashar al-Assad.

‘As soon as they reached the city,’ the bishop said, ‘Islamist guerrillas, almost all of them from abroad, took over the mosques. Every Friday, an imam launches their messages of hate, calling on the population to kill anyone who does not practice the religion of the Prophet Muhammad. They use the courts to level charges of blasphemy. Who is contrary to their way of thinking pays with his life (see video).’” Read more.

Flashback: Former Muslim: Islam Is ‘Not Merely A Religion But A Cult Belief System, The Cult Of Muhammad’ – “Exegetically and hermeneutically, the ‘number’ (arithmos) of the Beast does not necessitate the use of mathematics or gammatria to ‘reckon’ what it is, as many prophecy teachers have often assumed. The reason for this is simple. The word ‘arithmos’ is used a total of 18 times in the New Testament, and aside from Revelation 5:11 when John is referring to the number of angels around the throne of God, every other time ‘arithmos’ is used it is always referring to a group of people… in order to convert to ‘Allah’s religion’ one must recite the Islamic creed, called the Shahada, by declaring that ‘There is no god but Allah, and MOHAMMED is his messenger.’ Without Christ, there can be no Christianity. Likewise, without Mohammed, there can be no Islam… it therefore only stands to reason that ‘the number (multitude) of a man’ is not referring to an eschatonic Antichrist, but rather to Mohammed — the founder and (false) prophet of Islam — whose teachings even today, and in increasing measure, continues to force all those under Islamic rule to worship Allah — the god of Islam — who should otherwise be killed if they refuse” Read more.

Ethiopia: Christian Man Writing ‘Jesus Is Lord’ On Notebook Arrested For ‘Crimes Against Islam’

Philippians 2:9-11, “… God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord …”

ICC – “International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that two Christian men were arrested in Ethiopia by local police influenced by radical Muslims. In separate incidents, these men were detained by local police for what authorities are calling ‘crimes against Islam,’ even though no such crime exists in Ethiopia’s penal code.

In late March, Alemlayehu Legese was arrested by local police in Dodola, a city located 180 miles south of Addis Ababa, after admitting to owning literature that ‘discussed the history of Islam from a Christian perspective.’ Legese, a student at Dodola Mekane Yesus Bible School, dropped off the literature at a copy shop where a Muslim employee who felt Christians should not be allowed to read about the history of Islam contacted police. ‘The police officers treated this incident as if it were a terrorist attack,’ an ICC representative in Ethiopia said.

Fearful the investigation could lead to widespread violence, the local church advised Legese to report to the police and admit to owning the literature. Upon reporting to the police, Legese was arrested and imprisoned. When ICC asked why Legese was being imprisoned without being formally charged, the local police commander said they were detaining Legese to ‘cool down the anger of local Muslims.’ It has been over two months since Legese was imprisoned, formal charges are yet to be laid against him.

On May 25, Tamirat Woldegiorgis, a Christian living in Moyale Town, located on Ethiopia’s border with Kenya, was arrested by local police. Many are concerned this arrest is connected to a previous arbitrary detention Woldegiorgis served from 2010-2012, when he spent 22 months in prison because local police accused him of ‘crimes against Islam.’

Local radicals claimed that Woldegiorgis wrote ‘Jesus is Lord’ on the notebook of a student attending a local madrassa. Woldegiorgis was released on May 2, 2012 when human rights organizations, including ICC, became involved in the case. Woldegiorgis was again released on June 5, but was required to pay a bail of $5,319 for an unspecified criminal charge and will still face court hearings on June 10.” Read more.

Flashback: Ethiopia: Radical Wahabi Muslims Seeking To Turn Ethiopia Into An Islamic State Governed By Sharia Law – “In a recent press conference, the Ethiopian government have unveiled plans by the radical Wahabi Muslim sect to turn Ethiopia into an Islamic country governed by Sharia laws. The government has also expressed its concern over the growing violence against moderate Muslims and Christians by radical Wahabi Muslims. The Director General at the ministry of foreign affairs, Mersessa Reda said: ‘We have found evidences and pamphlets were publicly distributed during the month of Ramadan calling on the Muslim community to stand up against all non- Wahabi Muslims and other religion followers,’ he said.” Read more.

Flashback: Thousands of Christians Displaced in Ethiopia After Muslim Extremists Torch 50 Churches, Dozens of Homes – “Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Western Ethiopia after Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes. At least one Christian has been killed, many more have been injured and anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 have been displaced in the attacks that began March 2 after a Christian in the community of Asendabo was accused of desecrating the Koran. The violence escalated to the point that federal police forces sent to the area two weeks ago were initially overwhelmed by the mobs.” Read more.