Recently in Muslim persecution of Christians Category

A none-too-surprising update on this story. "Christians outraged in Lahore over release of young domestic worker's murderer," by Fareed Khan for Asia News, February 16:

Lahore (AsiaNews) - Pakistani Christians have strongly protested the release on bail of a Muslim lawyer accused of raping, torturing and killing last month Shazia Bashir, a 12-year-old Catholic girl, employed in his household as domestic worker. They have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a symbol of judicial independence in Pakistan, to take immediate action against the court's decision.

The girl's parents (mother pictured) led the protest as demonstrators shouted slogans and carried banners, proclaiming "Innocent Shazia's blood calls for punishment of a ruthless murderer and corrupt doctors" and "The bail of murderer raises questions for rulers."

Last Saturday, Judge Shafiq-ur-Rehman of the Lahore Court released Muhammad Naeem, his wife and son on bail.

The accused's lawyer said the girl's autopsy report did not prove she was murdered, but indicated instead that she had died from an infection caused by old injuries.

In his opinion, the case was not about murder, especially since 14 days of police investigation did not yield any evidence that would suggest that Muhammad Naeem or any member of his family was involved in the girl's death.

The Christian community has rejected the lawyer's claims as well as the results of the autopsy, pointing out that Shazia's body showed signs of torture and sexual abuse.

They claim that the powerful former head of the Lahore Bar Association locked the girl in his house against her will and killed her when she refused to work for him.

In protest, a group of Christians blocked the road outside the Lahore Press Club, and burnt the picture of a Jinnah Hospital official, whom they accuse of falsifying the girl's death certificate.

In two weeks of hearings, Christian lawyers and anyone trying to represent the victim's family have received threats and experiencedacts of intimidation.

That includes threats to "burn alive" anyone who took up Shazia's case, likely an allusion to the actual burning alive of 8 Christians last year.

Activists have also alleged that defence lawyers, police, judges and government authorities have worked together, coming close to colluding, in order to bury the case.

The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) and the Human Liberation Commission of Pakistan (HLCP) have organised the Christian protest. Their leaders have complained that in Shazia's case, justice was assassinated by the powerful machinery of the state, which seeks to save the skin of the murderer, Muhammad Naeem.

They also blame doctors for playing a shameful role in doctoring the medical report, and police for manipulating the investigation.

Not only has the appeal against bail reached Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, but it has also seized public opinion, finding its way on online discussion forums and the social network Facebook.

For many in cyberspace, the silence by the chief justice and the minister of minorities is deafening.

"Court ignores 'religious hostility' of Turk who held knife to Christian's throat" -- "Karasu had denounced the Christian as a 'missionary dog' who had betrayed Turkey by leaving Islam and evangelizing others." Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate, secular Turkey. "Assailant in Street Attack in Turkey Ordered Released," from Compass Direct News, February 12:

ISTANBUL, February 12 (CDN) -- An Istanbul court has ordered the release of a jailed Turk who publicly threatened and held a knife to the throat of a Christian he attacked six months ago.

In a ruling on Wednesday (Feb. 10), the Kadikoy Seventh Court of First Instance convicted Yasin Karasu, 24, of making death threats and mounting an armed attack against Ismail Aydin. Shouting to attract passersby as he held a knife to Aydin's throat on Aug. 3, Karasu had denounced the Christian as a "missionary dog" who had betrayed Turkey by leaving Islam and evangelizing others.

The crime is punishable by four years in prison, but Justice Tahsin Dogan ruled that Karasu should be released unconditionally, without serving the remainder of his sentence....

A well-placed source made these telling observations about Obama's appointment of a special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. A transcript of Obama's actual remarks is here, and here is more from the special envoy himself, Rashad Hussein. The source noted:

Both Obama and Rashad Hussein refer to "thousands" of townhalls and meetings held around the world, where the US apparently "listened" to Muslims. Can we get a list of these? How much did they cost? Who did the talking? What was the agenda?

Is there any other religion they've had "thousands" of townhalls and meetings with, or are they only listening to Muslims? How about the Coptic and Iraqi Christians being slaughtered -- any listening going on with the authorities there?

Maybe in addition to willful blindness, this government has added willful deafness -- selective listening only to the Muslim authorities and selective deafness to the cries of Christians being persecuted by those Muslim authorities.

And of course they're listening to Muslims at these "thousands" of townhall meetings because Muslims cultivate an air of aggrieved righteousness. It never seems to occur to the governing establishment types that righteous anger may not actually indicate a just cause at all, but may merely be a cleverly deployed instrument of manipulation.

But will they listen? A message from The Middle East Christian Association (thanks to Ann):

Economic Blow to the Christians in Upper Egypt

Appeal to all international human rights organization from the Christians
of the towns of Farshout, Abu Tesht, Abu Shusha, El-Arky, El-Dahsha, El-Khawaled and El-Kom El-Ahmar.

We, the Christian inhabitants of these towns appeal to you for support, as we have been subjected to brutal terrorist attacks from Muslims residing in our same towns. These attacks resulted in an estimated loss of over five million Egyptian pounds, equivalent to more than one million US dollars.

On the morning of Saturday, November 21 2009, we were stunned by the presence of well-organized groups of people, distributed all over the town of Farshout; they were physically assaulting any Christian person they met in the streets, whether it be a man, woman, girl or even a child, accompanied by Islamic chants, as if they were on a new Islamic invasion.

They broke into all the shops and businesses owned by Christians, breaking down the doors, looting all contents, only to leave after it was completely empty, then setting it on fire. They went from one Christian-owned shop to another.

More than 40 shops have been broken into, all this was happening while they sung Islamic chants as if they were undertaking a legitimate act approved by Islam, or a Muslim invasion which would make the heart of the God of Islam happy.

All this took place before the eyes and ears of the security forces and the Egyptian police without any intervention on their part. The police left the mob to carry out looting and opened the way for them to escape without the slightest objection from them, as if the police were there to protect them during their looting and not to arrest them.

The Coptic Orthodox Society was also broken into and completely vandalized. It was licensed over 30 years ago by the Ministry of Social Affairs and has been engaged in helping the needy in this town and the neighboring ones. It taught crafts to young men and women to combat unemployment and provided micro-credit for poor families to assist them in starting small business projects. In spite of being a Coptic society, it provided assistance to Christians and Muslims alike, without any distinction and was ultimately completely vandalized by those whom it has lent a supporting hand. Some houses were also broken into, forcing the residents to go out and leave their homes behind; they looted the contents of the whole house, while the Muslims in the streets assaulted those families before letting them go.

What we write to you now represents only a fraction of what actually happened to us, we the Christians of these villages, and we have evidence, in pictures and video footage, to prove all what we are saying.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Nag Hammadi to which our village is affiliate, HG Bishop Kyrillos, is fully prepared to take any telephone conversation from any authority wishing to investigate this issue further. HG is also pleading for support since help from inside Egypt is lacking, and so far, the security authorities have failed to respond to this matter.

We appeal to all international human rights organizations to intervene so that we, the Christians, can obtain the least of our human rights, which is to live and co-exist in Peace. We have lost everything that we own in this blow, which was specifically aimed at hitting the Christians economically and destroying the Coptic economic infrastructure in this town and the Province of Qena at large.

Presented by The Christians of Farshout and the affiliated villages

Save My Father Hector Aleem
by Mehwish Aleem

At a time that the United Nations calls Switzerland's ban on new minarets "clearly discriminatory and deeply divisive," and the whole world is condemning the Swiss for their vote, I would like to bring to the attention of the world my plight.

My name is Mehwish Aleem and my father (Hector Aleem) is a human rights activist in Pakistan. He has been working as a human rights activist since 1996. He is running an NGO with the name of PEACE WORLDWIDE. Hector Aleem has worked for Christians and Muslims without prejudice. But today he is in jail and could be killed at any time.

My father was working for a church destroyed by CDA (capital development authority) in Islamabad Pakistan. The church was destroyed because according to CDA it was built illegally. The charge was false.

There are many mosques in Islamabad (the capital of Pakistan) that are built with no permit, but no one will dare to touch them. For example, there was a vacant lot near my house and a Maulvi (Muslim leader) started to build a mosque on it. The land belonged to an absentee owner. When the owner learned about it, he started to destroy the illegally built mosque on his property. Hundreds of Muslims rioted and threatened to kill the owner of the land. As the result he give up his land in order to save his life. The government did not intervene. Churches on the other hand are destroyed by the governments' own agents.

When Hector Aleem objected to the destruction of the church he faced with several lawsuits ranging from fraud to criminal charges. He fought all of them in the courts and proved his innocence.

His opponents tried to assassinate him several times. The Maulvies threatened him that if he continues to work for the church they would kill him and his sons, and would force his dughters to convert to Islam.

During this time Hector Aleem received a Peace award by Mr. Yousaf Raza Gillani the prime minister of Pakistan. One month later, on 21st January, 2009 he was arrested by the police. They severely beat him and tortured him mentally and physically. After 24 hours of not knowing what were the charges, we were told that his offence is blasphemy, a charge that caries death penalty in Pakistan.

According to the first information report someone sent a blasphemous message to a leader of Sunni Tehreek (a Muslim extremist organization) and that sender had once contacted my father. So my father is guilty by association. Since they could not find the offender, they arrested my father.

Hector Aleem, is 51 years old and is a heart patient. He is not allowed to take his medication and is denied visitation. During his trial a large mob gathered in front of the court chanting slogans against him and threatened the judge that if he releases my father they will kill him themselves and they will destroy the court and will also kill the judge and the lawyer who defended my father. Under the mob's pressure, the judge refused bail. The lawyer of the plaintiffs, who is a Maulvi, told the judge that if he releases my father, he (my father) will be killed as soon as he steps outside the court.

Then on 24 June 2009, chief justice of Pakistan Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed Chaudry granted my father bail, but the Maulvies lodged many other criminal cases against him so that he cannot come out.

Hector Aleem is still in jail. It is one year since his capture. The police are in cahoots with the Maulvies. Once two policemen went to my father's cell and told him that even if he is granted a bail they will not let a blasphemer out. They will lodge so many cases against him that he will not be able to bear them. Soon after that they proceeded to lodge more charges against my father. They used to take him to the police station every fifteen days, where they beat him and torture him in front of the Maulvies and the Taliban.

I am begging for help. I plead to all those who champion the right of Muslims to build more minarets to also care about the minorities in Islamic countries. We are fighting for our lives. Are Muslim minarets more important than our lives of non-Muslims?

Please sign my petition. Please write to the Pakistani authorities listed bellow and ask them to release my father Hector Aleem as soon as possible. He is not guilty of any crime and the accusations of blasphemy that are made against him are false. They want to destroy him because he objected to the destruction of a church.

Today, all our family is in hiding. All of us have received death threats. My siblings and I have left our studies and hide for our safety. There is no future for us in our country. If my father is released he will be killed by the mob. We need to get out of Pakistan. Please help us if you can. We don't know where to turn and whom to ask for help.

There is so much hoo-ha about the ban of minarets in Switzerland, but will anyone hear our cry?

Please make our cry reach to the ears of those who care more for human life than building minarets. We have done nothing wrong. Our only crime is to be Christians in an Islamic country.

Please contact these authorities and tell them to release my father. They know Hector Aleem is innocent, they are afraid of the mob. Your concern will give them the excuse to act.

Please also sign this petition

Please digg this article so it can be read by more people. The more people know about it and write to the Pakistani authorities, the more are the chances that my father is set free.
Thanks you for your concern.

Some of these addresses have emails; others have fax and phone numbers. Please contact them all and save our lives.

Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
publicmail@president.gov.pk
ppp@comsats.net.pk

Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani Prime minister of Pakistan Prime Minister House, Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: + 92 51 9221596 E-mail: webmaster@infopak.gov.pk

Supreme Court of PakistanConstitution Avenue, IslamabadTelephone: 051-9220581-9220600 Fax: 051-9213452
secretarygeneral@president.gov.pk

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari chairman@ppp.org.pk
Federal Minister of Law Justice and Human Rights S Block, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: +92 51 920 2628 E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk
Mr. Rehman Malik Advisor for Ministry of Interior Room No. 404, 4th Floor, R Block, Pak Secretariat Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: +92 51 920 2624 Tel: +92 51 921 2026 E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pk
Mr. Mian Shahbaz Sharif Chief Minister of Punjab H-180 Model Town, Lahore PAKISTAN Fax: +92 42 5881383
Minister of Law Government of Punjab Punjab Secretariat Ravi Road Lahore PAKISTAN E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk
Chief Secretary of Government of Punjab Punjab Secretariat Lahore PAKISTAN Fax: +92 42 7324489 E-mail: chiefsecy@punjab.gov.pk
Dr. Faqir Hussain Registrar Supreme Court of Pakistan Constitution Avenue, Islamabad PAKISTAN Fax: + 92 51 9213452 E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

Mr. Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi Minister for Religious Affairs Islamabad PAKISTAN Tel: +92 51 9214856 / 9206982 Fax: +92 51 9213593 E-mail: mra.hajj@gmail.com

The very first line -- "Father Metyas Mankarios ministers to garbage men" -- flies right by but actually it is telling. Islamic law for dhimmis forbids them to hold authority over Muslims, so they generally occupied the most menial positions in society. Thus this is not just evidence of "discrimination," but of the lingering effects, and new resurgence, of Sharia in Egypt.

"Egypt's Copts fearful amid increasing tensions," by Jeffrey Fleishman in the Los Angeles Times, February 7:

Father Metyas Mankarios ministers to garbage men and runs a newspaper for Coptic Christians from an office crammed with brittle archives above vegetable sellers and fishmongers barking out prices along the muddy roads of a Cairo neighborhood.

Few have it easy here. From dawn until deep into the night, there is the clatter of making a living, no matter how small. But these days, Mankarios, his face engulfed by a graying beard, worries more about the increasing discrimination and resentment from Muslims who attack monasteries and teach their children that Christians are infidels.

"It's dangerous today," he said. "Egypt is going in new directions that are starting to affect the harmony between religions. This attitude is evident not only among ordinary Muslims but among top government and Islamic officials."

Egypt's Copts and Muslims have co-existed for centuries, through spasms of bloodshed and recrimination but mostly in relative peace. In recent years, however, tolerance has ebbed and tensions have multiplied in a predominantly Muslim society that has grown more conservative and inclined to drawing religious distinctions in schools, public offices and in mixed neighborhoods.

They've "co-existed for centuries" as long as the Christians knew their place, and acquiesced quietly to ever-dwindling numbers brought about by the depredations of Sharia for dhimmis.

The atmosphere was further agitated this month after a bishop received death threats and six Christians attending a Coptic Christmas Eve Mass north of Luxor were killed in a drive-by shooting. The Muslim assailants were reportedly seeking revenge for the alleged rape of a Muslim girl by a Copt.

The killings highlighted years of sectarian unease in the village of Nag Hammadi, where riots erupted immediately and shops and businesses were burned.

A human rights group accused a member of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party of inciting the animosities through his connection to one of the attackers. The group, which filed a lawsuit, alleges that lawmaker Abdel Rahim el Ghoul intervened to have one of the gunmen released from prison days before the shooting. Ghoul has denied wrongdoing, and the prosecutor general's office announced that there was no larger conspiracy.

"We need a parliamentary investigation to find out who was really behind this massacre," said Ashraf Radhi, one of a number of Muslim political activists who condemned the deaths. "It is clear to all of us that the three criminals or mercenaries did not act alone. They were backed by someone with authority."

The shooting roiled deep-seated religious prejudices in a nation where Islamic clerics were outraged by a recent ban on minarets in Switzerland but have been less vigorous in speaking out against abuses or protecting the rights of Copts in their own country.

Nag Hammadi "was not an individual act. It is a political, religious, social and above all a governmental crime," wrote Mohamed Shabba in the independent Nahdet Masr newspaper....

Read it all.

Sabrina Tavernise reports in today's New York Times -- a story that begins on the front-page, and continues at great length inside -- about the rape and beating to death of a 12-year-old Pakistani girl by her employer, a rich and prominent member of the Lahore bar. The story is very long, and I read it, eager at long last to see the Times begin to cover the hideous treatment of Christians in Pakistan. The girl was Christian, and Christian girls frequently find that the only employment they can get are as domestic slaves to Muslim masters.

Here is that story.

By now, like you, I am used to a lot. I have long become inured to all the ingenious or clumsy ways the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the L.A. Times, and hundreds of other papers, and of course NPR, and the Nightly News as brought to Americans by CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox (the ranters who, when it comes to Islam, always fall noticeably silent, perhaps that silence being silent testimony to the share of Murdoch's News Corporation owned by that Saudi prince with the facial tic), avoid discussing forthrightly what Islam inculcates, or how non-Muslims are treated in countries where Muslims dominate.

But even I was surprised at how Sabrina Tavernise, and her paper, The New York Times, managed to carry this story and not once mention the fact that the girl who was beaten to death was a Christian, that her employer is Muslim, and that the Muslim lawyers of Lahore have refused to take up her case or cause, and have even terrified the handful of Christian lawyers, too, from making her case a cause célèbre.

For this is merely one case among many, of repeated miseries and murders inflicted by Muslim Pakistanis on Christians in Pakistan. If you seek examples in the modern world of the Christian heroes and martyrs to rival those of the ancient world, then surely they are to be found among the Christians in Muslim-ruled lands, and perhaps above all today in Pakistan.

Just so that the Sabrina-tavernises of this world get this straight, let's simply remind her, and her employer, The New York Times, of what it is that Pakistan's Christians must endure. A little - just a minute's worth, from recent stories put up at Jihad Watch:

Now I know why Shakespeare said, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

(No, I am not advocating mass lawyercide. Although certainly Pakistan would be perhaps marginally saner without the gentle influence of the Lahore Bar Association.)

"Lahore, Muslim lawyers will "burn alive" anyone who defends murdered 12 year old Christian," by Fareed Khan for Asia News, February 6 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - Because of the threats posed by the powerful Lahore Bar Association - an umbrella organization of city lawyers - no Christian or Muslim lawyer is ready to take on the defence in the murder of 12 year-old Shazia Bashir, it was reported yesterday by The Pakistani Christian association that deals with legal assistance.

The girl, of Christian faith, died on Jan. 23 as a result of violence - even sexual - at the hands of her employer, a wealthy and powerful Muslim lawyer in Lahore. The alleged murderess, Chaudhry Mohammad Naeem, is a former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association. The girl, just 12 years old, had worked as a maid in the home of Naeem in the last six months.

The Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) denounces that access to the courtroom where the court hearings were held against the accused was denied, because a group of Muslim lawyers (pictured) 'prevented' entry. The association is fighting - for free - for the rights of the poorest and marginalized groups has been threatened by thousands of lawyers - friends of the murderer - that promise to burn alive anyone who wants to represent the victim in court. "

M. Joseph Francis, director of Claas, asked members of civil society, political and religious leaders to rise up and take steps to "condemn this new form of terrorism" by lawyers who "should ensure justice." The Pakistani newspaper The News reported that on Feb. 4, the police conducted the accused to the courts amid "tight security. And, as usual, officials prevented journalists and relatives of victims to come into the hall for "security reasons".

Shazia Bashir's family could not access the court not once but three times, a strange fact, regarding the judiciary in Pakistan. Police officials explain that it would "not be possible" to prevent clashes and violence, where "Shazia's relatives and representatives of minorities to enter the courtroom."...

The rally was held on January 30. Video thanks to John. Lumpy has more video here, here, and here, and thoughts on the rally here.

Kudos and thanks to all who stood up for human rights in Toronto on the 30th.

Now here's a new twist on an old jihad, and on the notion of "interfaith dialogue" as well. As I have said many times, I am always happy to debate any serious Muslim spokesman, but if any of them ever summon up the courage to debate me (it's okay, Brave Ahmed Rehab, you can come out from under the couch now), I won't agree to hold the debate in Tanzania.

"Arrested Evangelists in Tanzania Say Muslims Colluded with Police," from Compass Direct News, February 2 (thanks to Twostellas):

NAIROBI, Kenya, February 2 (CDN) -- Two Christian evangelists in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, have been arrested after Muslims invited them to debate religion but instead called in security agents who charged the evangelists with illegal preaching.

Anglican evangelists Eleutery Kobelo and Cecil Simbaulanga, released on bail and facing a hearing on Feb. 11, told Compass that Christian and Muslim groups organized the inter-faith debate that was planned for a neutral venue in October of last year in the Kariakoo area of Dar es Salaam.

Kobelo said no Muslims showed up at the debate until Islamists arrived with government security agents who charged them with "using religious sermons to incite Muslims and Christians into viewing each other with suspicion."

"This continuous intimidation by the Muslims using the police is worrying us," he said....

As well it should.

"When worship continued unabated, a mob took matters into its own hands."

Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate Indonesia: "Muslim Mob Burns Pastor's Home, 2 Churches," from International Christian Concern via AINA, February 3:

Washington -- International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a Muslim mob set fire to a pastor's house and two Christian churches in North Sumatra, Indonesia, last Friday.

The arson followed a disagreement between Muslims and Christians over the location of buildings Christians would meet in for worship. The buildings were in the center of a predominantly Muslim community and were not registered as churches. When worship continued unabated, a mob took matters into its own hands.

According to The Jakarta Post, on Friday, January 29, a crowd of about 1000 Muslims surrounded the HKBP and GPdI church buildings and lit them on fire, also torching the pastor's house nearby....

After Malaysian Muslims firebombed several churches, Christians seemed to retaliate with a non-violent but pungently symbolic gesture, leaving pigs' heads at two mosques. But now a Muslim leader has suggested that Muslims were also behind this -- in a naked attempt to incite the local believers to a murderous rage against non-Muslims.

This recalls also how CAIR manufactures "hate crimes" in order to claim victim status in the U.S. PC establishment. In both cases, there is an attempt to portray Muslims as aggrieved victims whose grievances must be redressed.

"Pig heads found at two Malaysian mosques," from Reuters, January 27 (thanks to Kris):

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police said severed pigs' heads were found at two mosques on Wednesday, in the latest of a spate of attacks on places of worship that have escalated ethnic tensions.

The dumping of the heads of three pigs -- considered unclean by Muslims -- comes amid a row over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims that has seen violence against 11 churches, a mosque and two Muslim prayer halls.

Police and religious leaders called for calm and said that saboteurs may be attempting to stir up ethnic conflict in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim Malay nation which has large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

"By looking at the modus operandi of the (pigs' head) incidents... I think it is the same group that is involved in the previous attacks," national police chief Musa Hassan told reporters.

"I think they are throwing money (to those carrying out the attacks) to cause such incidents," he said, warning those responsible not to "play with fire" and undermine national security.

The places of worship have been pelted with Molotov cocktails, stones and paint in tensions triggered by a December 31 court ruling that overturned a ban on non-Muslims using the word "Allah" as a translation for "God"....

Zulkifli Mohamad, the imam who leads prayers at the Al Imam al Tirmizi mosque where two heads were found, called for calm and said Muslim saboteurs could be behind the latest incidents.

"This is the work of some people to stir racial tension in the country. We are shocked by their actions," he told reporters.

"I want the police to act fast, we ask Muslims to be patient, there is a possibility Muslims could be behind this incident." Local parliamentarian Nurul Izzah Anwar, the 29-year-old daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, also said she suspected the pigs' head incident was orchestrated by troublemakers.

"We are outraged by these attacks, it could be the act of saboteurs to destroy peace and racial harmony," she said at the scene. "This area is a predominantly mixed area. On the ground, race relations are fine." -Reuters

"They are constantly under threat, always on the run because they converted to Christianity in a largely Muslim country." But...but...I thought it was only greasy Islamophobes who believed that Islam mandated death for apostates! Michael Kruse, call your office! Meredith "Hijab" Heagney, get plane reservations for Cairo! M. Cherif Bassiouni, book a lecture tour! Misunderstanders of Islam are on the loose in Egypt! "Christian in Egypt: 'They Try to Kill Us,'" by Dana Lewis for FoxNews, January 26 (thanks to Sounder):

Egyptian Maher El-Gowhary and his 15 year old daughter Dina never pray twice at the same church, never stay longer than a month in any one apartment. They are constantly under threat, always on the run because they converted to Christianity in a largely Muslim country.

Maher and Dina nervously agreed to meet us at a Church in Cairo. The priest at the Church said he feared problems from the Egyptian authorities and while he agreed to have us watch his Sunday mass, the Priest declined to speak to us about what is happening in Egypt and to the El-Gowhary's.

They tell their story out of fear and desperation. Born Muslims they chose to convert to the Christian Church after both claim they had religious visions.

Now Maher says "Muslims try to kill us, and will kill us if they find us."

Several religious fatwas have been issued for "spilling his blood" after Maher asked an Egyptian Court to legally recognize his conversion, so he can one day be buried as a Christian and so his daughter won't be forced into a marriage by her Muslim mother....

Read it all.

Qur'an 4:3 permits Muslim men to have sexual relations with captives and slaves, and it is the supposed divine endorsement of the idea that makes it so persistent in Muslim countries -- most notoriously in Saudi Arabia, but not only there. "Lahore: 12-year-old Christian domestic worker killed by Muslim employer," from Asia News, January 25:

Lahore (AsiaNews/Agencies) - A 12-year-old Christian girl died on Friday as a result of physical violence inflicted by her employer, a rich and powerful Muslim lawyer in Lahore. The case has led to protests by the Christian community, which demonstrated before the provincial assembly of Punjab in Lahore. The authorities are trying to appease people and have pledged that justice shall be done. Pakistani President Zardari has also promised to pay compensation to the family.

A Protestant NGO, Sharing Life Ministry Life (SLMP), reported the case of Shazia Bashir, 12, who was employed for the past eight months as a domestic worker in the household of Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem, a lawyer and former president of the Lahore Bar Association.

Local Christians say that during that period the girl was the victim of constant harassment, and that she was raped and tortured before she was killed.

SLMP chief coordinator Sohail Johnson said the girl worked under constant stress and experienced emotional and psychological trauma. She was also denied the agreed salary (Rs 1,000 or about US$ 12 per month).

Shazia "would get insults whenever she raised the subject of payment," the Christian activist said.

Three days before her death, her employer tortured her, he noted. Afterwards, he tried to have her treated at his home without informing the parents of her health situation. In the end, the medical care she did get proved inadequate and she had to go to Lahore's Meo Hospital.

"Shazia's parents were not allowed to meet her. They did not know what she was going through," said Razia Bibi, the girl's 44-year-old uncle.

Shazia died last Friday from her injuries.

Sohail Johnson said that her body showed signs of torture with at least 12 marks of injury. "Shazia was admitted to the hospital with a broken jaw," he said.

Initially, Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem's family tried to pay off Shazia's parents with Rs 20,000 (US$ 250) to stop them from filing a case against them. Eventually they fled, but were arrested yesterday under pressure from the federal government.

On Saturday, Christians demonstrated in front of the Punjab Provincial Assembly.

The Lahore Bar Association has instead sided with the powerful Muslim lawyer.

Local Christians have expressed scepticism about the impartiality and efficacy of the police investigation; however, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that outside interference would not be tolerated and that justice would be done.

Sohail Johnson said that 99 per cent of Christian girls from poor families are hired by wealthy Muslims, and are often physically, psychologically and sexually abused.

"In some cases, their employers marry them off to Muslim servants, and forcibly convert them to Islam," he said.

"These vulnerable Christian girls do not have any state protection. We urge the government to ensure protection of these disadvantaged girls," the SLMP coordinator said.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has promised Rs 500,000 (US$ 6,000) in compensation to the girl's family and urged the Punjab government to provide financial help as well. The money is expected to cover the cost of Shazia Bashir's funeral, which is scheduled for today in Lahore.

The demonstration was Tuesday. Pamela H. of "the 'silent' majority no more!" was there, and took these pictures, among many others. Be sure to go here and here to see many more pictures.

Showing respect for the People of the Book. "Nigeria: Religious Violence Kills 27," from AP, January 18 (thanks to Logan's Warning):

Angry Muslim youths set fire to a church filled with worshipers, starting a riot that killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 300 in Jos, in northern Nigeria, officials said Monday. Sani Mudi, a spokesman for the local imam, said 22 people died in fighting between Christians and Muslims after rioters set fire to a Catholic church on Sunday. Five others died Monday from their wounds....

"The tactic is to murder Christians, because the media does not talk about it."

"Mosul: targeted execution of Christians continues in media and government silence," from AsiaNews, January 19 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Mosul (AsiaNews) - The second targeted attack against the Christian community in less than 24 hours, the indifference of the security forces who did not intervene.

They did not intervene, of course, because they believe in the same jihad.

Yesterday in Mosul, northern Iraq, an unidentified group shot dead 45 year-old businessman Amjad Hamid Abdullahad. Sunday, January 17th, the same day of the inauguration of new local archbishop, a Christian aged 52, married and father of two daughters, was killed. AsiaNews sources in the city explain that "the government blames the attacks on al-Qaeda fundamentalists ", in reality the community is victim of the power struggle between "Arab and Kurd" groups.

At noon yesterday, an armed commando executed Abdullahad Amjad Hamid, a married Syriac Catholic, who owned a small grocery store in the neighbourhood of Alsiddiq, in northern Mosul. The man was killed outside his home in the suburb of Balladiyat, not far from his workplace.

Local witnesses reported that "the murder took place in front of the security forces, who saw all the phases of the attack, but did not intervene." A Catholic in Mosul says that "the tactic is to murder Christians, because the media does not talk about it." A strategy that aims to push Christians towards the plain of Nineveh, "in the silence and indifference of the government and the international community."

A source for AsiaNews in Mosul, adds that "Christians are living in panic and have begun fleeing from the city". He explains that "these are not normal criminals," but behind them are "specific political plans" that the government is not countering. There is no information from Baghdad "about who is behind attacks on churches and Christians," but the source is confident that the central executive, the governorship of Mosul and the Kurdish leadership "are aware" of the plan against the Christian community....

Police have yet to arrest the gunmen, who claim it was all just an accident. "Two Christians Critically Wounded at Wedding in Pakistan," from Compass Direct News, January 14:

TOBA TEK SINGH, Pakistan, January 14 (CDN) -- Two Pakistani Christians who were shot at a wedding on Dec. 26 for refusing to convert to Islam are still receiving treatment at a hospital intensive care unit, but doctors are hopeful that they will recover.

In low, barely audible voices, Imran Masih, 21, and Khushi Masih, 24, told Compass that two Muslims armed with AK-47s in Punjab Province's Chak (village) 297-JB, in Toba Tek Singh district, shot them in their chests after they refused orders to recite the Islamic creed signifying conversion.

Soon after they arrived at the wedding, a group of Muslim youths armed with AK-47 assault rifles surrounded them and began shooting into the air, as is customary at village weddings. They were not alarmed, they said, assuming the young Muslim men were simply celebrating joyfully.

"One of the green-turban-wearing Muslims peremptorily told us to recite the Islamic holy Kalima [profession of faith] or face direct bullets and the lethal consequences," said Khushi Masih. [...]

Police have registered a case against the suspects, whose names were not released, but have yet to arrest them, the station house officer of Saddr police station told Compass.

"Very soon we will arrest them to prosecute and put them behind the bars," he said. The investigation is continuing, he added.

The suspects are basing their defense on the assertion that they shot the Christians by accident, said family members of the wounded Christians, strongly denying the claim.

The fathers of the two Christians said Islamic extremist Hafiz Aziz Gujjar, a member of a local hard-line proselytizing group, has long pressured the two victims to convert to Islam. They said Gujjar has enticed or pressured other Christians and followers of other faiths to recant their beliefs....

As the persecution of the Coptic Christians in Egypt heats up, Copts in the U.S. are beginning to call for action:

Please join us at a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House on Thursday January 21, 2010 from 11:00AM to 2:00PM to protest the persecution and violence against the Copts (Christian Egyptians) which are increasing in frequency and brutality.

For your convenience, buses will move to the White House from the parking lots of St. Mark Coptic Church (11911 Braddock RD Fairfax, VA 22030) and St. Mary Coptic Church (8340 Woodward St. Savage, MD 20763) at 10:00 AM. Be there 15-20 minutes earlier.

Thank you and God Bless you.

A message from Coptic activist Andrew Girgis:

As most of you know on January 6th 2010, seven of our brothers were brutally massacred at the church of the Virgin Mary in Nag Hamadi in Egypt while leaving Christmas Eve mass. Three cars armed with automatic rifles drove by and opened fire targeting Christians as they came out. Bishop Kyrellos having received threats prior to the mass is believed to have been the main target for his criticism against the recent conflict between Muslims and Christians in Farshout. The age of the seven martyrs ranged from 17 to 25 years old. While the Egyptian government turns a blind eye to the violence committed against Egypt's biggest minority, we believe that the US will step in and pressure Egypt to protect the basic rights of its citizens. This is not the first attack on Egypt's minority Christians by Muslim extremists and it certainly won't be the last unless we put pressure on both the Egyptian as well as the American government to put a stop to the shameful and despicable atrocities committed in the name of Islam against Christians. This is why it's important that we unite this Sunday the 17th in a peaceful protest to express our concerns and raise awareness to what goes on in Egypt and to the future of the US as well if it continues in its politically correct path.

The event is going to take place on Sunday 1/17/2010 at 2:00 pm by Seattle Center. We will march from there to Westlake and back. The rally will end by 4:00 pm.

Please be there and invite all your friends as we need all the support we can get.

Thank you and God bless you all.

Feel the love. "Fatima Shrine Vandalized," from Zenit, January 12 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

FATIMA, Portugal, JAN. 12, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The church of the Holy Trinity and four statues at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima were vandalized early Sunday morning.

In a press release Monday, officials from the shrine announced that in the early hours of Sunday morning, four statutes on the sides of the church as well as the church itself were painted with graffiti.

In the John Paul II Plaza, statutes of Popes John Paul II and Paul VI were painted. In the Pius XII Plaza, statues of Pope Pius XII and Bishop José Alves Correia da Silva were painted.

The graffiti includes the words "Islam," "moon," "sun," "Muslim" and "mosque."...

"Arrests of Copts after every sedition is the usual scenario as a pressure card in the hands of State Security to force the church and Copts to accept 'reconciliation', in which Coptic victims give up all criminal and civil charges against the perpetrators."

"Over 100 Coptic Christian Teenagers Arrested in Egypt," by Mary Abdelmassih for AINA, January 13:

Egypt (AINA) -- Egyptian State Security has intensified its intimidation of the Coptic Church and Christians in Nag Hammadi, and neighboring Bahgoura, by carrying out random arrests of Christian youth. The campaign against Christians started on Friday January 7, 2010 and is continuing; multiple members of families have been arrested without warrants. Most arrests are being carried at dawn. More than one hundred Christian youth have been arrested without charge.

Arrests of Copts after every sedition is the usual scenario as a pressure card in the hands of State Security to force the church and Copts to accept "reconciliation", in which Coptic victims give up all criminal and civil charges against the perpetrators. Because of the reaction in Egypt and worldwide to the shootings and the role of the State Security, Bishop Kyrollos was asked issue statements downplaying the negligence of State Security. It is believed the arrests of the Coptic youth is a pressure tactic to force him to recant his accusations....

Read it all.

Indonesia is often held up as a model of democracy and moderation in Islam. The Christians there know otherwise. Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate Indonesia: "West Java: denial of religious freedom pushes Christians before the human rights commission," by Mathias Hariyadi for AsiaNews, January 12 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Hundreds of members of the Huria Batak Protestant Christians Group (HKBP) of Bekasi, West Java, streamed before the National Human Right Commission (Komnas Ham) to demand that their right to religious freedom be upheld. They complain that Muslim hard-line groups and their local authorities have forcibly stopped their activities and cancelled their Sunday services.

At the end of the meeting between the Komnas Ham and the HBKP, an umbrella organisation for a number of Protestant groups in Indonesia, Rev Palti Panjaitan said he was hopeful that "our requests will be heeded," and that "local authorities would rescind their decision to suspend our activities."

"The decision by Bekasi officials is against the law" and violates fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion. More importantly, it "is contrary to the constitution," Rev Panjaitan insisted.

Worshippers at the HKBP church in Pondok Timur Indah, Mustika Jaya sub-district in East Bekasi, were notified of the decision last Sunday during the liturgical service. The letter ordering them to stop was issued on 31 December, and informed them that they had to suspend services as of 1 January 2010.

The clergyman said he was bitter about the decision because "more than 1,500 people have no place to worship anymore."...

"[An] officer denied police were caving in to Islamist pressure, pointing out that security forces regularly battle Islamist militants," but that's evidently only when it's in the state's interest to do so. For that matter, the "authorized venues" scheme is a means of maintaining control over non-Muslim communities, and as always, disobedient dhimmis lose their "protected" status when they step out of line.

"Islamists loot and burn protestant church in Algeria," from the Associated Press, January 11 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

Islamists looted and burned a Protestant church in Algeria, the congregation's leader said Monday, suggesting they were inspired by a recent wave of religious intolerance in the Arab and Muslim world.

The church - hosted in an apartment block in the city of Tizi Ouzou some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Algiers, the Algerian capital - was ransacked and set ablaze on Saturday night, several Algerian newspapers said.

The independent El Watan daily published a picture of a smoldering pile of pulpits and desks that had been brought outside for destruction. It quoted the pastor of the local Pentecostal community, Mustapha Krireche, as saying worshippers fled the temple because local police had left a gathering of anti-Christian rioters unchecked.

The congregation was worshipping in the apartment block because it had not received official government approval to operate a church.

Mustapha Krim, the head of the Algerian Protestant Church association, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Monday that looters also set fire to a pile of Bibles and religious textbooks, and desecrated Christian crosses.

He said the looting showed "Islamist intolerance considers there is no room for Christian religious practices in Algeria," and alleged it was "fueled by what just happened in Egypt," where six people were killed in a church shooting during Christmas celebrations. In mainly Muslim Malaysia, nine churches have also been recently burned down amid violence against the country's Christian minority.

The Protestant Church in Algeria filed five separate complaints for arson and looting with local authorities, Krim said Monday.

"Authorities don't want to get involved because they're worried of getting in trouble with the Islamists," Krim said.

There was no official comment from Algeria's government on the church looting. A senior police officer in the town of Tizi Ouzou confirmed the police hadn't intervened, despite the complaints. He said authorities couldn't intervene because the church hadn't been authorized as a place of worship [...]

An overwhelmingly Muslim nation where Islam is the religion of state, Algeria allows the practice of other faiths in authorized venues. A few Roman Catholic churches are still open, left over from the French colonial era.

But small Protestant groups have been accused of proselytizing, or trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, which is illegal in Algeria. Several Protestants were prosecuted last year for illegally carrying Bibles or converting people to Christianity.

Arabic-speaking Christians have been using the word "Allah" for God from time immemorial, and these Malay Christians, influenced by this in their non-Arab but Muslim society, have been doing so for decades. The whole idea of making this an issue at all was just another expression of Islamic supremacism. Or maybe an excuse to firebomb churches.

"Ninth Church Vandalized in Malaysia as Tensions Rise," by Seth Mydans for the New York Times, January 11 (thanks to James):

BANGKOK -- A ninth church was vandalized Monday in Malaysia in a series of arson attacks that have raised religious tensions surrounding a dispute over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians in this mostly Muslim nation.

"Allah" is the common term for God in Malay-language Bibles, but the government and many Muslim groups insist that the word should be reserved for use in Islam.

The attacks, which began on Friday, came after a court ruling on Dec. 31 that overturned a government ban on the use of "Allah" by Christians. That ruling has been stayed while the government appeals.

Only one of the churches has been seriously damaged, and some of the attacks were minor. In Monday's attack, the Sidang Injil Borneo Church in the central state of Negeri Sembilan was slightly damaged when its door was burned, according to local reports.

Government officials condemned the violence Monday but defended their position, saying conditions are different in Malaysia from those in neighboring Indonesia or in Arab nations where "Allah" is the common term for God....

In addition to the four already reported. This is why the Malaysian government had to appeal to Muslims not to boil with rage over a court decision allowing a Catholic weekly to use the word "Allah." The decision is suspended, pending appeal, but in any event, the government's call for restraint turned out to be quite necessary in the interest of damage control -- both figuratively and literally.

It has not been at all successful in the latter sense. "4 more churches attacked in Malaysia in Allah feud," by Eileen Ng for the Associated Press, January 10:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Firebombs were thrown at three more churches in Malaysia on Sunday and another was splashed with black paint, the latest in a series of assaults on Christian houses of worship following a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use "Allah" to refer to God.

Despite the attacks, thousands of Christians nationwide attended Sunday services and prayed for national unity and an end to the violence.

The unprecedented attacks have set off a wave of disquiet among Malaysia's minority Christians and strained their ties with the majority Malay Muslims. About 9 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Christian, most of whom are ethnic Chinese or Indian. Muslims make up 60 percent of the population and most of them are ethnic Malays.

Religious minorities have often complained about what they say is institutionalized religious discrimination here.

On Sunday, a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the All Saints Church in Taiping town in central Perak state early in the morning before it opened, said state police chief Zulkifli Abdullah. He told The Associated Press police found burn marks on the wall but there was no damage to the building.

A broken kerosene bottle with an unlit wick was found early Sunday inside the compound of the St. Louis Catholic church, also in Taiping, said the Rev. David Lourdes. He said it appeared to be a failed attack.

In southern Malacca state, the outer wall of the Malacca Baptist Church was splashed with black paint, police said.

Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said a church in Miri town in eastern Sarawak state on Borneo island also reported an arson attempt.

"The situation is under control and the people should not be worried," he was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency. An aide confirmed his comments but couldn't give further details.

Four churches were hit by gasoline bombs on Friday and Saturday. No one was hurt and all suffered little damage, except the Metro Tabernacle Church. Parishioners there moved services after fire gutted the first floor. The other churches held regular services Sunday.

The dispute is over a Dec. 31 High Court decision that overturned a government order banning non-Muslims from using the word "Allah" in their prayers and literature. The court was ruling on a petition by Malaysia's Roman Catholic Church, whose main publication, the Herald, uses the word Allah in its Malay-language edition. The government has appealed the verdict....

Arabic-speaking Christians have been using the word "Allah" for God from time immemorial, and these Malay Christians, influenced by this in their non-Arab but Muslim society, have been doing so for decades. The whole idea of making this an issue at all was just another expression of Islamic supremacism. Or maybe an excuse to firebomb churches.

"Fourth church attacked in Malaysia as Allah row deepens," by Niluksi Koswanage for Reuters, January 9 (thanks to all who sent this in):

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Arsonists in Malaysia struck a fourth church on Saturday as the government tried to soothe tensions arising from a row over the use of the word "Allah" to refer to the Christian God.

The unprecedented attacks risk dividing the mainly Muslim nation of 28 million people, which has significant religious minorities, and complicating Prime Minister Najib Razak's plan to win back support from the non-Muslims before the next elections by 2013.

The row, over a court ruling that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use Allah in its Malay-language editions, prompted Muslims to protest at mosques on Friday and sparked arson attacks on three churches that saw one Pentecostalist church gutted.

While Najib visited the badly damaged Pentecostalist church and offered a government grant of half a million ringgit ($148,100) to maintain "a harmonious society," church leaders said they wanted more concrete assurances of safety.

"We ask the government to make a strong statement to these wrongdoers so we can worship in peace on Sunday," Reverend Hermen Shastri, secretary-general to the Council of Churches Malaysia, told Reuters....

As I have noted here many times, Arabic-speaking Christians were using the word "Allah" for God from time immemorial -- the whole controversy over this in Malaysia is just another supremacist initiative. And now it is getting really ugly.

An update on this story: "Malaysian church fire-bombed ahead of Muslim protests," from AFP, January 7 (thanks to Pamela):

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A church in Malaysia has been fire-bombed in an attack that gutted its ground floor, church officials said Friday, escalating a dispute over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims.

A fire department official said all stations were on alert for more blazes at religious buildings, ahead of planned nationwide protests Friday by Muslim groups angry over the use of the word as a translation for "God" by Christians.

The three-storey Metro Tabernacle church in suburban Kuala Lumpur, part of the Assemblies of God movement, was set ablaze in the attack which took place around midnight, said church leader Peter Yeow, 62.

"Witnesses saw four people smash the glass and throw incendiaries into the church building. They came on two motorcycles," he told AFP at the scene as fire department forensic officers picked through the wreckage.

There were no casualties in the attack on the church, which occupies the corner lot of a row of shop houses and which Yeow said draws some 1,500 people weekly....

The High Court last week ruled in favour of the Catholic "Herald" newspaper which has used "Allah" as a translation for "God" in its Malay-language section. The government has said the word should be used only by Muslims.

The ruling was suspended on Wednesday pending an appeal, after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict in multicultural Malaysia, where Muslim Malays make up 60 percent of the population....

Racial? What race is Islam? What race is Christianity?

The Herald's editor Father Lawrence Andrew has warned of a campaign of intimidation including hacker attacks against the weekly's website, protest plans and widespread criticism in the media over last week's ruling.

"We believe these actions (are designed) to create a climate of fear and a perceived threat to national security so as to pressure the court in reversing its decision," he said this week....

Looks like it.

An update on this story. "At Least 7 Killed After Coptic Christmas Mass In Egypt," from the Associated Press, January 6 (thanks to Sashland):

Three men in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd of churchgoers in southern Egyptian as they left a midnight Mass for Coptic Christmas, killing at least seven people in a drive-by shooting, the church bishop and security officials said.

Egypt's Interior Ministry said the attack Wednesday just before midnight was suspected as retaliation for the November rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man in the same town. The statement said witnesses have identified the lead attacker.

Prior reporting described the accusation of rape as a rumor. Nonetheless, riots ensued.

The attack took place in the town of Nag Hamadi in Qena province, about 40 miles from the famous ancient ruins of Luxor. A local security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that seven were dead and three seriously wounded.

Bishop Kirollos of the Nag Hamadi Diocese told The Associated Press six male churchgoers and one security guard were killed. He said he had left St. John's church just minutes before the attack.

"A driving car swerved near me, so I took the back door. By the time I shook hands with someone at the gate, I heard the mayhem, lots of machine gun shots," he said in a telephone interview. He said he saw five bodies lying on the ground when he first looked at the site of the shooting, about 600 yards where he was.

The bishop said he was concerned about violence on the eve of Coptic Christmas, which falls on Thursday, because of previous threats following the rape of the 12-year-old girl in November.

He got a message on his mobile phone saying: "It is your turn."

"I did nothing with it. My faithful were also receiving threats in the streets, some shouting at them: 'We will not let you have festivities,"' he said.

Because of the threats, he said he ended his Christmas Mass one hour early.

He said Muslim residents of Nag Hamadi and neighboring villages rioted for five days in November and torched and damaged Christian properties in the area after the rape.

"For days, I had expected something to happen on Christmas day," he said. The bishop said police have now asked him to stay at home for fear of further violence. [...]

Clashes between Muslims and Christians are not uncommon in southern Egypt and in recent years have begun seeping into the capital. An Amnesty International report said sectarian attacks on the Coptic Christian community, comprising between 6 million and 8 million people in Egypt, increased in the year 2008. Sporadic clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims left eight people dead.

Vendetta killing is also common among southern Egyptians, and is usually over land or family disputes.

The bishop said he had an idea of who the attackers were, calling them "Muslim radicals."

"It is all religious now. This is a religious war about how they can finish off the Christians in Egypt," he said.

And once again Muslim authorities refused to act against the Islamic supremacists. Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Church screening of 'Jesus' film attacked in Pakistan," from The Christian Messenger, December 29 (thanks to Winoceros):

AS many as 50 Muslim villagers armed with clubs and axes recently attacked a showing of the 'Jesus' film near Sargodha, Pakistan, injuring three part-time evangelists and four Christians in attendance.

Two of the evangelists were said to be seriously injured. The Muslim hardliners also damaged a movie projector, burned reels of the film and absconded with the public address system and donations from Christian viewers in Chak village, about 10 kilometers northeast of Sargodha.

Officers at the Saddr police station refused to register a case against the Muslim assailants, sources said....

The evangelists said a Muslim cleric instigated the Muslim villagers, who were armed with clubs, spades and axes.

Clearly this Muslim cleric was a Misunderstander of the Religion of Peace and Tolerance™.

"A 'warning' to force the mass exodus of Christians."

"Christian student kidnapped by Islamic group in Mosul," from Asia News, December 30 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Mosul (AsiaNews) - A Christian girl was kidnapped by an Islamic group while at university. The girl, Sarah Edmond Youhanna, attended the first year of the faculty of education at the University of Mosul. The kidnapping occurred on 28 December. The kidnappers had telephoned the family of the girl and said they were members of an Islamic group. The police have opened an investigation and arrested some students. The event has spread an atmosphere of panic among the many Christian girls who attend the university. In the past, Islamist groups have attacked Christian college girls throwing acid on them because they were wearing makeup or not wearing the veil. Over the past two months in Mosul four churches and a convent of Dominican nuns have been targeted in attacks, several Christian and Muslim homes have been destroyed. Five Christians have been murdered, others are victims of kidnappings. According to the Christian authorities such attacks are targeted and are part of a project of "ethnic cleansing" against the Christian community throughout Iraq.

AsiaNews sources in a city confirm that all these attacks and kidnappings are a "warning" to force the mass exodus of Christians. "The families who have fled to the north, Kurdistan - has confirmed the source - have no work, nor life perspectives. The Christian community is destined to die. "

Over at Weasel Zippers Momma asks: "When will our President stand up for the rights of Christians all around the world?" Good question. I wonder if he will be able to stop praising Islam long enough even to consider doing such a thing. "Family flees 'horrific' abuse: Given asylum in Canada after couple's daughter was raped as toddler in Pakistan," by Tom Godfrey for the Toronto Sun, December 29 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

A seven-year-old Pakistani girl and her family have been given asylum in Canada after reports the child was raped and left to die when her Christian father refused to convert to Islam.

The identities of Baby Neeha and her family are being protected by immigration officials, said human rights lawyer Chantal Desloges and One Free World International, a church that was instrumental in getting the family here.

The family arrived in Canada on Dec. 12 after a three-year battle by organizers to spirit them out of danger in Pakistan....

Church founder Rev. Majed El Shafie said the family of seven have been hiding from extremists in Pakistan for about three years.

Baby Neeha, at the age of 21/2, was raped by the son of her father's employer and left to die by the roadside, he said. No one was arrested for the crime.

"These horrific events took place because her father, who was Christian, refused to give in to pressure from his Muslim employer to convert to Islam," El Shafie said.

The family went underground in Pakistan to hide from Muslim extremists who were seeking revenge for their non-conversion, he said.

"The family has lived for years in hiding and in constant fear of being discovered by the employer's family or Islamic extremists," El Shafie said. "We are thrilled that she's finally in Canada."...

Canada's Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, issued a special "ministerial permit" to get the family out of Pakistan, because there were "significant difficulties" involved in getting them out of that lovely, tolerant place.

My Human Events column today chronicles an unmerry Christmas in Iraq and other Muslim countries:

Christians in the Iraqi city have opted not to celebrate Christmas this year, since Ashura, a major Shi'ite day of mourning, falls on the same day. So out of "respect" for the local Shi'ites, Chaldean Catholic Bishop Imad Al Banna asked all Christians in Basra not to engage in any public celebration of Christmas, and not even to entertain guests or show any joy in the day.

Would Shi'ites curtail one of their celebrations to show similar "respect" to the Christians? Would they mute their joy on Eid al-Fitr if it began on Good Friday? And what would happen to these Christians if they failed to show this "respect"?

Meanwhile, Christians are still streaming out of Iraq in such large numbers that the ancient Christian community is on the verge of extinction. Islamic jihadists last week attacked churches and Christian schools in Mosul, with forty people killed in bomb attacks and random Christians targeted for violence on the streets. This is after jihadist violence late last year killed forty and drove 12,000 Christians from the area. "It is terrible," one Mosul Christian told the Times of London: : "Most of the Christians are staying at home, or when they go out they watch their backs." A member of another religious minority, the Yazidis, who lives in a Christian village remarked: "You cannot live in Mosul. Every day you find Christians being killed. Very few are still going to church. The women have to wear hijabs. They send someone first in a car to check if there is someone outside the church."

And in Egypt, Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights released a new report detailing rampant abuse of Christian women by Muslims: "Cases of abduction, forced conversion and marriage are usually accompanied by acts of violence which include rape, beatings, deprivation of food and other forms of physical and mental abuse." John Eibner of Christian Solidarity International wrote a letter to Barack Obama about the treatment of Christian women, asking him to speak out and noting: "Trafficking of Christian women in Egypt is not a new phenomenon....But this problem has now reached boiling point within Egypt's Coptic community, which views it as symptomatic of a much broader pattern of religious persecution." But Obama, busy courting the good will of the Islamic world, is unlikely to say anything. And meanwhile, the State Department's 2009 report on international religious freedom noted that the Egyptian government often turns a blind eye to crimes committed against Copts -- and government officials have on occasion even participated in those crimes.

The Christians in Turkey are facing a similarly somber Christmas. "We are treated," said the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, "as citizens of second class. We don't feel that we enjoy our full rights as Turkish citizens." Yet "we prefer to stay here, even crucified sometimes."...

Read it all.

"These targeted attacks testify to the 'ethnic cleansing' in act against the Christian community throughout Iraq."

"Mosul attacks on two Christian churches, three dead and several injured," from AsiaNews, December 23 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):

Mosul (AsiaNews) - Two separate bombs struck this morning in Mosul, the Chaldean church of St. George and Syriac Orthodox Church of St. Thomas. The death toll so far is of three dead - a Chaldean Christian and two Muslims - and several wounded. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, speaks to AsiaNews of a "disturbing message" ahead of Christmas, keeping tensions high as well as fear of further violence in northern Iraq.

Sources for AsiaNews in Mosul confirm that "the situation for Christians continues to worsen, given that the Christians buildings are again being targeted by terrorists. The two churches hit are two old buildings, of great historical and cultural value".

In the attack on the church of Saint George three people were killed: a Chaldean Christian and two Muslims, others were injured. Local witnesses report that the explosion was caused by "a cart of vegetables, filled with bombs." From the initial reconstruction, it seems that the target of the attack was a police barracks in the district of Khazraj. In the last six weeks in Mosul four churches and a convent of Dominican nuns have been attacked. The explosions were caused by car bombs producing serious damage to buildings and adjacent homes, Christian and Muslim. Five Christians have been murdered and others have become victims of kidnapping for ransom. These targeted attacks testify to the "ethnic cleansing" in act against the Christian community throughout Iraq.

Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk, believes today attacks are yet another "disturbing message" to two days before Christmas...

Will the Islamophobia never end? "Pakistan Muslim Extremists Kill Christian; Injure Evangelists," from Worthy News, December 22 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (Worthy News)-- Christians on Tuesday, December 22, were mourning a Christian man who was shot dead by Muslim extremists while other believers recovered from injuries after an apparent Muslim attack on an evangelistic meeting showing the Jesus Film in Pakistan's tense Punjab province.

Patras Masih was shot because he refused to recant his faith in Christ, and died from gunshot wounds on December 3 in Karol village, his family said.

Local said Masih had received an ultimatum after being falsely accused of killing a Muslim, identified as Anees Mahammad.

He was told he would not be killed if he abandoned Christianity and "embrace Islam."

However, "My son bravely refused to recant Christianity and clung to Christ," said the man's father, Gulzar Masih, his voice trembling. After his son refused to recite the Islamic conversion creed, three Muslims known locally sprayed bullets at his chest, killing him instantly, Masih said....

Bartholomew: Crucified

The Patriarch speaks the truth about the mistreatment of Christians in Turkey -- a cultural hangover of the dhimma -- and the Turks, true to form, would rather shut him up than deal with the problem. They have followed the same pattern with the Armenian genocide. "Turkey slams orthodox chief's crucifixion remark," from AFP, December 19 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

ANKARA (AFP) Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday criticized as unacceptable remarks by the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians that he feels "crucified" and "second class" living in Turkey.

"We regard the use of the crucifixion simile as extremely unfortunate.... I would like to see this as an undesired slip of the tongue," Davutoglu told reporters here when asked about Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I's comments in an interview with US television network CBS.

"We cannot accept comparisons that we do not deserve," the minister added.

He rejected criticism that the Islamist-rooted government in Turkey was discriminating between its citizens on religious grounds.

"If Patriarch Bartholomew I has complaints on this issue, he can convey them to relevant authorities who will do whatever is necessary," he said.

In an excerpt from the interview, which will be broadcast in full on CBS on Sunday, Bartholomew I says that the tiny Greek minority in Turkey is not treated equally.

"We are treated... as citizens of second class. We don't feel that we enjoy our full rights as Turkish citizens," says the patriarch, who represents the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians.

He ruled out the option of leaving Turkey. "This is the continuation of Jerusalem and for us it is equally holy and sacred land. We prefer to stay here, even crucified sometimes," the patriarch adds.

The CBS website quotes Bartholomew I as saying that the Turkish government "would be happy to see the Patriarchate extinguished or moving abroad, but our belief is that it will never happen."...

Though Ankara does not interfere with the patriarchate's religious functions, it withholds recognition of Bartholomew's ecumenical title, treating him only as the spiritual leader of some 2,000 Orthodox Greeks still living in the country.

Turkish authorities also keep closed a theological school on an island off Istanbul, depriving the church of a means to train clergy.

That'll show us.

And of course, for many, it will. There are so many cowards in the West, who would rather give up all their principles than suffer any inconvenience or face any threat.

"Turks Threaten to Kill Priest over Swiss Minaret Decision," from Compass Direct News, December 15 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ISTANBUL, December 15 (CDN) -- In response to a Swiss vote banning the construction of new mosque minarets, a group of Muslims this month went into a church building in eastern Turkey and threatened to kill a priest unless he tore down its bell tower, according to an advocacy group.

Three Muslims on Dec. 4 entered the Meryem Ana Church, a Syriac Orthodox church in Diyarbakir, and confronted the Rev. Yusuf Akbulut. They told him that unless the bell tower was destroyed in one week, they would kill him.

"If Switzerland is demolishing our minarets, we will demolish your bell towers too," one of the men told Akbulut.

The threats came in reaction to a Nov. 29 referendum in Switzerland in which 57 percent voted in favor of banning the construction of new minarets in the country. Swiss lawmakers must now change the national constitution to reflect the referendum, a process that should take more than a year.

The Swiss ban, widely viewed around the world as a breach of religious freedom, is likely to face legal challenges in Switzerland and in the European Court of Human Rights....

A holly jihadi Christmas in Iraq

Amid relentless persecution by Islamic supremacists -- while the world looks the other way and whines about Swiss minarets and Geert Wilders. "Amid the carols and decorations, Iraq Christians fear extinction," from The Times, December 19 (thanks to Kris):

[...] Behind the tinsel and carols lies a fear that Christians in Iraq are a community under threat of extinction. Proportionally more Christians are leaving Iraq than any other group.

Last week 100 Christian leaders and politicians of all religions held an emergency meeting just before fresh violence broke out in the northern city of Mosul, with attacks on churches and Christian schools. On Tuesday a baby was killed and 40 people, including schoolchildren, were injured in three simultaneous bombings. Two days ago a Christian man was shot dead as he travelled to work.

"It is terrible," said Fadi, 26, an electricity worker from Mosul who asked that his real name not be used. "Most of the Christians are staying at home, or when they go out they watch their backs." In late 2008, killings of Christians in Mosul by insurgent groups left 40 dead and 12,000 fleeing their homes. Fadi reeled off a string of recent, smaller-scale attacks against Christians, fearful that the same level of violence would return.

Christians in Kirkuk, also in the north, have been kidnapped in recent months and as tension increases before elections they fear the attacks will multiply.

Some blame the attacks on insurgents, including al-Qaeda, who are still active in Mosul, while others accuse Kurdish or Arab factions fighting over territory. Although they differ on who is responsible, almost everyone responds by fleeing. Gorgis Mettis, from the Yazidi ethnic minority, lives in Bartella, a Christian-dominated village near Mosul, and said that after a week of violence, many Christian families were seeking refuge in his town. "You cannot live in Mosul," he said. "Every day you find Christians being killed." He estimated that since 2003 three quarters of Christians had left Mosul, historically the centre of the ancient Chaldo-Assyrian Christianity practised in Iraq. "Very few are still going to church. The women have to wear hijabs. They send someone first in a car to check if there is someone outside the church," he said....

The women have to wear hijabs. In Cairo last June, Barack Obama vowed to defend the rights of women who wanted to wear hijab in the West. Will he speak up for the rights of women in the Islamic world who do not want to wear hijab?

I won't be holding my breath.

This is an ongoing story. We have chronicled many instances of the persecution of the Copts here. Note that it is "facilitated by the Egyptian government."

"Egyptian Christian women forced to marry, convert to Islam, reports say," by Cindy Ortiz for the Baptist Press, December 14 (thanks to Alexandre):

WASHINGTON (BP)--Coptic Christian women in Egypt are being forced to marry and convert to Islam and that oppression is part of a larger pattern of persecution against Christians facilitated by the Egyptian government, according to two recent reports.

"Cases of abduction, forced conversion and marriage are usually accompanied by acts of violence which include rape, beatings, deprivation of food and other forms of physical and mental abuse," said a new assessment by Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights.

At the same time, the 2009 U.S. State Department report on international religious freedom noted the Egyptian government fails to prosecute crimes against Copts and even has taken a hand in destroying church property and, in one case, a government official reportedly raped a woman who had converted from Islam to Christianity....

Egyptian sex traffickers entice Coptic Christian women from low-income families by promising an escape from poverty, then force the women into Muslim "marriages" or outright slavery, according to the CSI/CFHR report.

"Such abuse remains covered in a cloak of silence and tacit acceptance, even though it is against the constitutional affirmations of civil rights," the report said....

Since Islam is the "religion of state" in Egypt, conversion to Islam is easy, while returning to Christianity is unacceptable, the HRW report said. The Civil Status Department, which issues national identity cards, sometimes refuses to give Coptic women a new card identifying her as Christian since it is considered apostasy for a Coptic woman to leave Islam, even to return to her religion of origin.

Egyptian law requires every citizen to have an identity card for purposes such as voting, employment and education.

Most of the cases of Coptic women being coerced into marriage are not reported and "observers, including human rights groups, find it extremely difficult to determine whether compulsion was used, as most cases involve a female Copt who converts to Islam when she marries a Muslim male," the State Department report said.

In two examples of coerced conversion, CSI/CFHR reported Nov. 10:

-- An Egyptian woman was raped and beaten since she would not have sex with the man she was forced to marry. The Coptic cross on her wrist was later removed with acid.

-- Another woman was forced to marry a Muslim lawyer and work for him in "slave-like conditions" for five years.

John Eibner, CSI's chief executive officer, urged President Obama in a letter to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls in Egypt and to make sure the U.S. makes this issue a priority in its relations with Egypt.

"Trafficking of Christian women in Egypt is not a new phenomenon.... But this problem has now reached boiling point within Egypt's Coptic community, which views it as symptomatic of a much broader pattern of religious persecution," Eibner said in his letter.

Indeed.

"The situation is very tense. Just last week to Christian brothers were killed and two more were abducted. Where was the local government? And the Central government? Where are the representatives of the ruling parties?"

They're supporting it, of course.

"A policy of 'ethnic cleansing' against Christians under way in Mosul, Mgr Sako says," from AsiaNews, December 16 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Kirkuk (AsiaNews) - A policy of "ethnic and religious cleansing" is underway in Mosul; in fact, it has worsened as Christmas approaches, Mgr Louis Sako told AsiaNews. For the archbishop of Kirkuk, this means that "security measures must be strengthened or the holiday season". Meanwhile, tensions and fear are palpable in the city, made worse by a new attack against two places of worship, killing one person and wounding 40 more. A Christian source, anonymous for security reasons, said that the "community is destined to die".

In the late morning, a car bomb exploded in front of the Church of the Annunciation in the al- Mohandiseen neighbourhood, damaging walls and windows. The attackers also threw grenades against the nearby Christian school, killing a baby girl and injuring 40 more people, including five high school kids. Saad Younes, father of the 8-day-old child, said that the blast occurred when his daughter and sister-in-law were leaving the nearby hospital.

A second attack targeted the Syro-Catholic Church of the Immaculate in al-Shifaa, a neighbourhood in northern Mosul. An explosive device went off in the street in front of the building's gate. No one was killed or injured.

Yesterday's attacks are the latest episodes in a series of violence against Christian places of worship. On 26 November, terrorists razed to the ground the Church of Saint Ephrem and the Mother House of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine. A source told AsiaNews that most nuns left; only a few have remained but "are afraid of going out".

Such attacks are a "warning" for Christians to leave en masse. Many "families have fled north, into Kurdistan, but are jobless and have no hope for the future. The Christian community is destined to die," the source said.

Mgr Louis Sako shares this concern. For the archbishop of Kirkuk, "ethnic and religious cleansing" is underway in Mosul. The central government and parties are concerned only about the elections, scheduled for 7 March 2010, especially about "sharing the oil"....

"The situation is very tense," Mgr Sako said. "Just last week to Christian brothers were killed and two more were abducted. Where was the local government? And the Central government? Where are the representatives of the ruling parties?" the prelate asked....