Video - Linda Sarsour: Puppet of Siraj Wahhaj.

Siraj Wahhaj: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=716

• Named as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing
• Invited Omar Abdel-Rahman, leader of a terrorist organization known as the Islamic Group, to address his congregation several times
• Advocates the replacement of the U.S. government with an Islamic Caliphate
• Supports violent Islamic jihad.

Siraj Wahhaj was born as Jeffrey Kearse on March 11, 1950 in Brooklyn, New York, where he was raised in the Baptist faith. He studied biology education at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada.

Wahhaj developed an interest in Islam shortly after the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., which prompted him to go "looking for more militancy." He found that militancy in the black separatist movement and became involved with the Nation of Islam (NOI) and its leader, Louis Farrakhan, under whose mentorship Wahhaj converted to Islam in 1969. Wahhaj was also influenced by such major NOI figures as Elijah Muhammed, Warith Deen Muhammed, and Malcolm X. Under the sway of such individuals, Wahhaj in the early 1970s became a Nation of Islam minister and began promoting a separatist doctrine which held that “white people are devils.” (“I preached it. I taught it,” he now acknowledges.) But before long, Wahhaj became cognizant of NOI's differences from mainstream Islam, left the organization, and pursued a career as a traditional Sunni Muslim cleric.

Wahhaj claims to have completed his training as a cleric at Umm al Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1978. But that university was not established until 1981. Prior to that time, it was known as The Colleges of Shari’ah and Education and was a branch of the Jeddah-based King Abdul Aziz University, which was renowned as a hub for young radical terrorists. Indeed, Osama bin Laden, Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, and Wael Jalaidan—all co-founders of al Qaeda—were affiliated with King Abdul Aziz University in the 1970s and early '80s.

In 1981 Wahhaj founded his own mosque, known as Masjid Al-Taqwa, which initially had a membership of fewer than 25 people and was based inside a friend's Brooklyn apartment. Today, however, Wahhaj’s large Al-Taqwa mosque is recognized by Muslims all around the world.

On numerous occasions during Masjid Al-Taqwa's early years, Wahhaj invited Omar Abdel-Rahman, leader of the terrorist organization known as the Islamic Group, to address his (Wahhaj's) congregation as a guest preacher.

Notwithstanding his ties to King Abdul Aziz University and Omar Abdel-Rahman, Wahhaj, during his first decade as an Imam, managed to cultivate an image as a moderate in the eyes of the American public. As such, in 1991 he was given the honor of being the first Muslim ever to recite an opening prayer before a meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives.

That same year, however, Wahhaj, in a speech to the Islamic Association of North Texas, characterized Operation Desert Storm (the U.S.-led military campaign to drive Saddam Hussein's invading forces out of Kuwait) as "one of the most diabolical plots ever in the annals of history." Moreover, he predicted that America would fall unless it "accepts the Islamic agenda."

In a September 1991 speech in Toronto, titled “The Afghanistan Jihad,” Wahhaj told his fellow Muslims:

“Those who struggle for Allah, it doesn’t matter what kind of weapons [you use], I’m telling you it doesn’t matter! You don’t need nuclear weapons or even guns! If you have faith in Allah and a knife! If Allah wants you to win, you will win! Because Allah is the only one who fights. And when his hand is over your hand, whoever is at war against my friends, I declare war on them.... The Americans are not your friends ... The Canadians are not your friends ... The Europeans are not your friends. Your friend is Allah, the Messenger and those who believe. These people will never be satisfied with you until you follow their religion ...”

Two months later, Wahhaj urged U.S. Muslims to become politically active as a means of augmenting the influence of their faith: “As long as you remember that if you get involved in politics, you have to be very careful that your leader is for Allah. You don’t get involved in politics because it’s the American thing to do. You get involved in politics because politics are a weapon to use in the cause of Islam.”[1]

In a 1992 sermon, Wahhaj emphasized the importance of jihad to his Al-Taqwa mosque congregation: “I will never ever tell people, 'don’t be violent, that is not the Islamic way.' The violence has to be selected.... Islam is the only answer because it is only Islam that we do it for Allah.... [We are] commanded to do jihad.... [W]hen Allah commands us to fight we are not stopping, no one will stop us.”

In an autumn 1992 address to an Islamic gathering in New Jersey, Wahhaj expressed his desire to have Muslims seize control of the United States and replace the country's constitutional government with an Islamic caliphate. “If we were united and strong,” Wahhaj said, “we'd elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him.... [T]ake my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”

Wahhaj has revisited this theme Islamic dominion over the United States many times over the years. For example, he has said:

• “Islam is better than democracy. Allah will cause his deen [Islam as a complete way of life], Islam, to prevail over every kind of system, and you know what? It will happen.”[2] (In a related assertion, Wahhaj has called the Islamic way of life a preferable alternative to the “garbage can” of American culture.)
• “In time, democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing, and the only thing that will remain will be Islam.”
• “Wherever you came from, you came to America. And you came for one reason—for one reason only—to establish Allah’s deen [Islam as a complete way of life], as a servant of Allah.” 

Shortly after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the U.S. State Department designatedSudan, which had become a safe-haven for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, as a state sponsor of terrorism. In response to that designation, Wahhaj said defiantly:

“May Allah bless Sudan … these are people who want to establish the Shari’ah, establish Quran, and Sunnah, they want to establish the religion and therefore hated by the government of the USA…. I’m not going to make you comfortable because our book, the book we believe in, is not Dale Carnegie’s, How to Win Friends and Influence People; But it’s the Quran.”

Wahhaj has long supported every facet of Sharia Law, including its call for brutal punishments like the removal of one's hands as the penalty for theft, and death by stoning as the penalty for adultery. By Wahhaj's reckoning, such harsh measures are wholly justified by Islamic scripture. As he proclaimed in a May 1992 sermon: “I would cut off the hands of my own daughter [if she stole] because Allah stands for Justice.” On another occasion, Wahhaj said: “If Allah says 100 strikes, 100 strikes it is. If Allah says cut off their hand, you cut off their hand. If Allah says stone them to death, through the Prophet Muhammad, then you stone them to death, because it’s the obedience of Allah and his messenger—nothing personal.”

Wahhaj has been a longtime supporter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization that seeks to create a worldwide Islamic caliphate, or kingdom, governed by Sharia Law. In the summer of 1994, Wahhaj attended a Hizb ut-Tahrir conference in London, where Islamists openly called for jihad, denounced democracy, and declared that “the Islamic system is the only alternative for mankind.” Less than a week later, back in the U.S., Wahhaj lauded Hizb ut-Tahrir's "scholarly brothers" for their "good insight" and "their pushing for the Khilafah [Caliphate]."

In 1995, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White named Wahhaj as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Soon thereafter, Wahhaj stated during one of his Al-Taqwa sermons, “I’m not frightened by no list, by no government! I thank Allah. I’m honored that they thought enough of me to put me on a list.”[3]

Moreover, a number of congregants at Wahhaj’s Al-Taqwa mosque were charged and convicted of having provided material support for Islamic terrorists during the period leading up to the World Trade Center bombing of '93. Wahhaj testified in court on behalf of each of them.

One of those congregants, Clement Rodney Hampton-El (a.k.a. "Dr. Rashid"), was a memberof Jamaat al Fuqra, a Black Nationalist organization whose mission is to “purify” Islam through violence.[4] Wahhaj, stating that he had known Hampton-El for ten years, called the defendant “one of the most respected brothers” in his entire mosque.

Another Al-Taqwa congregant, Ibrahim El Gabrowny, was a bomb-maker who assistedIslamic Group leader Omar Abdel-Rahman in his terrorism-related pursuits. When U.S. authorities searched El Gabrowny’s home, they found taped messages from his cousin, the terrorist El Sayyid Nosair,[5] urging violence and jihad: “Without fighting there will not be justice on earth.… We cannot establish God’s rules on earth except by fighting.” Testifying at El Gabrowny's trial, Wahhaj voiced flattering admiration for the defendant, who ultimately was sentenced to 57 years in prison.

Yet another noteworthy Al-Taqwa congregant was a diplomat of the Sudanese Mission to the United Nations, Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, whom federal authorities described as the “ring leader” of the 1993 World Trade Center attack. Ali told an FBI informant that “he ha[d] connections that [would] allow him to drive a car carrying a bomb into a parking lot in the United Nations building.” He also conspired to carry out attacks in Israel and referred to Jews as “sons of monkeys and pigs.” “The sword is to be absolutely used and implemented,” he declared. “This is as a principle.”[6] At Ali's trial, Wahhaj testified about his own favorable impression of the defendant, adding: “We don’t accept the idea of terrorism. Our mosque is open to all, but not to fanatics.” In the end, Ali was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

When Omar Abdel-Rahman was on trial in 1995 for conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government, Wahhaj testified as a character witness on the defendant's behalf. DescribingRahman as a “respected scholar ... bold ... [and] a strong preacher of Islam,” Wahhaj said that he considered it an honor to have had an opportunity to host Rahman at his mosque. 

In February 2001 Wahhaj, along with Ihsan Bagby, founded the Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA), an umbrella group for African-American mosques and Islamic centers. Wahhaj went on to serve as the organization's president, and to this day he sits on its executive committee.

In August and September of 2001, just prior to the 9/11 attacks, Wahhaj was a guest speaker at a "jihad camp" in Pennsylvania, where adult participants took part in paintball practice and learned about the glorious afterlife that awaited Islamic martyrs who died for the cause of their faith. The camp was organized by Safet Abid Catovic, a leader of the Benevolence International Foundation, a "charity" that would be shut down in November 2002 on charges that it had provided funding for al Qaeda.

Soon after the horrors of 9/11, Wahhaj spoke at a convention in Baltimore sponsored by the Islamic Circle of North America.

On October 20, 2001, Wahhaj, angered by U.S. government's post-9/11 efforts to identify and apprehend Islamic extremists, told a meeting of Muslim activists in Houston:

"[T]his [American] government has already sent in[to] every major [mosque], agent provocateurs. Most of you don't know what that is. All you know is about spies. The government has spies, they have infiltrators. But there's some difference from being a spy and an agent provocateur. What an agent provocateur does, he goes to a [mosque], he looks just like you. He's got a beard just like your beard... And their job is to entrap you no different than the prostitute, the police women dressed as a prostitute, whereas he's coming to the [mosque], dressed as a Muslim."

With similar derision, Wahhaj has referred to the FBI and CIA as the “real terrorists” whom Americans—particularly Muslim Americans—should fear.

In June 2004 Wahhaj spoke at an event titled “Next Generation Muslims—Education & Survival,” which was organized by the Universal Heritage Foundation, a Florida-based outpost of Islamism and anti-Semitism.

At a 2005 Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) banquet in Georgia, Wahhaj expressed support and sympathy for Rafik Abdus Sabir and Tarik Shah, terror operatives who had recently been indicted for plotting to open an al Qaeda training camp in the United States. Both Sabir (a medical doctor who had pledged to fly to Saudi Arabia to provide medical aid and training for al Qaeda terrorists) and Shah (the son of a former Malcolm X aide who was himself associated with the Nation of Islam) had sworn allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

In August 2006 Wahhaj was a guest speaker at an event organized by Young Muslims, where he shared the stage with Mazen Mokhtarm, youth director for the Muslim American Society's New Jersey chapter. Mokhtarm has referred to the terrorist group Hamas as a "heroic" organization.

Wahhaj was one of the six Islamic clerics who were involved in the infamous “Flying Imams” controversy of November 21, 2006. Having just attended a conference of the North American Imams Federation in Minneapolis, Wahhaj and five fellow Imams were among the passengers waiting to board US Airways Flight 300, which was scheduled to fly from Minneapolis to Phoenix. Shortly before boarding, a number of passengers in the airport terminal heard the Imams making anti-American comments vis à vis the Iraq War, and praying loudly (with repeated chants of "Allah, Allah, Allah"). Then, when the Imams boarded the flight, they sat in separate sections of the plane; some of them asked for seat-belt extensions (which the flight attendants thought the Imams did not need). When a number of passengers expressed alarm regarding the Imams' behavior (and concern that the seat-belt extensions might be used as weapons), authorities required the Imams to deboard the plane prior to takeoff. Wahhaj and his cohorts subsequently depicted themselves as victims of “Islamophobia.”

Over the course of his career as a religious leader, Wahhaj has held numerous prestigious and influential posts. He has served as a board of advisors member of the American Muslim Council; a national board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); vice president of the Islamic Society of North America; a member of the Majlis al Shura, a consultative council of Islamic scholars; executive committee chairman of the Muslim Alliance of North America; a board of trustees member of the North American Imams Federation; and a board of advisors member of the North American Islamic Trust (1989-1993).

Since the early 2000s, Wahhaj has been the designated fundraiser at many CAIR banquets. In that role, he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the organization.[7]  In October 2009, Wahhaj was a featured speaker at CAIR's 15th anniversary celebration in Washington, DC. A noteworthy fellow speaker at that event was Jesse Jackson.

Islam scholar Stephen Schwartz has said the following about Wahhaj:

• "People like Wahhaj went from Nation of Islam to Saudi Wahhabism, and they preach those extreme views to their followers.... Wahhabism is hostile to all 'nonbelievers,' to secular society, certainly to American society, and it can fit with black radical thought. Despite denouncing Islamic terrorism on a number of occasions, Wahhaj has expressed a desire to remain neutral about Osama bin Ladenand his complicity in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has said: 'I'm just not so sure I want to be one of the ones who say, Yeah, he did it. He's a horrible man.'"[8]
• "He's a hatemonger, there's no question about it. He's the No. 1 advocate of radical Islamic ideology among African-Americans. His stuff is very appealing to young Muslims who are on a radical path."[9]
• "He'll get up and say American Muslims are under attack, that their civil rights are being denied. He'll say that anybody who questions the community of these Muslim groups, that they're agents of the Zionists. He'll say that the criticism of CAIR, and of him, is all racism, the evil work of the Zionists and the media, and he'll say that America should get out of Afghanistan and any involvement in the Muslim world."[10]

Video - Freedom of religion - Catholic School in Canada Ordered Not to Teach "Offensive" Bible Verses

HT: Ibloga

Indonesian district bans three churches from worshiping.

Indonesian district bans three churches from worshiping. (Ucanews).

Indonesian authorities in Bogor, West Java have banned three churches from holding religious activities.

The churches were the Methodist Church Indonesia, Huria Batak Protestant Church and Catholics, who were using a house for catechism.

Bogor district chief, Nurhayanti told media that the churches were banned from holding services because the government cannot guarantee their safety.

The move follows what church representatives said were acts of intimidation last week in which a radical Muslim group called Group 11 staged marches demanding the churches and the house be closed.

Reverend Abdi Saragih of the Methodist Church said his church is legal and has been listed at the Religious Affair Ministry.

However, the congregation has been facing intimidation since 2014, he said.

According to Saragih, they have met all building permit requirements but the authorities had yet to issue one.

"We are struggling for our right to worship," he told ucanews.com.

Complaints have been sent to President Joko Widodo and parliament, he added.

Alex A. Makawangkel, chairman of the St. John the Baptist parish council, told a similar story.
However, it is not the church that’s been targeted but a house used for catechism and Sunday school for students unable to learn Catholicism in their schools.

"Local Muslims think it is a church," he said.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of rights group Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said the government needs to use a special approach with West Java because it has seen a spike in acts of intolerance over the last 10 years involving radical groups and even the local government.

According to the institute, West Java has the highest incidents of religious intolerance, with 41 cases reported last year.

Istanbul governor’s interference in the election of the new Armenian Patriarch is a violation of the Treaty of Sevres.

Istanbul governor’s interference in the election of the new Armenian Patriarch is a violation of the Treaty of Sevres. (AN).

In a statement that evokes the obscurantist despotism of the Ottoman Empire, the Governor of Istanbul recently intervened in an issue under ecclesiastical jurisdiction, saying that it was "legally impossible" to elect the Armenian Patriarch, with serious implications for the process.

“Considering the unfavourable developments that took place during the meeting on February 16 at the patriarchate, it is determined that starting the election process is legally impossible given the facts that this process might cause disturbance and divisions in the society, that there is already an incumbent vicar and that your society knows the basic proceedings and practices concerning the patriarchal election,” said the governor in a statement signed by the deputy governor of the Turkish metropolis.

Such interference by Turkey’s secular state in the affairs of the Armenian Church is in complete violation of the Treaty of Sevres establishing peace between the Allied Powers and the Ottoman Empire signed in August 1920 after World War I. It is also nothing new. However, Turkey's meddling had had never been so direct nor reached such high levels in such a tactless and undiplomatic manner.

The Istanbul patriarchal seat has been vacant since the former office holder, Mesrob II Mutafyan, was declared to be "affected by Alzheimer" At the Synod in 2016 he was retired in accordance with the canon law of the Armenian Church because the disease "had lasted for over eight years".

The Turkish government welcomed the patriarch’s illness. The latter, who was trained in Germany, the United States and in Rome, was always seen him as a person of great charisma and honesty, someone incorruptible.

In 2016 Diyarbakir native Archbishop Aram Ateşyan was called to lead the Patriarchate as vicar general. Along with a 25-member ecclesiastical Council, he ran the religious affairs of the Armenian Church in Turkey ahead of the election of a new patriarch.

In less than a year, Archbishop Aram Ateşyan indicated time and again that he was not really interested in maintaining the independence of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul from the government. Instead, on several occasions he strongly aligned himself with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party – even on the issue of Armenophobia – sparking criticism and raising suspicions in the local Armenian community and Armenian language press as well as among the Armenian diaspora.

Agos, Turkey’s only Armenian language newspaper, citing local sources, reported that the statement by the Governor of Istanbul "was prepared before the meeting to elect the vicar". The paper’s founder, Hrant Dink, was brutally murdered in one of the most mysterious and murky cases in the country’s recent history that saw the investigation often hampered by those in power, amid alleged plots linking Turkey’s military secret services, police, politicians, Grey Wolves and ultra-nationalist groups.

On 15 March, the Clerical Assembly met to elect the değabah, the lieutenant, responsible once elected for the process of choosing the new patriarch.

Three candidates were up for the post, all Turkish nationals under Turkish law: the current vicar general of the Patriarchate, Archbishop Aram Ateşyan (pictured with his "friend" Erdogan), Bishop Sahag Mashalian, and a third candidate, the Armenian Apostolic primate of Germany, Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian. For unknown reasons, the second candidate pulled out at the last moment, leaving only the other two.

Various people present at the meeting spoke to AsiaNews noting that immediately after the vote count, following the announcement of Archbishop Bekdjian’s victory for the office of vicar, Archbishop Aram Ateşyan left the assembly.

A few moments later he came back with the statement of the Governor of Istanbul in his hands. After the accident, the two candidates withdrew to talk behind closed doors whilst many Clerical Assembly members spoke of a clash between local authorities and Archbishop Ateşyan.

It is widely believed that Archbishop Ateşyan had the statement all along, and that he would not have used it had he come first for the office of patriarch.

The clerical Assembly organised a group to meet the governor to show him how the election took place and defend the legitimacy of the process.


Under existing rules, adhered to by the patriarch, Archbishop Bekdjian (pictured) is the vicar general chosen ahead of the election for the new patriarch. By contrast, the Turkish government already sees Archbishop Ateşyan as the future Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul.

Related:

Istanbul Governor Claims Election of Armenian Patriarch Locum Tenens is Illegal

Sean Spicer Knows the Importance of Religious Liberty. Now Trump Should Act to Secure It.

Sean Spicer Knows the Importance of Religious Liberty. Now Trump Should Act to Secure It. (Heritage).

In a press conference last Thursday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about a draft executive order on religious freedom and the president’s thoughts on the topic more generally.
His response was excellent.

After the Obama administration tried for years to reduce religious freedom to “freedom of worship,” Spicer’s robust defense of free exercise was a breath of fresh air.


It showcased a return to the true understanding of religious freedom as the ability to not just believe, but live in accordance with one’s beliefs every day of the week, and in all walks of life.

According to Spicer,

There’s clearly a lot of evidence in the last couple years of the government coming in with regulations and policies that have frankly denied people the ability to live according to their faith … We shouldn’t penalize people or mandate them to abide by certain policies or regulations which are in direct contradiction to their faith.

Spicer is correct. Government regulations violating religious freedom have abounded in the last few years, many of them dealing with issues of abortion, marriage, and gender identity.
It is time for Trump to do something to address that.


In the past week, rumors have been flying about a possible executive order on religious freedom. To protect religious freedom in the future, Trump should issue such an order.

Now is the time for the president to fulfill the promise he made at the National Prayer Breakfast that his administration “will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty.” Read the full story here.

Pakistan: 'No review of blasphemy law': Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs.

Pakistan: 'No review of blasphemy law': Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs.(Mnnonline).

Earlier this week, various reports surfaced saying that a Senate committee in Pakistan wanted to examine the blasphemy law and perhaps add checks and balances so the law is less abused.

However, since word got out about re-examining the blasphemy law, Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs, Sardar Muhammad Yousuf, released a statement refuting the rumor.

Brother Ray with Voice of the Martyrs, Canada explains, “He said they have turned down all the news regarding the change in the blasphemy law. Various news agencies had been circulating on social media and news reports that were released that the government is likely to change the existing blasphemy law. [Yousef] said, ‘We have no plan to diversify or modify the blasphemy law.’

He said, ‘The present democratic government is fully determined and affirms to implement the existing law in true spirit. It has no concoction to make any change in the blasphemy law.’”

The blasphemy law has led to the imprisonment of many Pakistani Christians and religious minorities. Anyone who is accused of insulting Islam faces a potential death sentence.

“Over the years, we’ve worked with several blasphemy cases in the country and, without a doubt, Christians have really been abused by this law. We have seen many fine believers who have been thrown in jail. Asia Bibi, probably one of the most highlighted cases, in the last seven years she’s been in prison,” says Brother Ray.

“Also, there are countless others we have worked with over the years that, because Muslims are jealous because they’re being blessed in their businesses or things like this, they would take a page of the Koran or verses of the Koran, they would burn it and throw it in front of their shop, and then accuse these people of blasphemy. Then while these business owners were going through months and months (if not years) of court cases, the Muslims would take over their businesses and shut them down, take their properties, all kinds of devious things they have done because of the situation with the blasphemy law.”


Although there have been several abuses of the blasphemy law, Brother Ray says there are Pakistani Muslims who recognize the abuses and oppose it. Read the full story here.

You can also click here to check out persecution and prayer alerts with Voice of the Martyrs, Canada to stay up to date on the persecuted Church around the world.

Iran: Three Christians sentenced to 80 lashes by Sharia court for drinking communion wine.

Iran: Three Christians sentenced to 80 lashes by Sharia court for drinking communion wine. (Express).

Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammed Reza Omidi will be flogged in public after being arrested at a house church gathering in Rasht, Iran, earlier this year.

The trio spent weeks in prison before finally being released on bail, but will now be subjected to the cruel and degrading punishment after being found guilty by Islamist judges. 

Security agents also raided the home of their pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and his wife Fatemeh Pasandideh and arrested them at the same time, but they were not detained.

Iranian authorities later charged converts Mosibzadeh, Fadayee and Omidi for consuming alcohol during a communion service.

It is not illegal for Christians to drink alcohol in Iran but under Islamic law, Muslims are forbidden from drinking and it is illegal for Muslims to convert. 

The trio’s conversion from Islam to Christianity is not recognized by Iranian authorities who subscribe to Sharia law.

An Iranian court sentenced the trio to 80 lashes each as punishment for their actions.

Many people faint after eight strokes due to the severe pain of the barbaric corporal punishment, which was commonplace in the Middle Ages.

The group, alongside Nadarkhani, are also due to be sentenced for “action against national security” at a later date at the Revolutionary Court in Rasht.

Lawyers for the Christians are planning to appeal the flogging punishment, according to Middle East Concern.

Christian charity Release International is calling for the Iranian authorities to allow its citizens to choose their own faith and to acquit the group. 

Release Chief Executive Paul Robinson said: “Why should Christians be lashed for taking communion?

“Why is Iran refusing to allow its own citizens that most basic of all freedoms, the freedom to choose their own faith?

“These men have chosen to call themselves Christians. The state should respect that.”

Christian charity Release International is calling for the Iranian authorities to allow its citizens to choose their own faith and to acquit the group.

Release Chief Executive Paul Robinson said: “Why should Christians be lashed for taking communion?

“Why is Iran refusing to allow its own citizens that most basic of all freedoms, the freedom to choose their own faith?  “These men have chosen to call themselves Christians. The state should respect that.”

Related French: 

http://www.christianophobie.fr/breves/iran-trois-chretiens-condamnes-a-80-coups-de-fouet

http://www.christianophobie.fr/breves/iran-le-pasteur-nadarkhani-libere-mais#.WDBS6H1rX2Y

Hmmm........Outrage by EU politicians.......? Crickets.

'The War on Christianity' - PA tells Bethlehem Christians to limit Christmas celebrations.

'The War on Christianity' - PA tells Bethlehem Christians to cool it on Christmas. (TOI).

The Palestinian Authority has asked that public municipal Christmas celebrations be kept to a minimum this year, according to a report from Religion News Service.

Although worldwide there are an estimated 1 million Palestinian Christians, today they represent an approximate 1-2% of the population of the West Bank, where many Christian sites, including Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’s birth, are found.

Head of a PA committee on churches in the West Bank Hanna Amireh told RNS that the PA has asked the Bethlehem municipality to abstain from lighting traditional Christmas fireworks and restrict the number of Christmas lights and decorations that annually line the town’s main streets.

According to an article in the Palestinian website Wattan, the Ramallah municipality also announced it will not light its annual Christmas tree due to “the scenes of murder and torture committed by the occupation authorities against our children and our youth.”

“I’m truly disappointed,” Ekram Juha, director of the Bethlehem mayor’s office, told RNS. “This is the place where Jesus was born and if you limit Christmas celebrations here you are limiting something spiritual and holy.”

Following the multi-pronged Paris attacks in November, Pope Francis wondered out loud whether it is appropriate to deck the halls in the face of so much suffering.

“Christmas is approaching: there will be lights, parties, Christmas trees and nativity scenes … it’s all a charade. The world continues to go to war. The world has not chosen a peaceful path,” said pro Palestinian Pope Francis in a sermon. Hmmm........The Christian population has declined from 30% to less than 2% in less than fifty years. Read the full story here.

Video - Robert Spencer: The speech the U.S. Catholic Bishops don't want you to see

Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer was the keynote speaker at the annual convocation of the North American Lutheran Church, Dallas, Texas, August 13, 2015. He spoke about Muslim persecution of Christians.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pulled their representative from the North American Lutheran Church convocation when they found out Spencer was the keynote speaker. Watch this speech and see what the Catholic Bishops of the United States don't want you to know. Hmmm.....Free speech is the cornerstone of Democracy.

Christians are the 21th Century lepers.

Christians are the 21th Century lepers. HT: Archbishopcranmer.

Speaking at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Virginia last week, the next Republican nominee (if they have any sense) for President of the United States spoke of the increasing intolerance being expressed toward Christians by the erstwhile liberal democratic states, simply for believers’ adherence to centuries-old moral orthodoxy and theological wisdom in an age of relativism and aggressive assertions of equality and human rights.

Yes, he was courting the ‘Evangelical vote’ (aka ‘Religious Right’), but quite why an appeal to that constituency should be deemed cynical when a presidential candidate must impress across a broad church (quite literally) is perplexing. The fact that much of the media, however, deemed his speech to be a depthless flash of detested pretence rather goes to prove Bush’s point: Christians are the new lepers.

He didn’t quite point it like that, but the inference is clear:

How strange, in our own time, to hear Christianity spoken of as some sort of backward and oppressive force. Outside these seven thousand acres of shared conviction, it’s a depressing fact that when some people think of Christianity and of Judeo-Christian values, they think of something static, narrow, and outdated. We can take this as unfair criticism, as it typically is, or we can take it as further challenge to show in our lives the most dynamic, inclusive, and joyful message that ever came into the world.

His zeal is for religious freedom, which, under President Obama, has been made a little lower than Gomorrah: “What should be easy calls, in favor of religious freedom, have instead become an aggressive stance against it.”

It strikes me that most of the criticism directed at believers in our day is drawn from hostile caricature. That’s just the easy way of avoiding honest discussion. It is a posture that only deepens distrust, instead of inviting understanding.

The truth, of course, is that the censorious liberals and intolerant democrats don’t want an honest discussion.

By deepening distrust of Christians, they stifle debate in order to suppress truth. Leviticus introduced us to the scapegoat; the Athenians gave us ostracism; Matthew and Luke tell us about lepers. Now, of course, we send people to Coventry.

Every age and culture has its heretics, untouchables and outcasts. Christians aren’t quite criminals, but if ‘hate speech’ continues to suck in Scripture, it won’t be too long before the priestly persona non grata is thrown into prison by the enlightened establishment simply for refusing to join two men in holy matrimony.

And yet that conscience has become warped, dangerous and damaging. Christianity has become a perverted practice and phobic offence.

Christians who were called to a revolutionary mission of love have become the haters, bigots and social deviants. Our words are deemed destructive; our beliefs archaic; our opinions obsolete.

We cling to free speech but know that our mere thoughts are scorned by the illiberal anti-democrats who demand unqualified subjection to what we are told is the new mainstream of reason and factual authority. To criticise is social suicide. To utter a word in defence of the Faith is shrill and shallow.

To tweet truth is to invite Stephen Fry’s horde of devotees to screech ‘homophobe’ and heckle until an apology is extracted – with threats, if necessary.

There can be no opposition, no resistance and no petition for appeal. Every jarring dissonance must be muzzled before it is uttered. Those who demur are stamped upon and snuffed out. The land must be purged of ugly scars and cleansed of infectious scabs. Christians were once scapegoats and sacrificial lambs, and then we became heretics and outcasts. Now we are the lepers of omniscient secular enlightenment. Blessed are those who conform. Read the full story here.


Hmmm.....Luke 6:22 - Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from their company], and shall reproach [you], and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

Video - Ezra Levant: "Is Islam compatible with Western culture? 42% of Muslims say NO"

Two large public opinion polls have found that the majority of people don't think Islam is compatible with Western society.

The large polls done in 2013 and 2014 are important. And they were done before the attacks in Ottawa and the rise of ISIS.

What does this mean? Is there a way for Islam and the West to coexist? Ezra Levant thinks so, but Muslims must denounce jihad.

JOIN TheRebel.media for more news and commentary you won’t find anywhere else. http://www.TheRebel.media

Sound cloud - Only Jew in Pakistan, gets beaten up by mob, arrested, handcuffed & blindfolded for 17 hrs.

Sound cloud - Only Jew in Pakistan, gets beaten up by mob, arrested, handcuffed & blindfolded for 17 hrs.(INN).

Fishel Benkhald, who is leading a campaign to restore Karachi's Jewish cemetery, attacked after agreeing to debate over minority rights.

A Jewish activist in Pakistan was savagely beaten by a Muslim mob Wednesday - and then arrested and roughed up again by police.

Fishel Benkhald - who is leading a one-man campaign to preserve the old Jewish cemetery in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi - has been a vocal activist for minority rights in the country, which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and where minorities such as Christians, Hindus and non-Sunni Muslims are routinely persecuted.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva Thursday, Benkhald - the son of a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, but who identifies as Jewish - told how he had agreed to a face-to-face debate with a Muslim Pakistani man after a discussion on the topic of minority rights on Twitter.

"I was debating over Twitter with a young educated Pakistani Muslim that non-Muslim Pakistanis should be allowed in theory to be elected president according to our constitution," the discussion was purely theoretical, he noted, given that non-Muslims account for only around 3% of the Pakistani population.

After a back-and-forth "I proposed to debate face to face," said Benkhald. "He asked for me for my cell phone number and I gave it to him."

The two agreed to continue a friendly discussion at a restaurant in Karachi. But when he got there, Benkhald soon found himself ambushed.

"I went there alone but he was with his friends, we started the debate in a normal discussion manner but soon it got heated up and cursing started."

At that point, a "mob" began to gather around him "and two of the guys who were with him started manhandling me - I should have left at that time.

"They started punching me and when I fell they started kicking my head. Someone also tried to snatch away my mobile."

Benkhald managed to tape part of the altercation, including the the assault. Arutz Sheva has opted not to include it due to the explicit and violent nature of parts.

At that point police arrived, but instead of arresting his attackers, they detained Benkhald.

"The police came and took me away, they didn't take the other guys. The police asked me if I am from Israel or from any other country. I told them that I am a Pakistan and am Jewish from (my) mother's side but registered as a Muslim in Pakistan."

Blindfolded and cuffed, he was then handed over to Pakistan's Rangers paramilitary force, who continued questioning him about his ethnic origins, and going through his social media pages after demanding his passwords.

"They beat me, but not much," claims Benkhald, and accused him of being a spy for either Israel, the US or India.

Eventually he was released after his brother intervened and bailed him out. the ordeal left Benkhald with a swollen eye and bruising.Read the full story here.

Video - Protection of Christians in the Middle East - Conference at the United Nations.

Video - "It has become politically incorrect to declare yourself a Christian" (Christianophobie).

Chaired by John Laughland , Director of Studies at the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation (Paris), was held on Monday 2 March in Geneva, a side event in the context of the 28 th Session of the Council Rights of the United Nations Human.

This event on "The protection of Christians in the Middle East" was organized by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (founded in 1882) and the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation . Sergei Lavrov , Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, delivered a speech of great interest which I quote this quote which is not less.

"I should also point out the difficulties faced by Christians in several states of Western Europe where, for one reason or another, it has become politically incorrect to declare yourself a Christian, and where people are even beginning to experience discomfort Christian values ​​that form the foundation of European civilization.

Aggressive secularism is gaining ground. The notions of morality and traditional identity at the national, cultural and religious, are being eroded. The number of acts of vandalism and desecration of churches, temples, sacred places, cemeteries and Christian symbols, is growing rapidly. It is becoming increasingly difficult for believers to uphold their beliefs. " Above is a short video of the event, conducted by Pax Press Agency (Geneva). Hmmm......'You can't call it a religious war' if not what is it then?

Indian Urdu Daily Advocates Murdering Apostates After Extremist Hindu Groups Convert Muslims.

Indian Urdu Daily Advocates Murdering Apostates After Extremist Hindu Groups Convert Muslims: 'The First Interpreter Of The Koran, Prophet Muhammad, Has Clearly Ordered The Killing Of A Person Becoming Apostate' HT: Memri.

In recent months, and especially after the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power following the 2014 parliamentary elections in India, extremist Hindu organizations allied with Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have conducted several programs to convert Muslims and Christians back to Hinduism. 

Such programs, often described as ghar wapsi (or "returning home"), have been led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliated organizations, which argue that the Muslims and Christians are originally Hindus.

The RSS's conversion - or re-conversion - programs have been widely criticized by Muslims and secular Hindu groups and politicians, though media outrage has not been seen in India when Islamic clerics and Christian missionaries convert Hindus. 

Under the Indian constitution, religious freedom is guaranteed, which means that people are allowed to profess, propagate, and convert others to their religious beliefs. The converts to either Hinduism or Islam and Christianity are generally impoverished.

In a recent article, the leading Indian Urdu daily Urdu Times published an article, written by Muhammad Najeeb Qasmi Sanbhali, who quoted verses of the Koran, hadiths (sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad), as well as sayings and practices of the Righteous Caliphs (the first four caliphs of Islam: Abu Bakr, Umar ibn Khattab, Usman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Abi Talib) to justify that the apostates, i.e. Muslims being converted to Hinduism, are justified to be killed.

Following are excerpts from the article, titled "The Punishment For An Apostate In The Light Of The Koran And Hadiths" Read the full story here.

Pigs fly moment: Saudi Arabia Now Allows Jews To Work In The Kingdom

Saudi Daily 'Al-Watan' Reports: Saudi Arabia Now Allows Jews To Work In The Kingdom. (Memri).

On December 30, 2014, the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported that Saudi authorities are now allowing people of all faiths, including Jews, to work in the kingdom, and added that this was proof of the country's openness to other religions and cultures.

It should be mentioned that the Saudi religious establishment is divided over the issue of foreign workers in the country, due to differing interpretations of a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad that states, "Remove the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula."

In this context it is also worth mentioning that Saudi Arabia is the only Gulf state that still bans the establishment of houses of worship for religions other than Islam, despite pressure from the Vatican on the matter.[1]

Following is a summary of the report in Al-Watan.[2]

Al-Watan stated that the Saudi Labor Ministry website, which deals with "importing [workers] for institutions and companies," lists a number of options for foreign workers' religions: Zoroastrianism, Communism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and no religion.

The paper said that "the labor authorities in the kingdom have permitted the import of people who practice Judaism for working on its soil" and called this "a move that emphasizes openness to all monotheistic religions and to people from other cultures." Hmmm.....Seeing is believing....'pigs do fly'....on the other hand, You may work there but Which airline will allow you on board? :)

'The war on Christmas' - Say goodbye to Christmas lights – Regulating them out of existence.

'The war on Christmas' - Say goodbye to Christmas lights – Regulating them out of existence. (IAN).

Is this is part of the Obama administration’s effort to reduce our use of electricity, or is it something else?

“The feds are rushing to save Americans from mass holiday displays,” says this article by Ernest Istook.

“Christmas lights have become so affordable that even the humblest of homes often are lit like the Star of Bethlehem,” says Istook. “Federal bureaucrats are working to end this. They claim it will make us safer, but the facts don’t back them up.”

“The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has created an example of regulate first and explain why later. In October they proposed new regulations to outlaw strings of bulbs, lighted lawn figures and similar items that would be declared as hazardous. The red tape deals with certifying wire sizes, fuses, and tensile strength of all “seasonal decorative lighting products.”

“This includes Christmas tree lights, lighted wreaths, menorahs, outdoor strands, lawn figures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, or Santa or Rudolph or Frosty the Snowman. Yes, Kwanzaa, too.

The agency estimates that their proposed regulations will impact 100 million items per year with a market value of $500 million.

“CPSC would never admit it, but we’re free to speculate on the true motive: That this is part of the Obama administration’s effort to reduce our use of electricity, lest global warming set the Earth on fire.(Or not to offend other 'peaceful' religions)

“CPSC’s comment period closes on Dec. 30th and its proposed regulations could become effective a month later. So enjoy everybody’s Christmas lights this holiday season, while you can.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/24/ernest-istook-federal-regulators-say-bah-humbug-ch/


Comment here: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketBrowser;rpp=25;po=0;dct=PS;D=CPSC-2014-0024

'Erdoganistan' - Detained journalists’ lawyers not allowed to join defense in courthouse.

'Erdoganistan' - Detained journalists’ lawyers not allowed to join defense in courthouse.(FactsonTurkey).

The lawyers of Zaman Editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanlı and Samanyolu TV network executive Hidayet Karaca were not allowed to enter the courtroom where the two detained journalists were giving their defense to the court on Thursday.

Twelve of the 30 people detained as part of a government-backed police operation — launched on Dec. 14 against high-level media members, directors and producers of a popular television serial and police officers — have been released after being interrogated by the police, while 16 — including Dumanlı and Karaca — were referred to a court at the Çağlayan Courthouse in İstanbul early on Thursday.

The two journalists were referred to the court following a lengthy interrogation during their four-day detention that is already a punishment by itself.

Tension erupted at the courthouse when the lawyers of Dumanlı and Karaca were not allowed to enter the courtroom while the two journalists were giving their defense to the court.

The lawyers wanted to enter the courtroom to observe the defense as is their right, but were stopped by a blockade of dozens of police officers waiting at the courthouse’s corridors.

Stating that it is their right to enter the courtroom to defend their clients, the lawyers were stopped by the police officers who said there is a court order that says only one lawyer of each suspect can enter the room. The lawyers, however, refuted this, declaring every suspect has the right under current laws to be defended by more than one lawyer.

In a related issue, the police officers forming the blockage took photographs of the lawyers and press members who were there to cover the developments. The lawyers also reacted against this, claiming that taking photographs of the lawyers and press members is an attempt at profiling these people.

Source: Today’s Zaman

US senators 'wake up' and express concern over crackdown on media in Turkey.

US senators 'wake up' and express concern over crackdown on media in Turkey. HT: FactsonTurkey.

The Turkish government’s crackdown on the media with the detention of several journalists has been met with harsh reactions in the US, with several US senators expressing concern about Turkey’s limitations on press freedoms.

Six members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, have heavily criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the recent government crackdown on the media, saying Erdoğan’s actions in the country are shifting toward “more authoritarianism,” and called on the Turkish government to release the journalists who were detained on Sunday.

Ekrem Dumanlı, editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily, and Hidayet Karaca, chairman of Samanyolu TV, were detained on Sunday in a police operation that targeted journalists, TV scriptwriters and former police officers.

Speaking to the private Cihan news agency, McCain said on Tuesday that the detention of journalists is “anti-democratic, uncalled for and really unfortunate.” He also said that the detentions constitute a “repression of the media.”

The committee chairman, Sen. Robert Menendez, said criticism of the government can’t be a reason to detain journalists and that detaining media members for being critical is “pretty authoritarian.” Menendez also said that he is concerned that Turkey is increasingly moving away from secularism.

Both senators said they have concerns for the state of press freedom in Turkey.

McCain said that this is the latest autocratic move by Erdoğan, following a number of other anti-democratic actions on the part of the Turkish president. McCain also called on the Turkish government to free the detained journalists as soon as possible.

Speaking to the Cihan, Menendez also criticized the recent detentions and said that he has concerns about the actions of the Turkish government, including those against press freedoms in Turkey. He said the media in Turkey are under tremendous pressure by the government and stressed that journalists shouldn’t be detained for being critical of the government.

Another member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Chris Murphy, told Cihan it is very disturbing to see the swift fall in Turkey with regards to human rights and media freedom. He also stressed that Turkey is a very important political and economic ally for the US, adding that the US wants to see Turkey as an integral part of the European Union and the West. Murphy expressed a hope to see a change in the Turkish government’s approach to the media.

Sen. John Thune told Cihan that the media must be free and that he would like to see the Turkish leadership be more open and democratic. Committee member Sen. Roger Wicker said that he is concerned about the regression in press freedom in Turkey. Sen. Roy Blunt also stressed that he has concerns about the direction Turkey is going, and press freedoms are one of his main concerns.

US Rep. Al Green has sent a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry calling on him to pressure Turkey to take the correct path regarding press freedoms. Rep. Eliot L. Engel made a statement on Tuesday saying it’s not a surprise that Erdoğan is trying to silence dissenting voices and expressed that limitations on press freedoms cannot be tolerated.

When asked whether Turkey’s backsliding as a democracy is causing concerns about Turkey’s standing in NATO as a good, solid member, Psaki simply answered, “No.” Psaki added that when there are concerns the US can express those concerns about the implementation of these important values. “But it does not mean that they don’t continue to be an important ally and NATO partner,” she said.

When asked to comment on the claims made by the Turkish government that the Hizmet movement has made attempts to topple the government via messages delivered through soap operas in Turkey, Psaki responded that she didn’t have any comment. Hmmm......With 'Allies' like Turkey acting as lifeline for Iran and ISIS who needs enemies?

Source: Today’s Zaman

In 'Islamist' Sometimes NATO 'Ally' Turkey the Prosecutor asks why journalists defamed al-Qaeda affiliated group.

In 'Islamist' Sometimes NATO 'Ally' Turkey the Prosecutor asks why journalists defamed al-Qaeda affiliated group. (TZ).

In a bizarre, twisted and large crackdown on media in Turkey, a prosecutor has accused screenwriters, leading journalists and police investigators of defamation of an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group called Tahşiyeciler.

Editors who published reports on the group, columnists and scriptwriters who wrote about it and police investigators who investigated it were all charged with attempts to topple the Turkish government by defaming a group with clear ties to an al-Qaeda network in Turkey. Hmmmm....Obama's BFF ....Erdogan. Read the full story here.

"Putin in Erdoland" - Use of state performers in Erdoğan’s palace as show for Putin stirs debate.

The 'games' the mighty of this world play

"Putin in Erdoland" - Use of state performers in Erdoğan’s palace as show for Putin stirs debate. (HD).

A debate has been stirred in Turkey after Russian President Vladimir Putin was treated to a closed door performance by costumed state actors during his visit to the new presidential palace in Ankara on Dec. 1, fueling the already heated discussions over the future of state-run theaters.

Executives of a private firm that helped organize events at the “Ak Saray” presidential palace had demanded that actors from the Ankara State Theaters appear at the palace in costumes, including those of local poets Rumi and Yunus Emre, as well as classic Russian authors.

Daily Cumhuriyet reported on Dec. 13 that the theater management had accepted the request, even without preparing the paperwork to appoint actors for the diplomatic mission. The actors who took part were later reportedly presented with certificates of appreciation.

However, some of their colleagues at the Ankara State Theaters have reacted negatively.

“Will they be sending us to the circumcision feasts of the children of ministers soon? Are we court jesters?” asked one actor, speaking on condition of anonymity. Read the full story here.