High Commission of Canada to Pakistan shuts down a Canadian-Pakistani anti-Ahmadiyya troll

High Commission of Canada to Pakistan shuts down a Canadian-Pakistani anti-Ahmadiyya troll . (ET).

The High Commission of Canada to Pakistan fired back after receiving a message calling Ahmadis “non-Muslims” on social media.

On 23rd August 2016 the twitter account of the Canadian High Commission shared a picture and wrote: “Acting High Commissioner Stuart Savage delighted to visit Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.”

The picture of the acting High Commissioner was followed by another tweet in which the HC compared the area of Faisal Mosque, Islamabad to that of the Bait-un-Nur Mosque, Calgary. The Bait-un-Nur Mosque covers an area of 4,500 square meters, while Pakistan’s Faisal Mosque cover a whopping 5,000 square meters.

Faisal Mosque, Islamabad, Pakistan: 5000 sq.m. – Baitan Nur mosque, Calgary, Canada: 4500 sq.m. #BiggestMosque pic.twitter.com/k9zr3JCnXC

— Canada in Pakistan (@CanHCPakistan) August 23, 2016

A Canadian-Pakistani responded to the tweet by saying “Qadianis are declared non-Muslims by courts and Muslims. U must respect court judgment?”

The Canadian High Commission answered back saying:

Canada remains concerned by the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan.

@Asmatkhan787 Persecution on religion illegal in Canada. Ppl can complain eg to Can Human Rights Commission https://t.co/U7UsRKT12p & police

— Canada in Pakistan (@CanHCPakistan) August 24, 2016

The Bait-un-Noor Mosque opened in 2008 and was built by the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. The sect is practically banned in Pakistan and its followers face severe persecution. Many Ahmadis have sought refugee protection in Canada due to the increasing violence in Pakistan.

Yezidi Women the forgotten IS Victims: Rescuing Yezidi women from ISIS becomes almost impossible.

Too difficult and expensive: Rescuing Yezidi women from ISIS becomes almost impossible. (Rudaw).

Two years after militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) kidnapped over 6,000 Yezidis from their towns and villages in the Shingal region, the chance to get them back is diminishing fast, says Yezidi activist and medical doctor Mirza Dinnayi. In the past two years around 3,000 people were rescued from the extremist group, but recently the number has declined. Some of the captives are so damaged and indoctrinated that they no longer think escape is possible, while rescuing missions in general have become too difficult and too expensive for many families to afford. Dinnayi who has helped many Yezidi victims reach Germany for treatment, says that as it becomes almost impossible to rescue more captives, his focus is on getting former ISIS victims, especially women and young girls out of refugee camps to Europe where they could recover and start a normal life again.

Rudaw: How many people are still captive in ISIS (Daesh) territories? Both 3,200 and 3,700 figures have been mentioned?


The correct figure is about 3,700 and the difference between the figures is the men, the rest are women and children.

What should be done to get them out?


I am afraid it is too late. I think most of the men could be dead. When in April 2015 we had the option to rescue 3,500 of them from Talafar, neither the Iraqis, Kurdish nor the allied forces did anything even though they knew their situation there. There was a possibility to make a quick attack because the distance with the Peshmerga troops was no more than ten kilometers. You could release them within days. I do not know why they did not do anything. ISIS, after this, divided all the people. We do not know what happened to the 500 men since then. There were some reports that they were killed. And ISIS separated the women from the children and distributed the women all over their territories. Now it is very difficult to get them back.

In the past some 2,600 people were able to escape one way or another. Did that stop?


In the past our girls escaped and through smuggling networks were brought out. That was not expensive as you only had to pay these people. But escape is no longer possible. The girls are now completely destroyed psychologically. Most have been told that all Yezidis were killed or Islamized. They are brainwashed, and cannot escape. Also, ISIS has in the last year established special Sharia Courts to register all slaves under the name of their owners. So if a girl escapes, any checkpoint would know who to return her to.

The only way is to pay ISIS and that is now very expensive. The smugglers are asking money because it is a dangerous job now, and next to that you pay the ISIS fighter. He does not know that he is selling the woman to the outside, because it is forbidden, he thinks he sells her to another fighter. Three weeks ago I met a girl who was liberated this way. Her brother paid $22,000 for her. $12,000 to the ISIS fighter, about $3,000 to a middleman and $7,000 to the smuggler. He had borrowed the money from his neighbors, who are also living in the camp and are also poor.

Now the number of girls being bought back is very small, as money is the main problem. People cannot pay, and the government is not paying. The special office for Yezidi Affairs is treating people badly. I heard from the families of survivors that they are told there to negotiate about the price, even if they say they cannot. And even though the regulations are different, the office will only pay back afterwards. So the people have to find the money first themselves.

The only other way is to swap them for fighters. The PKK did it two or three times, and with every fighter exchanged they got back 30 to 50 girls.

How many girls or women were found in the towns that were liberated from ISIS?


Hardly any. Just a few from Falluja. That means ISIS takes them when they move, as they have become a commodity. Just like if you have gold, and there is a war, you take it. They do not leave the girls behind, who are in the main cities, and not in the villages.

You have organized, with KRG and your organization Luftbrücke Irak (Air bridge Iraq) the operation that brought girls and women who were saved from ISIS for treatment to Germany. Will this program be extended for more victims?


We transferred 1,100 victims, and would support the most vulnerable who want to leave, especially the victims of ISIS staying in the camps. We now have 1,643 of these survivors in Iraq, who are staying in tents, with all their traumas. Nobody takes care of them, although we have some NGOs trying to. I respect that, but it is not enough. Imagine a girl, woman or child, who lost everything and has been more than a year with ISIS, and with such bad experiences now lives in a tent. She is taken to a psychotherapist for 20 to 25 minute sessions and then sent back, and given some drugs to keep her clam… That is not a solution. A girl like that has no social or economic existence, no family left, and you try to solve her problems with drugs – that, by the way, she has to even buy herself?

Are you planning to get them out of Iraq for treatment?


Yes, I am working to find a way to get at least 90 percent of them out. I recognize what the NGO are trying to do, but I am not convinced that this will help them. Even so, they will not be happy outside either, as they have a lot of problems not related to migration. But I see our girls and women when they come over for a holiday, and then they cannot even stay here for the whole period, as here they have no existence, no health service…

How are the victims coping in Germany?

Till now we have seen nine or ten marriages of victims who went outside. About 60 percent of the group were children, and they go to school. All young girls are visiting the schools, some are trying to study, but many had little education. Their mothers are happy to see that, but it is not easy for them after what they have lost. Not easy, but much better than it would be here.

Will these victims ever be able to live a normal life again?

Our duty is to help them to live with their pain. But life will never be normal for them. The only hope is for their children: they will recover. The women feel stronger now, but normal it will never be for them again.        Hmmm.....Canada took NINE Yezidi out of 25,000 MUSLIM refugees.            

Philippines - Christians threatened in Jolo by Abou Sayyaf.

Philippines - Christians threatened in Jolo by Abou Sayyaf. (Fides).

One Christian was killed and others are threatened by radical Islamic groups in Jolo, a small island in the southern Philippines.

This is what the missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) Fr. Sebastiano D'Ambra said to Agenzia Fides, who lives in Zamboanga, on Mindanao island, not far from Jolo, urging "all good Muslim leaders on the island to find appropriate solutions and to isolate those who commit crimes in the name of Islam".

"Many are now living in fear in Jolo, are afraid to talk, afraid even to go to church, even if the military are in front of the cathedral in the city center", says the missionary.

"Many Chinese Christians have left their homes and other Christians are planning to leave the island after these events: bad news for a society like that of Jolo which in the past lived in Islamic-Christian harmony".

The missionary launches an appeal to all those who have attended the "Silsilah" center for dialogue founded by him "so that all of us take care of Jolo: help build a future of peace in Jolo, where everyone is respected and free to pray following their religion. Let us not allow the destruction of Islam's goodness and Muslim and Christian friendship", he continues.

Fr. D'Ambra denounces that some radical elements have also killed Muslims, calling them "infidels" because proponents of dialogue and coexistence, and calls to start from the concept of mercy, central for Christians and Muslims. "I am convinced that if we start from here, the situation will improve and Jolo can again become a nice place where everyone can experience harmony", he concludes.

Following ISIS Attacks, Arab Journalists Call To Acknowledge Existence Of Muslim Extremism.

Following ISIS Attacks, Arab Journalists Call To Acknowledge Existence Of Muslim Extremism.  (Memri).

The large number of terrorist attacks carried out by ISIS in Western countries over the past year – including the July 14 truck attack in Nice, France (84 dead, some 100 wounded), the June 12 shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida (49 dead, over 50 wounded), the March 22, 2016 combined attacks in Brussels, Belgium (32 dead, over 300 wounded), and the combined attacks in Paris, France in November 2015 (129 dead, 350 wounded) – has sparked a wave of harsh criticism in the Arab and Islamic world, both due to the fear of Western responses and the increase of Islamophobia, and due to the torrent of youths who flock to the extremist organization.

Alongside the many articles that stressed that terrorist attackers do not represent Islam and operate out of outside interests, there have been an increasing number of articles in the Arab media calling to acknowledge that Islam, and the obsolete interpretations of it that are still applied today, are indeed related to the wave of global terrorism.

Writers called on Muslims to be honest and admit the existence of Muslim religious extremism instead of blaming others, and to uproot it.

The writers argued that the source of ISIS's extremist ideology is the Muslim social and cultural structure and that Muslims must therefore declare a war on this "cultural affliction" in their midst. According to them, this war requires fundamental reforms in Islamic interpretations alongside reforms in cultural, governmental and education patterns in Arab countries, which, they say, cause many Muslims to harbor covert sympathy for ISIS.

Many writers argued that most of ISIS's religious practices are drawn from the most important Islamic law books, while stressing that these laws do not reflect explicit Koranic dictates, but rather the opinion of jurisprudents that lived in a certain reality that is no longer relevant today. 

Therefore, they explained that in order to rescue the universal values of Islam from the culture of ignorance, backwardness, and violence, the Islamic jurisprudents of today must critically and rationally review the history of Islam and its religious texts, and adapt Islamic interpretations and laws to the spirit of the times, while taking into account the current circumstances and the greater good. In their opinion, some Islamic dictates should even be cancelled altogether to conform with universal progressive values such as liberties and human rights.

The writers harshly criticized the passive response of Muslims to ISIS crimes.

According to them, clerics make do with condemning the crimes of terrorist organizations, and some even take part in spreading extremist ideologies themselves. They argued that "ideology can only be combatted with ideology" and that no one other than clerics can "defeat and eliminate terrorism based on uncompromising ideology." 

Therefore, the clerics must combat extremist religious discourse that captures the hearts of many youths, and systematically refute its ideas and rulings as part of ideological, practical, and informational programs. In this context, some of the writers mentioned the silence of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said begat these extremist takfiri organizations and now refrains from coming out against them and their ideology.

The writers also pointed to the confusion afflicting the common Muslims today, whether due to the refusal of Islamic religious institution to accuse ISIS and its ilk of apostasy, or whether because matters that were once uncontroversial in Islam – such as offensive jihad and slavery for prisoners of war – are currently forbidden according to modern world norms.

The writers stated that changing the religious discourse was a vital and urgent step, since the ongoing political and cultural situation in the Arab and Muslim world is "a wonderful recipe for extremism and backwardness," and that preserving and sanctifying ancient Islamic heritage would birth groups even more extreme than ISIS and lead Muslims to their doom.


The following are excerpts from these articles:

• Palestinian Writer: We Must Admit That Terrorism Is Tied To Islam And That Muslim Education Inculcates Implicit Support For ISIS

• Moroccan Writer: Arab World Must Change The Religious Discourse, Deal With Islamic Extremism

• Palestinian Writer: Every Muslim Anywhere May Have Some Measure Of Sympathy For ISIS; We Must Make Islam Compatible With Universal Values

• Egyptian Writer: Culture Of Arab Societies Produces Violent Islam Whose Followers Murder Anyone Who Disagrees With Them

• Jordanian Writer: We Must Urgently Reexamine Islamic Religious Texts; Clerics Not Fulfilling This Duty

• Senior Saudi Journalist: Muslim Clerics Should Completely Disprove Takfiri Jihadi Ideological Arguments

• Saudi Journalist In Series Of Articles: Actions Of Al-Qaeda, ISIS Originate In Past Islamic Religious Texts And Interpretations; We Must Issue Fatwas In Line With The Times

Read the full story here.

Video - Muslim Mob Attacks Copts in a Beni Suef Village in Egypt following Rumor about Church Construction

Muslim Mob Attacks Copts in a Beni Suef Village in Egypt following Rumor about Church Construction

A video, which was posted on YouTube on July 22 and and which circulated on social media, shows a Muslim mob throwing stones at families in the village of Saft Al-Kharsa in the Beni Suef governorate.

The video was shot from the balcony of one of the Coptic families. According to reports, the attacks followed the Friday sermons at the local mosques and were instigated by rumors that Copts had converted their homes into churches.

albawaba.com reported that the tension started when security forces apprehended Ishaq Fahim, a Copt whose home was used as a church since the nearest church is in another village, 10 km away.

The security forces warned Fahim against using his home as a church. Following the attacks, Fahim was arrested along with the Muslim rioters, and the security forces demanded that he sign a commitment that he would not turn his home into a church.

Related: EGYPT - Still delays for the approval of the law on the construction of churches

Video - Qods Day Demonstrations in the U.S. and Canada: Activists Link Palestine and Racial Tensions in the U.S.

Hmmm......No doubt this is organized and orchestrated! Speaking in Toronto, Canada, London-based Indian Shiite cleric Maulana Abbas Abedi said that "Zionism is the mother of ISIS." Quds Day is an annual Iranian-led event, held on the last Friday of the month of Ramadhan. It was declared by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.

EGYPT - Coptic Archbishop: sectarian attacks increase, one every ten days

EGYPT - Coptic Archbishop: sectarian attacks increase, one every ten days. (Fides).

An appeal to ask the police to enforce the law protecting citizens from any sectarian discrimination was launched yesterday by Anba Makarius, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of Minya, after the series of incidents which in recent weeks have again recorded a sharp rise in cases of violence suffered particularly by Egyptian Christians.

Now – highlighted Coptic Orthodox Archbishop - such violent attacks from the assault on homes to targeted kidnappings for ransom, are continuing at an average of one every ten days.

In recent times the assault on homes of Christian families perpetrated in the village of Karm el Loofy have been recorded, (see Fides 09/07/2016), the burning of a kindergarten run by Christians and that of crops belonging to Christian owners, occurred in two villages in the governorate of Minya.

The worst incident in recent weeks was the murder of Rafael Moussa, Coptic Orthodox priest of the church of St. George, perpetrated by an armed commando in Al Arish, a coastal city in North Sinai that is only about twenty kilometers from Gaza. Jihadist groups have claimed responsibility for the murder, calling Father Rafael an "infidel fighter."

'The War on Christianity' - Report on Freedom of Religion Shows Horrific Persecution of Christians Worldwide.

'The War on Christianity' - Report on Freedom of Religion Shows Horrific Persecution of Christians Worldwide. (ChristianToday).

A horrific catalogue of human rights abuses of Christians and other believers is listed in the latest freedom of religion or belief report from the European Union.

The report calls on the EU to "use political and financial power to end persecution of religious minorities worldwide."

It finds "significant restrictions" exist on religion worldwide, including the near extinction of Christians in Syria and Iraq.

The two MEPs who chair the group, Peter van Dalen and Dennis de Jong, particularly highlighted the suffering of Christians and other minorities at the hands of Islamic State.

The report finds global restrictions in 53 countries to freedom of religion or belief.

Van Dalen said: "Our beliefs are at the core of our human dignity -- tragically, however, today not everyone enjoys the freedom to hold and manifest their beliefs. We have witnessed the near extinction of Christians in Iraq and Syria; a 150 per cent rise in violent faith-related incidents in India since 2014; and in Pakistan the injustice of Asia Bibi's death sentence for blasphemy continues.

In this report we outline practical recommendations for how the EU can act to help find solutions to cases like these. Freedoms of religion or belief must be higher on the EU's agenda."

De Jong said: "Regrettably, we observe that the EU, in its external actions, continuously compromises its human rights agenda in favour of a more economic and geopolitical agenda. We have witnessed a concerning lack of expertise and knowledge on the EU Guidelines -- especially in EU delegations. I am particularly disappointed that no reporting was undertaken for the focal countries that appeared in our report last year, and urge the EEAS to rectify this for focal countries this year."

Countries of particular concern included the Central African Republic, with a population of 5.3 million of which 80 per cent are Christian, and where 36,000 Muslim civilians remain trapped in areas besieged by anti-Balaka Militia.

The predominantly Muslim Ex-Seleka forces are also continually attacking the Christian civilian population, and between January and April 2015 killed 1,269 Christians.

Nigeria, with a population of 180 million, with 90 per cent Muslims Christian, has Sharia courts in 12 northern states and there have been cases where non-Muslims have been forcefully brought before sharia courts and suffered punishments such as caning, amputation and death by stoning for blasphemy and other offences.

In addition, the Fulani Militia, categorised the fourth most deadly terror group in the world, have killed more than al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. More than 4,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria because of faith-related reasons in 2016 and 198 churches were attacked, damaged or destroyed between November 2014 and October 2015.

In Somalia, with a population of more than 10.4 million, nearly all Muslim, the violent Islamist group and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab imposes its dogma "by harassing, maiming, or killing people who are suspected of converting from Islam or who are failing to uphold the principles of Islam," the report says. Since 1993, there has been policy of religious cleansing and the group has declared it "wants Somalia free of any Christians."

In Iraq, where most of the 32.6 million population is Muslim, Christians are forced to convert to Islam, pay the Jizya tax or otherwise face execution. The 2,000-year-old Christian community in Iraq is facing extinction, the report says, and estimates suggest that Christians in Iraq have fallen from 1.2 million in the 1990s to 500,000 in 2013, to 260,000 in 2015.

In Saudi Arabia, where the 27.3 million population is almost entirely Muslim, the report says government restrictions constitute "the most severe violations of the freedom of religion or belief in the world." Apostasy, blasphemy, "sorcery" and peaceful dissent are punishable by death.

In Iran, where Muslims make up 99 per cent of the population, the Baha'i Faith is considered a "political sect" and Baha'is are deemed apostates by the government and denied civil rights. Members of the Baha'i community are banned from higher education, denied the right to establish and maintain religious institutions and excluded from the social pension system.

The Christian community also faces "systematic persecution and prosecution" by the Iranian regime and as of February 2015, about 90 Christians languish in prison, are detained, or await trial because of their religious beliefs and activities. There has also been a "significant increase" in the number of physical assaults and beatings of Christians in prison.

In Sudan, where 96 per cent of the 35.5 million population is Muslim, blasphemy carries a six-month prison sentence, flogging or a fine. Proselytism is not illegal but conversion from Islam to another religion is punishable by death. Since 2011, more than 170 people have been arrested for attempting to convert Muslims. In June 2015, Sudanese authorities arrested Fardos Al Toum and nine other women at a church because they wore jeans and long shirts, deemed as an indecent, the report says. Al-Toum was sentenced to 20 lashes and a fine.

In Syria, mostly Muslim, there has been "brutal ethnic and religious cleansing" by Islamic State of Christians, Yazidis and other minorities.

Massacres carried out by the Islamic state against religious minorities -- sometimes involving entire towns -- have been called "genocide" by several international bodies, including the European Parliament. One of the worst atrocities in 2015 was in Palmyra, where around 400 people were slaughtered, many of them women and children. In Aleppo just 60,000 Christian individuals remain, down from 400,000. Hmmm.......Notice that it's mostly Muslim countries that persecute Christians.....

Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States up more than 60%.

Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States up more than 60%. (INN).

Anti-Semitic incidents on American college campuses nearly doubled in 2015, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported in an audit released on Wednesday, according to JTA.

In addition, the number of anti-Semitic assaults across the country increased by more than 60 percent last year, the organization's audit found.

A total of 90 incidents were reported on 60 college campuses last year, compared with 47 incidents on 43 campuses in 2014. Campus anti-Semitic incidents accounted for 10 percent of the total.

In one incident in January, swastikas were spray-painted on the exterior wall of a Jewish fraternity at the University of California, Davis, on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz from the Nazis.

The ADL audit recorded a total of 941 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in 2015, an increase of three percent from 2014.

56 of the incidents were assaults, the most violent category recorded in the audit, up from the 36 reported the year before.

These assaults included attacks on visibly Jewish men as they returned home from synagogue in New York and Florida, and a kippah-wearing high school student in Denver who was struck with a rock by an assailant who also called him "Jewboy" and "kike."

The ADL audit is the latest confirmation of the rising numbers of anti-Semitic incidents around the world and specifically in the United States, which has not been immune from the phenomenon.

“We are disturbed that violent anti-Semitic incidents are rising,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL's CEO, said in a statement about the audit quoted by JTA. “And we know that for every incident reported, there’s likely another that goes unreported. So even as the total incidents have remained statistically steady from year to year, the trend toward anti-Semitic violence is very concerning.” Read the full story here.

Video - Must see video - 'Where is your brother'?

Video - Must see clip - 'Where is your brother'?(Eukmamie).

'Where is your brother? This is the question that God poses to humanity, inquiring about the brothers He entrusted to us, the brothers who are constantly being humiliated, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. Their blood is crying out to Heaven! Meanwhile, many of us have fallen into a mediocre slumber, lost in a world of comfort, oblivious to our neighbors’ anguish. HM Television wants to give a voice to our brothers, Christ’s witnesses, who are willing to shed their blood rather than deny their faith. These men and women live out their Christian faith with authenticity, hope, and strength in the most difficult situations. Pray with us for the persecuted Christians in Syria, Irak, Nigeria, and so many other countries. Cry out with all your heart, in midst of this terrible genocide, that you too are a “Nazarene.” The interviews contained in this clip are taken from the television series “In the Footsteps of the Nazarene” by HM Television.

Video - Bangladesh, Hindu priest beheaded; Christian community living in fear.

Video - Bangladesh, Hindu priest beheaded; Christian community living in fear. (AsiaNews).

Gupal Ganguli was a priest in the Hindu temple of Noldanga. His body was found this morning and investigations do not exclude the case of another murder of Islamic origin. The Christians of the village of Bonpara, where two days ago a Catholic merchant was killed, live in fear. Bishop of Rajshahi: "It is unacceptable to be forced to live in fear."

This morning Bangladesh police found the lifeless body of Gupal Ganguli, the Hindu priest of the Noldanga temple, in Jhenaidah district (in the southwestern part of the country). The priest was lying on the ground with his throat cut and his head almost severed from  his  body. Investigations are still ongoing, and investigators do not rule out the hypothesis that this is another murder of Islamic origin, such as the recent murder of the Christian shop owner in Bonpara (video). Now Christians of the village live in constant fear of fresh violence.

The last attack against a member of the religious minorities in Bangladesh occurred today around 9 am (local time). The priest is the latest victim of a long trail of blood left in recent months by various groups of Islamic extremists linked to the militants of the Islamic Caliphate and al-Qaeda.


For months Islamic extremists have been targeting activists, bloggers, professors, members of the LGBT community for their liberal ideas. Only two days ago in the village of Bonpara radicals killed Sunil Gomes, 71, a Christian known among the residents for its commitment to the local Catholic church. The murder was claimed by ISIS and the police arrested Md Sabuj Ali, who is suspected of involvement.

Stalla Rozario, a neighbor of Sunil, the first to find his body, says he cannot forget the image of his murdered friend. Speaking to AsiaNews he said: "I do not want to remember, but my memory keeps returning to that moment. Now we do not open the windows of the house and we keep the door shut before nightfall. We are afraid".

Like him, other Christians of Bangladesh fear for their lives. A woman of the same village, anonymous for security reasons, said: "Who can guarantee security? As soon as we see a new person around here, we feel insecure. "

Fr. Bikash Rebeiro, the pastor of Bonpara, reports: "Police officers were guarding the church, but we do not want to live under guard. We want to live in a free country, and we want everyone to be guaranteed security against fundamentalists. "

The priest adds that "the government should be tougher with groups that seek to destroy peace". Msgr. Gervas Rozario, Bishop of Rajshahi, complains: "We Christians are in danger. It is unacceptable to feel so insecure".

Update!

@Jasminechic00 Second Hindu priest murdered in #Bangladesh in suspected Islamic militant attack https://t.co/WsoDmZR3Du

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) June 7, 2016

#ISIS affiliated media claims that ISIS operatives have assassinated a #Hindu monk in #Jhenaidah District, western #Bangladesh.

— Laith Alkhouri (@MENAanalyst) June 7, 2016

Video - Saudi Cleric Muhammad Al-Munajid: Our War with the Jews, the Plague of History, Will Continue to the End of Time

German refugee shelters facing Sexual Assault and hate crime problem.

'I Can Hardly Breathe Here': German Refugee Shelters Face Sexual Assault Problem. (Spiegel).

Cases of sexual assault in German refugee shelters are on the rise, with women and children facing the greatest danger. Despite pleas for help from the government, Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition has done little to offer additional protections.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition is failing to provide protection to exactly those people who need it most: women, children and minorities who have fled their homes.

The government's commissioner responsible for the issue of sexual violence against children, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, is currently dealing with 40 cases of sexual assault on children inside refugee hostels in recent months, including cases of rape and even genital mutilation performed on a small girl.

The number of unreported cases, Rörig fears, is likely much higher: He says that many refugees are afraid of approaching the authorities due to worries that doing so may adversely affect their asylum applications. "How many cases are still needed before something changes?" he asks. "Fifty? One hundred? A thousand?"

Back in 2013, the EU issued a directive to member states requiring them to "take into consideration gender and age-specific concerns and the situation of vulnerable persons in relation to applicants within the premises and accommodation centers." The directive also specifically mentioned "appropriate measures to prevent assault and gender-based violence" in addition to access to "psychological treatment or care." Thus far, however, the German government has been ignoring the directive.

It's not entirely for lack of trying. Last fall, the Family Ministry in Berlin proposed the inclusion of protections for women, children and minorities in a draft law addressing refugees and asylum-seekers in Germany. But the Interior Ministry, under the leadership of Thomas de Maizière, a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, removed the passage prior to the law's approval early this year.

The passage was allegedly struck so as to save German states from extra work. But Interior Ministry sources say the real reason was to discourage further refugees from coming by way of more restrictive asylum policies.

In addition to women, minorities are also the victims of attacks. Boris Fadeyev relates how several men stormed into his room in a Berlin refugee hostel three months ago. One of them yelled: "Do you smell that? It stinks like shit here, you fag!" Read the full story here.

Four Turks Attack a Church in Turkey in Anti-Christian assault, police release them.

Four Turks Attack a Church Building in Turkey in Anti-Christian assault , police release them. (MorningStar).

Four men detained by police for attacking a church building in the Black Sea region of Turkey last week shouted jihadist slogans when released from jail, a marked departure from past harassment, church leaders said.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, the four Muslims went to a building rented by the Agape Church Foundation in Samsun and tried to get someone to come to the door, pastor Orhan Pıçaklar told Morning Star News.

Initially two of the four men rang the doorbell on the building, used by the church group for worship and teaching, but seconds later two others arrived who began banging on the door with their fists and then tried to kick the door open.


A small number of people were in the building when the men came, including one congregation member who acts as a church caretaker, but no one answered the door. Eventually the Muslims noticed a security camera and destroyed it, then left.

Police identified the suspects, who all turned themselves in on Tuesday (March 1) and were released the next day.

Though no one was injured in the attack, which was minor compared with other incidents, the pastor decided to report it to police because of its menacing and brazen nature.

The anti-Christian motive of the attack later became apparent when police were releasing the accused, as some or all of them yelled ‘Allahu Akbar [God is greater],’ the jihadist victory slogan.

Such behavior is a clear departure from other incidents, said Pastor Pıçaklar.

“They attacked us knowing that they would get caught – they even looked at the security camera and smiled,” he said. “Later they went to the police and turned themselves in, and today they were set free. 

So what should I do [in response] to these guys who drink until they get drunk, and when they get caught [attacking the church building], instead of fear and sadness, yell, ‘Allahuu Akbar!’?”

Pastor Pıçaklar said the incident was not just a “kick the door and go. These guys wanted the door open and to go inside and hit someone or attack in some other way.”


He added that in the past few days he’s received “strange phone calls.”

The Samsun church has been the site of numerous attacks, the church member said.
“Sadly, it’s normal,” he said. “Sadly, it is something you just have to let go.”

Pastor Pıçaklar said previous assailants have not been so combative.

“Those who have attacked us and been caught have always apologized, and we have always forgiven them, because this is what God wants us to do,” he said. “If we only say, ‘Forgive your enemies’ when we’re giving a sermon, we’re hypocrites. Those who attacked us this time are really different, however.”

The 2015 report of the Association of Protestant Churches documents numerous attacks and instances of harassment against Turkish churches, including threats by email and phone text messages linked to the Islamic State.

“The threatening content, the images used, the anthems and the names used show that these threats originate with the radical terror organization ISIS,” the report stated.


Pastor Pıçaklar said last week’s attack caused him to wonder about the nature of anti-Christian persecution in Turkey. Read the full story here.

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Indonesia’s religious leaders declare war on “LGBT propaganda” to return to 'normalcy'.

Indonesia’s religious leaders declare war on “LGBT propaganda” to return to 'normalcy'. (Asian News).

Leaders from Indonesia’s religious groups have waded into the debate over the place of the LGBT community in society.

In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the Indonesia Catholic Bishops’ Conference (KWI), the Council of Buddhist Communities (Walubi) and the Confucian Supreme Council of Indonesia (Matakin) rejected all forms of propaganda in favour of LGBT legalisation, stating that LGBT behaviours are a “social illness” that violates religious teachings and principles of the Constitution.

For MUI leader Yusnar Yusuf, not encouraging LGBT values and behaviors is key to helping LGBT people get "back on track to normalcy".

Putting limitations on the promotion of LGBT activities would act as a form of "treatment" in encouraging the elimination of any tendencies toward deviant sexual behavior.

"It is important now to invite everyone to think positively about them in that they are sick people who need to be healed," Yusnar said at a press conference on Thursday.

Although religious leaders also condemned all forms of violence against gay people, they joined government in calling for a stop to foreign funding for NGOs that promote LGBT rights.


The government’s policy is to tolerate homosexuality as a prerogative of some people in society (who must be protected as citizens), but to ban public campaigns that seek to influence other people to adopt that lifestyle.

The controversy over homosexuality came to the fore after the Support Group and Resources Centre (SGRC) applied for a permit to operate at the University of Indonesia, which the Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Muhammad Nasir, turned down.

For its part, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) announced new regulations – discriminatory according to their critics – that ban all forms of communication on TV, radio, or other means of communication that promote LGBT activities.


The government has also blocked popular microblogging website Tumblr, claiming it contained pornography and promoted LGBT relationships.

Germany - Christian refugees are under threat from Muslim asylum seekers, says Cologne Archbishop.

Christian refugees are under threat from Muslim asylum seekers, says Cologne Archbishop. (CatholicHerald).

                   "Christian persecution is not a topic of bygone ages"

The Archbishop of Cologne has warned that Christian refugees are being threatened by other asylum seekers in refugee camps, according to a report in The Tablet.

Speaking at an ecumenical service in Dusseldorf last Saturday, Cardinal Rainer Woelki said: “Concern is growing that politicians and the authorities might not be taking such threats seriously enough. Christian persecution is not a topic of bygone ages,” he warned.

He said Germany must speak out more loudly for religious freedom rights, a right that Christians in Muslim countries also had. “That is what we demand,” Woelki said.

Meanwhile, Gottfried Martens, a Protestant pastor told katholisch.de that the “mobbing” of Christian refugees in refugee camps in Germany was increasing.

He said it was no longer rare for entire Muslim communities in refugee shelters to threaten Christians.

He claimed that Christians had been forced to watch videos of beheadings, were barred from using the kitchen because they were “unclean” and had been beaten up and their crosses removed from their necks. Read the full story here.

Video - Gaza Journalist Tawfiq Abu Shomar: Israel Buys Slavegirls on ISIS Market, Converts Them to Judaism.

Gaza Journalist Tawfiq Abu Shomar: Israel Buys Slavegirls on ISIS Market, Converts Them to Judaism. (Memri).

Gaza journalist Tawfiq Abu Shomar, interviewed by the Turkish TRT Arabic TV channel, said: "

[Israel] has brought over Yazidis [from Iraq]. A large number of Yazidis are now being converted to Judaism and absorbed there. In addition to the ruling Jewish authorities, there are organizations abroad that buy slavegirls on the ISIS market and take them to Israel." The interview was broadcast on January 15, 2016.

Video - Michigan Activist Lina Allan Lambasts People who Prohibit Stabbing of Jews by Palestinians.

Michigan Activist Lina Allan Lambasts People who Prohibit Stabbing of Jews by Palestinians: It's Like Defending Animal Rights at Best. (Memri).

Lina Allan, a Palestinian-Jordanian activist who lives in Michigan, published a video in which she attempted to rebut the position of people who prohibit the stabbing of Jews by Palestinians. Allan called on these people to not talk about something they don't understand and to "go back to watching Turkish soap operas" instead. She added that objecting to the stabbing of Jews is like defending animal rights "at best." In 2011, Allan co-founded the Jordanian "Step & Mile" NGO, and in 2012, she represented the State Department's U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) in the Jameed Festival in Jordan, according to an interview she gave to the Jordanian Roya TV.

Antisemitic hate crimes in London have rocketed by 61 percent in the last year

Anti-Semitic hate crimes up 61% in London – police figures. (RT).

Jewish hate crimes in London have rocketed by 61 percent in the last year, Metropolitan Police figures show. John Mann MP has called on the government to introduce new legislation to clamp down on hate speech.

The findings published on Wednesday show a total of 483 anti-Semitic crimes were committed between November 2014 and November 2015. This marks a significant rise on the 299 hate crimes recorded during the same period the previous year.

The south London borough of Lambeth saw a 200 percent rise in Jewish hate crimes, while Westminster saw a 178 percent increase.

Commenting on the findings, Mann said the increase may be due to messages distributed online.

“The big change … has been the growth of anti-Semitic hate crimes which I have witnessed first-hand. Over 200 anti-Semitic attacks have been made on me in the last six months over the internet in this country alone. This is mild compared to prominent Jewish politicians,” he told the Independent.

“Many of these threats are extreme right-wing abuse, calculated to offend, others are abuse from the far left – usually recycling the old tropes about money, power and conspiracy.

“There needs to be a new law on hate speech on the internet, requiring the internet companies to immediately identify the perpetrators and a regulatory system to oversee their managing of threatening content.”

The Metropolitan Police said it does not have full statistics on the proportion of crimes carried out online.

“The number of anti-Semitic offences recorded between December 2013 and November 2014 was 299. There were 184 more anti-Semitic offences in the subsequent 12-month period to November 2015,” a spokesperson for the force said.

In July, the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, discovered a significant leap in the number of recorded incidents in the wake of January’s terror attack on a Jewish deli in Paris.

The CST numbers of Antisemitic hate crimes seem way higher than what the Police is saying:

CST recorded 473 antisemitic incidents across the UK in the first six months of 2015, a 53 per cent increase on the first six months of 2014.

In addition to the 473 antisemitic incidents recorded by CST, a further 333 potential incidents were reported to CST which, after investigation, did not show evidence of antisemitic targeting, content or motivation and are not included in the statistics in this report.

 Home Secretary Theresa May said she welcomed the growing awareness of anti-Semitic abuse. “It is encouraging that more people are coming forward as the under-reporting of hate crime is a real issue,” May said in a statement. “I know that many Jewish people in this country are concerned about safety in their community, and we are listening. Those who seek to spread anti-Semitic hatred should know that the government will act against all those who seek to divide our country and sow discord.” Hmmmm..........Amazing not a single mention of Islamic antisemitism.

The FBI has published its 2014 Hate Crime Statistics, anti Jewish hate crimes tops the religious list.

The FBI has published its 2014 Hate Crime Statistics, anti Jewish hate crimes tops the religious list. (FBI).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States has published its November 16 Hate Crime Statistics (statistics on hate crimes) for the year 2014.

The anti Jewish hate crimes tops the religious motivated hate crimes list.

• In 2014 there were 635 Anti-Jewish offences.involving 648 victims.
• In 2013 there were 689 offences involving 737 victims.

• 2014 Anti-Islamic (Muslim) offences 178, involving 184 victims.
• In 2013 there were 165 involving 167 victims.