'Moderate & Reformist' Egypt Proposes ‘International Law to Criminalize Contempt of Religion’

'Moderate and reformist' Egypt Proposes ‘International Law to Criminalize Contempt of Religion’.(Breitbart), by THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D, June 8, 2015:

On Sunday, Egypt’s minister for Religious Endowments, Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa, called for an “international law to criminalize contempt of religion,” which would make it a crime to publish articles or cartoons showing disdain or ridicule of religions.

Contempt of religion is already illegal in Egypt, with a punishment of between six months and five years in prison and a fine of 500 to 1,000 Egyptian pounds. In recent years, many people have been arrested on this charge and faced trial. As recently as last week, an Islamic show host was sentenced to prison in absentia for accusations of being in contempt of religion.

A Ministry official announced the proposal in Gomaa’s name during a conference for world religious leaders in Kazakhstan this weekend.

Though Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has not publicly weighed in on the proposal, he has been calling upon Egypt’s Islamic institutions, including Al-Azhar, the Ministry of Religious Endowments, and Dar Al-Iftaa to “renew religious discourse” since early this year.

The president has emphasized the importance of “correcting religious speech so that it is in accordance with the tolerant Islamic teachings,” as well as insisting that it “eliminate sectarian disputes and confront extremism and militancy.”

This is not the first time such a proposal has been made. Last January, following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars called for protection for “prophets” and urged Islamic countries to submit a draft law to the UN, outlawing defamation of religions. The union said the UN should then issue a “law criminalizing contempt of religions and the prophets and all the holy sites.”

Though Gomaa has said he believes such an international law should criminalize contempt of religion universally, “without any discrimination,” skeptics are already wondering whether a statute of this sort would not invite selective enforcement based on personal beliefs.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, a legal organization, warned that under such a law, “anyone could be presented to court” for publishing an article, images or any material on any religion if the opinion expressed is different from that of the ruling faction.

The warning is not an exercise in hyperbole. Complaints of selective enforcement of Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa are a regular occurrence in countries that still have them, such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and even Egypt itself.

According to Paul Marshall of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, while Islam is zealously guarded, people publicly insult Judaism and its adherents “everyday and every way in Egypt,” without anyone being called to task under the contempt of religion law.

Thus, while the Egyptian law is, in theory, meant to discourage people from offending people’s religious sensitivities, it is, instead, used to stifle free speech and intimidate those who do not subscribe to the standard.

More importantly, the principles of freedom of speech and of the press are meant not only to protect the speech of individuals with whom we agree, but above all, to protect those with whom we do not agree.


A healthy criticism of religion, like criticism of politics and culture, is a hallmark of a free society. All freedoms can be abused, but their abuse does not negate their value or the wisdom of defending them.  Hmmmm....I guess if you can't 'reform' Islam you better join the wolf pack?

"CHANGE" - IMAM Mahdi Association of Marjaeya’s 5th Annual Puberty Party in Detroit.

"CHANGE" - IMAM Mahdi Association of Marjaeya’s 5th Annual Puberty Party in Detroit.Source:ABNA.

Michigan, Detroit (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - For the fifth year in a row, IMAM Mahdi Association of Marjaeya (I.M.A.M.) celebrated its Takleef (puberty) Party in Detroit. 21 girls had the privilege to wear the Islamic headscarf.

There were moments of pride and happiness between the parents, relatives and loved ones and Muslims in the Detroit area, on Sunday, June 22, 2013. The ceremony included a special workshop to teach the young women about their responsibilities of the hijab (veil) and the establishment of prayer. Gifts were also presented along with honorary certificates of pride for them. IMAM has also honored the ceremony’s founder and its Director Mona Chaib, who is making great efforts each year for our girls.

The ceremony had sponsored Sayyid M B Kashmiri, where he presented the prizes to the girls, and delivered a speech on the occasion. He touched on key points, which include community challenges and risks that we must pay attention to, including the risk of losing the Shiite Muslim identity; the hijab itself is an honor and a symbol of pure women in Islam, and should be worn with pride. He also spoke about the risk of damaging the demographic face of the followers of Ahl al-Bayt creating peace and a great help to bring thousands of refugees, including a large number of extremists who were carrying arms in the Middle East to Dearborn area.

So the higher authorities of the state think carefully before approval and make it easier for them to enter such a region; for the conflict is possible and could lead to instability and chaos in the area, which one does not want our country and our society. Finally, Sayyid Kashmiri concluded with Supplication to save the community and country from all evil extremists.

Obama arming America’s enemies - With Obama in command, only Allah can save the West.

Obama arming America’s enemies - With Obama in command, only Allah can save the West. (TS). By Tarek Fatah.

If you are scratching your head and wondering why the U.S. is fighting al-Qaida affiliates around the world, yet going ahead and providing funding and possible future arms to al-Qaida-inspired terrorists in Syria, you have plenty of company.

President Barack Obama finding chemical weapons in Syria reminds me of former President George W. Bush finding WMDs in Iraq.

I suppose one disastrous war was not enough to quench the thirst for profits by America’s private sector arms manufacturers whose biggest customer is the Pentagon.

Arming Syria to empower the enemies of America is not the only example of the bankruptcy of U.S. Foreign Policy that may serve the armament industry, but certainly not its citizenry. The same suicidal policy is being implemented in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan—countries hostile to the US, but willing markets for America’s arms manufacturers.

Take Egypt as an example. On June 7, the Associated Press revealed the Obama administration had waived the conditions of human rights observance that it had attached to any future military sales to Egypt. Secretary John Kerry asked Congress to release $1.3 billion in U.S. military support for 2013.

This, despite evidence that Egypt was violating the human rights of its own citizens, particularly of its Christian population.

On New Year’s Day, I wrote in the Sun that I was hopeful Kerry would use the tools at his disposal and cut-off aid to Egypt if they failed to protect fundamental human rights of all citizens, regardless of faith.

Obviously I was naive and terribly wrong. The human rights of ordinary Egyptians dare not come in the way of an arms deal.

Secretary Kerry told Congress the military aid will help Egypt protect its borders, the Suez Canal shipping and Israeli security against extremists in Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula. This preposterous justification for arming the enemy matches Kerry’s predecessor Hillary Clinton arming the Pakistan Army while it supplied covert military aid to the Taliban fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Kerry’s letter was revealed just four days after an embarrassing June 3 live TV broadcast that caught Egyptian politicians chatting with President Mohamed Morsi, suggesting military action against Ethiopia to stop it from building a dam across the Blue Nile.

The politicians, both government and opposition did not know the meeting was being aired live by State TV, and so spoke their minds unreservedly. While one of them called for a “declaration of war” against Ethiopia, another suggested sending Special Forces to destroy the dam.

Younus Makhloun of the Al-Nour Party claimed the Ethiopian dam had the backing of Israel and the U.S. and suggested Cairo back armed rebel groups inside Ethiopia.

Was no one in the American Embassy in Cairo or the U.S. State Department listening to this public airing of Egypt’s military ambitions? Obviously they were, but why let the enemy’s sabre rattling get in the way of multi-billion dollar arms sales.

Today America stands firmly behind the very forces that seek the demise of western civilization. Look who Uncle Sam lists as its allies:

• Saudi Arabia, the motherlode of international jihadi teaching and financing;

• Qatar, a medieval monarchy that hides its hideous nature by wrapping itself behind English-accented Al-Jazeera TV hosts;

• Pakistan, the factory that keeps producing suicide bombers; and

• Turkey, where Islamofascism challenges secular liberals with pepper-spray poisoned water cannons.

And now we hear America is “open” to sitting down with the Taliban for peace talks in Qatar after dropping its demand that the terrorists who once hosted bin Laden, renounce all ties to al-Qaida. With Obama in command, only Allah can save the West.

Hmmm.........when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, (Sherlock Holmes)

Muslim Persecution of Christians: March, 2013 - U.S. Defends "Human Rights" of Persecutors of Christians.

Muslim Persecution of Christians: March, 2013 - U.S. Defends "Human Rights" of Persecutors of Christians.HT: The Middle East Forum.By Raymond Ibrahim. Gatestone Institute.
The Islamic jihad against Christians in Nigeria is proving to be the most barbaric. A new report states that 70% of Christians killed around the world in 2012 were killed in the African nation. Among some of the atrocities committed in March alone, at least 41 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a bus station in a predominantly Christian neighborhood. According to the Christian Association of Nigeria, these attacks "were a signpost of the intended extermination of Christians and Christianity from northern Nigeria."
According to the Rev. Jerome Ituah, "Out of the 52 Catholic churches in Maiduguri diocese, 50 of them have been destroyed by Boko Haram. When two Christian brothers were returning home after Sunday church service, jihadis opened fire on them with machine guns, killing the brothers, as well as three others, and injuring several more Christians.
Another 13 Christian factory workers in Kano were "gruesomely" slain. Said the local bishop: "Reports of the attack reaching us disclosed that on that fateful Saturday at about 7 p.m, Muslim faithful were conducting their prayer close to the affected compound occupied by Christian families, when two taxi cabs stopped in front of the compound and the occupants, who all concealed their arms dashed into the complex and demanded to know why the residents were not part of the 7 p.m. Muslim prayer. They responded by telling the visitors they were Christians and so could not be part of the Muslim gathering. At that point, they separated the men from their wives and children and shot them dead on the spot after ordering the women and children into their homes" to be enslaved.
The bishop added that, "government should show more concern, like it has always done when Muslims are affected; I have not seen that in the case of Christians—that 13 Christians were killed in one straight attack and nothing is heard from the government reflects selective justice because we are aware of compensation paid to Muslim families in situations of this nature."
However, the Nigeria government recently did go on the offensive to try to contain the jihadis in northern Nigeria—only to be chastised by the Obama administration, in the person of John Kerry, who recently warned the Nigerian government not to violate the "human rights" of the jihadi mass murderers.
Categorized by theme, the rest of March's Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:

Church Attacks

Egypt: According to El Watan News, three Christian brothers were shot dead at their home by automatic weapons a few weeks before two were set to have their weddings. The victims' family was earlier accused of trying to build a church on land they owned because they purchased building material to build a house on that land. The rumors about the building of a church spread during the Friday sermon at the mosque, following which 2,000 Muslims stormed the land and tried to destroy the house, car and tractor, resulting in the murder of the three Christian brothers.
Indonesia: Authorities demolished a church building with a bulldozer in West Java, even as Muslim bystanders cheered and denounced Christians as "infidels." According to Pastor Leonard Nababan, the government is "criminalising our religion." The congregation had gathered around the church in an effort to save it; so did Muslims, shouting, "They're infidels and they've built their church without permission," "Knock the church down now" and "Allahu Akbar."
Iraq: According to Fox News, before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, there were more than 300 Christian churches. Today, a decade after the jihad was unleashed on Christians and their churches, only 57 Christian churches remain in the nation. And "The churches that remain are frequent targets of Islamic extremists, who have driven nearly a million Christians out of the land…" An Iraqi-based human rights organization said that "The last 10 years have been the worst for Iraqi Christians because they bore witness to the biggest exodus and migration in the history of Iraq…. More than two-thirds [of Christians] have emigrated." One of the most dramatic cases of Christian persecution came in late October of 2010, when Al Qaeda members laid siege to Our Lady of Deliverance Church in Baghdad, killing 58 and wounding 78. According to an AP report "Iraq's Catholic Christians flocked to churches to celebrate Easter Sunday [in March], praying, singing and rejoicing in the resurrection of Christ behind high blast walls and tight security cordons… [emphasis added]."
Libya: A Coptic Christian church located in Benghazi was attacked by armed Muslims. The jihadis severely beat and shaved the beard and mustache of Father Paul, the priest of the church, as a sign of humiliation. They also beat the deacon and nine attendees. Meanwhile, because Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-led government had done little regarding the systematic abuse of Egyptian citizens in Libya, including the murder of one under torture, Copts demonstrated in front of the Libyan embassy in Cairo—prompting yet another attack on the Benghazi church, which was set on fire.
Pakistan: In response to one Christian man accused of blaspheming Islam's prophet thousands of Muslims attacked the Christian Joseph Colony of Lahore, burning two churches, one Catholic, the other a Seventh Day Adventist, as often happens in Pakistan in the context of collectively punishing Christians.
Sudan: According to Morning Star News, Khartoum's jihad continues to "rid the area of non-Arabs and Christianity": the Evangelical Church in the Nuba was "reduced … to ashes" after an aerial bombardment. Days later, another bombing campaign left two dead and twelve injured, in the Christian-majority region. "These bombardments are major sources of fear among the people in South Kordofan," said a church leader.
Turkey: The 5^th century Studios Monastery, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is set to go from being a branch of the Hagia Sophia—Christianity's grandest cathedral, which was transformed into a mosque, after the Islamic conquest and is currently a museum—to being an active mosque. Many Turkish Muslims continue calling for the return of the Hagia Sophia itself to a mosque.

Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism

Holland: A 43-year-old Iranian Muslim convert to Christianity was found murdered. According to the Farsi Christian News Network, the victim went to church the afternoon he was killed: "The shocking news of this senseless murder has brought grief and sorrow to the local Christians, Iranian-Christian community, and asylum seekers across the country." Christians constitute a large percentage of the Iranians seeking asylum in Holland. (Islamic Sharia law calls for the killing of apostates, and converts to Christianity are regularly targeted in the Islamic world.)
Iran: During a major conference, a Shi'ite leader claimed that Islam was under attack by Christianity in Iran: "Christian booklets and brochures are being sent to people's doors for free in many areas… Christianity is being preached in many shops in the Islamic city of Mashhad. Also Christian booklets are sent to people's addresses without restrictions." But a Mohabat News spokesperson said "Of course, the Islamic cleric did not provide any supporting evidence for his claim. However, it seems their sole purpose in bringing up and repeating these claims is to provoke security authorities against, and provide the means for increased pressure on Iranian Christians converts."
Kazakhstan: Vyacheslav Cherkasov , a Christian street evangelist, was detained for offering Christian literature to passersby and fined the equivalent of one month's wages on charges of "violating the rules" regarding "importing, publishing and distribution of religious literature" which came into force in 2011. The court ordered the destruction of his 121 pieces of Christian literature, including Bibles and children's Bibles, in the first such ruling since the nation gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Local Council of Churches Baptists said in published remarks: "We were shocked—this is sacrilege and illegality."
Pakistan: The blasphemy case against Rimsha Masih, the 14-year-old Christian girl who was earlier arrested for "blasphemy" when a Muslim cleric falsely claimed that she burned a Koran, has been reopened. According to a BosNewsLife report, "A police investigator asked the Supreme Court in Islamabad to reopen the case" against the Christian girl, "saying he was pressured by the government to drop charges against her after an international outcry." She and her family are currently in hiding. A court is also considering a death sentence against 47-year-old Martha Bibi, a Christian and mother, due to alleged "derogatory remarks" about Muslim prophet Muhammad. Another Christian man was arrested after a Muslim accused him of blasphemy. But his arrest was not enough to appease the 3000 strong mob that went on to collectively punish the nation's Christians, burning two churches, some 200 Christian homes, and stealing their property.
Somalia: Muslim militants murdered yet another Christian. Ahmed Ali Jimale, 42, was killed by two men as he stood outside his house, near a police station. Among other things, the man was accused of apostasy—on the widespread assumption that all Somalis are born Muslims—and, because he worked as a teacher, of "introducing the children to foreign Christian religion"; Muslim militants had warned him that "we shall come for your head." A friend of the slain said "Jimale was a good man who helped our community. His widow is very scared and afraid, not knowing what will happen." He also leaves behind four children, ages 10, 8, 6, and 4.

Dhimmitude

[General Abuse and Suppression of Non-Muslims as "Tolerated" Citizens]

Egypt: Muslim rioters in town of Kom Ombo threw firebombs and rocks at police after Friday mosque prayers in an effort to storm a church where they claimed a Muslim woman who converted to Christianity was hiding. Violence began when a 36 year-old Muslim woman, who had been missing for five days, was allegedly seen outside the church with a female Christian friend. Days later, hundreds of Muslims marched in the town of al-Wasta, to protest the disappearance of another young Muslim girl and accuse the priest of St. George's Church of using "black magic" to lure her to Christianity. They hurled stones at the church; Coptic shops were forced to close down; Salfis threatened to kidnap a Christian girl if their Muslim girl did not return. However, Watani newspaper had already reported that the Muslim girl sent an open letter to her family, posted on the Internet, saying that she ran away because she was sexually abused by her uncles, was forced to marry a man she did not want, and that she had left Egypt and was married to a Muslim man. Unrelatedly a Fox News report states that "Islamic hard-liners stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo, turning it into [a] torture chamber for Christians who had been demonstrating against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the latest case of violent persecution that experts fear will only get worse." And according to a Voice of Russia report, "up to 100,000 Christians have left Egypt since the Muslim Brotherhood came to power. Some of those have arrived in Moscow."
Iran: According to Fox News, a UN report indicates that "Iran's hard-line regime has intensified its violent crackdown on Christians and other religious minorities, even imprisoning nursing mothers for practicing their faith…" The March report provides a "rare, detailed view into the shocking treatment of Christians in Iran, where American Pastor Saeed Abedini is serving an eight-year sentence for his alleged work with Christians." According to a UN expert on human rights in Iran, "The persecution of Christians has increased. It seems to target new converts and those who run house churches…. more than 300 Christians have been arrested since June 2010, according to the report." Most recently, Five members of the Church of Iran denomination appeared before a judge and "charged with disturbing public order, evangelizing, action against national security and an internet activity against the system."
Pakistan: After 3,000 Muslims attacked a Christian village—burning two churches and some 200 homes—the government punished Christians for protesting. According to the Daily Times, "Christians around the country are incensed by the recurring theme of blasphemy allegation followed by attacks and burning down of their vulnerable communities. They have held protests across the country in a concerted effort to vent their disgust at the recent incident and to show solidarity with the victims… Lahore police used the opportunity to beat the innocent Christian protesters. They shot tear gas shells at them and beat them with sticks. Yet when the Muslim attack took place they stood back and watched till the town had been razed to the ground…Muslims of Jhelum city have threatened to burn Christians home in response to the protests. Now the community is living in fear of reprisals for their simple act of condemning violence and the blasphemy laws of Pakistan."
Sweden: According to Charisma News, "Christians in Iran face arrest, torture, even death. But that doesn't seem to matter to Swedish immigration officials. Sweden wants to send Iranian Christian asylum seekers, who left Islam, back to Iran where they could be killed. Iran is one of the most dangerous places in the world for Christians. As apostates from Islam, they face grave danger in this country. But their requests for asylum status that could save their lives have been denied."
Syria: According to a Catholic leader, up to 30,000 Christians have fled the city of Aleppo, and two priests were abducted and held for a ransom of 15 million Syrian pounds each. Christians are regularly kidnapped and beheaded by jihadi rebels. Also, a short English-language video appeared where Fr. Fadi al-Hamzi told of how his uncle was recently murdered: "They killed him because he is Christian, they refuse to have any Christians in Syria. … I'm not afraid; my uncle died, he's immortal now. I can be like him." When asked if he was worried if Christians would be massacred if the U.S.-supported jihadis overthrew the government, the priest said , "Yes, yes, this will be… they don't want us here." Christians were in Syria 600 years before Islam conquered the nation.

About this Series

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:

1) Intrinsically, to document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, increasingly chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.

2) Instrumentally, to show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; apostasy and blasphemy laws; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (tribute); overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed "dhimmis" (barely tolerated citizens); and simple violence and murder. Oftentimes it is a combination thereof.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to India in the east, and throughout the West, wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

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80 Percent Of All Acts Of Religious Persecution Against Christians.

Do You Remember them?

80 Percent Of All Acts Of Religious Persecution Against Christians.(JapanTimes).By Fiorella Provera.

BRUSSELS – The recent abductions of Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Paul Yazigi, reflect not only the increasing brutality of Syria’s civil war, but also the escalating crisis for Christians across the Arab world — one that could end up driving them away altogether.

According to the International Society for Human Rights, 80 percent of all acts of religious persecution worldwide in 2012 were directed at Christians.

This surge in discrimination against Christian communities in countries where they have lived for many centuries can be explained largely by increasing Islamist militancy and the rise of political Islam in the wake of the Arab Spring.
As Islamist parties have taken power in the region, a wave of intimidation and discrimination has been unleashed on Christian minority populations.
For example, on Feb. 26, at a garment market in Benghazi, Libya, members of a powerful Islamist militia rounded up dozens of Egyptian Coptic Christians — identified by crosses tattooed on their right wrists — whom they then detained, tortured and threatened with execution.
Among the victims was a Coptic priest, whom the captors beat severely before shaving his head and moustache. Priests have also been assaulted in Tripoli, and churches have been torched. All of this sends a clear message: non-Muslims are not safe in Libya.
While Libya has no significant religious minority, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians live and work in the country, where Christian proselytizing is illegal — and where one can be accused of proselytizing simply for possessing a Bible. But Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-controlled government does not seem particularly eager to protect its Christian citizens in Libya; it offered only a half-hearted call for the release of its detained citizens.
This reflects the similarly deteriorating situation for Christians in Egypt, where they account for roughly 15 percent of the population. In early April, a funeral at St. Mark’s Cathedral (the seat of the Coptic Church in Cairo) for four Christians killed in sectarian riots days earlier descended into chaos, with thousands of mourners attacked as they tried to leave after the service. Police fired tear gas into the compound, standing by as those outside the cathedral launched petrol bombs, hurled rocks and shot at those inside. At least two died and 80 were injured in the five-hour clash.
Christians blame the Muslim Brotherhood not only for allowing Muslim Egyptians to attack them with impunity, but also for permitting — and delivering — incendiary anti-Christian rhetoric. For example, at an open rally for President Mohamed Morsi last year, the cleric Safwat Hegazy warned that Egyptian Muslims would “splash blood” on Christians who “splash water” on Morsi’s legitimacy.
In February, Egypt’s Coptic patriarch, Pope Tawadros II, sharply criticized the country’s leadership in a televised interview, calling the new constitution discriminatory and dismissing Morsi’s “national dialogues” as an empty gesture. This unusually assertive stance reflects rising frustration among Christians, as well as the secular and liberal opposition, with the Muslim Brotherhood’s power monopoly.
Syria, which once welcomed thousands of Christians fleeing war-torn Iraq, is experiencing an analogous change, as the country’s increasingly sectarian civil war generates fear and mistrust nationwide. Although Christians have largely sought to remain neutral in the conflict, they have become involved gradually, some by taking up arms and others as victims of kidnapping and violence.

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III recently stated that, since 2011, over 1,000 Christians have been killed and more than 40 churches and other Christian institutions (schools, orphanages, and care homes) have been damaged or destroyed. Some estimate that 300,000 Christians have fled Syria.

Furthermore, fallout from relentless regional conflict is destabilizing Lebanon, a country that offers Christians a constitutional guarantee of political representation.
Some 400,000 refugees — many of them Sunni Muslims, including fugitive rebels — have poured over the border from Syria, exacerbating sectarian tensions and threatening to disrupt Lebanon’s delicate social and political balance.
Given that, as Göttingen University’s Martin Tamcke points out, there is no remaining alternative for Christian refugees in the Middle East, they are increasingly heading to Europe and North America.
If this trend is allowed to continue, the Middle East will gradually lose its Christian congregations. In order to prevent such a tragic outcome, Western leaders must take a more active role in advocating the protection of Christian minorities throughout the Arab world.Hmmmm.....The World may have forgotten the TWO CHRISTIAN Bishops but i haven't!Read the full story here.

U.S. Military Lists Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Islamophobia as Forms of Religious Extremism Alongside Terrorist Groups.

U.S. Military Lists Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Islamophobia as Forms of Religious Extremism Alongside Terrorist Groups.(Fox).By Todd Starnes.

The U.S. Army listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania, Fox News has learned.

“We find this offensive to have Evangelical Christians and the Catholic Church to be listed among known terrorist groups,” said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization.”

The incident occurred during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism. Topping the list is Evangelical Christianity. Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam.

The military also listed “Islamophobia” as a form of religious extremism.

Army spokesman George Wright told Fox News that this was an “isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army.”

“This slide was not produced by the Army and certainly does not reflect our policy or doctrine,” he said. “It was produced by an individual without anyone in the chain of command’s knowledge or permission.”

Wright said after the complaint was lodged, the presenter deleted the slide, and apologized.“We consider the matter closed,” he said.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services was shocked to learn that the Army considered Catholicism to be an example of extremism.

“The Archdiocese is astounded that Catholics were listed alongside groups that are, by their very mission and nature, violent and extremist,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.

They want the Dept. of Defense to “ensure that taxpayer funds are never again used to present blatantly anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform.”

“In the notes it was clearly stated that the presenter was not a subject matter expert, and produced the material after conducting Internet research,” Wright said.

So if the presenter was not an expert, what were they doing presenting the material, Crews asked.

He said he had a chance to speak with the officer who conducted the briefing and she told him that she got her information from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“Why is there such dependence upon the work of the SPLC to determine hate groups and extremist groups,” Crews said. “It appears that some military entities are using definitions of ‘hate’ and ‘extreme’ from the lists of anti-Christian political organizations. That violates the apolitical stance appropriate for the military.”

But Mark Potok, a spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told Fox News they did not provide the military with any list about religious extremism.“It’s emphatically – 100 percent false,” Potok said.Hmmmmmm.......So WHO 'created' this slide and who 'approved' it?Reminds me of: "The future does not belong to those that slander the Prophet".Read the full story here.

Investigation launched after claims of mosque attack by US Soldiers in Turkish NATO base

Investigation launched after claims of mosque attack by US Soldiers in Turkish NATO base.(HD).The Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an official investigation into a mosque attack at the NATO İncirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana, following claims that the attack was carried out by U.S. soldiers, Doğan News Agency has reported.
Turkish and U.S. generals, as well as other relevant authorities, will be asked for information about the incident as part of the investigation, reports said.
Local media in Adana had earlier reported that a number of soldiers at the İncirlik base entered the mosque on New Year’s Eve, destroying its minbar and windows along with the Quran. Turkey’s chief of staff subsequently denied the allegations.
Windows in the prayer room were broken by unknown individuals and there was some additional small-scale damage, the chief of staff said in a written statement issued late Jan. 10. Hmmm.....I can hear the White House response already...."The Future ..."Read the full story here.

Iran sends jailed US pastor to ‘hanging judge’.

Iran sends jailed US pastor to ‘hanging judge’.(JPost).BERLIN – Iranian authorities have recently assigned the case of imprisoned American-Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini to a Tehran judge sanctioned by the European Union for human rights violations.
Jordan Sekulow, the executive director of the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) wrote The Jerusalem Post by email on Thursday saying, “This development underscores our growing concern for Pastor Saeed. In a country that’s hostile to human rights and religious freedom, the news that Pastor Saeed’s case has now been handed over to one of Iran’s most notorious judges is deeply troubling. In a real sense, Pastor Saeed is an American abandoned in Iran.”
The ACLJ advocates religious freedom in the US and abroad and has served as a watchdog for the persecution of Christians in the Islamic Republic.
It noted that Judge Pir-Abassi, who is overseeing Saeed’s legal process, is “notorious for his harsh sentences against those who exercise their fundamental freedoms. In the international law arena, Judge Pir- Abassi is often referred to as one of Iran’s ‘hanging judges’ for the numerous individuals he has sent to the gallows.”
The European Union listed Pir-Abassi in 2011 as an individual subject to sanctions for human rights violations. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended to the State Department in its 2012 annual report that Washington issue similar sanctions against Pir-Abassi.
According to the commission, Pir-Abassi is “responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom” and the US should “continue to bar [him] from entry into the United States and freeze [his and his immediate family members’] assets.”
However, Washington has done little thus far in regards to Abedini, Sekulow told the Post.
“To date, the US State Department has done very little regarding this case. We continue to push the State Department to engage on behalf of a US citizen who faces grave danger in Iran. The State Department needs to do much more, including using all diplomatic ties with friends of Iran to see that Pastor Saeed is returned home,” he said.Hmmmm.......Obama: "The future does Not belong to those that slander the prophet."Read the full story here.

Video - Chief Islamic Judge of the PA, Calls to Restore Caliphate and Says: We Want to File Suit against Britain for "Crime" of Balfour Declaration.

Chief Islamic Judge of the PA, Calls to Restore Caliphate and Says: We Want to File Suit against Britain for "Crime" of Balfour Declaration.
Following are excerpts from an interview with Chief Islamic Judge of the PA Tayseer Al-Tamimi, which aired on Azhari TV on December 31, 2012.

Tayseer Al-Tamimi: The caliphate will be restored after this tyrannical rule comes to an end. This is already the beginning of the end for the tyrannical rule. The Arab revolutions against injustice, tyranny, and oppression will bring its end, and the caliphate will be restored.

What we are seeing in Egypt are birth pangs. The struggle between Islam and others, and all the conspiracies that aim at stopping the train that has already set out to liberate Jerusalem and to restore Islamic rule. Jerusalem will be the capital of the caliphate, Allah willing.

They are trying to thwart this, but they will fail, Allah willing.

[...] How did Saladin liberate Jerusalem? He mobilized his armies and invested all the nation's resources in this.

Interviewer: Is the nation ready today?

Tayseer Al-Tamimi: It is, and it has the capabilities. [The Koran says]: "Prepare what you can..." The nation has unlimited capabilities.

Interviewer: It has manpower, material power, and brains...

Tayseer Al-Tamimi: That is why I say that it is imperative to awaken the nation, because it has the capabilities. It is imperative to awaken the nation to its duty to liberate the land of Jerusalem and Palestine – the land of the Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal journal – using al its capabilities.

Interviewer: So if we cannot do so today...

Tayseer Al-Tamimi: "Prepare..." Start preparations.

This is the beginning of the end of the conspiracy that began with the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, with the British Foreign Secretary's promise to Israel to establish a national home for them in Palestine. The implementation of this promise enabled Zionist gangs to take over Palestine. Over 78% of the Palestinian land was given to the Zionist gangs.

All the tragedies and catastrophes that befell the Palestinian people are due to Britain. Therefore we, in the Liberation and Independence Party, are seriously considering filing a lawsuit against Britain. We are in touch with the Arab Lawyers' Union and with international law experts in order to file suit against Britain in the international courts for a crime that has continued since November 2, 1917 to this day. Source: Memri.