We have been discussing the criminalization of Christmas celebrations by the Sultan of Brunei. Now, as if to show that Muslim extremists have no monopoly on crazy, Benzi Gopshtain (also reported as “Gopstein”), who heads the far-right Lehava organisation, has called for the same prohibition in Israel. Indeed, the statement of Gopstein and those of the Muslim clerics in Brunei seems almost indistinguishable.
The clerics insisted that “Some may think that [celebrating Christmas] is a frivolous matter and should not be brought up as an issue. But as Muslims and as a Zikir Nation, we must keep it (following other religions’ celebrations) away as it could affect our Islamic faith.”
They will get no argument from Gopshtain who said that Christians are “vampires” and “Christmas has no place in the Holy Land.” Gopshtain actually is more extreme than his Muslim counterparts who were willing to allow Christians to celebrate “in their communities.” (Though there is still a major difference from a wing nut like Gopshtain and the head of a country like the Sultan). Gopshtain insisted that such celebrations represent the “fall of the line of defence of the Jewish people for hundreds of years against our enemies, the Catholic Church.” He added “[t]he mission of those vampires and bloodsuckers remains. If Jews cannot be killed, they can be converted. We must remove the vampires before they drink our blood once again.”
Just in case you thought that this was a joke, Gopshtain has been repeatedly investigated for hate speech and there is a new call for such an investigation. Ironically, while Gopshtain is a hateful and grotesque person, I strongly disagree that such comments should be treated as criminal matters. In the free speech community, we are often faced with defending people with whom we disagree or people we despise. Yet, this is political and religious speech. Raw and hateful to be sure but it is still part of the debate over religious freedom. The solution to people like Gopshtain is more not less speech. It is not hard to expose his prejudice and intolerance. It is better for people like Gopstein to identify themselves and subject themselves to public ridicule than to force them underground.
The real debate should be over the public funding of extremist organizations by Israel. Gopshtain has been the public relations director of Hemla, which dedicates itself to “saving the daughters of Israel” from mixed marriages with Palestinian men. The state of Israel has supported the organization annually, public monies that have also supported Gopshtain.
not sure if, when, or where my last 3 comments went. They show up in the “recent comments” section……But i’ve checked on two devices and find that they were never posted.
So I’m packing it in for tonight.
Hild, with some i exchange ideas, with others, I joust… sometimes it is as effective as going to the gym 🙂
By the way,second best thing out of Israel? Bambam!
Po…….it looks like 2 of my posts disappeared, or were never posted.
I never saw an answer to the question of whether you think Israel has any right to the territory of the pre-1948
region that the U.N. proposed dividing between a Palestinian and an Isreali state?
Also, do you consider the slaughter of the Itamar family to be Palestinian terrorism?
This is what happens when you engage with Po. It’s just brainwashing circular logic.
You have to be careful about taking Po’s examples at face value. I found this article, in which the family did not in fact die:
http://972mag.com/palestinian-family-targeted-by-arson-in-apparent-revenge-for-israelis-murder/81858/
A Palestinian teenager murdered a Jewish soldier sleeping on a bus, out of revenge for a couple of his incarcerated relatives. I have no idea if their crimes were anything similar to his. Out of revenge, someone firebombed a completely unrelated family. They all escaped but suffered smoke inhalation. This is a similar crime to the Palestinian teenager being murdered out of revenge for the 3 murdered Jewish boys. PM Netanyahu has condemned the crime. Since most of us condemned the revenge murder of the poor Palestinian boy, most of us would also condemn similar acts. This is not revolutionary “gotcha” news. We’ve been consistent, criticizing wrongdoing in the extremist Rabbi, Jews holding up the plane, revenge murder of the Palestinian boy. The country of Israel condemns such atrocities, unlike other ME countries which applaud such behavior as heroic. You cannot assume that because Po states an event happened, that his description is accurate. Such as his support of the claim that Israel was behind 9/11.
Revenge killings and crimes are a problem in this war torn country.
karen, you are working too hard too exculpate the guilty, the terrorist…
As usual, you struggle to find the exact case being referred to…it does the rounds internationally, but YOU, karen are the only one who can’t find it.
I have linked to it for over 2 months now, trying to get you to condemn it, to no avail. I even linked it above…One can’t condemn what one can’t find, right? Right karen “the supporter of all women’s rights but arab women”?
karen” arab women deserve being killed”, karen “all women murder are worth being lamented except arab women”? right?
You’d rather look the fool, the hypocritical, the dummy not seeing the obvious than condemn something you obviously support?
You can’t fool us, dear karen, everyone knows your game by now…but since you are adamant about condemning all extremism, why not condemn the below here, now, so we know exactly where you stand 🙂
———————————–
karen said to Po:
Do you consider crashing a van deliberately into a civilian bus stop, hitting people, and then jumping out with a knife to stab a woman with a baby a terrorist attack? Yes or now. And this time answer the question.
Po answered:
yes, I do!
Do YOU consider the bombing of hospitals, of schools, of ambulances, the dropping of a missile on 4 kids playing on the beach, the lighting of a sleeping family on fire a terrorist act? Yes or no? And this time answer the question!
Addressing this to everyone..Have you ever noticed how little news we ever get from Israel? It’s highly suspicious if you think about it. We get lots of news about Israel OUTSIDE of Israel but next to none INSIDE of Israel if you know what I mean.
Po “Come find me, Tom, be free.” Uhhhh Po? You might need to lighten up a bit. Just sayin…..
Not sure where to put this but it will shock you….if it’s true.
“Among whites, 77 percent of gun deaths are suicides. But among black Americans, 82 percent of gun deaths are homicides.”
From a Washington Post article 12/18/15
The shocking difference in how blacks and whites are killed by guns
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/18/the-shocking-difference-in-how-blacks-and-whites-get-killed-by-guns/
No Tom, he obviously cannot. He thinks it is a trap question, but it actually is rather easy to answer for anyone that is intellectually honest. Either Israel has a legitimate claim to ANY of the area they call the State of Israel or they have none. A YES response doesn’t admit they have a legitimate claim to all of it but rather simply Israel has a legitimate claim to some portion of it. That he is dodging this very basic question clearly represents his belief Israel is an occupier of “Palestinian” territory and their right to self-defense is illegitimate.
And Po, it is well documented in this blog that I am an absolutist on natural rights. I believe that all humans are created equal with respect to the unalienable right to life, liberty and property. I do not support ANY government, ANY organization or ANY individual that will deprive ANYONE of their natural right to life, liberty and property. This belief requires NO religious affiliation.
I am fairly certain Nick, Karen, Bam Bam, KCF and Tom also believe in those unalienable rights which makes needing to respond to your ridiculous questions redundant.
Dieter: Thank you for your comment and information. I interjected the Sintur Klaas topic because I was impressed by the manner in which the Santa aspect of Xmas is segregated away from Christmas Day in the Netherlands. The whole scene is quite nice. The description I entered on my second comment is from Wikipedia.
In light of that question, Tom, I can see why you feel the need to rephrase and restate Olly’s questions!
You are a good person!
Tom, by iraqis death, I meant the estimated casualties from the war on terror, including both Iraq wars and Afghanistan. http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/unworthy-victims-western-wars-have-killed-four-million-muslims-1990-39149394
A for “never convicted”, do I need to specify hyperbole as figure of speech?
But, point taken, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind from now on.
Glad you stated your opinion on what constitutes terrorism, that makes two of us so far. Waiting to hear from Nick, bambam, KFC , Nick and Olly.
As to why you keep speaking for Olly, I am a bit confused…? Was it your question or his?
If it was his, please allow him to rephrase it and then I’ll answer it. I noticed he refused to answer my question at all, instead saying what I think…obviously he has the ability to read my mind.
If it is yours, I do not see how it relates to the topic at hand?
State your aim as to how it relates to this topic and I would just as gladly answer it, especially since you answered my question to Olly.
———————————–
Olly says:
“Of course it makes no sense because it would require you to recognize the legitimate existence of Israel, no matter where they are located And you cannot do that, at least in any believable way. That’s all I needed to know. Thanks”
Wow! The fallacious level of this argument is scary red, olly!
I thought you better than that.
So you admit your question was a trap 😕
And your reaction to my request for clarity is to decide for me an answer based on your assumption of what I thought????
Are you really this dishonest is this is temporary? I sure hope the latter.
But, since we are hear, let’s break down your question:
Hello Po,
Do you believe Israel has a legitimate claim to any territory in the ME?
besides the fact there was no mention of anything related to that at all, any territory in the ME? Like what, Saudi Arabia? Qatar? Jordan? Does Israel has legitimate right to claim any territory it wants? Based on what?
More specifically, any of the territory currently claimed by Israel.
What, Gaza strip? West bank? Golan heights? All of palestine?
come one man, at least do your homework before asking me to address it!
How unfair is it to have me trying to lower my IQ to nebulous just so I can decipher what your question/statement/trap is really saying?!
“Where they are located?” Who? What? Who is located where?
AHHHHHH olly!
Again, rephrase your question/statement, make it clear to yourself then ask it again, and I’ll GLADLY answer it 🙂
Oh, and what Tom Nash said. Good post Tom!
Thanks Olly. Did you ever get an answer about Po’s belief if Israel has a legitimate right to any of its territory?
Po,
Of course it makes no sense because it would require you to recognize the legitimate existence of Israel, no matter where they are located And you cannot do that, at least in any believable way. That’s all I needed to know. Thanks
Olly:
“That might be because our culture does not support it, therefore there is no need to positively condemn it.”
———————–
olly, which culture, the one that funded and supported Al Qaeda against the Russians?
The one currently aiming to fund Al Qaeda against Assad?
The one funding ISIS through Turkey against Assad?
The one that raining drones on Afghanistan?
The one that is supporting S. Arabia as it buries Yemen?
The one that destroyed Iraq?
The one where we have 353 mass shootings in the US?
Which culture, Olly?
Which culture?
Am I to understand you do condone those acts of terrorism?
By the way, if you gonna play gotcha, be a little more sly and smart about it. That question makes no sense and is totally unrelated to the topic.
If you rephrase it better, then tell me what you thought of the link I posed about the extremist rabbis,I’ll gladly answer it.
You see, I have been burnt, I answered karen’s question but still can’t get her to answer mine. she obviously condones the firebombing of a 18 months old baby.
——————————————–
karen said to Po:
Do you consider crashing a van deliberately into a civilian bus stop, hitting people, and then jumping out with a knife to stab a woman with a baby a terrorist attack? Yes or now. And this time answer the question.
Po answered:
yes, I do!
Do YOU consider the bombing of hospitals, of schools, of ambulances, the dropping of a missile on 4 kids playing on the beach, the lighting of a sleeping family on fire a terrorist act? Yes or no? And this time answer the question!
Bambam, North korea is muslim? Who knew?
Po……..since you mentioned the importance of facts, I’ll comment on that. When you make claims like “America is responsible for 4,000,000 Iraqi deaths”, or ” crimes against Palestinians are never sanctioned” you are asking to be challenged on your demonstrably false statements.
That undercuts your credibility. Stick with FACTS if they are important to you.
There is a question out there for you as to whether you believe Israel has a rightful claim to any territory of the former Ottoman, then British administered, Palestine. I think I phrased that question correctly, but I didn’t see an answer from you.
I have no problem calling the burning death of the Palestinian youth terrorism. I also consider the firebombing of the Palestinian house, killing the parents and an infant, to be terrorism.
I also consider the murder of the three Israeli teens to be terrorism. This sh*t is easier to start, and continue, than it is to stop……that cycle of violence and retaliation has, unfortunately, a long history in that region.
Netanyahu, in reference to the burning death of the Palestinian boy, said that he “didn’t distinguish terrorism from terrorism”. I think it was former PM Ohmert who said that the terrorist acts against Palestininians made him ” ashamed to be an Isreali”.
There are ACTIONS, or lack of effective actions, by the Israeli government that raise serious questions about proportionate responses to acts against Israeli Jews. There are also questions about how energetic Israeli authorities are in solving crimes against Palestinians.
None of that changes the fact that the two (or three) Israelis in the case of the Palestininian boy were arrested, tried, and convicted. You have already concluded, I think, that they’ll get off easy. I’ll wait for the sentencing to see.
Bambam, nice distraction…as usual 🙂 whenever an israeli is fingered, bamabm fingers someone else!
All I know is that Palestinian christians are just as oppressed by Israel as their muslim countrymen.
———————————————————
“You are a Christian?” a foreign tourist inquires with marked disbelief of a Palestinian tour guide in Bethlehem. “When did you convert?”
This response by foreigners, Christian or not, is unfortunately not uncommon in Palestine. Even in Bethlehem, the origin to which many trace the very roots of their Christian faith, this disbelief goes hand-in-hand with tourists’ visits to the Church of the Nativity — visits that seem to carry with them some image of a time long past with only archaeological or religious sites remaining with little consideration for the “living stones” that have continuously borne witness to this tradition for two millennia.
Many Christians from the Global North have a hard time seeing and relating to Christianity in the Arab world as living, vibrant communities of faith with rich spiritual and theological traditions. This may be partly due to a lack of understanding about the shape of Christianity in other parts of the world, but may also be partly due to the often racist and ethnocentric notions of what a Christian should look like.
Christianity in the Arab world has had a long and lively history, including in Palestine, where one still finds today communities of faith that stretch back thousands of years to the very beginnings of the church, where Arabic is spoken in liturgies and sermons, and where the church has played an integral role in the development of society, whether in terms of providing leadership in very difficult times or in pioneering valuable social services like education.
Today, of the roughly 3.9 million Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, less than two percent are Christians. Of the 1.4 million Palestinians living inside Israel, meanwhile, roughly eight percent belong to Christian communities. Though small, these communities bear witness to two millennia of continuous Christian presence in the land called “holy” by much of the rest of the world.
Palestinian Christians belong to several traditional communities of faith, communities that can be grouped into four broad categories. The first are the traditions of the Eastern Orthodox churches. These would include the Greek Orthodox communities, claiming a continuous presence in the Holy Land since the times of the apostles. The second group is made of up what is sometimes referred to as the “Oriental” Orthodox churches, such as the Syrian, Coptic, and Armenian Orthodox communities. A third category consists of those churches belonging to the Catholic family of churches. In addition to Roman Catholic communities, referred to in the Middle East as the “Latin” church, one finds “Eastern Catholic” or “Eastern Rite Catholic” churches. These churches, though in communion with Rome and recognizing the authority of the pope, have maintained their own distinctive liturgy and traditions. Members of such communities as Greek Catholic or Syrian Catholic outnumber the number of “Latin” Catholics in Palestine and have a long history of involvement in the Palestinian struggle for justice. Finally, there are various Protestant communities, including not only Anglican and Lutheran churches, present since the nineteenth century, but also independent evangelical churches, including Baptist, Pentecostal, and more.
Today in Palestine, Christianity is experiencing what many would consider a crisis. This is not due to the growth of so-called Islamic fundamentalism or the persecution of “believers” by their Muslim neighbors, misrepresentations that are unfortunately used to distract from the realities of occupation. Instead, the plight of the Palestinian Christian is very much connected to that of the Palestinian Muslim in that both, whether in the Occupied Territories or inside Israeli itself, are experiencing daily injustices at the hands of oppressive and discriminatory policies imposed on them by the Israeli government.
Palestinian Christians, like their Muslim brothers and sisters, have experienced a long history of dispossession and have not been immune to Israeli policies of occupation and discrimination. If anything, they have felt more strongly the feelings of forsakenness, knowing full well that many Christians in North America and Europe support without question the state of Israel in its oppression of their people. Daily experiences of humiliation at checkpoints, of land confiscation to make way for the separation barrier, the illegal occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory, lack of mobility and access to basic services, unemployment, poverty, and no sense of hope for a better future for their children have all contributed to this growing emigration of Palestinian Christians from the historical land of Palestine.
Like their Muslim neighbors, who are prevented by checkpoints and roadblocks from making pilgrimage to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Christians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are denied basic religious freedoms, routinely prohibited from traveling very short distances to worship in one of the most holy sites in Christianity — the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the church commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection from the dead.
For the Palestinian Christians of Bethlehem, for example, traveling the six-mile (ten-kilometer) distance to Jerusalem’s Old City is impossible without special permission. Roughly half of Bethlehem’s residents are Christian. Church leaders estimate that over 2,000 Christians have emigrated from the Bethlehem area since September 2000, representing a decline of more than nine percent of Bethlehem’s total Christian population. [1]
Rev. Alex Awad, Palestinian pastor of the East Jerusalem Baptist Church, reminds us that “Palestinian Christians have existed in the Holy Land since the day of Pentecost and have kept the torch of Christianity burning faithfully for the past two thousand years.” The erosion of Christianity in her birthplace, he poignantly observes “is a loss for the body of Christ everywhere. Can we imagine the Holy Land devoid of the Christian presence and a church which has been a faithful witness for Christ since the day the church was born?” [2]
Unfortunately, various reportings of this phenomenon has revealed stereotypes in North America and Europe that continue to see the root socio-economic problem for Palestinian Christians as their Muslim neighbors. It is disconcerting that the portrayal of the Christian absence in Palestine, for example, is often played off as the fault of Muslims and not of the illegal Israeli occupation, as if Muslims are oppressing Christians and that this is the root of the problem for Palestinians. It is the occupation that has made life so difficult that many Christians have moved from Palestine. This continues to be a serious problem, ignored especially by “Christian” tour groups who while visiting the “Holy Land” seldom bother to even come to Bethlehem to see these ancient sites, let alone see these Christian communities and recognize their existence.
These attempts to frame this conflict in such anti-Muslim ways only distracts (often intentionally) from the burden of responsibility that sits squarely on the shoulders of the state of Israel and its intentional violation of international law and the U.S. for its 100 billion dollar financing of this structure of violence and death.
An example of this is a resolution that is currently being circulated around the U.S. House of Representatives claiming to be concerned about the plight of Palestinian Christians and their diminishing presence in Palestine. Yet this resolution makes no mention of the root causes of this conflict but instead blames Palestinians themselves for their own victimhood, grossly misrepresenting this situation and the Palestinian people.
Only recently, while the world fixes its gaze on the ongoing Israeli assault on the people of Lebanon — both Muslim and Christian — and gives little attention to Gaza and the Israeli-caused humanitarian disaster for the million and a half people living there, the Israeli military has begun uprooting ancient olive trees in Bethlehem’s Cremisan area, marking out the path of the separation barrier to be built through one of the regions most valuable heritage sites.
Israel’s wall in the West Bank is effectively annexing a large percentage of Bethlehem’s agricultural land (Timonthy Seidel)
The Cremisan area is of significant heritage value, home to the only winery in Palestine and two monasteries. Some of the finest examples of the regions ancient terraced landscape can be found here. The wall will carve through these terraces destroying agricultural landscapes that have survived for centuries. When the wall is completed, Beit Jala district of the Bethlehem area will have lost access to two-thirds of its land.
It is not the Palestinian Muslim population that is responsible for the expropriation of more land for the construction of this 430-mile/700-kilometer separation barrier. It is not the Palestinian Muslim population that is responsible for the expansion of illegal settlements and the creation of a “Greater Jerusalem” depopulated of its Palestinian citizens. It is not the Palestinian Muslim population that is responsible for the checkpoints that obstruct mobility, nor the demolition of homes and other forms of collective punishment. It is not the Palestinian Muslim population that is responsible for the “one big prison” status of Gaza. It is not the Palestinian Muslim population that is responsible for this separation barrier that will become the de facto border of a “Palestinian State” composed of several isolated islands of land on roughly 40 to 50 percent of the West Bank. It is not the Palestinian Muslim population that will be responsible for, absent a viable, contiguous Palestinians state, the “reservation” life that will parallel the Native North American experience in the United States. No, it is the ongoing Israeli structure of occupation and dispossession that continues to devastate Palestinian livelihood for both Christian and Muslim alike.
At a time when the U.S. Congress is considering the plight of Palestinian Christians, they are witnessing the destruction of their community’s land, heritage and livelihood. The people of Bethlehem have been very clear in their message to the international community, “If you want to help us, stop the construction of Israel’s Wall.” [3]
Anyone who lives in this society long enough is aware of tensions that might exist between Christians and Muslims. Palestinians society like any other society in the world is dealing with its own problems. But to focus on this internal tension to the exclusion of other factors is missing the mark and emptying this issue of its context.
It is indeed hard to be Palestinian Christian these days. But it is also hard being a Palestinian Muslim. The fact of the matter is that it is hard simply being a Palestinian.
Timothy Seidel is a peace development worker with Mennonite Central Committee in the Occupied Palestinian Territories where he has lived for the past two years.
——————————————————
And then this:
“The Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian nonprofit that highlights the persecution of Christians worldwide, has drawn its attention this month to the hostilities faced by Christians in the Holy Land, and acknowledges that some might find its “position of highlighting Israel as a hostile nation” disagreeable and offensive.
“There’s no persecution in the Holy Land … unless you share your faith,” reads the quote on the cover of The Voice of the Martyr’s February 2014 newsletter. The quote is attributed to Steven Khoury, an Arab Israeli Christian who pastors churches in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Pastor Khoury has spoken in the media of witnessing church members being attacked because of their faith, and of losing an uncle who was martyred.
The Voice of the Martyrs, founded in 1967 by a Jewish couple, lists Israel on its “restricted nations” map as a “hostile nation.”
Hello Po,
Do you believe Israel has a legitimate claim to any territory in the ME? More specifically, any of the territory currently claimed by Israel.
This does not require anything more than a YES or NO.
Bible Society
The most dangerous places to be a Christian in 2015
MISSION NEWS | World Watch Monitor
Thursday 8 January 2015
While the world’s eyes were riveted to Syria and Iraq in 2014, life for Christians worsened even more profoundly in Africa, according to an annual report on religious freedom.
The situation deteriorated most rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, in countries where Islamic extremism is the main source of pressure upon Christians, according to the 2015 World Watch List, released this week by Open Doors International, a charity that supports Christians who face hostilities because of their faith.
The annual list ranks the 50 countries considered to be most hostile to Christians in the last 12 months. It surveys religious freedom for Christians in five areas of life: private; family; community; national; and the church. It also measures violence against Christians.
The Top Ten Countries where Religious PersecutionWWM
is the most Intense
1. North Korea
2. Somalia
3. Iraq
4. Syria
5. Afghanistan
6. Sudan
7. Iran
8. Pakistan
9. Eritrea
10. Nigeria
4,344 Christians were reportedly killed during the 12-month period, more than double the 2,123 killed in 2013, and more than triple the 1,201 killed in 2012.
The majority of the deaths in 2014 occurred in Nigeria, where 2,484 people were killed, and in Central African Republic, where 1,088 people were killed, according to Open Doors.
Overall, the survey scores assigned to the 50 countries rose by nearly 10 percent, indicating a generally rising tide of antagonism toward Christians in the 50 countries most hostile to believers.
It is fair to say that Islamic extremism has two global centres of gravity. One in the Arab Middle East, but the other is in sub-Saharan Africa…
The report also noted a resurgence of anti-Christian hostility in parts of Asia and Latin America, two regions where conditions had been comparatively favorable in previous years.
The main engine: Islamic extremism
In 40 of the 50 countries on the World Watch List, Open Doors said “Islamic extremism” was a primary source of pressure on Christian life.
“It is fair to say that Islamic extremism has two global centres of gravity. One in the Arab Middle East, but the other is in sub-Saharan Africa, and even Christian majority states are experiencing unprecedented levels of exclusion, discrimination and even violence,” wrote Ron Boyd-MacMillan, chief strategy officer for Open Doors UK, in a report supplementing the World Watch List.
Though violence against Christians made headlines throughout 2014, it was largely the same in most countries, with the exception of Iraq, Syria and Nigeria, according to the report. Instead, pressure on Christians increased mostly in less obvious ways: being shunned by family; losing a job and rejection within the community for faith related reasons. Such “squeeze” tactics, the report said, are especially hard on former Muslims who have embraced Christianity.
“It’s important to understand this extremism is not only from the violent jihadists like the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, but Islamists who seek to take over cultures by stealth,” Boyd-McMillan wrote.
Influence of ‘Islamic State’
Daily life for Christians in most of the top 50 countries became more difficult during the past year, but the situation especially deteriorated in the northern provinces of the Nigeria, where the Boko Haram insurgency has followed the lead of the so-called “Islamic State” and proclaimed a caliphate of its own.
Ranking No. 10 on the World Watch List, Nigeria’s levels of pressure and violence against Christians are at a record high.
Nigeria’s levels of pressure and violence against Christians are at a record high.
In April, the abduction of the 276 school girls in the Borno State village of Chibok commanded worldwide attention, but the mass abduction was only part of a wider anti-Christian front, one which killed nearly 2,500 Christians across the country. Open Doors said the links between al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Boko Haram, as well as with other Islamic terrorist groups in the region, make it likely the church will suffer more violent persecution in the near future. The charity said violence from Hausa-Fulani Muslim herdsmen in the country’s Middle Belt region is expected to add to the threat, as is pre-election violence later this year.
Tiffany Lynch, a policy analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an advisory body to Congress, drew a distinction between the apparent expansionist ambitions of Islamic State and the six-year-old Boko Haram uprising in Nigeria.
“ISIL fits in with greater national security concerns in the Middle East, whereas Boko Haram is a domestic Islamic insurgency with regional concerns,” said Lynch, using a common name for Islamic State, in an email to World Watch Monitor. “More importantly, ISIL attacks on Christians and other non-Muslims are part of a broader question about the future of these small religious communities in the region and their homeland.”
According to Open Doors, al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based militant Islamist group affiliated with al-Qaeda, and other extremist movements in Eastern Africa also are drawing inspiration from the tactics of Islamic State.
Asia increasingly difficult
With the exception of North Korea, which has been No. 1 on the World Watch List since its inception, Open Doors had been reporting improving conditions for Christians in the Far East in recent years.
The trend reversed course in 2014, when every country on the list but Laos and Sri Lanka received a higher persecution score. China, India and Malaysia registered the largest increases. Twelve countries from East Asia and the Far East are among the top 50.
Dictatorial paranoia is the second-most prevalent force making life difficult for Christians, and is a primary source of persecution in 13 countries, including North Korea…
Open Doors said some fundamentalist Hindu and Buddhist leaders feel threatened by the growth of Christianity.
The score assigned to No. 21 India is the highest ever. “The season of impunity for anti-Christian action in India has started since the world’s largest democracy elected a Hindu extremist Prime Minister who has declared open season on Christians,” Open Doors said.
In China, which rose to No. 29, scores of churches were attacked, with some being destroyed and about 300 crosses being removed. Open Doors said the fact that the communist government is still undecided about how to deal with the church is good news because it suggests a debate about church liberties is happening within the Chinese government.
About the survey
The World Watch List ranks countries using eight primary “persecution engines” to explain why the Christian community becomes especially targeted in certain circumstances.
The “engines” are not always specifically anti-Christian as they include forces such as “dictatorial paranoia” and “organised corruption,” which sweeps up people of all faiths.
Dictatorial paranoia is the second-most prevalent force making life difficult for Christians, and is a primary source of persecution in 13 countries, including North Korea, according to the list. North Korean citizens who are discovered to be Christian face long prison terms or execution.
Against the backdrop of media coverage of violence and beheadings in the Middle East, Open Doors said new co-operative relationships being forged between Muslims and Christians could have long term benefits. The charity said the crisis is forging a new level of inter-faith respect as pressured minorities have been forced to live and work together.
The common thread among most of the places? ISLAM.
And then this, and the cops don’t intervene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p_tNkcRhtQ
Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Christians
Jay Karlson November 24, 2011
Some think Christianity’s flawed past and modern emphasis on grace and forgiveness make it an easy (perhaps deserving) target for criticism, and even reverse discrimination. Scathing rhetoric is part of any healthy debate, but should it go so far as to turn a blind eye?
Christianity may have become one of the world’s predominant religions, but there are still many places where Christians are persecuted, dispossessed, tortured and even killed for their faith. Often this occurs as part of governmental or religious policy. Western media frequently under-report these incidents, fearing to offend cultural sensibilities. As a result, much of this news must be culled from secular human rights publications and religious watchdog groups. Submitted for your approval are the Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Christians, as ranked by the Open Doors World Watch List.
10
Laos
Population: 6.4 million; 200,000 Christians
Main Religion: Buddhism
Government: Communist State
The Laotian government’s attitude towards Christians is openly hostile. Lao authorities, along with many in Lao society, view Protestant Christianity (and Hmong Christians in particular) as an American threat to Communist rule. Christian churches cannot operate freely, and Christians are restricted in their family and community roles. Many Laotian believers endure extreme physical and emotional pressure to abandon their faith.
Case in point: in 2010, 29 Christians were killed, and at least 20 were arrested and held without trial, while several churches were destroyed. In January of that same year, 11 Christian families in Laos’ Saravan province were driven out of their villages and into the forest, after refusing to deny their faith.
9
Uzbekistan
Uzbek Women Allege Forced Sterilization-460X307
Population: 27.5 million; 208,600 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Pressure on Uzbek Christians increased last year. The number of raids on churches spiked, and fines for illegal religious activities now exceed 100 times the minimum monthly wage. Short-term prison sentences (3-15 days) are frequently meted out as a punishment for Christian religious activities, and 27 year-old Baptist missionary Tohar Haydarov has been sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on (likely trumped up) drugs charges. An appeal is being prepared for his release.
Many churches have also lost their registration and some of their buildings in 2010 as well. Recent Christian converts also experience job loss, beatings, social rejection and often expulsion from the family home.
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Iraq
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Population: 30.7 million; 334,000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Parliamentary democracy
Don’t be fooled by all those American soldiers: violence against Christians in Iraq is on the rise, with large numbers of believers killed and injured. ‘Targeted killings’ of Christians in Mosul during the run-up to the March 2010 election, led many Christians to flee their villages and settle in the Nineveh plains. Fears of a ‘Christian ghetto’ in Baghdad were born that day. Pope Benedict XVI even made an appeal for the safety of Iraqi Christians during this time.
Attacks on church buildings and Christian institutions also increased in the latter half of 2010, and at least 58 Christians were killed in a bomb attack on a Baghdad church during an evening Mass, in October of that year.
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Yemen
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Population: 23.6 million; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Yemen’s state religion is Islam, and sharia law is the source of all legal matters. Foreigners do have limited religious freedom, but evangelism of any kind is strictly prohibited. Case in point: several expatriate workers were deported, in 2010, for discussing Christianity with (well-meaning) Muslims who asked about it.
Moreover, Yemenis are not allowed to leave Islam; those who convert to Christianity face persecution from family, authorities and extremist groups. Worse, terrorist movements and separatists made Yemen very unstable recently. Christian aid worker Johannes Hentschel, his wife Sabine and their young children Lydia, Anna and Simon, along with married British engineer Anthony Saunders were among nine foreigners abducted in in the north-western Yemeni province of Saada.
Last year Anna and Lydia (3 and 5 years old respectively) were rescued by security forces from neighboring Saudi Arabia. But the Saudis also found the bodies of three other abducted Christians, German Bible students Rita Stumpp, Anita Gruenwald, and South Korean teacher, Eom Young Sun. German and British investigators have since ended their active search for the other hostages.
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Maldives
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Population: 311,000; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
All citizens must be Muslims in Maldives, as sharia law forbids practicing of any religion except Islam. Christian churches are forbidden, and importing Christian literature into the country is strictly prohibited.
New regulations governing religious practice were unveiled by the government in 2010, and stricter policies have been imposed on tourists after some were discovered with Bibles. The few indigenous believers in Maldives are isolated from one other and are closely monitored by the law enforcement , religious authorities, and locals.
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Somalia
Somali Woman Walks Past A Church Destroyed By Fighting In Mogadishu January 6, 2008
Population: 9.1 million; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Charitably described as ‘Transitional’
Somalia as a “country” has been without an effective central government since 1991. It’s dangerous for anyone to live there, but doubly dangerous to be a Christian.
At least fifteen Christians were killed by Islamist insurgents Al-Shabaab, in 2009, and they killed at least another eight Christians, in 2010. So it’s no wonder a quarter of all Christians have already fled the country. The few believers remaining are heavily persecuted and must practice their faith in secret, lest they be murdered in front of their children, like Christian convert Osman Abdullah Fataho.
Al-Shabaab has taken control of most of southern Somalia, and they have a stated goal to wipe out Christianity from all of Somalia. However, recent indications hint they may be losing popularity.
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Saudi Arabia
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Population: 25.7 million; 565,400 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Monarchy
There is no religious freedom in the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Public non-Muslim worship is absolutely forbidden, and conversion to Christianity – perceived apostasy – is punishable by death. Most Christians there are monitored foreign workers who are allowed to worship privately within isolated ‘foreigner’ compounds, and even then they sometimes face difficulty.
For example, twelve Filipino Christians and a priest were arrested while attending a service in a private home, in October 2010. They were verbally charged with ‘blaspheming against Islam” and cordially banned for life from Saudi Arabia (quiet deportations are a new tactic of the religious police – it avoids the media scrutiny that heavy-handed arrests generate).
Saudi believers fear being open about their faith, even with their family. There have also been reports of several Christians being physically harmed for their faith, in 2010.
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Afghanistan
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Population: 28.15 million; few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
Open Christians in Afghanistan face constant pressure from family, society and government agents. Believers usually keep a very low profile, and never meet together publicly. In June 2010, the deputy secretary of Parliament called for the execution of Christian converts, after seeing baptisms of Afghan Christians on an Afghan television (correction—THE Afghan television).
As a result, many Christians have gone into hiding, and, in August 2010, the Taliban shot and killed ten members of a Christian medical team that had been providing eye treatment and other health care in remote villages of northern Afghanistan.
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Iran
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Population: 74.2 million; 450,000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
There was a sharp increase in the number of Christians arrested in Iran during 2010. Although some were later released, pressure on the Christian church remains very high. Many of the approximately 450,000 believers from Muslim backgrounds live in fear of harassment by the government.
Even worse, the regime has lost a great deal of credibility following the social upheaval of the 2009 elections, and subsequent demonstrations. In a transparent effort to distract attention from continuing protests, the Iranian government has been lashing out against Christians with even greater fervor.
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North Korea
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Population: 20 million; 400,000 Christians
Main Religion: Atheism
Government: Dynastic Communist Dictatorship
North Korea’s persecution of Christians knows no equal, and being a Christian there is considered one of the worst crimes possible. North Korean communist dogma considers religion an ‘opiate’ of the people, unless of course that religion is the personality cult of ‘Great Leader’ Kim Il Sung or his son, ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong Il.
North Korean Christians must hide their faith at all times, and Christian parents can’t teach their faith to their children until the kids are old enough to understand the dangers (and for parents to be sure their kids won’t turn them in). Just owning a Bible in North Korea is grounds for execution or deportment to a harsh labor camp (essentially a gulag).
In 2010, hundreds of Christians were arrested: some were publicly executed, while others were sentenced to labor camps. Despite the risks, the Christian church is growing: an estimated 400,000 believers now sing silent hymns in cramped basements of crumbling buildings.