MUSLIM HATE OF CHRISTMAS!
A Christmas Muslim Genocide in Nigeria
JAN 3, 2024 11:00 AM BY DANIEL GREENFIELD
4,500 Christians killed in 2023. 52,000 in over a decade
Muslims
celebrated Christmas in Nigeria by massacring around 100 Christians
across a dozen communities. The Jihadis hacked Christians to death with
machetes and burned down churches as part of a genocidal campaign
that has killed 52,000 Christians in over a decade and forced millions
to leave their home and become refugees in the African nation.
In America, not a single person marched, rallied or protested over this actual genocide.
The
rampaging mobs crying that Hamas is suffering genocide remained silent.
Black Lives Matter had nothing to say about it and neither did any of
the politicians and social media influencers who spend all of their
time pushing fake casualty numbers out of Gaza.
According
to the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
(Intersociety), a local NGO, over 4,500 Christians were killed this
year in Nigeria. Unlike Israel’s defensive war against Hamas, this
latest year of the ongoing Muslim genocide has resulted in no UN
Security Council sessions or UN General Assembly votes. And the media
has kept the killing off its front pages.
Every
human rights organization that shouts “genocide” whenever a Hamas
terrorist dies has yet to declare genocide over the killing of over
50,000 civilians by Muslim gangs aided and abetted by the Muslim rulers
who have taken over Nigeria and waged war on Christians.
Earlier
this year, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ‘Godfather of Lagos’ educated in
Chicago and once accused of ties to heroin trafficking, named “leader
of warriors” by the Emir of Borgu, took power earlier this year,
replacing the brutal regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, a former
dictator backed by the Obama administration to usurp former Christian
President Jonathan Goodluck.
Intersociety
described the massacre of 700 Christians earlier this year as a
“farewell gift” to outgoing President Muhamadu Buhari warning that 100
churches had been destroyed by Islamic Jihadists in just 60 days. Every
time a terror mosque is bombed in Gaza, it’s in the headlines, but how
is it possible that 100 churches being destroyed in mere months isn’t
news?
Intersociety
began its count of the over 50,000 murdered Christians in 2009. That’s
no coincidence. As part of the ‘Arab Spring’, the Obama administration
had set out to ‘flip’ Middle Eastern countries from secular to Islamic
rule, but in a less well known move, had also begun flipping African
countries from non-Muslim to Muslim rule, resulting in the massacre of
Christians. There is more Christian blood on Obama’s hands than anyone
in a long time.
The
Obama administration staged a Muslim coup in Côte d’Ivoire leading to a
civil war in which it indirectly intervened in favor of Alassane
Ouattara who has remained in power since 2010. In Kenya, Obama backed
efforts by his cousin, Raila Odinga, who like Obama claimed to be
Christian, but had developed close ties to the country’s Islamic
population and ran as their champion, to take power. And in Nigeria,
Obama had pressured the government to stop fighting Islamic terrorism.
The end result of these efforts was a horrifying wave of Boko Haram
terror.
Boko
Haram, an Islamic Jihadist group dedicated to enforcing Islamic law,
amped up the violence while the Obama administration insisted that the
Nigerian military should avoid going after the terrorists and instead
pumped a fortune in foreign aid to deal with “social inequities”.
The
money instead helped finance a genocidal wave of Islamic violence, much
as it had in Gaza and Iran, but the Obama administration and its
leftist allies went on lying about the genocide. The official position
was that Muslims were killing Christians in response to oppression. If
only they had better economic prospects and more political power, the
violence would stop.
The
Obama administration refused to add Boko Haram to the list of Foreign
Terrorist Organizations which allowed the Jihadists to benefit from
money coming out of the United States until mounting political pressure
from Republicans forced it to do the right thing. But not until
thousands had been killed while Obama officials falsely claimed that
Boko Haram was not an Islamic terrorist group and that FTO designation
would only alienate Nigerian Muslims.
In
2021, the New York Times published an op-ed claiming that, “there is no
proof that a well-organized, ideologically coherent terrorist group
called Boko Haram even exists today.” But by 2014, Boko Haram’s mass
kidnapping of hundreds of Christian girls led to the #BringBackOurGirls
campaign. The efforts to deny that an Islamic terrorist group inspired,
trained and financed by Al Qaeda, which had killed thousands, even
existed, ended.
But the motives behind the lies that enabled the Christian genocide remained the same.
Obama
got what he wanted with Muhammadu Buhari, but after two terms of the
former Muslim dictator, the killing goes on. Boko Haram, an Al Qaeda
ally, has gotten bogged down in fighting a local splinter group
affiliated with ISIS, for the bragging rights to Christian genocide.
And ordinary Fulani Muslim tribesmen and gangs have taken over
campaigns of butchery like those that occurred over Christmas. And some
Nigerian Christians say that the atrocities of these ordinary Fulani
Muslims are even worse than those practiced by Boko Haram.
“The
disembowelling of pregnant women and the butchering of the fetus is a
specialty of theirs,” the rector of a Nigerian seminary described.
Obama
officials claimed that the real issue wasn’t Muslim terrorism but
Muslim oppression. A decade later as Fulani Muslims have gone on
massacring Christians, the story hasn’t changed even as the massacres
continued under the regime of Buhari: a fellow Fulani Muslim.
Instead
of addressing the Fulani Muslim genocide of Christians, human rights
organizations and the media have claimed that members of the Fulani
ethnic group are the ones facing “persecution” in Nigeria and elsewhere
in the region for their Jihadist tendencies.
The
massacre of Christians in Nigeria, like Oct 7 and Islamic terrorism
around the world from India to America is part of a thousand year
Islamic genocide of non-Muslims commanded by the Koran. Every time
their victims fight back, the Islamists and their allies cry
“genocide”, but the true genocide is the one that has claimed countless
millions across every religious group in every part of the world. It is
a thousand year genocide that the world must fight back against.
Muslim terrorists are not the victims of genocide, they are its perpetrators.
We
must stand with the Christian victims of Islamic genocide in Nigeria,
with the Jewish victims of genocide in Israel, the Hindu victims of
genocide in Kashmir, the Buddhist victims of genocide in Myanmar and
with the atheists being murdered in Bangladesh.
If we do not, the final genocide will be our own.
Christian villages in Nigeria reeling after Christmas attacks leave nearly 200 dead
Catholic News Agency
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 27, 2023 / 18:41 pm
Catholic and Nigerian leaders are demanding government action as
Christian villages in the central Nigerian state of Plateau are reeling
from a series of Christmas weekend attacks that left nearly 200
Christian Nigerians dead.
Photos obtained by CNA show victims of the attacks being buried in mass graves, underscoring the scale of the bloodshed.
“This indeed has been a gory Christmas for us,” Plateau governor Caleb
Mutfwang said in a Tuesday statement that noted the attacks were
“well-coordinated” and carried out using “heavy weapons.”
Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese in northern Nigeria
meanwhile called on the newly elected Nigerian president Bola Tinubu to
take immediate action to protect the Nigerian people, telling him: “You
have no excuses before God or the people of Nigeria” and that “neither
God nor history will forgive you if you fail.”
The bishop’s address, which was published by the Nigeria Catholic
Network, also emphasized that “Nigerians have almost lost hope” that “a
government can really and truly care for them” and that “our
politicians will put our interests first and find a way to deal with
the cancer of corruption.”
According to accounts by several local news sources and human rights
activists, 198 Christians were killed in a series of terror attacks in
26 Christian communities in Plateau. The attacks began the night of
Dec. 23 and continued through Christmas Day.
Maria Lozano, a representative for the papal relief group Aid to the
Church in Need, told CNA that the Christmas attacks made the weekend
“one of the most violent [times] in the area’s history.” She said she
believes that a radicalized Islamic tribe known as the Fulani is
responsible for the latest violence.
The attack also marks another instance of terrorists targeting
Christian Nigerians on significant Christian feast days such as in the
2022 Pentecost massacre that killed 50 Christian villagers. Lozano said
the attacks were carried out because of a combination of reasons
including ethnic and religious strife between the Christian farmers and
nomadic Fulani herdsmen.
She pointed out that the timing of the attacks had “religious undertones.”
Lozano also emphasized that a “lack of response from the government”
over the years has worsened the situation in the region and that
tangible government support has been largely absent after the Christmas
massacre. The absence of government support, Lozano said, has forced
Christian churches to take on the “primary responsibility of providing
assistance.”
Nigeria’s new president, Bola Tinubu, meanwhile, ordered an “immediate
mobilization of relief sources” and directed the country’s security
agencies to “scour every part of the zone” and “apprehend the culprits
responsible for these atrocities.”
Mutfwang, the Plateau governor, called on the country’s security
agencies to also identify those who have been “the sponsors of these
attacks” so that the government can act to “unravel all those
responsible.”
“Until we cut off the supply in terms of sponsorship, we may never be able to see the end of this,” Mutfwang said.
Sean Nelson, a religious-rights attorney with the law firm Alliance
Defending Freedom (ADF), told CNA that “whole villages” were razed and
hundreds more Christians are now displaced because of the attacks,
which he said were motivated by the Fulani tribe’s “hatred of
Christians” and “desire to take land.”
Nelson, who closely follows developments in Nigeria for ADF, joined in
the demand for the Nigerian government to take immediate action, saying
that it must do more than just voice support for the victims.
“The scale of this attack is shocking,” Nelson said. “If no real
actions are taken after these attacks this Christmas, it can only be
deliberate indifference to the lives of these Christian communities.”
Nelson said that the Fulani have been “launching attacks on Plateau and
Middle Belt communities for years” but that their attacks have
significantly increased this past year.
“It is indescribable the grief that these Christian communities have
gone through this past year. The president of Nigeria has directed law
enforcement to find and prosecute the attackers, but we have heard
similar statements before, with little action taken afterward,” he
said. “This time must be different.”
Hamas Supporters Declare War on Christmas
DEC 25, 2023 12:00 PM BY DANIEL GREENFIELD
“How many of y’all would come out on Christmas Day and ruin their Christmas?”
“Joy
is canceled,” read the signs wielded by Hamas supporters protesting a
Christmas tree lighting at Columbia University. While a student group
tried to sing, the terror backers shrieked, “there’s no room for
celebration.” And no room for anything except terrorism and hate.
Supporters of the Islamic terrorist group took a special pleasure in attacking Christianity.
Carolers
singing “Gloria in excelsis deo” or “Glory to God in the highest” at
the Washington Square Park Christmas tree near New York University were
shouted down by Muslim and leftist allies shrieking, “Shut it down!
Shut it down!”
People
have been killed for merely drawing cartoons of Mohammed, but Muslims
feel empowered to shout down Christian hymns before Christmas a few
miles from Ground Zero.
On the Boston Common, Hamas supporters defaced a nativity scene to read, “Jesus was Palestinian.”
Pro-Hamas
rioters attacked the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting in Manhattan.
The Muslim American Society, a Muslim Brotherhood organization (the
parent group of Hamas) whose mission is to promote “Islam as a total
way of life” and Samidoun, a terrorist front group banned in Israel and
Germany, announced plans to “Flood the Tree Lightning for Gaza”.
The ‘Flood’ name was a reference to Al-Aqsa Flood: the Hamas name for the atrocities of Oct 7.
Families
were blocked from getting to the annual Christmas tradition as Hamas
supporters rioted, assaulted police officers and chanted calls for the
destruction of Israel and America.
“I
had planned my holiday around this event, being a big fan of Christmas.
Now I’m walled in by a bunch of terrorist-loving a–holes calling for
intifada,” a British tourist complained.
“How
many of y’all would come out on Christmas Day and ruin their
Christmas?” Nerdeen Kiswani, the chair of Within Our Lifetime, an
organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel, shouted at another
New York City hate rally.
“Christmas is canceled,” Fatima Mohammed, a fellow former CUNY law student, yelled.
“No
Christmas as usual,” terrorist supporters chanted outside St. Patrick’s
Cathedral near Central Park while downtown stores were vandalized with
graffiti, “Long live the intifada.”
Hamas
supporters went on to rampage against “joy” at Christmas tree lightings
around the country. In San Francisco’s Union Square, they threw down
Christmas ornaments and planted their terrorist flag atop a Christmas
tree. In Ypsilanti, Michigan, terror supporters showed up near a
Christmas tree to proclaim that, “America is a terrorist state”.
At
Seattle’s annual Christmas tree lighting, they brought a megaphone and
chanted calls for the destruction of Israel. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds
condemned the “protest in support of Hamas terrorists” during her
celebration and Sacramento’s Christmas tree lighting in California’s
state capital had to be canceled because of the anticipated pro-terror
rallies.
And that is what the terrorists wanted.
“Christmas
is canceled,” the Philly Palestine Coalition, which had previously been
condemned for targeting a Jewish business, threatened. Two police
officers were assaulted during pro-terrorist violence during one of its
rallies in Rittenhouse Square.
“No
Christmas in a Genocide” a San Francisco terrorist rally declared. The
SFPD described how the rioters then “began to commit crimes ranging
from assault to felony vandalism.”
A
“Shut Christmas Down For Palestine” rally targeted shoppers in London
and partially succeeded in shutting down local businesses. A terrorist
supporter brandished a genocidal sign reading, “Death to settler
colonialism everywhere. Viva Palestina.”
The Hamas supporters seemed to take a special delight in ruining Christmas for kids.
In
Bradford, England, they berated children who were taking in a Coca Cola
Christmas truck. In an Ottawa mall, terrorist supporters frightened
children waiting in line for Santa while in a Toronto mall, the
rampaging masked mob draped with keffiyahs threatened to kill shoppers.
And
before Christmas Eve, terrorist supporters set out plans for blocking
and flooding highways and roads near airports and commuter travel
points to make sure people would be separated from their families. This
was the closest thing to a victory for Muslim terrorist supporters.
When they say Christmas is canceled, they mean it. And they always have.
Before
Hamas supporters began trying to shut down Christmas in New York City,
San Francisco, London, Philly and at any of the hundreds of other
pro-terrorist rallies around America and the world, they were shutting
down Christmas in Gaza.
In
2011, it was reported that, “there hasn’t been a Christmas tree in Gaza
City’s main square since Hamas pushed the Palestinian Authority out of
Gaza in 2007 and Christmas is no longer a public holiday.”
In
2020, Hamas’ Director-General of the General Authority of Preaching had
issued a directive to “Limit Interaction with Christmas”. That same
year, Ahmad Kulab, the head of Hamas’ Department for Training of
Preachers, warned that, “Christians must [keep] the celebration of
their holidays to their homes, their houses of worship, and their
churches.” And, quoting Islamic teachings, he denounced “the dwellers
of Hellfire, the Jews and the Christians.”
After a backlash, Hamas appeared to allow small Christmas tree lightings to go forward.
Instead,
Hamas supporters began shutting down Christmas in America. They shout
about “occupation”, but they’re the ones doing the occupying. They’re
occupying Christmas tree lightings and public celebrations, shouting
down prayerful songs with hate, and using the season to call for death
and destruction to be visited upon the enemies of Islam.
They’re
serious about canceling joy and replacing it with hate and murder. And
they’re serious about ending Christmas and intimidating, assaulting and
killing those who defy them.
Hamas supporters shout Gaza has been invaded, when Gaza has actually invaded America.
When
Christians can’t celebrate Christmas in peace, not only in Gaza, but in
America, in Canada, in Australia and across Europe, who exactly has
invaded whom?
And when does the invasion end?
Mob attacks Pakistani church on Christmas
Missionary
Network News
By Kevin Zeller
December 30,
2020
Pakistan (MNN)
— On Christmas Morning in Lahore, Pakistan, a group of 50-60 Muslim men
attacked a Christian church during their Christmas service. They aimed to
kidnap and assault the women in attendance.
The security
guards and other men at the church fought back with bare hands against the
staff-wielding intruders, giving the women time to escape. Many Christian men
suffered blunt trauma injuries and fractures in the fight.
Things got
worse when the police arrived. Authorities helped the defeated Muslims escape,
and blamed Christians for fighting back. Nehemiah from FMI says,
“They scolded and threatened the Christian community, the Christian church,
saying it’s illegal to have their own security. Which is truly an unjustified
and illegal action by the police, because it was announced by the government of
Pakistan two years ago, that every church must have its own security. They must
have their own CCTV cameras, barbed wires, and medical equipment.”
FMI even
helped several churches pay for these security materials with a program two
years ago.
To make things
worse, the police have now arrested security guards who beat back the mob,
saying they broke the law.
Feeling
abandoned
Christians in
Pakistan occupy the lowest of classes. The entire society looks down on them,
considering them “untouchable.”
Pakistani
Christians also live in constant fear of violence, and
these attacks often occur around Christmas and
Easter. Nehemiah says, “Christians, they live in colonies in
Pakistan. They don’t live just randomly, but they live as a group in colonies
for their own protection. And because Muslims don’t allow them to stay with
them.”
Pakistani
Christians feel abandoned, Nehemiah says. They do not see anyone caring for
them. Pray God will comfort these believers in their suffering. They have an
exalted place in Christ’s kingdom, and will one day rule with Him when He
returns.
In the
meantime, pray the corrupt police in Pakistan would start doing their jobs and
protecting people. Pray also that these security guards would be released back
to their families.
GAZA
TERRORISTS WARN LOCALS: 'CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS IS EVIL'
Flyer
features a verse from the Quran warning Muslims, "not to go the way of the
Jews and the Christians, indeed God is not for the evil people."
BY
URI BOLLAG
JERUSALEM
POST
DECEMBER
24, 2018
A
flyer featuring a burning Christmas tree and threats in Arabic forbidding the
celebration of Christmas was published by the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, also known as the Specialty Brigade, in Gaza
ahead of the Christian holiday.
A verse from the Quran, quoted on the left side of the flyer, warns Muslims
“not to go the way of the Jews and the Christians, indeed God is not for the
evil people.” The brigades added that it is “absolutely forbidden” to celebrate
the holidays in any capacity.
According to a government source, the flyer was aimed not only at Muslims, but
also Arab Christians living in the Strip. The non-governmental organization
Freedom House has regularly reported that the political rights and civil
liberties of Gaza residents are severely constrained by multiple layers of
interference.
The Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades is the military
wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of armed Palestinian
groups considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, and
believed to be the third largest faction in Gaza after Hamas and the Islamic
Jihad. The PRC is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks against Israel
and has a close relationship with Hezbollah.
The
flyer is in contrast to Israel’s efforts to ensure that Christians in Gaza are
able to celebrate the holiday.
In a meeting with Christian leaders on December 19, Maj.-Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun, head of the Coordinator for Government Activities in
the Territories (COGAT), outlined measures the unit will be taking to allow
freedom of worship, according to its website. Measures include allowing
entrance into Gaza for those wishing to visit their families and permitting
more flexible travel, as well as flights abroad via Ben-Gurion Airport. The
measures have been in effect since the week prior to Christmas.
There are approximately 1,000 Christians living in the Gaza Strip. Some 600
individuals received special permits for the holidays, a source told The
Jerusalem Post.
Isis-supporting
couple planned Christmas terror attack after meeting on online dating site
Police say 'significant loss of life' was averted with arrests in December 2016
Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent
Monday
8 January 2018
Independent
An Isis-supporting couple have been found guilty of preparing to launch a
terror attack using a homemade bomb and chemical weapons in the UK.
Security services feared Munir Mohammed and Rowaida
el-Hassan were ready to strike before they were detained in December 2016, with
police saying a “significant loss of life” had been averted.
Mohammed, 36, had already amassed two out of three core components for triacetone triperoxide (TATP), the unstable explosive used
in recent Isis attacks, including in Paris and Brussels.
He had also downloaded manuals on how to make mobile phone detonators and
ricin, a deadly poison that can kill an adult victim with just a few grains.
Mohammed, of Leopold Street in Derby, and El-Hassan, of Willesden Lane in
north-west London, denied preparing terrorist acts between November 2015 and
December 2016 but a jury found them both guilty.
Judge Michael Topolski QC remanded them in custody
and warned them they faced jail when they are sentenced next month.
He said Mohammed had been convicted of “planning a potentially devastating
terrorist attack by creating an explosive device and deploying it somewhere in
the UK targeting those you regarded as enemies of Isis”.
“Rowaida El-Hassan, you share the extremist mindset
with Munir Mohammed and you were ideologically motivated to provide him with
support, motivation and assistance,” the judge added.
“You knew he was engaging and planning an attack. You knew he was planning an
explosion to kill and maim innocent people in the cause of Isis.”
The Old Bailey heard that El-Hassan, a pharmacist, became a willing participant
in the plot after meeting Mohammed on dating website SingleMuslim.com.
She had advertised “for a simple, very simple, honest and straightforward man
who fears Allah” who she could “vibe with on a spiritual and intellectual
level”.
Prosecutors said Mohammed was specifically drawn to her profile in late 2015
after seeing she had a masters’ degree in pharmacy, aiming to use her chemical
knowledge in the attack.
Jurors were told the pair had a “rapidly formed emotional attachment and a
shared ideology” and were in regular contact on WhatsApp by spring 2016,
meeting in a London park near El-Hassan’s home.
Records of their messages show they shared extremist views and videos, while
Mohammed was put in touch with a man he believed was
an Isis commander via Facebook.
Prosecutor Anne Whyte QC said Mohammed “resolved upon a lone wolf attack”,
while working making sauces for supermarket ready meals, and El-Hassan was well
aware of his plan.
He pledged allegiance to the man, known as Abubakr
Kurdi, and offered to participate in “a new job in the UK” – a phrase jurors
were told referred to a terror attack.
In September 2016, Mohammed complained he had not received his instructions,
telling his contact: “If possible send how we make
dough [explosives] for Syrian bread [a bomb] and other types of food.”
El-Hassan, a 33-year-old divorcee with two children, advised Mohammed on what
chemicals to buy for a bomb, the court heard.
That November, Mohammed got hold of a video containing information on how to
manufacture ricin, and days before his arrest he was captured on CCTV buying
“acetone free” nail polish from Asda, in the mistaken belief it was a component
of TATP.
He also looked at pressure cookers at Ace Discounts, which the prosecution said
could be used to contain the explosives, according to several terrorist
manuals.
Police found hydrogen peroxide in a wardrobe and hydrochloric acid in the
freezer of his home during a raid on 12 December 2016 but Mohammed claimed they
were for domestic purposes.
He told the Old Bailey he sent El-Hassan extremist videos “mainly for the news”
and claimed his intention was “to marry her”.
But Mohammed had an arranged marriage in Sudan with a woman he had never met called
Fatima, who he was hoping to bring to England on a student visa.
He had arrived in Britain in the back of a lorry and claimed asylum in February
2014, the court heard.
After awaiting a decision for more than two years, he appealed to his local MP
Margaret Beckett for help, but she was told his case had been referred to a
“specialist unit for consideration”.
El-Hassan, who came to Britain from Sudan at the age of three, told jurors she
had sulphuric acid for her drains and got face masks
to wear as she dealt with a damp problem in her flat.
Asked if she had feelings for Mohammed, she said: ”It
was mixed feelings at the time. Yes, there was emotional attachment.
“There were feelings developing and we were getting to know each other. I was
grateful for things he helped me with. And he was grateful for things I helped
him with. I liked the attention he was giving me.”
Police said it could not be proven that El-Hassan was an extremist before she
met Mohammed, but could have been in no doubt about his jihadi beliefs.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Greenwood, who led the investigation, said the
website they used was a “normal place to look for a relationship”.
But Mohammed used it to get advice on where to source chemicals to manufacture
TATP from El-Hassan, who was previously unknown to the security services.
“Munir shared with her some really graphic and brutal execution videos, lots of
other ideological material, including children executing Isis
prisoners and children involved in military training in the name of the Islamic
State,” DCI Greenwood said.
“She appeared to be very receptive to that and they seemed to encourage each
other with their shared mindsets... irrespective of whether she was influenced
by him, she knew fully his mindset and contributed to a set of circumstances
that, had we not intervened, could have resulted in significant loss of life in
the UK in the lead-up to Christmas 2016.”
Sue Hemming, the head of of the Crown Prosecution
Service’s counter-terror division, said the couple were “clearly attracted to
each other through their support for Daesh’s violent ideology and its
intolerance of those who do not subscribe to its views”.
“They planned to kill and injure innocent people in the UK and had the mindset,
the methodology and almost all the material needed, for Mohammed to carry out
an attack,“ she added.
“Both will be in prison, where they cannot plot together and will no longer be
a danger to the public.”
As happens at Christmas every year throughout
the Muslim world, Christians and their churches were especially targeted—from
jihadi terror strikes killing worshippers, to measures by Muslim authorities
restricting Christmas celebrations. Some 2013 incidents follow:
Iraq: “Militants” reported the Associated Press,
“targeted Christians in three separate Christmas Day bombings in Baghdad,
killing at least 37 people, officials said Wednesday. In one attack, a
car bomb went off near a church in the capital’s southern Dora neighborhood,
killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said. Earlier, two
bombs ripped through a nearby outdoor market simultaneously in the Christian
section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding
21.”
Iran: Five Muslim converts to
Christianity were arrested from a house-church during a Christmas celebration.
Plain clothes Iranian security authorities raided a house where, according to Mohabat News, “a group of Christians had gathered to
celebrate Christmas on Tuesday, December 24.” Before arresting the five
apostates, authorities “insulted and searched those in attendance, and seized
all Christian books, CDs, and laptops they found. They also took the Satellite
TV receiver.” The original report received by Mohabat
stated: “These Christians had gathered to worship and celebrate [the] birth of
Jesus.”
Indonesia: Muslims in the Aceh province
protested against Christmas and New Year celebrationsand
called on authorities to ban them. Days earlier, an influential Islamic cleric
organization, the Ulema Consultative Assembly, issued a fatwa, or edict,
“prohibiting Muslims from offering Christmas wishes or celebrating on New
Year’s Eve,” said the Associated Press. Aceh is the “only province in
predominantly Muslim Indonesia that is allowed to implement a version of
Islamic Shariah law.”
Kenya: “Youths,” reported Reuters, “threw
petrol bombs at two Kenyan churches on Christmas day … in the latest bout of
violence against Christians on the country’s predominantly Muslim coast.”
The attacks occurred “in the early hours of December 25 after churchgoers held
services to usher in Christmas.” The churches were located in
Muslim-majority regions. One church was “completely destroyed.”
Somalia: The more “moderate” government—as it
is often portrayed in comparison to Al Shabaab (“The
Youth”) opposition—banned Christmas celebrations. Hours before Christmas Day,
the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs released a directive banning any
Christian festivities from being held in the east African nation. In the
words of one ministry official: “We alert fellow Muslims in Somalia that some
festivities to mark Christian Days will take place around the world in this
week. It is prohibited to celebrate those days in this country.” All
security and law enforcement agencies were instructed to quash any Christian
celebrations.
Pakistan: During Christmas Eve services,
“Heavy contingents of police were deployed around the churches to thwart any
untoward incident.” In some regions, “prayer service at major churches
focused on remembering the Pakistani Christians who lost their lives in terror
attacks.” For example, three months earlier, Islamic suicide bombers entered
the All Saints Church compound in Peshawar following
Sunday mass and blew themselves up in the midst of some 550 congregants,
killing some 130 worshippers, including many Sunday school children, women, and
choir members, and injuring nearly 200 people.
Death toll rises from Nigeria church bombings
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 26, 2011
Jos, Nigeria (CNN) -- The death toll from the worst of several church bombings
Christmas Day in Nigeria has reached 32, an emergency official told CNN Monday.
Another of the bombings killed at least three people, officials said.
Blasts were reported at churches in five cities Sunday. A day later, details
from some areas were still not fully clear.
The extremist Boko Haram sect claimed responsibility, two government officials
said.
The group has targeted Christians in the past, as well as those Muslims who the
group's members consider insufficiently Islamic.
The blasts mark the second holiday season that bombs have hit Christian houses
of worship in the west African nation.
Olusegun Okebiorun, controller-general of Nigeria's
fire service, told CNN Boko Haram claimed responsibility in a message sent to
media in Nigeria.
He vowed the government is doing all it can to ensure that such attacks don't
occur again.
Government spokesman Reuben Abiti also confirmed that
Boko Haram had claimed responsibility.
In a statement issued late Sunday, President Goodluck Jonathan called the
bombings "a dastardly act that must attract the rebuke of all peace-loving
Nigerians."
Okebiorun said 32 people were killed in Madalla, and 65 were wounded. Some of the wounded have been
treated and released, he said.
The other cities struck Sunday included Jos, Kano, and Damaturu and Gadaka, said journalist Hassan John, who witnessed the
carnage in Jos.
Officials said three people were killed in the Damaturu blast, John said.
Also in Damaturu, a northern town in Yobe state, a
police station and a state security building were bombed, an aid worker said.
The worker asked not to be named for security reasons.
Nwakpa Okorie, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red
Cross, said the some of the wounded were taken to the capital Abuja for
treatment.
"The security agents have secured the
streets close to the bombed areas ... in Madalla, Jos
and Dematuru," he said Sunday.
Jonathan said his government "will not relent in its determination to
bring to justice all the perpetrators of today's acts of violence and all
others before now." And in Washington, the White House said U.S. officials
would help Nigeria pursue those behind "what initially appear to be
terrorist acts."
"We condemn this senseless violence and tragic loss of life on Christmas
Day," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a written statement.
"We offer our sincere condolences to the Nigerian people and especially
those who lost family and loved ones."
The first explosion Sunday struck near a Roman Catholic church in Madalla, west of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, the National
Emergency Management Agency said. Church officials were trying to get a picture
of what happened in the city.
The Rev. Michael Ekpenyong, secretary general of the
country's Catholic Secretariat, said the church that was bombed was "not a
big church, but lots of people attend."
Photos from the scene showed burned-out cars and at least three bodies on the
ground, one covered with a blanket, at the rural church.
Usman Abdallah Baba, who witnessed the bombing, said local people immediately
blamed Boko Haram.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the acts "in the strongest
terms," his office said in a statement. He expressed his condolences to
the Nigerian people and reiterated a call "for an end to all acts of
sectarian violence in the country."
In 2010, five churches in Jos were attacked while residents were celebrating
Christmas Eve. The blasts killed dozens in Jos, which lies on a faith-based
fault line between the Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian south.
On Sunday, two blasts targeted the Mountain of Fire Ministries church in Jos,
northeast of the capital, said John. No one was killed in that bombing, which
John called a "miracle" - but a police officer who got into a gun
battle with the attackers died of his wounds later, John said, citing
officials.
The second church, in Jos, was hit by two explosions when young men threw
bombs, John said. Police responded quickly and exchanged gunfire with the
attackers, who wounded at least one of the police officers, he said.
The injured officer was rushed to the Jos University teaching hospital for
medical attention, but died of his wounds, John said. The attackers fled into
the crowd and disappeared after the attack, John said.
Police arrested four people and recovered four unexploded devices, Nigerian
state television reported.
Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and has the world's sixth-largest
Christian population -- about 80.5 million people as of 2010, according to a
report published this month by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in
Washington. That makes the country just over 50% Christian, according to the
Pew figures.
The attacks followed two days of clashes between militants and security forces
in northern Nigeria. Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, the
Nigerian army chief of staff, said the clashes left three soldiers dead and
several more wounded.
The fighting began Thursday between Boko Haram militants and the military in
the Yobe state town of Damaturu, Ihejirika said.
"There was a major encounter with the Boko Haram in Damaturu," Ihejirika said Friday. "We lost three of our soldiers,
seven were wounded. But we killed over 50 of their members."
Boko Haram translates from the local Hausa as "Western education is
outlawed." The group has morphed into an insurgency responsible for dozens
of attacks in Nigeria in the last two years.
Boko Haram's targets include police outposts and churches as well as places
associated with "Western influence."
Radical Muslims continue violence in Nigeria
CatholicCulture.org
December 30, 2010
The Islamist group Boko Haram, which is thought
to be responsible for Christmas Eve attacks on two Nigerian Protestant
churches, is also responsible for the killing of three people at a hospital in
the northeastern city of Maiduguri on December 28, according to police.
Founded in Maiduguri in 2002, Boko Haram (the
words mean “Western or non-Islamic education is a sin”) seeks the imposition of
sharia in Nigeria. Boko Haram’s late founder, Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, told the
BBC in 2009 that there are prominent Islamic preachers who have seen and
understood that the present Western-style education is mixed with issues that
run contrary to our beliefs in Islam. Like rain. We believe it is a creation of
God rather than an evaporation caused by the sun that condenses and becomes
rain. Like saying the world is a sphere. If it runs contrary to the teachings
of Allah, we reject it.
15% of the nation’s 146.5 million people are
Catholic, according to Vatican statistics. An estimated 50% are Muslim, 25% are
Protestant, and 10% retain indigenous beliefs. Maiduguri is heavily Muslim: the
territory covered by the Diocese of Maiduguri is only 2% Catholic.
Radical Islam vs. Christianity
The cross is near extinction in the ancient
lands of its origin
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner
The Washington Times
December 23, 2010
As Americans celebrate Christmas in peace
in our nation, many Christians
across the Middle East are in peril: Muslim fanatics seek to exterminate
them.
Over the past several years, Christians have
endured bombings, murders, assassinations, torture, imprisonment and
expulsions. These anti-Christian pogroms culminated recently with the brutal
attack on Our Lady of Salvation, an Assyrian Catholic
church in Baghdad. Al
Qaeda gunmen stormed the church
during Mass, slaughtering 51 worshippers and two priests. Father Wassim Sabih begged the jihadists to spare the lives of his
parishioners. They executed him and then launched their campaign of mass
murder.
Their goal was to inflict terror - thereby
causing chaos in the hopes of undermining Iraq's fledgling
democracy - and to annihilate the country's Christian minority. After the siege,
al Qaeda in
Mesopotamia issued a bulletin claiming that "all Christian centers,
organizations and institutions, leaders and followers, are legitimate targets
for" jihadists.
Since the 2003 war in Iraq, Christians have
faced a relentless assault from Islamic extremists. Many of these groups, such
as the Assyrians, consist of the oldest Christian sects in the world, going
back to the time of Christ. Some even speak Aramaic, the language used by
Jesus. The very roots of our Christian heritage are being extirpated.
Religious cleansing is taking place everywhere
in Iraq - by Shiites,
Sunnis and Kurds. Before the toppling of Saddam Hussein,
there existed more than 1 million Christians in Iraq. They are now
mostly gone - scattered to the winds, sacrificed on the altar of erecting an
Islamic state. Churches have been closed or blown up. Hundreds of thousands
have been expelled. Nearly two-thirds of the 500,000 Christians in
Baghdad have fled or been killed. In Mosul, about 100,000 Christians used to
live there. Now, just 5,000 remain. Soon there will be none.
The rise of radical Islam threatens Christian
communities not only in Iraq,
but across the Middle East. In Egypt, Coptic Christians
routinely are murdered, persecuted and prevented from worshipping - especially
during religious holy days such as Christmas and Easter. In the
birthplace of Christ, Bethlehem, Christians have
largely been forced out. In Nazareth, they are a tiny remnant. In Saudi Arabia,
Muslim converts to Christianity are executed. Churches and synagogues are
prohibited. In Turkey, Islamists have butchered priests and nuns. In Lebanon, Christians have
dwindled to a sectarian rump, menaced by surging Shiite and Sunni populations.
The Vatican estimates that from Egypt to Iran there are
just 17 million Christians
left. Christianity is on the verge of extinction in the ancient lands of its
birth. In short, a creeping religious genocide is taking place.
Yet the West remains silent for fear of
offending Muslim sensibilities. This must stop - immediately. For years, Pope
Benedict XVI has been demanding that Islamic religious leaders adopt a new
policy: reciprocity. If Muslims - funded and supported by Saudi Arabia -
can build mosques and madrassas in Europe and America, then Christians -
Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox - should be entitled to build churches in
the Arab world. For all of their promises, however, Muslim leaders have failed
to deliver. In fact, the situation has only deteriorated.
Clearly, some Muslims cannot live in peaceful
coexistence with non-Muslim peoples - especially in countries where Muslims
form the majority. Christian minorities living in the overwhelmingly
Muslim-dominated Middle East pose no possible danger to Islamic hegemony.
Hence, why the hatred against them?
This is a repeat of an old historical pattern:
the periodic ebb and flow of Islamic jihadism. From its inception, Islam has
been engaged in a struggle with Christian civilization. Led by the Prophet
Muhammad some 600 years after the birth of Christ, the Muslim faith spread
across the Middle East through violence and war. Christians were
either forcibly converted or slowly expelled from their ancestral lands.
Following the conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, Muslim armies invaded North
Africa, Spain, France and the Balkans. At one point, they even reached the
gates of Vienna - until they were repelled by the brave knights of Catholic
Croatia. The sword of Islam sought to conquer Christian Europe.
Bernard Lewis, the foremost historian on the
Middle East, rightly argues that the Crusades were not the result of Western
imperialism; rather, they signified a belated - and only partially successful -
effort to liberate once-Christian territories from Islamic aggression. Europe
was saved; Jerusalem and the Middle East were not.
Today's anti-Christian pogroms are not new.
They are what Christians
have historically faced - persecution, death and martyrdom. In Roman times, Christians were thrown
to the lions in the Coliseum. In the Islamic world, they are being murdered,
raped, beheaded and thrown out of their homes. The only difference is the
means, not the end.
The Christians of the
Middle East are dying for their convictions, as did so many others before them.
For this, they will receive their just reward in heaven. Their deaths are a
salient reminder that, contrary to liberal myth, Islam is not a "religion
of peace." Instead, it contains a militant segment bent on waging a holy
war against infidels and erecting a global caliphate.
There is, however, a true religion of peace. It
began with a baby boy born in a manger in Bethlehem. Jesus, the Prince of
Peace, came to shine a light into the dark souls of men. As Christians recall
and celebrate that humble birth, we also should stand in solidarity with those
who are, 2,000 years later, still being persecuted in His name.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is
a columnist at The Washington Times and president of the Edmund Burke
Institute.
Christmas is evil: Muslim group launches poster
campaign against festive period
23rd December 2010
Fanatics from a banned Islamic hate group have
launched a nationwide poster campaign denouncing Christmas as evil.
Organisers plan to put up
thousands of placards around the UK claiming the season of goodwill is
responsible for rape, teenage pregnancies, abortion, promiscuity, crime and paedophilia.
They hope the campaign will help 'destroy
Christmas' in this country and lead to Britons converting to Islam instead.
Labour MP and anti racist campaigner Jim Fitzpatrick branded the posters
'extremely offensive' and demanded they were immediately ripped down.
The placards, which have already appeared in
parts of London, feature an apparently festive scene with an image of the Star
of Bethlehem over a Christmas tree.
But under a banner announcing 'the evils of
Christmas' it features a message mocking the song the 12 Days of Christmas.
It reads: 'On the first day of Christmas my
true love gave to me an STD (sexually transmitted disease).
'On the second day debt, on the third rape, the
fourth teenage pregnancies and then there was abortion.'
According to the posters, Christmas is also to responsible for paganism, domestic violence,
homelessness, vandalism, alcohol and drugs.
Another offence of Christmas, it proclaims, is
'claiming God has a son'.
The bottom of the poster declares: 'In Islam we
are protected from all of these evils. We have marriage, family, honour, dignity, security, rights for man, woman and
child.'
The campaign's organiser
is 27-year-old Abu Rumaysah, who once called for
Sharia Law in Britain at a press conference held by hate preacher leader Anjem Choudary, the leader of militant group Islam4UK.
Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson banned
Islam4UK group earlier this year, making it a criminal offence to be a member,
after it threatened to protest at Wootton Bassett, the town where Britain honours its war dead.
Mr Rumaysah
told the Mail that he was unconcerned about offending Christians.
He said: 'Christmas is a lie and as Muslims it
is our duty to attack it.
'But our main attack is on the fruits of
Christmas, things like alcohol abuse and promiscuity that increase during
Christmas and all the other evils these lead to such as abortion, domestic
violence and crime.
'We hope that out campaign will make people realise that Islam is the only way to avoid this and
convert.'
Mr Rumaysah,
who said his campaign was not linked to any group, boasted that the posters
would be put up in cities around the country, including London, Birmingham and
Cardiff.
The campaign was highlighted by volunteers from
a charity which distributes food and presents to pensioners and the lonely at
Christmas.
Sister Christine Frost, founder of the East
London Neighbours in Poplar charity, said: 'The more
posters I saw, the more angry I got.
'Someone is stirring hatred which leaves the
road open to revenge attacks or petrol bombs through letter-boxes.
'I told the Mayor we are all scared.
'If we said such things about Muslims, we'd all
be hanging from lamp-posts.
'The posters appear to be professionally
printed'.
Poplar and Limehouse MP Mr
Fitzpatrick said: 'These posters are extremely offensive and have upset a lot
of people - that's why we jumped on it and asked the council to remove them.
'Sister Christine is rooted in the community
and doesn't take offence lightly.
'But these hate posters really upset her.
Christmas is close to her belief.'
A Met Police spokesman said they had received
complaints and were investigating.
He said: 'We are investigating allegations of
religious hate crime in Tower Hamlets following complaints about posters
displayed in and around the Mile End area.'
Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur
Rahman said the posters had 'upset and antagonised
many residents'.
He added: 'The messages on these posters are
offensive and do not reflect the views of the Council or the vast majority of
residents.'
Muslim
cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi is linked to Christmas Day
bomb attempt
By
Greg Miller and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington
Post Staff Writers
Thursday,
July 1, 2010
A radical Muslim cleric who was born in the United States and resides in Yemen
"had a direct operational role" in the attempted bombing of a
Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, a senior U.S. counterterrorism
official said Wednesday.
The remark by Michael E. Leiter, the director of the National Counterterrorism
Center, is the most specific assertion so far regarding Anwar al-Aulaqi's involvement in the failed plot, which allegedly
employed a would-be suicide bomber who is accused of boarding the flight with
explosives in his underwear.
Defending the Obama administration's decision to authorize the CIA and the
military to kill Aulaqi, Leiter told the Aspen
Institute's homeland security forum that the attack could have killed more than
300 people and that "it would be irresponsible not to think about
directing all elements of national power to protect the American people."
U.S. officials had previously said that Aulaqi was
linked to the attempt, but they had not specified his role.
A second U.S. official said that American intelligence services say Aulaqi provided the key link between the would-be bomber
and those who trained him.
"We think Aulaqi helped put [Umar Farouk]
Abdulmutallab in touch with the plotters and trainers of al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula," the official said, referring to a regional affiliate
of the main al-Qaeda organization. "He's more than a propagandist. He's an
operational figure, a terrorist who lent his hands to attacks on the United
States."
Abdulmutallab, the son of a Nigerian banker, was detained in Detroit after
being subdued by other passengers as he allegedly tried to detonate the bomb.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges that include attempting to kill the
passengers on the plane.
Aulaqi has emerged as an eloquent and unapologetic
advocate of violence against the West. His online sermons attract wide
international audiences and are a source of particular concern to U.S.
authorities because they are delivered in English.
Aulaqi also exchanged e-mails with the Army
psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., in November.
Before leaving the United States, Aulaqi preached at
mosques in California and Virginia, apparently coming into contact with at
least two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers.
U.S. intelligence officials believe that Aulaqi is
increasingly involved in the operations of al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen, acting
as a recruiter and facilitator who has a deep familiarity with U.S. cities and
society. He is not, however, thought to have the skills to lead operations or
build a bomb.
The al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen placed a banner on jihadist Web sites this week
advertising what it called a new English-language magazine. The online
publication is to be called "Inspire" and includes an interview with Aulaqi.
Philippine
Conflict Subdues Christmas Joy
By
Luke Hunt
Bangkok
23 December 2008
The Christmas spirit in the southern Philippines is being sorely tested by an
escalation in the fighting between government troops and Muslim rebels. Many
civilians are too frightened to shop or attend church services.
Dozens of people have been killed or injured in the latest spate of attacks by
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front across the southern island of Mindanao.
Last week, bombings of two shopping malls in Iligan City left three dead and 50
wounded. On Sunday, bomb disposal experts dismantled a third explosive.
Kidnappings and skirmishes in the countryside are also on the rise, forcing
thousands of people out of their villages and into refugee camps.
Collapse of peace deal blamed for increase in violence
The rebels are fighting for a homeland on the southern island for the country's
Muslims. Earlier this year, the Philippine government and the MILF reached a
peace agreement but the Supreme Court in August struck down the deal.
The collapse of the deal has been blamed for the increased violence over the
past few months.
Al Jacinto's family publishes the Mindanao Examiner in Zamboanga.
He says the latest fighting is felt across Mindanao and weighs heavily on the
island's Christian population in the lead-up to Christmas.
"A lot of people are really afraid, scared to go out and shop because of
this threat of terrorism," he said. "In Zamboanga, in Basilan there's
fighting, in Jolo Island there s fighting, in central Mindanao there's
sporadic fighting between the MILF and the Philippine military."
President approves revival of peace talks
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has given the go-ahead for a peace panel to
revive talks with the rebels in another attempt to end the decades-old
conflict.
However, Jacinto says the MILF will be in no mood to bargain until the
government agrees to its terms for an autonomous homeland.
"When I spoke with MILF leader, Mohagher Iqbal,
who's also chairman of this panel with the rebels, he said he would only resume
peace talks with the Arroyo government if the president honors the … Muslim
ancestral domain agreement that was not signed in August," Jacinto said.
Muslims are a minority in the Philippines, where most people are Christians.
Most Muslims live in the south, an area the MILF claims as an ancestral
homeland.
In response to the recent violence, the British, Australian and U.S.
governments warn of a high threat of terrorism across the Philippines. They
have advised their citizens against traveling to Mindanao.
Christmas Attacks
Suspected
Indonesia's
Christians dig bomb pits to prep for terrorist assaults over weekend.
12/22/2005
Christians in Indonesia are taking few
chances this Christmas. As the choirs prep and
evangelical rappers rehearse their hip-hop gospel numbers, church leaders are
digging bomb pits and coordinating security with local police and the military.
In Jakarta, larger churches have highly
visible perimeter security systems, including metal detectors and roadblocks
that police and private security will be manning throughout Christmas weekend.
Indonesia's government urged churches in rural areas to dig holes in which to
place any suspicious objects that might be improvised explosives.
Many Indonesians anticipated more
year-end violence because of worsening economic conditions, political unrest,
and the strength of militant Islam. This year has seen renewed violence
targeting Christians. In late October, on the island of Sulawesi in western
Indonesia, Muslim militants beheaded three Christian
girls on their way to a Christian school. In early December, also in Sulawesi,
a suspected Muslim militant burned down one church.
Representatives of the government met
with Muslim fundamentalists to ask them to focus their Christmas weekend
demonstrations on things like the economy and to leave out sectarian attacks on
Christians who tend to be economically more successful. Local papers just
announced that there were millions more unemployed, and the poverty rate has
zoomed upward in recent months.
This fall, police announced that they
had launched a nationwide security operation "Candle Operation 2005"
with 47,750 officers to ensure peaceful Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Some moderate Muslim youth will volunteer guard duty at churches over
Christmas, according to media reports.
Open Doors reports that more than 600
churches have been destroyed and 20,000 killed in Muslim-Christian violence
since the early 1990s in Indonesia.
Be Watchful, Don't Panic
Last Sunday, December 18, Christianity
Today interviewed worshippers at the 5,000-member Indonesian Christian
Church (GKI) of the Gunung Sahari
area of Jakarta. Cars were lined up for a brief anti-bomb inspection in the
alleyway leading up to the church entrance. High walls surrounded the church
itself.
The early morning service started with a
bell ringing and then an announcement about security preparations and Christmas
services. The church bulletin listed eight "Suggestions for Security
During Christmas." The advice included: "Be watchful. Park away from
the church. Don't panic."
Memories of Christmas 2000 are still
fresh in the minds of local church leaders. Six years ago, 19 people were
killed in coordinated bombings at 11 churches on Christmas Eve.
In those attacks and others, police
suspect the involvement of terrorist mastermind Noordin
Mohammed Top. A native of Malaysia, Top remains a most-wanted man in Indonesia
for his leadership in Jemaah Islamiya, a group linked
to al Qaeda.
According to American intelligence
sources, another Jemaah Islamiya leader at a 2002
meeting in Bangkok announced that soft targets like churches would be attacked
because foreign embassies had become too well protected.
At the GKI church, parishioners and
pastors were calm, but not complacent. An elderly man named Hadianto
said he wasn't worried.
"In fact, I have gone to two
churches today. I want to know how to get closer to God."
Anita Permana,
a church volunteer, admitted, "The situation in Indonesia is not too
peaceful, but it doesn't scare me. I have God." Youth pastor Imanuel Kristo said this year,
"There was more concern than in previous years about security. Rumors are
flying."
But at least the December 18 service at
GKI church was unmarred by trouble or worry. The 40-piece children's orchestra
lit up "O Come All Ye Faithful." Three colorfully dressed wise men
came in to illustrate the sermon on the source of wisdom. Pastor Bambang Soetopo said that in Indonesia "wise men" could
be translated "weak men."
He asked if his church was wise or weak.
"In Indonesia, we have people using magic and the paranormal. Others
depend on their riches."
Taking up the theme of Indonesia's
economic troubles, the pastor urged his parishioners to not let their economic
troubles cause them to lose sight of God and biblical wisdom. "Our
economic welfare is not the end of life, but our spiritual welfare is the end
of life."
Seeking Reconciliation
Recently, high-ranking Christian and
Muslim leaders in government announced a social movement for reconciliation and
reconstruction. About 85 percent of Indonesia is Muslim. Christians make up the
second largest group among the nation's 220 million people.
Retired army general Monang
Siburian told a group of Christian denominational
leaders that this Christmas should be focused on "reconciling and
forgetting" past wrongs.
"Indonesia cannot be saved by the
army. Indonesia cannot be saved by the politicians. The responsibility for
saving Indonesia rests with you Christians. You must lead the nation in
reconciling and forgetting."
Siburian told churches that the
2004 tsunami had opened up Indonesians to working together, but that the
opening would not last very long.
The church needs to reach out to the
rest of society with forgiveness, forgetting of past wrongs, and helping the
poor. "There will be no more Indonesia without reconciliation and
reconstruction," the influential general told the church leaders.
CT also traveled across town to a church
in the poor Kamal district. There, Handi Hendrawan led his flock in prayers that Indonesians would
be unified.
The congregation is full of kids from
the neighborhood because of an after-school program that Compassion
International sponsors. Compassion is a church-centered ministry to kids in
more than 20 countries headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The district is a mixture of Muslims,
Christians, and non-believers—mostly poor and very troubled. Just down the
block from the church, there are dealers selling street drugs.
Pastor Hendrawan
says, "God laid on my heart to come here. This program for the children of
the poor is a realization of that dream."
Before coming to the church program,
each kid was running down a path of no return. Several of them spoke about
their lives before joining the after-school program. Yunai
was a fragile person when she came. Her teacher recalls, "She was afraid
of everything."
Christina felt ashamed and would run
away when someone hailed her. Imah wouldn't study or
obey her parents. Susi was a "crying girl" who constantly threw
tantrums.
Now, the children say that they are
"smart," "happy," or "loved like a family
member." As their children change, so do the parents. The families are
more unified. There is hope for the neighborhood.
Could this be a parable for Indonesia?
So, appropriately, one week before
Christmas, the local church rap artist chanted out during the service,
"One Day Indonesia will be one."
Tony Carnes, a CT senior writer, is
based in New York City.
Muslim grinches steal Bethlehem
Christmas
World leaders, media blame Israel for fleeing
Christians
Posted: December 25, 2005
By Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily.com
BETHLEHEM – With Christmas services here
drawing far fewer tourists than in the 1990s and the town's Christian
population now at an all-time low, many world leaders and hundreds of major
media outlets this week blamed Israel for Bethlehem's decline – often citing
false information – while a simple talk with the town's residents reveals a
drastically different picture. They say Muslim persecution has been keeping
Christians away.
"All this talk about Israel driving
Christians out and causing pain is nonsense," a Bethlehem Christian
community leader told WND. "You want to know what is at play here, just
come throughout the year and see the intimidation from the Muslims. They have
burned down our stores, built mosques in front of our churches, stole our real
estate and took away our rights. Women have been raped and abducted. So don't
tell me about Israel. It's the Muslims."
The Bethlehem leader, like many Christians on
the streets here, would not provide his name for publication for fear of
retaliation.
Bethlehem's Christian population has declined
drastically after the Palestinian Authority took control in December, 1995. Once
90 percent of the city, Christians now compose less than 25 percent, according
to Israeli survey information. Christmas celebrations this year attracted about
30,000 tourists – 10,000 more than last year but down from an average of
150,000 in 1994.
Many Christians told WND they face constant
Muslim hostility.
One religious
novelty-store owner cited examples of Muslim gangs defacing Christian property,
the PA replacing Christian leaders on public councils with Muslims, and armed
Palestinian factions stirring tensions. One such incident was last week's
storming of Bethlehem's City Hall, across the street from the Church of the
Nativity, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, by gunmen from the Al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades terror group.
The store owner said "We are harassed but
you wouldn't know the truth. No one says anything publicly about the
Muslims."
Indeed many leaders in
attendance at Christmas Eve Mass in Bethlehem last night took the occasion to
blame Israel's recently constructed security fence in the area for Christian
woes.
In a televised midnight Christmas speech, PA
President Mahmoud Abbas said "Palestinians are seeking a bridge to peace
instead of Israeli walls. Unfortunately, Israel is continuing with its
destructive policy ... (and) transforming our land into a big jail."
Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, speaking at St. Catherine's Church, adjacent to the
Church of the Nativity, called for Israel to remove its "separation
barrier, which is causing all kinds of hardships and affecting normal life in
Bethlehem."
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cormac
Murphy-O'Connor, urged Israel "to build bridges and not walls" and
blamed Israel for "[compelling Christians] to leave the land of their
birth for foreign lands on account of the political situation."
And a sampling of American media coverage of
this weekend's festivities seems to find Israel mostly at fault for the decline
in Christian living conditions and population figures.
A widely printed Associated Press article by staff writer Sarah
El Deeb opens, "Thousands of tourists and
pilgrims gathered in Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Saturday,
bringing a long-missing sense of holiday cheer to Jesus' historic birthplace.
... But Israel's imposing separation barrier at the entrance to town dampened
the Christmas spirit and provided a stark reminder of the unresolved
conflict."
Today's San Francisco Chronicle states, "For
centuries, pilgrims from around the world converged on the Palestinian town of
Bethlehem at Christmas, packing Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity,
the birthplace of Jesus Christ. ... In 2002, Israel began building a 25-foot
concrete wall around the city, severing it from Jerusalem and the northern West
Bank. Today, the streets of Bethlehem are quiet."
An earlier article by the Chicago Tribune blamed Israel's fence,
constructed in 2002, for collapsing Bethlehem's economy and prompting
Christians to leave, even though the mass exodus began seven years prior.
"A towering wall of gray concrete slabs,
30 feet high, cuts across what was once the main road into this town from
Jerusalem. Just inside the barrier, past a new Israeli security terminal, a
once-bustling neighborhood has become a ghost town. Shops are shuttered or
empty, and the streets are deserted. ... The deteriorating economy has led to a
steady exodus of the city's Christian residents," the Tribune article
reads.
HonestReporting.com notes the various press
accounts are factually inaccurate.
· Contrary to the Chronicle
report and scores of other media accounts, there is no barrier that encircles
Bethlehem. A fence exists only where the Bethlehem area interfaces with
Jerusalem, and only a small segment of the fence is a concrete wall, which
Israel says is meant to prevent gunmen from shooting at Israeli motorists.
· The Bethlehem economy the
past few years has actually improved significantly. Tourism has doubled
compared to last year, and Bethlehem's main industries are up: Textiles by 50
percent, stone and marble export by 40 percent, and commercial transportation
20 percent. The increases have reportedly brought an influx of millions of
dollars into the Bethlehem local economy.
· Israel says the Israeli
Defense Forces this year is making access to Bethlehem easier for tourists. IDF
Lt. Col. Aviv Feigel said, "The military will
try to speed the process by not checking every tourist bus, but conducting spot
checks of random buses instead." The IDF also instituted a bus shuttle
service to Bethlehem to speed travel time to the city.
For years, Bethlehem was largely Christian. But
when the PA took control in 1995 it publicly expanded Bethlehem's boundaries
reportedly to ensure a Muslim majority, incorporating into the city over 30,000
Muslims from adjacent refugee camps. Then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally
replaced the Christian-dominated city council with a largely Muslim leadership.
Since then, there have been a steady stream of
reported abuses and persecution.
An aide to Latin Patriarch Sabbah
who asked that his name be withheld told WND the PA has been appropriating
lands of the Greek Orthodox Church in Bethlehem and building mosques on the
formerly Christian land.
He said he is aware of several cases in which
Christian women were raped and murdered, but the alleged criminals were not
arrested.
"The Palestinian security forces know who
did these crimes. They know where the criminals live. Still nothing to arrest
them," said the aide.
The novelty store owner told WND he was shot by
Muslims in 2001. He said the assailants are still at large.
Cases involving other alleged anti-Christian
violence in Bethlehem include attacks against Christians in 2001 after a
Palestinian Muslim leader called for a "jihad" against both Jews and
Christians; riots that spilled over from Ramallah in 2002 in which Muslim mobs
burned Christian businesses and attempted to destroy churches; and regular
reports of shootings and threats.
Israeli security officials say over 100 cases
of anti-Christian violence are reported to the Palestinian police every year.
They estimate most incidents go unreported.
In one of the most infamous cases of
anti-Christian violence, Palestinian terrorists in 2002 holed up in Bethlehem's
Church of the Nativity and refused to release the religious staff inside. There
were reports the gunmen, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, looted the
facilities, desecrated the church and even used the Bible as toilet paper.
One document later captured by Israel indicated
the terrorists also demanded monetary support from Bethlehem town officials.
The Bethlehem store owner said he took comfort
from the words of Pope John Paul II, who visited the city the same year as the
church siege.
Speaking to a gathering of Christians, the pope
said, "Do not be afraid to preserve your Christian heritage and Christian
presence in Bethlehem."