Iraq: Ethnic cleansing of Christians almost complete

(AINA) -- The Reverend Temathaus Eisha, pastor of the Church of St. Shimoni in the besieged¹ Dora district of Baghdad, confirmed to ankawa.com that the information published about the forced displacement of Christian Assyrians from their homes in the district is accurate. He added that the conditions were horrible, especially in the Al-Ta'ma, Al-iskan, Al-mo'alimeen, Al-shurTa, Al-sitten, and Asia neighborhoods.

The three remaining neighborhoods that are relatively calm are Hai Al-athuriyeen (Assyrian quarter), Al-jim'iya, and Al-sihha.

The large-scale campaign consists of expelling all Christians, unless they convert to Islam or pay the jizya (AINA 4-17-2007, 3-18-2007), a "protection" tax demanded by the Koran, or leave their homes and belongings.

He added that the majority of Assyrians have abandoned these areas.

Church sermons are being held only in the Church of St. Shimoni in the Assyrian Quarter. The majority of the attendees are elderly who have remained in the area due to commitment to the district or due to lack of ability to flee.

He said that the other churches, such as St. Jacob, St. John, The Apostles Church, St. George, St. Zaya, Mar Mr. Bihnam, St. Mathew, as well as a number of monasteries, are all abandoned.

Source: AINA

Lebanon: Christian neighbourhood bombed

BEIRUT, Lebanon: An explosion late Sunday across the street from a busy shopping mall killed a 63-year-old woman and injured 12 other people, sending black smoke billowing in the Christian sector of the Lebanese capital, police and witnesses said.

Rescuers reported six of the injuries were from flying debris and broken glass. Several cars were set ablaze or wrecked in the blast, which was heard across the city and surrounding hills.

Beirut and surrounding suburbs has been a series of explosions in the last two years, particularly targeting Christian areas in which the U.S.-backed majority coalition has blamed on Syria. The blast came after daylong battles between the Lebanese army and a suspected al-Qaeda-linked militant group in the northern port town of Tripoli that killed 22 soldiers and 17 militants.

[...]

The most prominent recent deadly attack in Beirut was the near simultaneously bombings of commuter buses in the Christian heartland that killed three people on Feb. 13.

Source: International Herald Tribune/Associated Press

Readers might like to bear in mind that Lebanon was a majority Christian country just sixty years ago. Now, the Muslims are in the majority, and the very survival of Christianity in the country hangs in the balance.

Saudi Arabia: Christian arrested for entering Mecca

MAKKAH, 21 May 2007 — A Sri Lankan Christian was arrested in the holy city of Makkah, which is off-limits to non-Muslims, by the Expatriates Monitoring Committee in Makkah.

The authorities were able to verify the identity of the man, who had claimed he had overstayed his Umrah visa, by running his details through a new fingerprints system.

Nirosh Kamanda had arrived in Dammam to work as a lorry driver and had fled his sponsor to sell goods besides the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The man’s sponsor denied he knew where the man was working.

He said, “He fled six months after coming to the Kingdom. I have no idea how he reached Makkah.”

After his identity became known, the man admitted he was Christian and that he had come to Makkah to earn money. “I heard that Makkah is a safe place, where I could hide my identity,” he said.

Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department in charge of Expatriates Affairs in Makkah, compiled a report about the case and presented it to Col. Ayid ibn Taghalib Al-Lukmani, the head of Makkah’s Passport Department. Al-Lukmani has ordered the man be sent to Jeddah.

“The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims,” said Matrafi. “The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals and overstayers,” he added.

Source: Arab News

Hat-tip: Dhimmi Watch

Just imagine the outcry there would be if non-Christians were forbidden from entering Rome, say, or Canterbury. The ban on non-Muslims entering Mecca is nothing less than a system of organised apartheid, with separate areas for the privileged and the oppressed.

New Zealand: Christian conference cancelled after Muslim complaints

The controversial Christian conference on the "threat" of Islam has lost its Christchurch venue after sponsors expressed unease at the tone of the seminars.

The move has drawn scorn from some Christians who see it as kowtowing to political correctness and "Muslim outrage".

The Mosques and Miracles conference was to be held at Spreydon Baptist church, but negative publicity surrounding the event had caused church management to reconsider.

In March, Muslim leaders condemned Mosques and Miracles as "a conference of bigots" after the organiser, Murray Dillner, said Islam made a society "implode" and had a mind-set to "take over the world".

[...]

A Christchurch minister, who declined to be named, said he felt the church leaders who made the decision had "wimped out".

"Since when have Christians getting together in Christchurch to discuss world issues of religion and society been dictated to by Muslim outrage? I think it's very sad and a bit sinister."

Source: The Press

Hat-tip: Dhimmi Watch

Anyone who doubts that Christians, among others, should feel concern about Islam should take a glance at the number of cases reported on this blog of Christians facing persecution at the hands of Muslims. Click here to see all such cases.

Pakistan: Christian converts face death penalty

It is being reported that the harsh Islamic laws against apostasy may be enforced in Pakistan. According to the Journal Chretien, Muslims in the country who convert to Christianity may soon be subject to execution.

Pakistan: Christian accused of blaspheming Islam

Lahore (AsiaNews) – Victim of a plot to seize his land, an 84-year-old Christian was accused of blasphemy and arrested in Lahore yesterday. The man, Walter Fazal Khan, is in prison although the police have not even started their investigations yet.

Police officers accepted the charge submitted by Raja Riaz, Kahn’s driver, who yesterday declared that he saw his master burning pages of the Quran. The accusation falls within the parameters of Article 295C of the Pakistani Criminal Code – the notorious “blasphemy law” – which hands down prison sentences or the death penalty to those who desecrate the Prophet or the sacred texts of Islam.

But the man’s family and civil society groups say he is the victim of a “conspiracy” by some Muslim businessmen who want to take control of Khan’s land. The “blasphemer” recently sold around 100 sq meters of land to these businessmen for 2.5 million rupees. He later put up all his land for sale for 12.4 million rupees. The previous buyers approached Khan offering 8 million rupees but Khan refused. This is why, according to Khan’s relatives, the businessmen got in touch with the driver and together they planned the blasphemy frame-up. Local imams grabbed the opportunity and from their mosques urged people to go outside the house of the “blasphemer”, where a crowd gathered and yelled out threats.

Source: Asia News

India: Headmaster of Catholic school shot

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – The headmaster of a Catholic primary school on the southern outskirts of New Delhi is out of danger, following a gun attack which took place in his office yesterday afternoon. The police maintain that the motive behind the attack is attempted robbery, a theory the Archdiocese has excluded while voicing its concern over the lack of clarity in investigations.

Fr. George Philip, 35, is headmaster of St. Vincent Palloti Primary School, in Sangam Vihar. Witnesses present at the time of the attack report that two young men had arrived at the school late yesterday morning asking for the headmaster; one of the two had already presented himself at the school a day earlier, where he had asked for information about admission. Fr Philip had suggested he come the next morning together with his child. As the Priest was not in the building when they arrived the two returned later that afternoon; the offices were closet but the Priest welcomed them and inviting them to take a seat handed them the admission form to fill in. It was at this point that one of the two took out a handgun of Indian make, shooting at the Priest three times, injuring him on the left side of his chest. The two attackers then fled the scene as school staff ran to aid the headmaster and call police. Currently Fr. Philip is in Batra Hospital where doctors have removed the bullets and assure that the priest is out of danger.

The police said initial investigations suggested that it was a case of attempted robbery and have launched a hunt for the culprits. But this theory has failed to convince ecclesial authorities in the Archdiocese. Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr. Dominic Emmanuel SVD, spokesperson of Delhi Catholic Archdiocese said, “Police are being very naïve to say that the attack was carried because the men wanted to rob Father Philip of a mobile phone. Why would someone who wants to rob a person of his mobile carry a gun inside a school?........ or fire three shots at the Father? In fact, one of the attackers had come to meet Father George the previous day to enquire about admission …”. “Initially we suspected that the attack was the handy work of Hindu fundamentalists but after talking to the school staff, we do not expect any hand of the Hindutva brigade in this”, says Fr. Emmanuel. “However, - he concludes - since the attackers carried a pistol, there is reason to be worried about the incident. It is clear that the miscreants had come prepared with the intention of harming him though the motive for the attack is not clear yet”.

Source: Asia News

Egypt: Conversion to Christianity forbidden

CAIRO -- A decision by an Egyptian administrative court earlier last month has sent the Christian community into an uproar over what they have termed the continuation of religious intolerance by the government.

The controversial new law states that Christians who convert to Islam for whatever reason and wish to revert to their Christian status on identification papers are forbidden from doing so. Muslims converts to Christianity wishing to go back to being listed as followers of Islam, on the other hand, are not barred from such an act.

Christian clergy and intellectuals in the country have expressed resentment toward the ruling, calling it a "step backward" and contradictory to Egypt's citizenship laws. They argue that the court's decision undoubtedly moves Egypt nearer to being a theocratic state.

In Egypt, Christians have been known to convert to Islam in order to marry Muslims - non-Muslim men must convert on paper to Islam before being allowed to marry Muslim women. The new law, the government argues, is an attempt to maintain religious integrity, but many Egyptians believe it is a move to ensure that Muslim numbers are maintained.

Source: AINA

Russia: Bishop attacks European Christianophobia

BRUSSELS. May 16 (Interfax) - A Russian Orthodox bishop has accused the European Union of turning a blind eye to anti-Christian practices in EU countries.

In insisting on tolerance, EU leaders slam Islamophobia and anti- Semitism but often ignore various anti-Christian practices, Hilarion, bishop of Vienna and Austria and the representative of the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church to European organizations, said at a meeting in Brussels with members of European religious communities.

He cited alleged efforts to oust the church from public life as one such practice.

Hilarion also backed a proposal by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for a more regular dialogue between the EU leadership and monotheistic communities.

Hilarion also argued that Christianity was a key component of European identity and that this did not mean that any restrictions should be put on any of the other European religions.

Source: Interfax

India: Christian doctor and wife attacked

Kottayam (India). SVM News, May 10, 2007: A group of four people attacked Christian physician Dr. Thomas Mathai (51) and his wife Hansy (46) in Kottayam District of Kerala State in India on 7th of May.

Dr. Thomas Mathai is the Superintendent of Government Taluk Hospital at Kanjirappally in Kottayam Dist. The attack was held at his residence at the Village named Cheppampara.

Dr. Thomas Mathai was an efficient physician since last 25 years. Beside his duties he was interested to do personal evangelism and also was helping charitable and missionary works.

The attackers came by a car, knocked the doctor's residence at Cheppampara on Monday 12.15 midnight and asked him to attend an immediate accident case of a youth who seriously injured by motor byke. Doctor opened the door of the consultation room. Suddenly attackers caught him by force, shut his mouth, tied up his legs and hands and beaten him with steel pipe. He was severely injured.

Suddently doctor's wife Hansy came to rescue the doctor. But attackers shut her mouth, tied up her legs and hands and tighten her at a window.

The attackers robbed Indian Rupees 5000, 250 grams of gold ornaments and two mobile phones from doctors house.

[...]

Rev. Paul Ciniraj, the National President of the Christian Ministers of the Churches of India (CMCI) condemned the attack of Dr. Thomas Mathai and family. "It seems not only the intention of robbery, but a planned attack towards Christian public servants and Christianity". Paul Ciniraj said. He urged the Government to find out the attackers and the brain behind it.

Few weeks ago, Salem Voice Ministries evangelists at Mullakkudi and Brotheren Church evangelists at Marayur were beaten up in Idukki District, which is the neighbouring district of Kottayam. And also Carmal Gospel Center was vandalized at Pampady in Kottayam District itself.

Maheen Sathar, a converted Christian was locked up in a cellar for 17 days also just last month in Malabar in Kerala.

Source: Salem Voice Ministeries