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Muslim Persecution of Christians: June, 2012
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U.S.-backed
rebels are committing Christian genocide in Syria, where they are sacking
churches and issuing threats that all Christians will be cleansed from
rebel-held territory. A mass exodus
of thousands of Christians is taking place, even as mainstream Western
reporters like Robert
Fisk demonize those same Christians for being supportive of the secular
regime.
The bloody jihad waged against Nigeria's
Christians, which has seen hundreds killed this year alone, now includes
plans to kill
Christians with poisoned food, as part of the Islamic organization Boko
Haram's stated goal of purging
Nigeria of all Christian presence.
During Egypt's presidential elections, Al
Ahram reported that "the Muslim
Brotherhood blockaded entire streets, prevented Copts from voting at
gunpoint, and threatened Christian families not to let their children go out
and vote" for the secular candidate.
Meanwhile, under President Obama, the U.S.
State Department, in an unprecedented move, purged
the sections dealing with religious persecution from its recently
released Country Reports on Human Rights. Likewise, the Obama administration
insists that the Nigerian crisis has nothing
to do with religion, even as Obama offered his hearty blessings to
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood president, in the midst of allegations of
electoral fraud.
Categorized by theme, June's assemblage of
Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not
limited to) the following accounts, listed in alphabetical order by country,
not severity.
Church Attacks
Egypt: Because many visitors were in
attendance, Muslims surrounded a Coptic church during Divine Liturgy
"demanding that the visiting Copts leave the church before the
completion of prayers, and threatening
to burn down the church if their demand was not met." The priest contacted
police asking for aid only to be told to comply with their demands, "and
do not let buses with visitors to come to the church anymore." Christian
worshippers exited halfway through liturgy to jeers outside. As they drove
away, Muslims hurled stones at their buses. Also, repairs to a Coptic church
that was torched
and gutted a year ago by rioting Muslims were woefully
inadequate, leaving the congregation with a staggering debt from further
necessary repairs.
Indonesia: A Muslim
mob of 300 wrecked a store that was being used for a Sunday church
service on the pretext that it had not obtained "permission to hold
Mass." The mob wrecked the first floor of the store, breaking windows
and damaging furniture. Police stopped them before reaching the third floor,
where some 60 Christians had congregated. None of the Muslims were arrested,
although 12 Christians were taken into custody for questioning. Separately,
in compliance to calls by Islamic clerics, authorities ordered
20 churches to be torn down, following the closure of 16 smaller
Christian places of worship in the same district last month. The
congregations continue to hold services inside their sealed-off buildings as
other members stand guard outside.
Iran: Authorities
ordered the closure of yet another church in the capital, Tehran,
"amid a government campaign to crack down on the few recognized churches
offering Farsi-speaking services," according to a human rights group.
The church originally served Assyrian background Christian members; however,
"due to an increasing number of Farsi-speaking believers—mostly MBBs
[Muslim Background Believers]—it [the church] has become a cause of concern
for the authorities and they now ordered it to shut down."
Kashmir: A 119-year-old church
was torched by Muslims. The local bishop "said that the Muslim
fundamentalists want Christians to leave the state… He said that the church
had filed a case with the police but had been advised not to 'play up' such
incidents." Christian minorities "are coming under growing threat
from Kashmir's Muslim majority. A Christian human rights group in India said
that over 400 Christians have been displaced as a result."
Kazakhstan: Land use regulations are
being exploited
"as a means to prevent religious communities and their members
exercising freedom of religion or belief." Most recently, authorities
"forced a Methodist church to 'voluntarily' close and fined the wife of
the Church's Pastor, who further paid for an announcement in newspapers
saying the church was 'liquidating itself,'" simply because "We do
not want more punishment from the authorities."
Nigeria: Islamic militants attacked
several churches during every Sunday of the month with bombs and guns
killing dozens of Christian worshippers, and critically wounding hundreds,
including many children. Growing numbers of Christians "dare
not" attend church services anymore, even as reports suggest that
some police are intentionally abandoning
their watch prior to such attacks.
Sudan: Authorities
bulldozed two church buildings to the ground and confiscated three
Catholic schools, as a response to the secession of South Sudan in July 2011,
saying that such buildings are associated with now unwelcome, largely
Christian South Sudanese in the Islamic-ruled country. Another church building
belonging to the Full Gospel Church was destroyed in the same area two months
ago, also on the claim that it belonged to South Sudanese.
Turkmenistan: An Evangelical church in
the Muslim-majority nation was raided by
authorities: "All adult believers at the meeting were questioned
about their faith and all of their Christian literature was
confiscated." Their literature was returned two weeks later.
Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism
Egypt: A Christian student handing out
Christian literature in Assuit University "raised
the ire of Muslim students," resulting in clashes on campus,
"amid shouts of sectarian chants," leading to many injuries.
Likewise, a Salafi leader declared on Egyptian TV that Muslims have no right
"to
convert to Christianity."
Iran: Five months after five
Christian converts were arrested, their condition and fate remain
unknown. They are accused of "attending house church services, promoting
Christianity, propagating against the regime and disturbing national
security." Being imprisoned for 130 days without word "is an obvious
example of physical and mental abuse of the detainees…. one of the prison
guards openly told one of these Christian detainees that all these pressures
and uncertainties are intended to make them flee the country after they are
released." Also, a young Iranian woman, who recently converted to
Christianity and was an outspoken activist against the Islamic regime, was found dead,
slumped over her car's steering wheel, with a single gunshot wound to her
head.
Pakistan: A banned Islamic group filed
a blasphemy case against a 25-year-old mentally
retarded Christian man. Muslims had converted him to Islam two years
earlier, to use him as a pretext to annex his Christian village. In the words
of a witness: "These people (Muslims) do not let us live. We are poor
but are working hard to survive. On the night of the incidence a mob of
Muslim clerics gathered [around] our colony to burn us all because of the
blasphemy Ramzan [the retarded man] committed. Everyone was very scared. We
all have small children in our houses and we didn't know what to do. The mob
surrounded our colony and raised a slogan to burn all the houses, they had
torches in their hands and petrol in the cans. We called police and thank God
police arrived just in time.
Saudi Arabia: Thirty-five Ethiopian
Christians arrested in December for praying in a private home remain
jailed, even as Saudi officials offer contradicting reasons for their
arrest. Meanwhile, they have been beaten and subjected to interrogations and
strip searches. Saudi Arabia formally bans all religions other than Islam.
However, in 2006, Saudi authorities told the United States that they would
"guarantee and protect the right to private worship for all, including
non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practice."
Sudan: A Muslim woman divorced her
husband, a
convert to Christianity, causing the court automatically to grant her
custody of their two sons. When the father tried to visit his children, his
wife threatened to notify authorities. "They might take the case to a
prosecution court, which might lead to my sentencing to death according to
Islamic apostasy law—but I am ready for this," said the Christian. "I
want the world to know this. What crime have I done? Is it because I became a
Christian? I know if the world is watching, they [Sudanese authorities] will
be afraid to do any harm to me."
United States: Two Christian men in
Saint Louis, Missouri received
death threats from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, apparently for
converting to Christianity and preaching it. One of the men formerly served
in the Revolutionary Guard and was once even assigned a suicide mission
against Israel, before converting and immigrating to the U.S. "The two
men believe that Islam is a religion that could easily radicalize a Muslim
into a terrorist." Likewise, in Dearborn Michigan, Christian
demonstrators exercising their free speech rights were stoned
by Muslims shouting "Allahu Akbar!"
Dhimmitude
[General Abuse, Debasement, and
Suppression of Non-Muslims as "Tolerated" Citizens]
Indonesia: "The number
of violations of Christians' religious rights in Indonesia reached 40 in
the first five months of the year, nearly two-thirds the amount of
anti-Christian actions in all of last year," according to the Jakarta
Christian Communication Forum. The Christian minority in Indonesia faced 64
cases of violations of religious freedom last year, up from 47 in 2010."
Violence against Christians also increased.
Mali: "Islamists in control of
northern Mali are enforcing a strict version of Sharia law that victimizes
Christians, women and other vulnerable groups." The radicals took
control of northern Mali in April after ousting the armed forces of the
government. "All the Christians have left Timbuktu (the main city in
north Mali) because of the Sharia law as well as because of the presence of
people linked with al-Qaeda," said a Christian leader who
fled from northern Mali.
Pakistan: Police are siding with the
Muslims accused of beating
a pregnant Christian woman, causing her to miscarriage twins, and
gang-raping her 13-year-old Christian niece. "Muslim criminals believe
police and courts will give little credence to the complaints of Christians
in the country, which is nearly 96 percent Muslim," adds the report. The
Christian family is "paying a huge price for being poor … and for being
Christian," said the uncle: "What can we expect from the police
when they are not paying heed even to the court orders? They are distorting
facts and have even gone to the extent of accusing a 13-year-old [raped girl]
of committing adultery with three men." Another Christian politician's
ID mistook him for a Muslim, causing him to insist "on the floor of the
Punjab Assembly that he was born a Christian and appealed to them and the
media not to indulge in propaganda against him that could
incite Muslim extremists to kill him."
South Africa: More than 70 students
were kicked
out of the Coastal KZN As-Salaam campus dormitories and are currently
homeless, because campus officials tried to make them observe Islam,
including by banning Bibles, which the students resisted. "All we wanted
was to be free to practice our own religions and not be forced to follow
Islam, but now we have been punished by being deprived of safe
accommodation," said one student.
Turkey: Thousands of devout Muslims
prayed outside Hagia Sophia—formerly Christendom's greatest cathedral now a
museum—shouting, "Allahu
Akbar!" and demanding the building be opened as a mosque in honor of
the jihadi sultan who conquered Constantinople in the 15th
century.
About this Series
Because the persecution of Christians in the
Islamic world is on its way to reaching epidemic proportions, "Muslim
Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means
all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two
purposes:
Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of
persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for
churches and other Christian symbols; apostasy and blasphemy laws; sexual
abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; theft and plunder in
lieu of jizya (tribute); overall expectations for Christians to behave like
cowed "dhimmis" (barely tolerated citizens); and simple violence
and murder. Oftentimes it is a combination thereof.
Because these accounts of persecution span
different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to
India in the east, and throughout the West, wherever there are Muslims—it
should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict
application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.
Raymond
Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center
and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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