Gatestone Institute

The U.S. State Department lists only nine nations as "Countries of Particular Concern" (CPC) — a designation for those nations considered to be the worst violators of religious freedom. These include governments that "engage in or tolerate" systematic, ongoing, and unspeakable violations of religious freedom.

According to many human rights activists, this list is far from complete: "the State Department has seemed unwilling to recognize the grave unspeakable abuses of religious freedom in a number of Muslim-dominated countries that the USCIRF [U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom] considers CPCs: Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Tajikistan."

Accordingly, on October 21, the USCIRF issued a press release calling on "the State Department to further expand its CPC list to reflect the severe violations occurring in other countries, such as Pakistan, which USCIRF has called the worst situation in the world for religious freedom for countries not currently designated by the U.S. government as CPCs."

To understand why Pakistan was highlighted, consider the following 10 accounts, all of which took place in the month of October — the same month that the U.S. State Department was being urged to include Pakistan and other countries in its list.

On October 23, a deaf, married Christian woman was gang-raped by three Muslim men who broke into her home while her husband was out working. Despite her screams, no one came to help her. Although one man was arrested, rights activists say he will eventually be released. According to Sardar Mushtaq Gill, a Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist, "Often in these cases the police take no action or, worse, side with the rapists. Christian families or witnesses are pressured to withdraw complaints."

On October 15, eight days before the deaf Christian woman was raped, two Muslim men, both named Muhammad, who had earlier raped two teenage Christian sisters at gunpoint, were acquitted in court. Not only did a key witness change his statement after receiving a bribe, but according to the girls' father, "The lawyer didn't fight the case very well and with commitment. Mostly, he stayed absent from the hearings of the case during the proceedings. The lawyer didn't even participate in the cross-questioning with the culprits in the court. ... We face serious life threats from the culprits now, as they are being released from jail."

A report from October 5 cites three separate incidents in which five young Christian girls were abducted and sexually abused: Two were kidnapped and gang-raped by a group of Muslim men; a 13-year-old Christian girl was kidnapped and raped; and two other Christian girls were abducted and abused by a group of human traffickers who forced them into prostitution.

Nabila Bibi, a Christian woman who had been engaged to a Christian man for a year and was preparing to marry him in a few weeks' time, was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and then forcibly married to a Muslim man named Allah Rakha. After discovering her whereabouts, her fiancé went to the kidnapper's home on October 15 and demanded to see her. Rakha, who had 15-20 other Muslims with him, refused, and warned the Christian that because his fiancée was now Muslim, he must never seek her out again, or else suffer "dire consequences." The report adds that such Christian abductees "may be subjected to sexual violence, rape, forced prostitution, human trafficking and sale, or other domestic abuse or discarded from home after passing some time."

On October 23, Sonia Bibi, a 20-year-old Christian woman, was set on fire and almost burned to death after she refused to marry a Muslim ex-boyfriend. According to the woman's testimony, when she turned down his proposal, Latif Ahmed doused her with petrol and set her alight. Burns covered nearly half of her body.

On October 5, Saddique Azam, a Catholic teacher who was appointed headmaster at a primary school in a small village, was beaten and tortured by a group of three Muslim teachers who resented being under the authority of an "infidel." The Muslims barged into Azam's office and ordered him to resign. When he refused, they beat him so severely that he needed to be hospitalized.

According to an October 14 report, rights activists ae concerned for the life of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who has been on death row since 2010. A Muslim woman, apparently with a personal vendetta against Bibi, had accused her of speaking blasphemy against the prophet of Islam, Muhammad. "She could be killed by any inmate or even a prison guard, so we have to be careful," said an official. Bibi was put in solitary confinement, where her health has been steadily deteriorating. "She was vomiting blood last month and having difficulty walking."

An October 23 report titled, "Christians required only as sweepers," notes that "Christians make up most of the non-Muslim minority in central Punjab and account for 1.5 per cent of the total population. Their representation in sanitation work, however, is above 80 percent." After noting that Pakistan was named "Land of the Pure" in reference to its Muslim identity (as opposed to that of its largely Hindu neighbor, India), the report adds, "The attitude of forcing Christians into degrading occupations based on their descent continues and owes its existence to this long-entrenched dichotomy of 'pure' and 'impure.'"

An October 19 report tells of a Christian family — a father, mother, and two daughters — who have been on the run since 2006. Their "crime" was that the woman, formerly a Muslim, converted to Christianity and married a Christian man. This prompted threats and attacks from Muslims, including her family: "Jobless and desperate, they are unable to meet their own needs, as they continue to be threatened, hounded, and attacked because they want to live a Christian life and raise their children in accordance with Christ's teachings," notes the report. Due to the stressful experiences and unsanitary conditions they are forced to hide in, the woman has miscarried their third child. The father was shot in the leg and run over by a motorcycle. Even so, "Attempts to file a case against their tormentors have fallen on deaf police ears."

On October 7, more than 1,000 Christians gathered in front of the Punjab Assembly to protest an "anti-minority" bill that "denies voting rights to women" and "does not allow religious minorities to elect their own representatives." Religious minorities argued that an appointed official "cannot do anything" except to "become a puppet in the hand of their party."

These ten accounts from October alone are a typical sampling of what Christians, who reportedly make up roughly 1% of Pakistan's population, routinely experience. (Over 96% of Pakistan's population is Muslim).

Worse, the majority of atrocities, according to human rights activists, never get reported for fear of reprisals. It took five years for the account of a two-year-old toddler, who was savagely raped because her Christian father refused to convert to Islam, to become public. She has undergone five surgeries and still remains disfigured. Her family lives in constant fear and in hiding.

According to human rights activist Sardar Mushtaq Gill, who is involved with many of the above-mentioned cases, "Violence against women and children of religious minorities, the weak and vulnerable, is widespread in Pakistan and is often carried out in silence. These cases and the stories do not come to light and when victims talk about it they are intimidated."

In light of all this, it is high time for Pakistan to be labeled a "Country of Particular Concern" by the U.S. Department of State. Otherwise, the crucial question persists: Why is it not?

I was recently interviewed on Stand for Truth Radio with Susan Calloway Knowles. A number of topics were discussed in the hour long interview — including the Obama administration's indifference or worse regarding Muslim persecution of Christians. The interview follows:

Inquiry Into Islam

In several Quranic passages as well as the example of Muhammad, Muslims are encouraged to deceive non-Muslims when it will help protect Islam. It is known as the principle of "taqiyya" or "religious deception."

This is less surprising if you first understand that in mainstream Islamic teachings, the world is divided into "the house of Islam" and "the house of war." That is, part of the world is Islamic and the other part has yet to brought into the light with Allah's holy law (Sharia).

And since relations with the non-Islamic part of the world exists in a state of war, then deceit is an appropriate strategy, used by all military commanders since the beginning of warfare.

As Raymond Ibrahim wrote, the Quranic verses 3:28 and 16:106, as well as Muhammad’s famous assertion, “War is deceit,” have all led to the formulation of a number of doctrines of "taqiyya.” And this is not an obscure point of theology. It is being practiced today by devout Muslims. See some examples of taqiyya caught on tape.

In the book, Terrorist Hunter: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman Who Went Undercover to Infiltrate the Radical Islamic Groups Operating in America, Rita Katz wrote about being at an IAP conference in Chicago. IAP is the Islamic Association for Palestine. There were lots of booths at the conference for "charitable" organizations, and at one of these booths, Katz met a man she already knew about: Muhammad Salah. She pretended she didn't know who he was, and he introduced himself as a "Muslim human rights activist."

Katz, a non-Muslim woman dressed as a Muslim, wrote, "He was small, thin, nearly bald. Totally harmless looking." He told her these conferences were so important because "we can teach you about the oppression and sufferings of Muslims in America and all over the world."

Then he told Katz his story. He had been a Palestinian with an American citizenship, a used-car salesman, working in Chicago when he went to Israel to "visit family and friends." But in Israel he was arrested by the Israeli authorities and thrown into prison for five years!

Katz looked appropriately appalled and asked why in heaven's name would they put him in prison? "Because the Israelis oppress innocent Palestinians," he said. "And do you know what is the most shocking part? When I returned to the U.S., after I was tortured and I thought I was going to die in that prison, the Americans placed me under investigation and froze my assets! Me, an innocent citizen, a car dealer, a family man, father of five!"

To any other kafir this probably would have been a convincing story. The poor, oppressed Muslim! It's just wrong to treat people that way. Those Israelis must be very cruel. Those Americans are so oppressive to Muslims!

But Katz was not an ordinary kafir. She researched people like Salah for a living. She knew all about him. This frail, innocent-looking man was the leader of the worldwide military wing of Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization! When he was arrested in Israel he had a hundred thousand dollars in cash on him. In his testimony, he admitted the money was supposed to go to "members of Hamas's military wing." He displayed detailed inside knowledge of Hamas's structure and funding, and his testimony was later used as evidence in the New York trial of Musa Abu Marzook, the leader of the political bureau of Hamas (and the man who had appointed Salah to his position as leader of the military wing). Katz writes:

"Salah disclosed (in his testimony) that he'd been authorized by Marzook to recruit individuals for training in the uses of explosives to fight in the 'holy war.' In the United States, Salah began training ten such recruits, three of whom were chosen to carry out attacks. In addition to supervising the building of bombs, explosives, and remote detonation devices, Salah was instructed by Marzook to develop biological and chemical weapons for Hamas."

When Nasser Hidmi was caught trying to detonate a bomb in Israel, he said he had been chosen by none other than the poor, innocent, abused, oppressed Muslim, Muhammad Salah.

This is an example of the principle of religious deception in action.

The use of taqiyya is the main reason most non-Muslims are so confused about the real nature of Islam — they are constantly being intentionally deceived by orthodox Muslims. But once you know about it, the jig is up. You are much less easily deceived.

The Christian Examiner, by Gregory Tomlin

NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – The Gatestone Institute, chaired by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, has issued a report that claims "one Christian is slaughtered every five minutes," but little is being done to stop it by politicians and, ironically, church leaders.

"Throughout September, as more Christians were slaughtered and persecuted for their religion – not just by the Islamic State but by 'everyday' Muslims from all around the world – increasing numbers of people and organizations called for action. Meanwhile, those best placed to respond – chief among them U.S. President Barack Obama and Pope Francis – did nothing," writes Raymond Ibrahim, also a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.

Ibrahim, raised in both the U.S. and Egypt by Coptic parents, is author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians.

In the report, which lists countries where abuses have and continue to occur, Ibrahim specifically criticizes Pope Francis, who on his visit to the U.S. in September spoke at the United Nations, but said little in his 50-minute address about the persecution of Christians. According to Ibrahim, only one reference was made to the plight of Christians in the Middle East, and this "in the same sentence with the supposedly equal sufferings of 'members of the majority religion,' that is, Sunni Muslims (the only group not to be attacked by the Islamic State, a Sunni organization)."

"I must renew my repeated appeals regarding to the painful situation of the entire Middle East, North Africa and other African countries, where Christians, together with other cultural or ethnic groups, and even members of the majority religion who have no desire to be caught up in hatred and folly, have been forced to witness the destruction of their places of worship, their cultural and religious heritage, their houses and property, and have faced the alternative either of fleeing or of paying for their adhesion to good and to peace by their own lives, or by enslavement," Ibrahim writes.

Ibrahim then illustrated with data from September how members of "the majority religion," Sunnis, "are not being slaughtered, beheaded, and raped for their faith; are not having their mosques bombed and burned; are not being jailed or killed for apostasy, blasphemy, or proselytization."

Incidents of violent persecution, forced servitude, executions and mass killings against Christians have occurred, he writes, in Uganda, Pakistan, Syria, the Philippines, Egypt, Yemen, Turkey, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Lebanon and even in the United States.

CHRISTIANS ATTACKED IN THE U.S.

In August, three Muslim men from Somalia beat to death 49-year-old Christian healthcare worker Freddy Akoa in Portland, Maine. His blood-soaked Bible was found next to his body. The police affidavit stated that Akoa "had been beaten and kicked in the head, and bashed in the head with a piece of furniture in an assault that continued relentlessly for hours." Police have not said yet whether religion was the cause of the argument that led to the beating.

Also, in September, Rasheed Abdul Aziz was arrested for planning an attack on Corinth Missionary Baptist Church in Bullard, Texas. The church's pastor was able to calm the potential attacker, who said he had been charged by Allah to kill infidels. After a brief conversation, the man left a note saying, "My name is Rasheed. You helped me at a time of need, this house is blessed by God and all faiths." He was later arrested.

Those incidents, however, pale in comparison to those taking place overseas – incidents that have seemingly escaped the notice of the free world or which have been ignored.

Ibrahim writes that the White House is planning to release a statement accusing the Islamic State of committing genocide against religious minorities, naming and recognizing various groups, such as the Yazidis, as victims. "However, Christians are apparently not going to be included as victims, as Obama officials argue that Christians 'do not appear to meet the high bar set out in the genocide treaty.'"

To read the full description of the violence taking place against Christians in the Middle East, click here.

The Conway Daily Sun, by Tom McLaughlin

What the left sees as progress — a flood of diverse, multicultural, unassimilated migrants from Mexico, Central America, as well as the Muslim countries of Africa and the Middle East — many other Americans see as the disintegration of America as they know it. They’re watching similar changes in Europe and worry that western civilization itself is unraveling. They elected a Republican majority in Congress to stem immigration and the enormous growth of the federal government, then watched that Congress capitulate to the president’s big-government, open-borders agenda. These Americans are not in the minority, but their view is scorned as racist and xenophobic by establishment leaders in government, in academia, in mainstream media, and in the entertainment industry, who consider themselves more enlightened.

They’re the people candidate Barack Hussein Obama spoke disdainfully of when addressing elite donors in Marin County, California, back in March of 2008: “They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
These Americans are rebelling now against what they see as an elite establishment coalition. As they watch the West decline, they’re realizing the leaders they elected, as well as the media who report on them, seem OK with the transformation of American that so worries them. So far, the rebellion is political, with Republican support for candidates they perceive as outsiders. Donald Trump/Ted Cruz Republicans believe big business and big government are symbiotic and prefer a smaller, decentralized government with more power returning to states. Others see no important differences between the two major parties and call for a third.

Their concern is exacerbated by increases in radical Islamic terrorism, in both Europe and the United States, that governments seem unable to deal with effectively. (Just Monday, however, the United Kingdom officially labeled the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization — breaking with Obama who praises the MB.) A recent essay by historian of Islam Raymond Ibrahim sees Islamists rushing into a vacuum created by western decline in Europe and in the United States. Ibrahim calls the unraveling described above as the West becoming a self-hating civilization, and he takes a long view:

“Once upon a time, the Islamic world was a super power and its jihad an irresistible force to be reckoned with. Over two centuries ago, however, a rising Europe — which had experienced over one millennium of jihadi conquests and atrocities — defeated and defanged Islam. As Islam retreated into obscurity, the post-Christian West slowly came into being. Islam didn’t change, but the West did: Muslims still venerate their heritage and religion — which impels them to jihad against the Western “infidel” — whereas the West learned to despise its heritage and religion, causing it to be an unwitting ally of the jihad.”

Ibrahim scoffed at President Obama when he: “counseled Americans to get off their ‘high horse’ and remember that their Christian ancestors have been guilty of similar if not worse atrocities. That he had to go back almost a thousand years for examples by referencing the crusades and inquisition — both of which have been completely distorted by the warped postmodern worldview, including by portraying imperialist Muslims as victims — did not matter to America’s leader.”

Many Americans have a limited understanding of historical Islam and don’t detect Obama’s distortion. Some do. Others just sense that his explanation is hokey.

The horrors ISIS and other radical Islamist groups are perpetrating today have been more the rule than the exception over the 1,400 years of Islamic imperialism. We’re seeing is its resurgence enabled by the retreat of a breast-beating, mea culpa western establishment trying to do penance — Europeans for their colonial past, Americans for using their powerful military to curtail communist expansion and keep oil flowing out of the Persian Gulf.

Though establishment leaders play down resurgent Islam’s threat and trumpet “Islamophobia,” fewer Americans are buying it. They’re fed up with the flood of illegals from our south seeking “aslyum” as well as others from Africa and the Middle East who may or may not be refugees. Our establishment elite portrays both as oppressed, brown-skinned victims of Western imperialism. More Americans are seeing them as foreigners looking to get on the welfare gravy train and drive up the national debt, or, at best, as unskilled laborers who would take jobs away from them and drive down their wages. They also know thousands of illegals from our south have committed serious crimes and they question whether others from Muslim countries will assimilate as Americans.

They see both Democrats and Republicans belonging to the elite establishment and maintaining the status quo and they want to change course. I hope that comes through the ballot box and worry about what may happen if it doesn’t.

Cleveland.com, by Lawrence I. Gould

"Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic murder, maiming and menacing of the innocent to inspire fear for political purposes." That definition was the consensus of those who attended a seminar in Jerusalem in 1979 organized by Israel's current premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, in memory of his brother, Yoni. Yoni Netanyahu was the only Israeli military fatality in the rescue at Entebbe on July 4, 1976. That definition applies to recent stabbings by territorial Arabs of Israeli Jews in Israel proper and the territories. They are the latest in the history of terrorism against Israelis since the Oslo "Peace" (my quotes) Process began 22 years ago that has resulted in the terrorist murder of more than 1,500 Israelis and the wounding of more than 10,000. Yet influenced by the State Department, Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have ignored those brutal murders, supported by Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organization (Fatah) and Hamas, as they pressured Israel to make concessions to the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Those concessions include the infamous two-state solution that would give a terrorist-led Palestinian state control of strategic high ground in Judea and Samaria from which to fire rockets and missiles against Ben Gurion Airport and cities, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and others, where millions of Israeli Jews live and most of Israeli industry is concentrated. That high ground includes areas from which another future attack by Arab armies could be launched to destroy Israel. Israel Defense Forces leaders are acutely aware of that possibility. Israeli authorities have withheld building permits for Palestinians, and then demolished their "illegal" dwellings, a practice that has left more than 2,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem homeless in the last decade. writes James Zogby. The State Department, Presidents Bush and Obama, and the U.S. press have amnesia about the terrible consequences of Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's decision to evict about 9,000 Israeli Jews from Gaza and withdraw IDF forces that patrolled the area. Gaza is now controlled by Hamas, an Islamic terrorist group whose publicized ultimate goal is to destroy Israel. Hamas escalated rocket and missile attacks, as well as the building of tunnels through which attacks would be mounted against Israelis inside Israel. That led to Israeli heavy retaliation in 2009, 2011 and 2014. The State Department and presidents, not Pentagon leaders, have been indifferent to the threat to Israel's security of creation of a Palestinian Arab state since Israel won the 1967 war. If The Plain Dealer is representative of local papers nationwide, the press, including national papers like The New York Times (but excluding The Wall Street Journal), has been similarly indifferent to the threat of the two-state solution to Israel's security. Since most Jews who lived in Arab nations migrated to mainly Israel and other Western nations after Israel won its War of Independence in 1948, there have been few Jews left in Arab nations. This includes Iran since the 1979 Revolution, which brought the Islamist Shiite group to power. In recent decades, those Muslim nations have severely oppressed Christian citizens, killing and wounding hundreds of thousands and destroying Christian and Catholic churches. In addition to oppression by Muslim nations in the Middle East and Africa, non-nation Muslim terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Islamic State, al-Qaida, the PLO, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad have killed and tortured hundreds of thousands of Arab Christians, and destroyed their churches or turned them into mosques. With some notable exceptions, State Department officials and Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, primarily Christians, have largely ignored this Muslim-conducted mini-Holocaust of Christians in Africa and the Middle East. So have a significant percentage of American Christian ministers and Catholic priests, as well as their congregants. Isn't this neglect inhuman, and reason to question their fidelity to Christian philosophy and Catholic philosophy? Iran is now recognized as the leading Muslim nation in support of terrorism in the Middle East and around the world. Yet Obama, supported by the State Department, ignored this when they forged the nuclear deal with Iran that included releasing more than $100 billion in Iranian oil revenue that has been impounded by the U.S. and other nations around the world. Evidently Obama and the State Department are indifferent to the likelihood that Iran will use much of that wealth to support terrorism against Israel and throughout the Western world. This appeasement of terrorist Iran disgraces the American people. I have not read one article by Raymond Ibrahim, an authority about Muslim persecution of Christians, in The Plain Dealer, nor the Cleveland Jewish News. One hundred twenty six articles have been printed by the Gatestone Institute. Access them on the Internet via google.com by clicking on "Articles by Raymond Ibrahim: Gatestone Institute." Ibrahim also is author of the book, "Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians," published in 2013. Does this neglect mean that The Plain Dealer, perhaps like most American dailies, doesn't care? It is significant that Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic candidate for president and a Christian, has ignored Muslim persecution of Christians that has become a mini-Holocaust. Unfortunately, most Republicans seeking the nomination have also been silent. Islamic terrorism, inspired by the Koran and Islam, has become a scourge of humanity. The vast majority of leaders of the Western world and its media have been silent appeasers, reflecting a combination of fear of offending the world's approximately 1.5 billion believers in Islam and refusal to stand up for Western principles. It's long overdue for those leaders, also the Western media, to exhibit some spine.

The Blaze, by Susan Calloway Knowles

It seems that we are constantly bombarded with information on the plight of the Syrian refugees and how we must rescue them from the Islamic State terrorists.

We have all seen the horrific videos of beheadings and read countless stories about acts of brutality from those claiming to be Islamic State jihadists.

As Christians, we are torn between wanting to rescue those we feel are in harm’s way while desiring to continue to protect ourselves and our family.

Many believe that transporting Syrian refugees out of the Middle East and placing them in Europe and in America is the “best” answer for their survival, but is it?

We all know from recent events, such as the deadly shooting in San Bernardino, California, that potential terrorists are not being properly vetted. The female terrorist in San Bernardino allegedly pledged her allegiance to the Islamic State before committing horrendous acts of violence that resulted in the deaths of 14 innocent people and injured 22 others.

Can we trust that the same or similar acts won’t occur again if we allow refugees into our country from the Middle East?

President Barack Obama has assured the American public many times that Islam is a religion of peace and that terrorist groups like the Islamic State are a “twisted interpretation of religion that is rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims.”

Not being from the Middle East, I wanted a clearer picture about Islam and whether Obama’s statement could be trusted. So, I contacted Raymond Ibrahim and asked him to come on my radio show, Stand For Truth Radio.

Ibrahim is a Middle East and Islam Specialist and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum. His publications have appeared in the Financial Times, Jerusalem Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times Syndicate, United Press International, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times and right here at TheBlaze.

He was born in the United States to Egyptian-born parents who were raised in the Middle East. He began visiting the Middle East as a child in the 1970s and has interacted with the locals there throughout the decades.

I was surprised to learn from Ibrahim that approximately 98 percent of the Syrian refugees that are being resettled in other countries are Sunni Muslims. He indicated that this is the same denomination as those Muslims belonging to the Islamic State, something that Obama has never bothered to tell us.

Additionally, I learned from Ibrahim’s book, “Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians,” that Christians have been persecuted in the Middle East under Islam rule for centuries and that this discrimination still exists today.

“Muslim justification for violence against Christians stems from Islamic tradition and historic precedent and that Islamists have repeatedly used their faith to justify attacks on Christian communities and individuals,” he said.

He also discussed what is called the “Conditions of Omar” that are in existence today in the Middle East and include “heavy restrictions on Christian worship.”

Ibrahim explained that these conditions are used to prohibit Christians from “building new churches, repairing older churches, showing crosses, singing loud enough to be heard outside the walls of the church, preaching the gospel, attracting the attention of Muslims” and other onerous restrictions that Muslims would never allow to interfere with their ability to worship. Ibrahim also pointed out that other countries, like Saudi Arabia, have gone so far as to forbid Christian churches in its country. Something I’ve also never heard the Obama administration mention about one of our closest allies.

Ibrahim also spoke about how Christians are often attacked at times by angry Islamic mobs, especially on Friday after their worship service which Ibrahim said is equivalent to a Christian’s Sunday day of worship. Ibrahim also discussed how Muslim crowds can often get “whipped up” by the Friday services’ message and attack Christian churchgoers or their churches.

Ibrahim believes that the “Obama administration has turned a blind eye to the violence in countries such as Egypt and Pakistan in order to fulfill its own foreign policy agenda.” This may explain why Obama and others in the administration fail to point out how Christians are mistreated by Islamists in the Middle East and the possibility that these same events could be seen in America one day.

“The more Muslims there are, the more violence you’ll see,” Ibrahim said. He went on to say that what has been happening in Muslim countries where Christians are being persecuted could also happen in Europe or eventually the U.S.

Ibrahim also pointed out that it’s beginning to happen and in fact has already begun in Sweden where recently “dozens of citizens received letters from the Islamic State telling them to convert to Islam, pay jizya, a tax that non-Muslims, including Christians must pay to Muslims, or be decapitated.”

Ibrahim’s book, “Crucified Again” gives countless examples along with documentation to back up his claims regarding the persecution of Christians in the Middle East that no one is talking about but should be of concern to a nation such as the U.S. that is set to welcome large numbers of refugees who practice Islam.

Raymond Ibrahim’s complete interview detailing the history of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East can be heard here:

Arutz Sheva 7 (Israel National News), by Hillel Fendel

The argument that Islamic State is not Islamic because it mainly murders Muslims doesn't hold water, says Middle East and Islam specialist Raymond Ibrahim.

Raymond Ibrahim, writing for FrontPage Magazine on Friday, explains that US President Barack Obama has prominently advanced this argument – most recently, just after the San Bernardino attack by ISIS sympathizers that claimed 14 lives.

"ISIL does not speak for Islam," Obama said then. "They are thugs and killers... Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims around the world are Muslim."

Ibrahim, son of Egyptian Coptic Christian immigrants to the United States, says the identity of ISIS victims says nothing about ISIS motivations. This is because the Islamic State does not view its victims as Muslims.

"Indeed, mainstream Sunni Islam – the world's dominant strand of Islam which ISIS adheres to – views all non-Sunnis as false Muslims [or] heretics," Ibrahim states. Of course, Shiites view Sunnis the same way.

"Overall, then," Ibrahim continues, "when Sunni jihadis slaughter Shias – or Sufis, Druze, and Baha'i, lesser groups affiliated with Islam to varying degrees – they do so under the same exact logic as when they slaughter Christian minorities, or European, American, and Israeli citizens: all are infidels…"

Regarding Sunni Mulims who are killed during the Islamic State's jihad, Ibrahim notes that they are considered martyrs, and need not be greatly mourned.

He cites an analysis by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who writes, "The only thing mujahidin [jihadis] are specifically required to do, should they knowingly kill a Muslim [intermixed with the targeted infidels], is make atonement. Blood money, however, is a way out of the dispute altogether. Payment should be made only when there is a surplus of monies, which are no longer needed to fund the jihad. Again, this is only if their [Muslims] intermingling with the infidels is for a legitimate reason, such as business…"

Some Sunnis may even be killed intentionally – when they are considered kafir, i.e., non-Muslims and infidels whose blood can be shed with impunity.

In short, ISIS kills Muslims not because they [the victims] are Muslims – but because they're not Muslim enough.

Al Arabiya, by Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong,” wrote one of the 20th century’s wisest men, Mahatma Gandhi. The British ruled his country India with an iron first and stripped it of its resources for almost 90 years, but he eschewed revenge for reconciliation. So too did Nelson Mandela, who guided a divided South Africa toward a peaceful future. The Arab world should take a leaf out of their book.

During a troubled era, when our enemies are so numerous it is hard to keep track of them, we should shore up our defenses rather than exact revenge on the disgraced mighty who have fallen, such as the surviving sons of Libya’s late leader Muammar Qaddafi. We should be better than that. There is nothing purer than mercy. Kicking someone when they are down stains our Arab dignity.

Qaddafi

I always thought Qaddafi was slightly unhinged, but his end was shameful in its bestiality. He made many grave mistakes, but he kept Libya united and terrorist-free, and his people never went without. His family are now scattered and have lost everything. They can harm no one, and should be left to live their lives in anonymity.

As though the Lebanese have nothing else to worry about, they have gone after Qaddafi’s 40-year-old son Hannibal. They are being attacked by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Hezbollah is fighting alongside the regime in Syria. The Lebanese cannot produce a president despite 18 months of negotiations, and their economy is in freefall.

Yet they prioritized the abduction of Hannibal from Syria to be arrested in connection with the disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Musa al-Sadr, who failed to return from Libya in 1978 when Hannibal was just two years old. Did he slaughter him with his teddy bear?

This is a case of the sins of the father being the sins of the son. Sadr, born in 1928 in Iran, is long gone. What do they hope to achieve with this, other than revenge against someone who had nothing to do with his disappearance?

According to Lebanese channel MTV, Hannibal, who was anxious to reunite with his Lebanese wife, was tricked into meeting people he was told could help him. Instead, he was kidnapped, interrogated and beaten by gunmen believed to be members of the Amal movement, which is allied to Hezbollah and headed by parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri. If anyone knows what happened to Sadr, it is Berri.

If Berri is so interested in justice, why does he not hand over the four Hezbollah members indicted by the Hariri Tribunal for their involvement in the assassination of one of Lebanon’s greatest sons, Rafiq Hariri?

If the government cares about its own credibility, it should wrest Qaddafi, who is not wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), from Berri’s grasp. His only crime, as far as I can tell from newspaper reports, is that he was “a playboy.” In that case, Lebanese jails should be overflowing. Prime Minister Tammam Salam should show the world that Lebanon is not entirely run by armed militias in the pocket of Tehran, by releasing Hannibal forthwith.

Libya’s judiciary, operating under the auspices of the Islamist-dominated government in Tripoli – which is not internationally recognized – is being similarly vengeful. Another of Qaddafi’s sons, Saadi, is on trial for murder and oppression. In August, a video emerged showing him being hit in the face and on the soles of his feet. Other inmates can be heard screaming in pain in the background.

A third son, Saif al-Islam, whose fingers were chopped off by the militia that captured him, has been sentenced to death by firing squad for crimes committed in the course of the revolution, during which three of Qaddafi’s other sons were killed. It seems his heirs are being systematically exterminated for defending their father from militias and NATO special forces, which were under orders to kill him on sight.

Arab Spring

While many of the pre-Arab Spring autocrats deserved to be toppled, in retrospect, those who warned that they would be replaced by jihadist extremists, or that their departure would herald sectarian strife resulting in civil war, were correct. No one believed them at the time.

Saddam Hussein’s ousting should have taught us a lesson. His iron fist not only served as a buffer against Iranian expansionism, but preserved Iraq’s territorial integrity. Far from opening democracy’s door, his downfall opened a Pandora’s box of hatred and bloodshed.

A case in point is the deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. An undated video taken while he was still in office – translated by Raymond Ibrahim and published on the Gatestone Institute’s website – shows his insight into the future of Egypt without him.

He tells an interviewer that the Muslim Brotherhood takes advantage of the poor economic situation by handing out small sums of money to its followers, saying: “Take this bag of [nitro]glycerine and throw it here, or do this or that to create a state of instability in Egypt... Don’t ever believe that they want democracy or anything like that. They’re exploiting democracy to eliminate democracy.

“And if they ever do govern, it will be an ugly dictatorship. For years we’ve been trying to dialogue with them, and we still are. If the dialogue is limited to words, fine, but when dialogue goes from words to bullets and bombs…”

His prediction was spot on, and if it were not for the timely intervention of current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, it is more than likely Egypt would have gone the way of Syria, Iraq and Libya.

From the start, I felt aggrieved at the way Mubarak, a war hero, was treated. All the good things he had done over 30 years were obscured by a wish for revenge. He could have spent his twilight years in comfortable exile, as Tunisia’s former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali did.

For days, a plane reportedly awaited Mubarak on a tarmac near Sharm el-Sheikh. He had offers from various countries, but he allegedly chose to stay because he loved his country and did not want to die anywhere else. If he had left, he would have escaped prison, multiple trials and retrials, and humiliation. Is it not time that the Egyptian courts and people showed this ailing 87-year-old compassion?

I believe Sisi is a strong and merciful leader who has pardoned many hundreds of convicted prisoners. Admittedly, until recently the climate was not conducive to a pardon for Mubarak due to post-revolutionary public opinion, but I believe time has healed some hearts and it is my hope that Sisi will pardon him.

“Whoever does not show mercy to those on earth will not receive the mercy of He who is in the Heavens,” said the Prophet Mohamed. That alone should give Muslims with hardened hearts pause for thought.

Powerline, by John Hinderaker

Today [Dec. 23] President Obama released a Statement by the President on Persecuted Christians at Christmas. The statement is long overdue, and I applaud it. Here is Obama’s statement in its entirety:

During this season of Advent, Christians in the United States and around the world are preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. At this time, those of us fortunate enough to live in countries that honor the birthright of all people to practice their faith freely give thanks for that blessing. Michelle and I are also ever-mindful that many of our fellow Christians do not enjoy that right, and hold especially close to our hearts and minds those who have been driven from their ancient homelands by unspeakable violence and persecution. In some areas of the Middle East where church bells have rung for centuries on Christmas Day, this year they will be silent; this silence bears tragic witness to the brutal atrocities committed against these communities by ISIL. We join with people around the world in praying for God’s protection for persecuted Christians and those of other faiths, as well as for those brave men and women engaged in our military, diplomatic, and humanitarian efforts to alleviate their suffering and restore stability, security, and hope to their nations. As the old Christmas carol reminds us: The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.

Obama’s statement is welcome in several respects. He unequivocally identifies himself and his family as Christians, and recognizes that some Christians “have been driven from their ancient homelands by unspeakable violence and persecution.” He ties this persecution to “some areas of the Middle East,” which is certainly where it is most virulent.

But Obama falls far short by suggesting that the only source of such persecution is ISIL. In fact, the murder and oppression of Christians and members of other faiths is general throughout most of the Muslim world.

Raymond Ibrahim has done a great service by documenting, month by month, the Islamic persecution of Christians. His most recent tabulation, released a couple of weeks ago, documents such incidents during the month of September. Interestingly, Ibrahim begins:

Throughout September, as more Christians were slaughtered and persecuted for their religion—not just by the Islamic State but by “every day” Muslims from all around the world—increasing numbers of people and organizations called for action, while those best placed to respond—chief among them U.S. President Obama and Pope Francis—did nothing.

Obama still has done nothing, but he as at least begun to nod vaguely in the direction of the problem.

For the month of September alone, Ibrahim documents instances of murder and oppression of Christians in Uganda, the United States, Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Egypt, Tanzania, “Palestine,” Iraq, Yemen, Indonesia, England, Turkey, Ethiopia, Germany and Lebanon. Some of these outrages were committed by ISIL, but most were not. Further, Christians are the main current targets of Islamic wrath because there are still quite a few Christians left, relatively speaking, in majority-Muslim countries. In some regions, Muslims also oppress Hindus. In the Middle East, Jews would be persecuted too, only there are hardly any left in the countries ruled by Islamists.

Today’s proclamation is a good example of President Obama’s dogged refusal to acknowledge that there is any problem with Islam, other than the “perversions” of that otherwise-noble faith by the likes of ISIL and al Qaeda. Those groups represent, obviously, the most extreme form of Islam, but I don’t see how we can combat them and their like without recognizing that they spring from a soil that is conducive to religious persecution.