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The Disappearing Church of the Middle East
Special Edition: Understanding Islam and ISIS
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
JUNE 2016
Table of Contents
In This Issue: FEATURE
14 | The Disappearing Church
The Church in the Middle East struggles to survive in a Muslim-dominated region.
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FEATURE
18 | The Human Cost
ICC interviews six survivors of ISIS attacks. INFOGRAPHIC
22 | ISIS Organizational, Financial and Militaristic Advances An at-a-glance look at ISIS advances. FEATURE
24 | Understanding Islam
Our in-depth look at Islam - from the life and death of Muhammad, to the recent atrocities of ISIS. FEATURE
36 | Christianity in Egypt
From jobs to schools to daily living, Christians are forced to submit or pay the consequences. FEATURE
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38 | The Christian Genocide
With the recent atrocities committed by ISIS, US Secretary of State calls the killing of Christians a “genocide.” FEATURE
40 | No Longer the Iraq I Loved A trip to Iraq reveals that this once beautiful country has been destroyed by ISIS. FEATURE
42 | ISIS takes note of ICC
A recent petition that ICC released attracts ISIS’ attention. Regular Features
3 Letter from the President A few words from ICC’s president. 4 Volunteers See how our volunteers are helping ICC. 6 World News A snapshot of the persecution that impacts our brothers and sisters daily. 10 Your Dollars at Work Learn how your gifts are providing comfort and relief to the persecuted. 2
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President’s Letter
I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Jeff King, President International Christian Concern
Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792 - 1822 Nothing Will Remain Round the Decay of that Colossal Wreck! I know the end of the story! The winds of time and laws of God will blow the desert sands over ISIS (and Islam) until all that remains will be a shattered visage, half buried, with its “lingering sneer of cold command.” Until then, the human cost of Sunni Islam’s Pitbull on the Middle East’s Muslims, Yazidis, and Christians is beyond comprehension. Luckily, the Brits and Russians have really given ISIS a beating as of late. Russia seems to have turned the tide in Syria and ISIS will not take over. ISIS has suffered serious losses in manpower and funding (oil sales) in the region due to strategic attacks from both powers. The silver lining in ISIS’ brutality and trail of bodies, dead and broken, is that their methods have revealed the core of Islam. Islam has always conquered by the sword in great historic waves. The horrors of ISIS (Syria/Iraq), the Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt), and Boko Haram (Nigeria), are causing many, many Muslims to vote with their feet and leave Islam. In fact, it seems we may be in a historic wave of Muslims coming to Christ (see page 44). Because of your partnership, we will continue to bandage the broken and build the Church in the toughest places. We are merely your hired hand to touch, to bandage, and to build. Together, we will do this work at the fringes of God’s expanding kingdom where it meets Satan’s strongholds. Please join with us, as the persecuted are more than worthy of your time, treasure, and talent.
28 Jeff King President, International Christian Concern www.persecution.org
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Volunteers
A Heart for The Persecuted
Love Costs Everything
DAVID RIDLEY VOLUNTEER AWARENESS TEAM
BLAKE BURGET VOLUNTEER AWARENESS TEAM
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n order to assist persecuted Christians throughout the nations, it is our duty to tell their stories that would otherwise go untold. As part of the Awareness team, David Ridley focuses his attention on spreading the stories of the persecuted within his own church. David has gotten involved in this ministry by working with his church and the missions board, as well as leaders from other local churches, to spread the message of the persecuted Church. In addition to spreading the word about persecution, he also provides visual aids by maintaining a bulletin board with a global map (as pictured above), tracking up-to-date persecution around the world. Part of the struggle in encouraging Westerners to get involved is that the persecuted Church seems so distant from their own lives. David has helped confront this dilemma by sharing the personal stories of those suffering for their faith. He said, “It helps people, including myself, in praying for the persecuted to get to know these people on a personal level.” In an effort to bridge the gap between the Western Church and the persecuted Church, David said, “It is the least that I can do to pray and shine a light on this persecution
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around the world.” In turn, through serving the persecuted, David has personally drawn closer to Christ. He said that this ministry has drawn him closer to the Lord in prayer and “had a significant impact on how [he] lives [his] life.” Not only has David’s community benefited through his involvement with persecution ministry, but David stated that “nothing has given [him] more joy and a closeness to Christ than serving the persecuted.” He reports that he has “found nothing more rewarding than to speak out and pray for the persecuted Church.” ICC volunteers from around the world have found the same joy in serving the persecuted, knowing that caring for God’s children is a gift that keeps on giving.
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.”
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lso a member of ICC’s Awareness team, Blake Burget has served as a volunteer for the past six years, visiting local churches and small groups to share the message of the persecuted. One of the most effective ways that Blake has found to spread awareness about the persecuted Church is through teaching Sunday school classes. Within Sunday school, he said that he has “met some of the godliest people who are ready to learn and help out in any way they can.” Most recently, Blake partnered with a number of churches (as pictured above) to screen a documentary about the persecuted, “Love Costs Everything.” During this event, he also had the opportunity to give a brief presentation about ICC’s ministry. After viewing a video of persecution years ago, Blake felt the call to serve the persecuted and has been blessed ever since. He said, “This is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given, and I know that anyone who serves the persecuted will be amazed at how they are blessed in return.” He continued, “To look after our hurting brothers and sisters…is a high calling and privilege”
– MATTHEW 25:40 (NIV)
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Looking for a Way to Make a Difference in the World? Join Our Team of Volunteers! For those hoping to make difference on behalf of the persecuted Church, many are not sure how to get started. However, volunteers all over the world are making a difference within their own communities as members of ICC’s five volunteer teams: Advocacy, Awareness, Office, Prayer, and Special Projects. By standing up for the persecuted in countless different ways, ICC’s volunteers have played a crucial role in connecting the global Church by bridging the gap between the persecuted and the Western Church. It only takes one person to make a difference.
Spreading the Word
The Power of Prayer
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that words can be powerful tools. ICC volunteers have taken advantage of the power of written language to spread the message of the persecuted. Several volunteers have made use of their language skills by writing blogs, authoring articles about persecution, spreading awareness through social media, writing in their church newsletters, and translating informational materials into other languages. By making information about the persecuted readily accessible to more people, these volunteers have encouraged others to get involved, thereby raising even more awareness and support for those in need.
The leading request that we hear from believers who are facing persecution is the request for prayer. ICC’s Prayer volunteer team has stepped forward to fill this need. Whether praying by themselves, leading prayer groups for the persecuted, or organizing prayer events, these volunteers are covering the persecuted in prayer from across the globe. During the first quarter, multiple volunteers were responsible for hosting regular prayer groups, both keeping them informed of recent incidents and leading them in prayer. These volunteers play a key role in bridging the gap between the Western Church and our persecuted brothers and sisters.
Volunteer Teams 1
Advocacy Fight for justice for the persecuted through petitions, Congress calls, and more.
Are you Interested in Serving?
2 Awareness Raise your voice through speaking in churches, writing, and social media. 3 Office Lighten the load of ICC’s staff by helping with administrative assignments.
4 Prayer Intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ both individually and as a church.
5 Special Projects Volunteer on your own schedule through one-time projects.
Apply online at http://www.persecution.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/ or contact volunteer@persecution.org or (301) 585-5915 for more information.
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News 1 3
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Wycliffe Bible Translators Killed in Middle East
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Chinese Law Restricts Non-Profits
1 | TURKEY Following months of conflict, the government of Turkey recently seized six churches in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, The churches were wide-ranging in denomination, representing both Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox faiths. They also ranged in historical significance, one dating back 1,700 years, while another was only built in 2003. However, all of these church buildings are now property of the predominantly Muslim nation of Turkey. Christian communities in the southwestern region of Turkey have suffered from regional conflict. Many Christians have been prevented from accessing their churches due to violence in the city center of Diyarbakir. According to Turkey’s Minister of Environment and Urban Planning, the churches were seized in order to protect the area due to the fighting. However, many local Christians have expressed concern, many believing that the decision was motivated by a desire to either acquire or destroy the buildings for ulterior motives. At present, there are no established plans to return the church buildings to their owners.
2 | CHINA The government of China is considering a new law that would significantly restrict non-profit groups. The law would prohibit these groups from participating in any activities which the government considers a threat to national security. This would also require international non-profits to be sponsored by Chinese entities and allow the Chinese government the authority to control their funding and day-to-day operations. The danger in this new law is that it would give the government a very broad interpretation of what it means to threaten national security. This would then make it simple for them to revoke the operating status of religious and humanitarian organizations. It would also open up the opportunity to charge non-profit employees as threats to the state if their political or religious ideologies conflict with that of the Chinese government. Although China has been moving in the right direction toward ensuring basic human rights throughout recent decades, recent crackdowns led by President Xi Jinping are a serious setback. According to reports, since 2013, the communist government of China has been responsible for the forcible removal of 2,000 church crosses. We, as an international community, must raise our voices and demand that the Chinese government protect basic religious freedoms and human rights for the wellbeing of their citizens.
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Turkish Government Seizes Churches
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3 | MIDDLE EAST In mid-March, a group of militants murdered four Wycliffe Bible translators working in the Middle East. The attackers stormed the Wycliffe office, fatally shooting two translators and two others died as they protected the lead translator. The attackers also ransacked the office, destroying all visible office equipment and translation resources. This report corroborates many others which indicate that ISIS burns literature with any mention of Christianity. Thankfully, by the grace of God, the hard drives containing the current translation work on eight different projects remained intact and the ministry stated that they would increase their efforts to share the Gospel in this region. Wycliffe has called for prayer regarding this tragedy, for the victims and their loved ones, the ones who committed the heinous act, and the remaining team members as they move forward in their ministry.
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70 Killed in Pakistan on Easter Sunday 4 | PAKISTAN On March 27, Easter Sunday, suicide bombers from an offshoot group of the Pakistani Taliban attacked a park, killing at least 70 people and wounding more than 300 others in Lahore, Pakistan. This event signifies the second deadliest attack on Christians in Pakistan’s history, only falling shy of the 2013 attack on All Saints Church. A spokesman from the group responsible for the attack publicly took credit for the bombing and threatened to carry out further attacks.
Persecution Suspects Released in Churches Kenya Burned in 5 | KENYA Christians in Kenya are demanding justice Ethiopia following the acquittal of two suspects who had been charged in the 2014 attack in Mpeketoni, which killed 60 people. The assaults took place on June 15 through 17 and targeted police stations, markets, churches and crowded villages. One of the suspects was accused of transporting the attackers while the other was accused of charges related to planning and carrying out the attack. Local Christians have reported to ICC that this court decision was shocking to the community and has left Christians in the area doubtful about whether the government is prepared and willing to protect them.
6 | ETHIOPIA According to reports, more than 2,000 Christians in Ethiopia are without a place of worship, following local riots which led to the burning of several churches. The attackers were protesting government marginalization and that Christians were allegedly converting people away from Islam. One church leader noted that the churches were threatened anonymously to stop converting Muslims approximately a month before the arsons took place.
Relief Groups Banned from Visiting 7 | THAILAND According to an investigative report conducted by the BBC, Thailand has denied humanitarian groups and family members access to the detention centers where many Pakistani Christians are being held. A significant portion of these refugees are asylum seekers who had to flee their homeland due to religious persecution. The report also revealed the horrible conditions of these detention centers, which include insufficient food supplies, poor sanitation, cramped quarters, and unclean water. Many families in these detention centers report that they have been waiting for years to be assessed for asylum by the U.N. In the meantime, they are unable to access proper education, work, or healthcare and cannot return to Pakistan due to safety concerns.
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News 6 1,3
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1 | NIGERIA For two weeks spanning the months of February and March, Christians in Agatu Local Government Area (LGA) in Nigeria’s Benue State experienced unimaginable horrors. From February 22 to 24, radical Islamic Fulani herdsmen stormed the region, ravaging entire villages. When the dust settled, more than 500 people were brutally murdered during these attacks. In addition to the death tolls, countless homes and farms were destroyed, along with the accompanying livestock. Villages that were attacked during this assault include Adogbo, Ogboju, Abugba, Akwu, Ayilla, Okokolo, and several others. Although Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari launched an investigation into the matter, the violence continued. Although locals are thankful that the government is taking action to investigate the attacks, they are still waiting for relief from the violence. While the media focuses on the growing body counts, let us not forget the thousands who are also now displaced with nowhere
to go. For fifteen years, Christian farming communities have suffered terrible persecution in the Middle-Belt region of Nigeria. The most concentrated violence has ravaged LGAs in Benue and Plateau states, which have Christian majorities. While Boko Haram garners international media attention, rightfully so, Christians in the Middle-Belt region have long suffered from persecution with few speaking out on their behalf. This tragedy in Benue is a solemn reminder of the everyday persecution that Christians in this area are facing from Fulani militias. The prevailing narratives that focus on historical tribal struggles, turf wars, and conflicts over resources no longer serve as reasonable explanations for this level of violence. It is clear that this violence is a systematic assault on the Christian population of Nigeria.
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Hundreds Killed in Benue
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“Radical Hindu groups view the lack of government action as unspoken approval for their actions.” Attacks Continue Despite Congressional Letter to Modi 2 | INDIA On February 26, 2016, an open letter signed by 34 members of the US Congress was sent to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting that he specifically condemn attacks on India’s religious minority communities. However, ICC documented 27 incidents of religiously motivated violence in only one month following the letter. In total, these attacks affected more than 1,400 Christians and Modi has yet to speak out on the issue. Further still, India’s Ministry of External Affairs dismissed these recent incidents of violence as “aberrations.” According to reports, there were 365 recorded attacks on Christians in India in 2015, making last year the worst year for Christians in India’s independent history While the Indian government continues to stay silent, non-Hindus are facing threats and violence for exercising their faith. This is a freedom which is meant to be protected by India’s constitution but, sadly, reality does not match the law on the books in this case. As reported by media outlets in India, radical Hindu groups view the lack of government action as unspoken approval for their actions. Unfortunately, this means that the situation for Indian Christians will likely worsen unless Modi takes action and calls out for an end to violence against religious minorities. JUNE 2016
180 Hostages Rescued from Boko Haram 3 | NIGERIA In March, Nigerian military officials reported the rescue of 180 hostages held captive by the radical Islamic group Boko Haram. The freed hostages were mainly women and children who had been held captive for months. Boko Haram is notorious for abducting women and children and forcing them into conversion, marriage, sexual slavery, and suicide missions. During this mission, five militants from Boko Haram were killed.
Christians Held Hostage By “Thugs”
Sudan Cracks Down on Pastors
4 | VIETNAM A group of people in Vietnam has been held against their will under the authority of police in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. The group was coming to visit Tran Minh Nhat, a Christian activist who served a four year prison sentence and was attacked by local police leading to a head injury. When the group reached Nhat’s home, people described as “thugs,” allegedly sent by local authorities, surrounded the home and prevented the group from leaving.
5 | SUDAN Authorities in Sudan continue to crack down on Christians, particularly targeting pastors with arrest, questioning, and detention. Pastor Ayoub Tilian was detained by intelligence officials at an unknown location before being released on March 21. At the time of writing, two other pastors, Abdulrahim Tawor and Telal Nogossi are also being held incommunicado, without any official charges. Due to Sudan’s horrific human rights record, particularly against Christians, the US State Department has labelled them as a Country of Particular Concern since 1999.
Pastor Released From Detention 6 | CHINA As previously reported, Chinese pastor Gu Yuese was detained in January and charged in February for alleged embezzlement after publicly opposing the Chinese government’s cross removal campaign. Thankfully, the pastor, who served at China’s largest government-approved church prior to his detention, was released on April 1. However, following his release, Pastor Gu was placed under “residential surveillance.” It is likely that his release took place as a precursor to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping’s, visit to the United States. Depending on the restrictions that Pastor Gu will face as a part of his surveillance, he may not be allowed to leave his home or communicate with others. While it is a blessing that he was released, it is very concerning that he still is facing restrictions at the hands of the Chinese government.
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Your Dollar$ at Work
Relief for Pastors in Iran
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Underground Pastors
he Islamic Republic of Iran is not the greatest friend to the Western world and far less to religious minorities, especially Christians. In the majority Shi’ite Muslim nation, religious minorities are extremely persecuted by the theocratic government. The Ayatollah Khamenei and ruling Mullahs believe Islam is the one and only true religion and Allah is the one true god. Despite this reality and the fact that the threat of arrest and imprisonment are ever present, underground pastors are bringing the Gospel to the people of Iran. Due to the intense persecution these pastors face, they need as much support as possible. Through the Underground Pastors Fund, ICC has been providing Christian leaders in Iran with the much needed support they need to fulfill the Great Commission Christ entrusted to His followers and the God’s children.
Distributing Bibles in China
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Bibles for the Persecuted
s the Christian community in China faces some of the strongest persecution in recent memory, God’s faithful remain optimistic and happy. Cross removals, church closures, arrests, and beatings would likely discourage many Christians, but the strength and tenacity of China’s Christians offers a glimpse of defiance toward the evil one. China is more accessible for foreign organizations and nationals now as compared to the past, but distributing faith based aid is still a dangerous endeavor. Despite this, ICC and its regional partners were able to successfully distribute thousands of Bibles to Christian communities in rural China. The Gospel reached the hands of the young and old, the educated and uneducated. In all cases, the Bible was graciously accepted by recipients with open arms. Continue to pray for China and its neighbors throughout Southeast Asia as Christian persecution remains at a high level.
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Your Dollar$ at Work
Sharing the Gospel with Laos
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Bibles for the Persecuted
aos, like many Southeast Asian nations, is governed by a repressive government that does not allow religious freedom to thrive. Even though some of these countries protect religious freedom in their constitutions, these constitutional protections are treated more like suggestions than actual rules. For Christians living in Laos, persecution
is felt from the government, the military, and even Vietnamese influences as Laos has been a pseudo-vassal state of the communist regime since the Vietnam War. A desperate need of Christians in Laos is access to the Word of God. Through its Bible Fund and the help of partners in the region, ICC was able to provide thousands of Bibles to the persecuted in Laos.
Underground Pastors
s Pastor Kumar was leading a regular worship service in January, Hindu radicals stormed his small church in southern India. Shortly after entering the church, the radicals began beating the Christians that had the audacity to practice Christianity in “their” locality. Because Pastor Kumar was the leader of the church, the radicals focused much of the brutality on him. Following the attack, Pastor Kumar needed immediate medical attention for the injuries he sustained during the assault. That’s when ICC sprang into action. After visiting Pastor Kumar in the hospital, ICC was able to pay for all of the medical expenses that Pastor Kumar incurred following the assault. “The presence of ICC while I was in the hospital gave me great encouragement,” Pastor Kumar said. “I was really touched by the wonderful ministry ICC is carrying out for the suffering Church. I am so thankful for helping me pay for the medical treatment.”
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Replacing Destroyed Bibles
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Bibles for the Persecuted
n the days leading up to Christmas, it’s tradition for Christians in India to go caroling and hand out copies of the Bible to those willing to take them, free of charge. Unfortunately, religious intolerance in India has dramatically increased, making this tradition dangerous. This year, a team of Christians in southern India was out caroling and handing out free Bibles when they were attacked by a gang of
Hindu radicals. The radicals beat the Christians severely and burned a van full of Bibles and other Christian literature that the Christians were distributing. Through its Bible Fund, ICC was able to replace the Bibles and other pieces of Christian literature that were lost that night at the hands of the radicals. In response, one of the project’s beneficiaries said, “The literature replaced by ICC symbolizes that there is still hope for this nation and people. Thank you ICC!”
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Your Dollar$ at Work
Police Officer Slain
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Suffering Wives and Children
ichard Mwanzia’s family remembers him as a loving father, a devoted follower of Christ, and a brave soldier who fought the single largest persecution threat to the Church in Kenya: al-Shabaab. Richard died the way that those closest to him remembered him: in service to his country, to his family, and to his God. He was killed on January 27 in Lamu County, Kenya when the security vehicle he was riding struck an al-Shabaab improvised explosive device (IED). Five other officers died in the explosion. One week after Richard’s funeral, ICC visited his family in Machakos, Kenya in the spirit of Christian love, providing them with a food package to express our condolences and demonstrate unity in the Body of Christ. While their pain remains still so raw, Mwanzia’s family trusts God through the tragedy. Richard’s mother Alice and her family need your prayers.
Small Business Assistance
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Community Rebuild
n March 15, 2015, suicide bombers from the Pakistani Taliban attacked two churches in the Youhanabad neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan. As a result, more than 20 were killed and dozens of Christians were injured. Before the attack, many of the Christians injured were day laborers. The injuries they received as a result of the bombings were devastating because they took away their ability to provide for themselves and their families. When ICC discovered this problem, it started a program providing small business opportunities for those injured in the bombings. As a result, ICC was able to help over 25 Christian families in Pakistan open small businesses they will run to support themselves. In March 2016, ICC was able to finish serving all of the Christian families affected by the Youhanabad church bombings.
Medical Assistance
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Community Rebuild
op fled Ude village with her children alive, but not before sustaining a painful gunshot wound. “As I fled away with two of my kids, the bullets hit me on my right arm and began to bleed,” she told ICC. “I used part of my clothing to cover and try to reduce much loss of blood,” she added. Yop’s story represents one of many thousands of Nigerians in the country’s central “Middle-Belt” region that face brutal attacks from radical Islamist Fulani herder militias targeting Christian communities. Today, Yop is recovering and thanks God for sparing her life. Her doctors stand amazed that her injuries were not worse. “Sixteen pieces of bullet cartridge in that arm and the bones were not shattered is simply a miracle!” her doctors told ICC. ICC covered Yop’s medical expenses for her care and hospital visit. Please pray for Yop’s full recovery and confidence in the Lord for her safety.
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Your Dollar$ at Work
Bus Attack Kills Husband
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Suffering Wives and Children
hen he left his home in Nakuru County, Kenya for Mandera near the Somali border on December 19, Meshack Otieno had no idea that his journey would mark the start of untold agony and heartbreak for his family. Otieno, 43, was an experienced welder and had been called to Mandera for a job, right into the heart of a region rife with Kenya’s most notorious persecutor of the Church: al-Shabaab. The Somaliabased Islamist terror group has gained a reputation for brutal attacks in which they are notorious for targeting Christians. Otieno’s journey was cut short when al-Shabaab gunmen ambushed the bus near the northeastern village of El-Wak. During the attack, the militants began to separate Christians from the Muslims. However, Kenyan Muslim riders protected many of their Christian countrymen. Muslim women gave their head coverings to Christian women and helped others hide under the seats. Otieno was one of the people forced off the bus. When he tried to escape the attackers, al-Shabaab gunmen met him in the surrounding bush and tragically shot him dead. ICC traveled to the Otieno family home seeking to care for the family with Christ’s love. Thanks to the generosity of ICC’s donors, we provided food and basic sanitation supplies to the family for three months. Still, the family needs your prayers for strength and God’s provision.
Care for Egypt’s Kids
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Kids Care
hildren are the most vulnerable victims of persecution and, in many cases, are often forgotten by their national governments and even the global Christian community. In Egypt, thousands of children are in extremely difficult situations with little hope of ever rising from their current economic and cultural status. Large numbers of Egyptian Christian children live in deplorable areas of Cairo including the garbage slums of this historic capital. Here, Christian children are seen rummaging through the garbage of 22 million people looking for toys and other items of value. In these slums, the members of the Christian community work, play, and live amongst the garbage, but do so with a smile and positive outlook on life. To help maintain this positive outlook and provide a bright future for some of these children, ICC has been able to provide education, Bible studies, food, clothing, medical care, and training for their parents through the Kids Care Fund. ICC is providing this support to an entire village of Christian children with the hope that one day these Christian children will break free of the bondages of poverty and persecution. It is through the gracious donations and prayers of ICC’s supporters that this vital aid is provided to the often forgotten members of the body of Christ.
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The Disappearing Church of the Middle East
Overlooking the Ninevah plains, the heartland of Iraq’s Christian population, the absolute decimation of Iraq’s Christian population is evident.
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Feature Article
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n the near past, 21 Christians were martyred by Islamic extremists for their faith. Perhaps you have heard about them? No, these were not the 21 Christians brutally executed on a beach in Libya whose deaths were broadcast to the world on a highly produced video published by ISIS’ media arm. These 21 Christians, three women, eighteen men, were mostly unknown, killed in the small city of al-Qaryatayn in central Syria. The town of approximately 40,000, built on a desert oasis in central Syria, provides a microcosm of the situation confronting Christians across the Middle East. From ancient churches bulldozed, to ancient communities fleeing both persecution and war, from abducted church leaders, to lists of martyrs and hostages still held captive by Islamic extremists, from a disappearing Church, to glimmers of hope emerging from the ashes, the story of al-Qaryatayn is one that is echoed by Christians across the region.
Al-Qaryatayn: A Community Destroyed For the first four years of the conflict in Syria, residents of the town, both Christian and Muslim tried to remain neutral, keeping the fragile peace they had shared in a country torn apart by conflict. They were stuck between an authoritarian regime that had killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on one side, and an opposition group made up primarily of Islamic extremists on the other. Many fled the fighting to other parts of Syria, while others left for the massive refugee camps in neighboring countries, and still others fled to Europe. On August 3, 2015, ISIS fighters stormed the town and captured it. Nearly 300
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“Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims.” Christians were trapped and under ISIS control. A video published by ISIS showed the Christians as they were forced to sign a contract of dhimmitude, Islam’s semi-slave legal status for non-Muslims living in land under the control of Islam. The penalty for violating the rules of dhimmitude would be death, and for 21 of them, this was the fate they suffered.
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A Larger Story of Christians Under Attack ISIS militants also boasted on social media about the bulldozing of the St. Elian monastery; 1,500 years of Christian history reduced to a pile of rubble in the Syrian desert. The destruction of the St. Elian monastery is unfortunately just one of dozens of churchJUNE 2016
Top Left ISIS
recruits exhibit strength in numbers by raising their guns to the air.
Top Right The Ninevah plain, once occupied by Christians, is now almost entirely owned by ISIS. Bottom Left
An Iraqi Christian waits for medical attention in a tent.
Bottom Right
Iraqi Christians line up for food and medicine at a medical center in Erbil.
es and buildings across the Middle East that has been attacked in recent years. As ISIS militants swept through Iraq in the summer of 2014, the church bells across Mosul and the villages of the Nineveh Plain fell silent. ISIS was and is intent on destroying any presence of Christianity or other non-Muslim religion in the lands they control. The reality of what has happened to Christians led Secretary of State John Kerry to issue a declaration in March 2016, that ISIS or “Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims. Daesh is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology, and by actions – in what
it says, what it believes, and what it does.” As ISIS captured land in Syria and Iraq, they abducted as many as 7,000 women. They are forced into sexual slavery, given as prizes to become the “wives” of commanders or sold on the slave markets in Syria. Those who have escaped have told horrific stories of the abuse they suffered. The impact that these attacks have had on the Christian community in the Middle East has been devastating. In village after village, lands that have had a Christian presence for centuries, some dating back to the era of the apostles themselves, are now empty of Christians for the first time. Iraq was home to approximately 1.5 million Christians in 2003; now it is less than
200,000. More than 700,000 have left Syria since its conflict started in 2011. Egypt, the Middle East’s largest Christian community, has seen hundreds of thousands also leave the region. As you talk with church leaders about what comes next, they always look at the children around them. “What future is there for them?” they will ask. What drives so many to flee is that Christians feel that there is no place for them in the Middle East. They have seen neighbors turn on them and governments fail to protect them. Radical Islamic ideology has taken root and the region is fragmenting along sectarian lines. Many Christians believe that there is no future left for them. ISIS militants controlled al-Qaryatayn for eight months before the Syrian army was able to recapture it in April 2016. Much of the city was destroyed. The monastery was leveled, a church mostly destroyed, and both the Christian and Muslim graveyards were desecrated by the ISIS extremists. Now that al-Qaryatayn is freed, slowly some of the residents, both Christian and Muslim, have started to return and rebuild a life among the rubble. They do this knowing that ISIS still holds dozens of their neighbors and loved ones as captives, many sold into the slave markets. They also feel the loss of at least 21 of their neighbors that were executed for breaking the rules of dhimmitude. Yet there is still hope. Syriac Orthodox Patriatch Mar Ignatius Aphrem II, while visiting the city gave his hope for the future. “We lived (together) for centuries, we learned how to respect each other, we learned how to live with each other. We can live together again.” If it can happen again in al-Qaryatayn, perhaps it can happen elsewhere, but until then, we continue to watch the churches of the Middle East disappear.
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Your Dollar$ at Work
The Human Cost ICC interviews six people who were directly affected by the atrocities of ISIS.
By William Stark
S
ince the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), entire Christian communities have been systematically displaced and destroyed by Islamic militants. Watching this crisis in the Middle East unfold on the 24/7 news cycle has, in many ways, made it difficult to truly comprehend, much less empathize with, the suffering these Christian communities. For
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most, now numbed by this constant stream of suffering, individual Iraqi Christians have become nothing more than a faceless horde of victims to be pitied as a whole and not remembered or understood as individuals suffering because of their faith. In an effort to push through this compassion fatigue, we interviewed five Iraqi Christians, each with their own tragic story to tell. For some, ISIS forced them out of their homes and destroyed the places of worship that had been the symbols of Christianity in their village for hundreds of years. For others, ISIS simply
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tore apart their families. For all, the suffering is real and personal and, despite the fact that it is happening to thousands, should be understood and remembered on an individual level.
One Last Wave Since launching its deadly wave of violence in the summer of 2014, ISIS has massacred a large number of Yazidis and Christians across the territory it has conquered. Sana’a Najeeb, a Christian woman living with her daughter near Erbil, is one of thouJUNE 2016
Your Dollar$ at Work
sands who have lost the ones they love when ISIS swept through their village in Iraq. In a recent interview, Sana’a told ICC that she lived within ISIS’ borders for several days before ISIS divided up her family and sent her away because she is an older woman. “I was living with my husband and two sons when ISIS attacked our village called Qeraqosh,” Sana’a told ICC. “I was lucky that I had sent my daughter out of the village a week earlier to be with her aunt in another village.”
“Our house was far from the center of the village,” Sana’a explained. “That’s why we didn’t know that ISIS invaded the village and why we didn’t try to flee right away.” “After three days, we realized that ISIS occupied our village,” Sana’a recalled. “We tried to hide in our house, but one day three armed men broke the lock on the [gate] and then knocked down the door when we didn’t reply to their knocking. That was when the most terrible [period] of my life started.” “Immediately, the armed men took our fam-
ily to the local mosque where other Christian families were [being held]. ISIS separated the men and women and they told us that they would be releasing the elderly women,” Sana’a told ICC. “When they started separating us, I realized that this was the last time that I would see my husband and my two sons,” Sana’a said. “I wish that they would have left my youngest son with me at least,” Sana’a continued. “But they didn’t. When they forced [the elderly women] to leave the mosque, my youngest
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son waved his hand at me, telling me not to leave. I can’t forget my son waving his hand but I didn’t have a choice.” ISIS militants released Sana’a and the other elderly women on the outskirts of the village. From there, Sana’a and the others walked to where they knew Iraqi military forces were stationed. “There were mines we had to pass through in order to arrive where the Iraqi military forces were,” Sana’a remembered. “I walked [a] distance of four kilometers. It felt like the longest walk I ever took.” Since Sana’a’s forced relocation, she has heard very little news regarding her husband and sons. Several months after Sana’a’s encounter with ISIS, a Christian man from Qeraqosh, who was also taken away by ISIS at the same time Sana’a was separated from her family, escaped with news from Mosul. “The man told us that the Christian men were forcefully moved to Mosul,” Sana’a told ICC. “There, they were forced to learn the Quran and pressured into converting to Islam.” According to the escaped Christian, Sana’a’s husband resisted these attempts to convert to Islam and memorize the Quran and was publically flogged. Since then, Sana’a has received no news regarding her husband or two sons.
Destruction of Homes When ISIS takes over a predominantly Christian village, local Christians are sometimes given a choice by the Islamic militants. Either they can stay in their villages and pay the jizya (an Islamic tax levied against non-Muslims), or they can leave their homes behind and live in one of the numerous IDP camps outside of ISIS-controlled territory. This was the choice Yousif and his family faced when ISIS took over his village, Bartela. “We moved from Mosul to Bartela due to Christian persecution,” Yousif explained to ICC. This was years before the advance and even establishment of the Islamic State in the region. “When we moved to Bartela we thought that would be our final destination to live,” he continued. “The village is almost all Christians, so I built a house.” Little did Yousif or his family know of the coming advance of Islamic militants throughout the region. When faced with the choice of staying in ISIS territory or leaving all of his worldly possessions behind and moving into an IDP camp, Yousif chose to leave. As Yousif and his family fled this second round of persecution, they passed through two checkpoints on the road controlled by ISIS. At the second check point, the Islamic militants took all of the valuables they were carrying, including their money and their wedding
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Your Dollar$ at Work
The inner courtyard of St. Barbara Church before ISIS destroyed it. rings. “ISIS grabbed my husband’s wedding ring; they threatened to cut off his finger,” Nadera, Yousif’s wife, told ICC. Upon their arrival at the IDP camps, Yousif and his family had been stripped of everything except the clothes on their backs. Now living in an IDP camp, the family is struggling to find hope for a better future after such a turbulent past.
Disappearances As ISIS took more and more territory in Iraq and Syria, the region’s Christians were enveloped in terror and chaos. Thousands fled as soon as ISIS took over their towns and vil-
“Christian men were forcefully moved to Mosul...There, they were forced to learn the Quran and pressured into converting to Islam” –SANA’A
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lages. In the chaos, many Christian families were divided. For some, they were never reunited with the family members lost in the flight from ISIS. We interviewed Hana’a Al Sakka, an elderly Christian woman living with her youngest son, Jameel, in a refugee complex. She told us how us of the disappearance of her husband, Khalid, after ISIS took over Qeraqosh, a small village outside of Mosul. Hana’a and her family previously lived in Baghdad but fled in 2010, after Islamists attacked their church and killed 50 of their friends. In 2014, ISIS attacked Qeraqosh repeatedly and finally entered with the help of local Muslims. Khalid refused to leave the village until everyone else was safe. He stayed in Qeraqosh, but sent the rest of the family to Erbil. Unfortunately, ISIS caught him. “For a month, Khalid was able to communicate with us every day. He called us daily to assure us he was still a Christian and would not change his religion. He always said he’d never give up and after a month, we lost contact with him.” “I am really confused and don’t know what to do,” Hana’a told ICC. “I don’t know where my husband is or whether he’s alive or dead. Every day, I wake up desperate, waiting to hear news of him.” JUNE 2016
“My children living in other countries have encouraged me to leave Iraq,” Hana’a continued. “They say I am living in misery [but] I will never leave Iraq until I know what happened to Khalid. If he is alive, I will be here waiting for him.” As ICC concluded the interview with Hana’a, the raw sadness of the situation could be seen in Jameel’s eyes. When asked about his father and how is life is now, Jameel couldn’t reply. All he said was, “I hate ISIS.”
Destruction of Historical Christian Sites As part of ISIS’ campaign to establish a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, the terrorist group destroys all symbols and vestiges of other religions existing within its territory. This uncompromising annihilation has included the destruction of ancient churches, museum collections, and even world heritage sites. Shukuriya Butrus, an old woman from Karamlish, Iraq, told ICC that she was the last one to flee her city when ISIS attacked. As ICC interviewed Butrus, she was crying bitterly and mourned the loss of the ancient cathedral, St. Barbara Church, which was destroyed by ISIS when they took over the city. “They were not interested in my [pleas] to leave the church [alone],” Butrus told ICC. “The church was very old and St. Barbara is the patron saint of our city. The church was a symbol of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who’s the only way of salvation.” “ISIS didn’t understand this because they still live in darkness,” Butrus continued. “When they came to our city, all the [Christian] families escaped, but I stayed in my house and refused to leave. I saw ISIS going to church, they broke the main door and then entered into the church. They threw all the furniture out and destroyed it. Then, they gathered all the pictures together and burnt them. They broke all the windows and all the statues. The place was [turned] into ruins in only a few minutes.” “They were breaking my heart and my memories when they did this,” Butrus said, weeping. “The church was in our city even before I was born.” Karamlish’s history extends back more than 5,000 years and is famous for many historical events that took place there, including a battle that took place between Darius III and Alexander the Great. In the Middle Ages, Christianity was almost wiped out of the city when Tamerlane swept through the area. Despite this intense persecution, Christianity in Karamlish survived. Now the question is will Christianity survive this most recent wave of persecution brought on by ISIS?
Your Dollar$ at Work
“The church was a symbol of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who’s the only way of salvation.” –SHUKURIYA BUTRUS
Future of Christianity in Iraq In their crusade to establish an Islamic Caliphate, ISIS has inflicted vast degrees of physical and mental trauma on those around them, including Iraq’s already vulnerable Christian community. As ICC interviewed many displaced Christians in Iraq, there was a common question faced by all Iraqi Christians. What is the future of Christianity in Iraq? For many of the internally displaced Christians in Iraq, they have lost everything at the hand of Islamic militants including family, friends, possessions and homes. These events have inflicted their own mental toll on the Christians affected and many feel that there is no hope for their future in Iraq. This is another, more subtle, way ISIS is destroying the Christian community in Iraq. With no hope for a future at home, IDPs feel forced to take the treacherous route by sea to reach Europe. “I can’t believe that a father can take his wife and children by sea [knowing] that his family may sink,” Rabea Soran, a local Christian leader, told ICC. “[The] IDPs are doing this because they [have] lost hope in everything.” Unfortunately, many of these Iraqi Christians that do make it to Europe still struggle to survive. Some have even returned from Europe to Iraq from places like Germany and Belgium and have described conditions there as just as bad as they are in the IDP camps in Iraq. Stuck between these two realities, many of the Christians displaced by ISIS in Iraq are left with no option but to wait and see if there will someday be somewhere for them to live peacefully.
For many internally displaced Christians in Iraq, they have lost everything at the hand of Islamic militants including family, friends, possesions and homes. The call to prayer heard from this minaret is a sound that the Christians in the area have become accustomed to.
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ISIS ORGANIZATIONAL, FINANCIAL & MILITARISTIC ADVANCES FINANCIAL
ORGANIZATIONAL October 2006
February 2014
June 2014
FORMATION OF ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ
AL-QAEDA CUTS TIES WITH ISIS
ISIS SEIZES MOSUL BANK
Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, announces the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and put forth Abu Omar alBaghdadi as the leader.
ISIS “is not a branch of the al-Qaeda group...does not have an organizational relationship with it and [alQaeda] is not the group responsible for their actions,” said al-Qaeda’s General Command.
May 2010 NEW LEADER OF ISIS APPOINTED Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the new leader of ISI after former leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, were killed in a US-Iraqi operation.
April 2013 ISIS FORMED
ISIS militants seized control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city and robbed the Mosul central bank of $425M. They also reportedly stole millions from other Mosul banks and a “large quantity of gold.” The International Business Times named ISIS the “World’s Richest Terror Force.”
Feb 27, 2014
June 2014
ISIS IMPOSES RULES FOR CHRISTIANS In Raqqa, ISIS militants set rules for Christians where they could either convert to Islam, pay a gold tax and face limitations on practicing their faith, or be killed. Though many fled when ISIS arrived, about 20 Christian leaders accepted the new rules.
ISIS TAKES BAIJI OIL REFINERY After 10 days of fighting, ISIS militants finally gained control of Iraq’s main oil refinery in Baiji, which is south of ISIS-controlled Mosul. The refinery supplies about one-third of Iraq’s oil and refines crude oil into petroleum used for transportation and power stations.
JORDAN
July 2014 ISIS TAKES SYRIA’S LARGEST OIL FACILITY
Al-Baghdadi changed the name of ISI to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Henceforth, it was known as ISIS.
ISIS takes control of al-Omar oil field, Syria’s largest and most important oil facility. With a capacity to produce 75,000 barrels of oil daily, it quickly becomes a major source of funding for the group.
PROPAGANDA & SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS March 2014
April 2014
June 2014
July 2014
ANNUAL REPORT
ISIS APP RELEASED
TWITTER CAMPAIGN
DABIQ MAGAZINE
ISIS publishes “al-Naba,” its “annual report” covering the period of Nov. 2012 - Nov. 2013. The 400+ page report boasts of 1,047 attacks, 57 sniper engagements, 1,083 assassinations, 4,465 improvised explosive devices, and 607 rocket attacks.
ISIS’s app, The Dawn of Glad Tidings or simply Dawn, goes live on Google Play.
ISIS releases a recruitment video titled “There is no life without Jihad” via Twitter calling for recruits from the West to join their cause. The hashtag #AllEyesOnISIS begins to build grassroot support.
ISIS releases its first issue of DABIQ, an online magazine used for recruitment and propaganda purposes
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JUNE 2016
TURKEY
MILITARY
Kobani Mosul
Aleppo
IRAN
Nimrud
August 6, 2014
Sinjar
Raqqa
ISIS STORMS SINJAR
Al- Omar Oil Field
Storming the Iraqi town of Sinjar, home to a religious minority group called the Yazidis, ISIS killed, raped, and sold into slavery thousands of people.
Baiji
SYRIA
Tikrit Baghdad
Fallujah
IRAQ
April 12, 2015 NIMRUD DESTROYED Nimrud, an ancient Assyrian city and one of Iraq’s greatest archaeological treasures, was blown up by ISIS.
January 2014
January 2016
FALLUJAH CAPTURED
KURDISH FORCES TAKE KOBANI
SAUDI ARABIA
April 2016
July 2014
June 2014
CHRISTIANS FLEE MOSUL
TIKRIT CAPTURED
ISIS issued an ultimatum to Iraqi Christians living in Mosul - they must convert to Islam, pay a fine or face “death by the sword.” Thousands of Christian families flee with nothing but the clothes on their back.
With just 30 unarmored trucks, ISIS captures Tikrit without firing a shot. Fearful of ISIS after their successful takeover of Mosul, security forces fled.
SYRIAN REBELS ADVANCE IN ALEPPO Territory reached by ISIS Cities/Towns attacked by ISIS
(SUPPORTING RECRUITING & SPREAD OF TERROR) Aug 2014 - Jan 2015
February 2015
April 19, 2015
Nov. 13, 2015
BEHEADING VIDEOS
21 MARTYRS
33 MARTYRS
2015 PARIS ATTACK
ISIS releases a series of videos featuring the beheadings of James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, Alan Henning, Peter Kassig, and Kenji Goto.
ISIS releases a video of the beheading of 21 coptic Christians on the beach in Libya – declaring war on the nation of the cross.
ISIS releases a video of the operative behead two groups of prisoners, including 30 Ethiopian citizens.
The Paris terror attacks occurred, killing more than 120 people and hundreds more were injured. ISIS claims to be behind these attacks as well.
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UNDERSTANDING ISLAM The actions of ISIS and other Islamic terror groups at first seem to be madness. This special section on Islam will give you insight into the founder of Islam, Muhammad, Islam’s holy books, and Islam’s long history of conquering through terror. Once you understand Islam, the actions of its myriad of terror groups make sense and can be seen in context.
UNDERSTANDING MUHAMMAD Muhammad is not like other religious leaders. He behaved very differently than Buddha, Confucius, Gandhi, Lao Tzu, or Moses. Most simply, he was a a religious leader and a warlord, with all that entails. We know this from Islam’s own holy books, the Quran and Hadith, not books hostile to Islam. Islam’s books, The Quran (Muhammad said he was given the words of the Quran directly from God), and Hadiths both spend a lot of time lifting up Muhammad as perfect.
THE HADITHS (Built on the Siras) There are six Hadiths accepted as authoritative. Lower Four: Two Most Authoritative: Sahih al Bukhari Sunan al Sughra Sahih Muslim Sunan Abu Dawood Jamit Tirmidhi Sunan ibn Majah
THE SIRA (Built on the Quzssas) The Hadiths were drawn from the Siras (biographies) on Muhammad. There are three authoritative Siras. Sira 1: Rasul Allah (by Ibn Ishaq) Sira 2: Ibn Hisham Sira 3: Ibn Tabari
QUZSSAS Prior to the Sira, the record of Muhammad’s life was carried down the generations verbally by professional storytellers known as Quzssas.
The books detail Muhammad ordering individual people to be killed that oppose him, as well as the murder of whole groups. For instance, he ordered the killing of the Jews of Medina (the Banu Qurazya tribe) in 627 where he ordered the deaths of between 400 and 900 Jewish men. The wives and children were captives and sold into slavery. From the Islamic writings, it appears he participated in the killing as well.
THE QURAN Muhammad said this book was given to him by Allah himself. Muslims regard this as the direct expression of God. It contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islam. Here are just a few: “Fighting is prescribed for you, and you dislike it but it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you but Allah knows (best) and you do not know (best).” Quran 2:216
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM Shahadah Faith in Allah and Muhammad as prophet Salah Prayer five times each day Zakah Giving 2.5% of income to charity
“Take (the apostates [those that leave Islam]) and kill them wherever you find them. Do not take them for guides or helpers.” Quran: 4:89 Sawm “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them” Quran 8:12 “Soon shall We cast terror into thehearts of the Unbelievers, (specifically polytheists (including Christians) for heresy in regards to polythesim).” Quran 3:151 “Those who believe, fight in the cause of Allah…” Quran 4:76
Fasting during Ramadan Hajj Once in a lifetime trip to Mecca Jihad
The unofficial 6th Pillar, Jihad is a compulsory duty for Muslims
ISLAM LESSONS ON ISLAM From Islam Uncensored
By Jeff King, President of ICC. Available on Amazon. 1. Don’t Hate: We consider Muslims to have been captured and enslaved. Muslims that are not involved in terror need to be set free, not murdered or bombed. While you may hate the system of Islam, you should care for, love, and reach out to Muslims. 2. Islam Should Be Subject to Criticism: Islam should be subject to criticism as is every other religion, including Christianity. It is not “racist,” “bigoted,” or hateful to discuss or criticize Islam. 3. Islam Needs a Reformation: Criticism and uncensoring Islam should lead into a time of reformation/modernization that can be achieved through open dialogue and the creation of an environment of self-criticism. 4. Muhammad was Nothing like Buddha, Confucius, etc.: He was a warlord and this is seen in the Islamic holy books. Not books critical of Islam. He participated in at least 25 deadly mass attacks. 5. Radical Islam is Fundamentalist Islam: Groups like Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood haven’t twisted their holy books; they are merely following the strict adherence to its teachings. 6. Radical Views Are Widespread In Islam: While most Western Muslims are not interested in taking up arms, there are many with radical views and this is worrying to moderate Western Muslims. 7. Muslims Divide the World: In Islamic culture, the world is divided between geography subjected to Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the World of War (Dar al Harb) which is everything else. 8. Violent Jihad Has Always Been the Main Tool for Muslim Expansion: Without Jihad, Islam would have died long ago or been a minor religion. 9. Islam is More than a Religion, It’s a Religious/Political/Government/Military System: The introduction of jihad represents Islam’s transition from a garden variety religion into a new state-religious hybrid. 10. In Islam, Lying Is Legal: According to Sharia law, lying and deception towards your enemies during war or when in danger is halal (legal) and Islam considers itself to be at war with all non-Muslims. This practice is known as Taqiya (in Shia Islam). It is a bit more restricted in Sunni jurisprudence but not in practice. 11. Abrogation: Muhammad was relatively peaceful when he started but became very violent as, over time, he gained power, fighters, and wealth. Different verses in the Quran/Hadiths reflect these time periods and are often in conflict. Abrogation is the Islamic principle that the latter chronological verses override (abrogate) the earlier peaceful verses when in conflict. Muslim apologists and those that practice Islamic sanctioned strategic lying (Taqiyya) quote only the peaceful earlier verses to the uninformed Westerner to hide the violence and hate of Islam. 12. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States Are the Root of Most of Today’s Islamic Violence: The Saudi government (by their own admission) spent $100 billion spreading violent Wahabbi Islam around the world from 1970 to 2000. This does not count giving by normal Muslims in alms that went toward the same. 13. Saudi Penetration of the US: The Saudis hold the deeds to and control 70% of US mosques through the North American Islamist Trust. 14. Islam, The Persecutor: Contrary to Islamist propaganda, Islam around the world and in the West is overwhelmingly the persecutor - not the persecuted. 15. “Islam is a Religion of Peace” is a Strategy to Marginalize Islamic Radicals: The downside to this strategy is that it has led to the strangulation of open debate which is vital to bring about the modernization of Islam that is so desperately needed. Without discussing Islam’s shortcomings and weaknesses, there is less impetus for change.
TIMELINE: ISLAM Birth of Muhammad.
Muhammad’s 1st encounter with a spirit. Doesn’t know if he’s possessed or a prophet. Wife/Uncle convince him he’s a prophet.
Muhammad begins his public message, that God is one and He is God’s supreme messenger. This is rejected by Meccans.
Muhammad, 46 years old attempts to marry six yr. old daughter of friend. Marries and consummates marriage when she is nine.
570 A.D.
610 A.D.
613 A.D.
617 A.D.
People of Medina accept him and welcome him in.
621 A.D.
Muhammad and followers leave Mecca and flee (Hejira).
622 A.D.
THE FIRST WAVE OF JIHAD:
Abu Bakr becomes the first Sunni caliph, or successor to Muhammad and initiates Muslim expansion beyond Saudi Arabia. 632 A.D.
Muslims conquer Jerusalem.
Muslims enter Europe via Spain.
638 A.D.
671 A.D.
Muslims advance into Europe, halted in France at the Battle of Tours.
Muslims conquer Sicily and advance into Italy.
732 A.D.
902 A.D.
THE SECOND WAVE OF JIHAD:
Mehmed I unifies Ottoman territory ,solidifying its political and cultural presence.
1413 A.D.
Fall of Constantinople culminates in the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and subjugation of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
1453 A.D.
Sharia Law becomes the official Muslim teaching of Iran.
1501-1732 A.D.
THE THIRD WAVE OF JIHAD:
Muslim Prince Babur enters India, founds Mughal dynasty.
1505 A.D.
Ottoman Empire reaches Indonesia and Kenya supporting Muslim rulers in the region.
1512-20 A.D.
570 TO 1924 Muhammad begins Pledge of War where obedience to himself is pledged and it is agreed that the body will come together when under attack.
623 A.D.
After 15 years of messaging, Muhammad has only 150 followers (approx.). He tells his followers that Allah has revealed to him that his followers can attack those that oppose him and take their lives, their families, and their wealth. Number of followers explodes. 624-27 A.D.
Battle of the Trench: Muhammad and his followers beheaded 400-900 Jewish men and teenage boys that surrendered to him. Women and children sold as slaves or enslaved.
Muhammad dies after occupying Mecca for two years, creating a power struggle amongst his followers leading to the Sunni-Shi’a split which continues to plague Islam into the present.
627 A.D.
632 A.D.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MUHAMMAD
Muslims conquer North Africa.
972 A.D.
Sunni Muslim Seljuk Turks form empire expanding from Turkey to Central Asia.
1037-1194 A.D.
The Crusades.
1096-1291 A.D.
Mongol invasion of Islamic Lands.
Ottoman Empire (Islamic) founded by Osman I.
1220-60 A.D.
1299-1924 A.D.
Ottomans invade India, beginning centuries of conflict. Estimated 30-70 million Indians killed in Muslim attacks. 1398-1505 A.D.
MUSLIM EXPANSION UNDER THE CALIPHATES
High point of the Ottoman Empire.
1520-66 A.D.
The Barbary Wars: First instance of Muslim extremism against the United States.
1801-05 A.D.
Jews begin to return to Palestine in earnest.
1910 A.D.
Ottoman empire joins Central Powers in WWI.
1914 A.D.
Ottoman Empire (Muslim Turkey) kills 800,000 to 1,500,000 Christians in Armenia.
1915 A.D.
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE RISE OF THE STATE
Ottoman Empire collapses.
1924 A.D.
.
TIMELINE: ISLAM Muslim Brotherhood formed by Hasan alBanna in Egypt, ushering in the modern Islamist movement.
1928 A.D.
Saudi Arabia formed; seen as model for Islamic state.
1932 A.D.
World War II and the Holocaust.
1939-45 A.D.
UN recognition of the state of Israel sparks modern fray between Muslims and Jews.
1947 A.D.
Pakistan splits with India, creating first official Islamic State after inter-communal violence between Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims culminated in 500,000 -1 million casualties.
1947-49 A.D.
THE FOURTH WAVE OF JIHAD:
Oil shocks begin massive flow of money into Saudi Arabia and Gulf States. For the next 30 years, Saudis spend $100 billion building radical mosques, boarding schools, terror groups, and political organizations around the world.
Yom Kippur War; Munich Olympic hostage crisis.
1970s
1973 A.D.
Iranian revolution establishing the Islamic Republic of Iran.
1979 A.D.
Soviet-Afghan War: Mujahedeen “freedom fighters;” Osama Bin Laden’s quest against the West begins. 1979-89 A.D.
Iran (Shi’a)/Iraq (Sunni) War continues the religious conflict between Sunnis and Shi’a Muslims. 1980-88 A.D.
THE FIFTH WAVE OF JIHAD:
Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union; First Gulf War.
1988-91 A.D.
Taliban in Afghanistan formed.
Indonesian Revolution transitioning from dictatorship to democracy. Seen as possible system for Middle East nations to emulate.
1994-Present
1998 A.D.
THE SIXTH WAVE OF JIHAD:
Bombing of U.S.S. Cole by Jaish-eMohammed (Army of Mohammed).
2000 A.D.
9/11 terrorist attacks.
2001 A.D.
1928 TO 2006 1st Arab-Israeli War.
1948 A.D.
OPEC is formed.
Saayid Qutb, member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Publishes Milestones the “Communist Manifesto” of the Islamist movement; The PLO is formed by the Arab League.
1960 A.D.
Israel defeats Arab Nations in Six-Day War.
1964 A.D.
1967 A.D.
THE BIRTH AND RISE OF MODERN FUNDAMENTALIST MUSLIM MOVEMENT
Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat killed by Muslim Brotherhood affiliates.
1981 A.D.
Hezbollah is formed in Lebanon with backing by Shi’a Iran.
1982 A.D.
Bombing of Marine barracks in Lebanon killing 240 U.S. soldiers with Iranian support.
Islamists begin recruitment of foreign Mujahideen fighters in the US.
1983 A.D.
Hamas is birthed by Muslim Brotherhood in Palestinian territories.
1986 A.D.
1987-Present
Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Osama Bin Laden forms Al-Qaeda. 1988 A.D.
RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM
Operation Enduring Freedom (War in Afghanistan).
2001-14 A.D.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram forms in Nigeria.
2002- Present
Operation Iraqi Freedom (Second Gulf War).
2003-11 A.D.
Al-Shabaab forms in Somalia.
2004-Present
THE WAR ON TERROR
Al-Qaeda of Iraq (AQI) becomes Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).
2006 A.D.
ISLAMIC MILITANT ATTACKS A world map of the major Islamic militant attacks since 2001. The data was pulled from a much larger list found on www.thereligionofpeace.com.
CANADA
SPAIN
Montreal, QB - 2014.10.20 A convert to Islam runs down two Canadian soldiers with his car “in the name of Allah.”
Madrid - 2004.03.11 10 coordinated al-Qaeda bomb blasts on commuter trains leave over 200 people dead. UNITED KINGDOM Essex - 2013.10.28 A prostitute is killed by a devout Muslim for working too close to his mosque. FRANCE Paris - 2015.11.13 Islamic terrorists open fire and throw bombs in Paris, killing 130 people.
UNITED STATES Arlington, VA - 2001.09.11 Nearly 200 people killed when Islamic hijackers steer a plane into the Pentagon.
BELGIUM
New York, NY - 2001.09.11 Islamic hijackers steer two planes into the World Trade Center, killing thousands when the towers collapsed.
Brussels - 2016.03.22 14 people are killed when two suicide bombers detonate nail-packed explosives.
New York, NY - 2014.10.23 Four rookie cops and a female bystander are assaulted with an axe by a Muslim who says that he is acting in the cause of Allah.
DENMARK Copenhagen - 2015.02.15 A 37-year-old Jewish man guarding a synagogue is gunned down by a Muslim radical.
Dallas, TX - 2015.05 Two men opened fire outside of a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest. Both reportedly supported ISIS. San Bernardino, CA - 2015.12 A “very religious” Muslim shoots up a Christmas party with his wife, leaving 14 dead.
URUGUAY Paysandu -2016.03.08 A Jewish man is stabbed to death by a Muslim convert “following Allah’s order…”
NIGERIA
CHECHNYA
RUSSIA
Baga - 2015.01.07 More than 2000 villagers are feared dead following a killing spree by Boko Haram.
Grozny - 2002.12.27 Three Fedayeen suicide bombers kill more than 80 Russians and Chechens.
Beslan - 2004.09.03 Islamic militants shoot more than 300 fleeing students and teachers in the back.
SOMALIA
TURKEY
CHINA
Mogadishu - 2006.03.26 Islamic militias of rival clerics set off four days of violence, leaving more than 100 dead.
Ankara - 2015.10.10 Two suicide bombers massacre 100 demonstrators at a peace rally.
Aksu - 2015.09.18 Five guards are among approximately 50 people at a coal mine stabbed to death by Muslim “separatists.�
PHILIPPINES Basilan - 2016.04.09 Abu Sayyaf ambush and kill 18 local security personnel, some of which are beheaded.
SUDAN Akobo - 2004.05.01 Khartoum-backed militia kills over 200 people, including women and children in a raid on their camp.
IRAQ
KENYA
EGYPT
Garissa - 2015.04.02 Al-Shabaab members storm a college and execute nearly 150 Christian students.
Sinai - 2015.10.31 Suspected Wilayat Sinai terrorists bomb a Russian airplane carrying 224 civilians.
ISRAEL Jerusalem - 2003.08.19 Hamas takes credit for blowing up a civilian bus, killing at least 20.
Camp Speicher - 2014.06.12 Over 1,700 unarmed cadets are captured and massacred by the Islamic State.
INDONESIA Bali - 2002.10.12 Series of Al-Qaeda bombs in nightclubs kill more than 200 people. PAKISTAN Lahore - 2016.03.27 A suicide blast targeting Christians celebrating Easter leaves over 70 dead.
SYRIA
INDIA
Palmyra - 2015.05.24 Women and children comprise the bulk of 400 civilians executed in cold blood by the Islamic State.
Mumbai - 2008.11.26 Mujahideen throw grenades and shoot over 150 civilians and tourists to death.
QUOTES “I have been ordered by Allah to fight against people until they testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger.”
“We don’t make a distinction between innocents and non-innocents. . .only between Muslims and unbelievers. The life of an unbeliever has no value. It has no sanctity.” “When you meet - Muhammad [Westerners], (slit their throats). When you make the blood spill (from the Hadith) all over and the enemy becomes tired, . . .take them prisoner. Then “It is quite lawful for free them or exchange them una man to leave Islam, the prob- til the war is finished. . .use the lem is that he may lose his head sword and (behead) the enemy.” for doing so.”
“Norway and Sweden are experiencing a rape epidemic. The steady increase of rape cases and the link to ethnicity (Muslim immigration) are clear, unmistakable trends. Two out of three arrested rapists are immigrants with a non-Western background (Muslim) while 80 percent of the victims are Norwegian women.”
- Police Inspector Gunnar Larsen
- Omar Bakri Muhammad - Ibn Warraq (High profile Muslim cleric “Allah is our objective, the (Former Muslim and prolific based in the UK for 20 years) Quran is our Constitution, the author) Prophet is our leader, Jihad is
our way, and death for the sake “We have 50 million Muslims in of Allah is the highest of our “Jihad is. . . an obligation imEurope. Allah (may) grant vic- aspirations.” posed upon all Muslims by God. tory in Europe. . .without swords, It must continue until the whole guns, (or) conquest. 50 million - Muslim Brotherhood world has either accepted the Muslims of Europe will turn it Credo Islamic faith or submitted to the into a Muslim continent within a power of the Islamic state.” few decades.” “I’m sick of being labeled as an - Bernard Lewis -Libyan Leader Muamar ‘Islamophobe’ for speaking the (Author and historian. The truth. I am sick of hearing we al-Gaddafi are not at war with Islam, yet Political Language of Islam) their actions tell me that it has “Women who don’t wear a heads- been and continues to be at war “The purest joy in Islam is to kill carf are asking to be raped.” with us — Dar al Islam and Dar and to be killed for Allah.” al Harb.”
- Shahid Mehdi (Islamic Cleric In Copenha- - Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West gen) (22 year career in the United States Army, Iraq/Afghani“Use of violence for securing “Rape victims have no one to stan) - Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini
goals and terrorization of non- blame but themselves. Women Muslims are the pillar of Islamic who wear skimpy clothing, invited men to rape them.” morality.”
- Anwar Sheikh (Former - Australian Mufti Sheik Faiz Mohammed Muslim terrorist)
KEY ISLAMIC TERMS Abrogation:
Madrassa:
The doctrine where the latter verses of the holy A Muslim school or academic institution. book supersede the earlier verses.
Dar al-Harb:
“Domain of War.” This is a term used to describe a country not under Islamic law. It can be assumed there is hostility between these territories and Islamic states, as the areas that have peace agreements may be referred to as dar al-ahd or dar al-sulh.
Dar al-Islam:
Sharia (Shariah): The law of Islam.
Sunnah:
Sunnah are the acts, deeds, and words of Muhammad and encompass the Sira and Hadith.
Surah (Sura):
A chapter of the Qur’an.
World of Islam. Areas that have been conquered Taqiyya (Tauria): by Islam. The practice of intentionally deceiving others. It is considered halal (legal) within Islam when Dhimmi/Dhimmitude: dealing with enemies. Muhammad and later A dhimmi is a non-Muslim living with restric- Caliphs used deception to conquer their enemies tions that effectively make him a third-class citi- and the practice continues today. Many fundazen in Muslim lands. Dhimmis are individuals; mentalists adhere to the traditional Islamic view dhimmitude is the state they find themselves in. that the world is divided into: 1) that already conquered by Islam, and 2) the rest of the world Fatwa: where Islam is at war. In that viewpoint, it is An opinion concerning Islamic law in light of re- appropriate to use Taqiyya in dealing with nonligious insight. Fatwa is made by a scholar, and Muslims. in the case of Shia, it can be binding. These are familiar to Westerners when Islamic leaders is- Wahhabi: sue a fatwa condeming an infidel or apostate to Fundamentalist religious branch or movement death for some transgression. within Islam. This is the most violent and intolerant sect of Islam formed by religious leader Jihad: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the 1700’s. “To strive.” The term can refer to the internal Wahhab and Ibn Saud formed a strategic partstruggle of Muslims to keep their faith or the ex- nership that to this day lies at the core of the ternal struggle to enlarge Muslim territory. The Saudi power structure. It is the most influential overwhelming use of the term in the Qur’an has sect of Islam due to Saudi/Gulf funding. The to do with external struggle (warfare). A Muslim Saudis have admitted to spending more than who perishes in violent Jihad is granted a place $100 billion expanding Wahhabi Islam since the in heaven. major influx of petro dollars in the 1970’s. Funds to expand Wahhabbi Islam go to building radiJizyah: cal mosques led by radical Wahhabi clerics and A tax imposed on non-Muslims living under an madrassas (Islamic boarding schools) around Islamic government. The tax allowed them to the world. If there is a big shiny new mosque in live under the protection of the state and remain your town, odds are it is Wahhabi-funded. exempt from military service and payment of Zakah (alms).
Feature Article
Christianity in Egypt
One of the few dome structures in Egypt that isn’t a mosque, this Coptic Cathedral serves many Egyptian Christians.
From jobs to schools to daily living, Christians are forced to submit or pay the consequences.
T By Phil Sabella
he call to prayer rings out from the mosque as fingers of yellow and gold begin to win the battle over darkness in the predawn sky. “Allahu Akbar” sings the Muezzin. For thousands of Christians living in Egypt, this is just another daily reminder that their faith is not
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welcome in their country. When most people think of Egypt and religion, two things come to mind; Pharaonic Gods and Islam. Both are true and significant. But what most don’t realize is that for roughly 600 years prior to the Arab invasion, Egypt was a Christian nation, even reaching a point where it was the Christian nation. History holds that in AD 33, Mark the Evangelist brought Christianity to Egypt and, within 300 years, Alexandria became a major Christian hub. It was during this time that
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the Coptic Church grew and thrived. But that all changed in the AD 600’s when ‘Amr ibn al-’As conquered Egypt, bringing Islam to the nation. Since then, the Church has been systematically silenced and beaten down. Fast forward to today and Christians are being forced to live in complete submission to Islam. When you look at Egypt as a whole, the country has done a relatively good job at hiding the truth. But as you pull back the curtain, you find deep rooted persecution and repeated attempts to strangle and silence the voice of the church. From jobs to school to daily living, Christians are forced to submit or pay the consequences. When a child turns 16 in Egypt, they are given an ID card, much like a driver’s license in the United States. On that ID, one will find the person’s name address JUNE 2016
Feature Article Below: This fresco painting of Jesus is displayed on the wall of St. Mark’s Cathedral, one of the largest churches in Cairo.
Garbage City, an area where most of Cairo’s trash is collected, is also the home of the majority of the Christians. and surprisingly, their religion. Because of this, when a Christian applies for a job, they are automatically discriminated against due to the fact that they are Christian. To make matters worse, there is no way for one to change their religion to Christianity on their ID cards. It is simple to change one’s religion from Christianity to Islam but when trying to change it from Islam to Christianity, they are told to file a form that doesn’t exist. Bishoy Boulus was one of those who tried back in 2007 and he is still in prison for blasphemy charges. The hardest place for Christians to live is in Upper Egypt. Christians in this region are frequently beaten, raped and kidnapped by Islamic extremists and due to its remote location and limited access, little is done to protect them. Children in schools are fre-
quently taught that Christians are bad and they shouldn’t interact with them. “Life is so hard for Christians in Egypt. We don’t have the opportunity for good jobs, we are not allowed to worship freely and we live in constant fear of oppression” says Bakari (name changed for security), a lifelong Christian in Egypt. Please pray that God will give His strength and protection to the Christians of Egypt.
“Life is so hard for Christians in Egypt. We don’t have the opportunity for good jobs”
Blasphemy Charges “Confinement for a period of not less than six months and not exceeding five years…shall be the penalty inflicted on whoever ridicules or insults a heavenly religion.” This excerpt comes from Article 98 (f) of the Penal Code in the Constitution of Egypt. The heavenly religion is none other than Islam. Over the past decades, Article 98(f) has been thrown at Christians over and over again in attempt to silence the truth within them and scare them into submission. This past year, four Christian teenagers between the ages of 15 and 16 and their Christian teacher were arrested in Egypt for making a 30-second YouTube video in which they insulted ISIS. Apparently, someone in the court deemed that since they were insulting ISIS, they were insulting Islam and the teens were sentenced to five years in prison and their teacher was sentenced to three years. Their crime: insulting Islam. Also this past year, Kyrillos Shawky, a Christian man in Upper Egypt was arrested by local police and then suddenly disappeared only to resurface in court. He was sentenced to six years in prison because of a demeaning cartoon of the prophet Mohamed that he liked on Facebook. Apparently his Muslim neighbors saw it and complained. His crime: insulting Islam. When President el-Sisi took over in office after the Muslim Brotherhood was ousted, he promised a better life for the Christian population in Egypt. As he stood in St Mark’s Cathedral, the first president to do so, he promised reform and protection. However as time has gone on, little has changed. What he said will happen, is not what is happening and Christians live in constant fear of blasphemy charges.
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Feature Article
The Christian Genocide Thousands of Christians, Yezidis, and Shia Muslims flee their homes, often with nothing more than the clothes on their back, in hopes of escaping ISIS.
US Government Calls the Actions of ISIS Genocide! By Nathaniel Lance
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I
“
SIS (Daesh) is responsible for genocide (against) Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims. ISIS is genocidal by ideology and by actions. In what it says, believes, and does. [They are] responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.” Uttered by Secretary of State John Kerry on March 17, these words announcing the State Department’s decision to label the atrocities of ISIS as genocide against religious minorities in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, are just the second time a US administration has officially used the genocide label during an active conflict. With ISIS’ long list of violence including
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murder, rape, abduction, forced conversion, torture, and bombing, it is encouraging, but not surprising, to see the US government use the rarely uttered “G” word. Kerry’s announcement came just days after the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a concurrent resolution emphasizing the same judgement, and a few weeks after the European Union voted the same. The rare political bipartisanship shown in regards to this issue, along with international solidarity, clearly demonstrates the severity of the violence that ISIS has perpetrated on religious minorities in Iraq, Syria, and Libya. The European Union was first to label ISIS’ actions as genocide, doing so by a unanimous vote on February 4. This historic JUNE 2016
Feature Article
decision marked the first time that the European governing body labeled an ongoing conflict as genocide. The US Congress soon followed suit on March 14, again in unanimous fashion, through the leadership of Congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska and Anna Eshoo of California. Although the concurrent resolution does not carry the rule of law or require the President’s signature, the bill was a major declaration of the opinion of the US House of Representatives. These moves led to the decision from the State Department with the full backing of the US administration. With agreement between the President and Congress, the attention now turns to next steps. While difficult to predict, it seems that if Western leaders are officially using the genocide label then it makes sense to say that a more engaged military response is coming as “genocide” is the most egregious of crimes against humanity. The genocide convention of 1948 puts forth two requirements for labeling genocide; the first is that countries must work to end the genocide, and second is that countries must work to prevent genocide. Technically though, from a legal perspective, the genocide designation does not require the United States to take any specific action. The genocide convention uses broad language to allow each country to interpret the level of action needed for themselves. The administration may also make the argument that the limited actions they have already taken fulfill these requirements. That being said, it does seem clear that through the genocide designation, there is a moral obligation for the United States to do more to combat the ISIS-led genocide than they are currently doing. The United States is already engaged in very limited air strikes
Secretary of State John Kerry labeled the atrocities of ISIS as genocide on March 17, 2016.
against ISIS strongholds, and financial actions to disrupt the money-laundering schemes and freeze the assets of known ISIS affiliates There are also a very limited number of special operations forces who are serving in an advisory role to Kurdish and Arab fighters. Secretary Kerry went on to say that providing aid to Iraqis and those displaced by ISIS will continue, and that diplomacy must be part of the response as well, explaining the US’s continued engagement with coalition partners to “choke off” ISIS’ financial streams. Although the future actions against ISIS and the international community are not yet clear, the international and domestic solidarity against ISIS is an encouraging sign for those who seek to end the genocide and heinous acts committed by these Islamic extremists.
Hundreds of young men flee their homes to escape ISIS.
‘Part of our response to Daesh must, of course, be to destroy it by military force...’ – JOHN KERRY
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No Longer the Iraq I Loved... ICC staff visits Iraq and reports on the dramatic turn that conditions have taken within the past couple of years.
O
n March 5, 2016, I took my fifth trip to Kurdistan, Iraq, and as I stepped off my 20-hour flight from Washington D.C. to Erbil, Iraq, a sea of bitter emotions rushed over me. Though I knew this trip to the Kurdish region would be different from the previous trips, I was not prepared for the emotional pain and the horrifying stories I would encounter. I witnessed deep fear, pain, and uncertainty of a future that no government can seem to promise. During my first days in Duhok, Iraq, I was taken to a Yezidi camp, Bajed Kandala, a camp situated in a vast green land dotted with hundreds of thousands of small tents spread across the outskirts of the city. This particular camp of 12,000 Yezidis holds thousands of heart-wrenching stories, and tens of thousands of tears have flowed in its meager tents as each family has their own horror story. In Bajed camp, I had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Nemam Ghafouri, a KurdishSwedish humanitarian doctor who has dedicated her life to assisting refugees. During our meetings, she took our team to meet 30 of the most recently rescued victims of ISIS. Amira’s face has been burned indelibly into my memory. Only 17, she came into the room I was in, holding her sister’s hand and accompanied by Dr. Ghafouri. I immediately noticed the trembling of her small body
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as she readied herself to talk about being repeatedly raped by ISIS. She and her sister were the only survivors in her family. Her father slaughtered by ISIS, their mother sold off as a sex slave, her brothers murdered before her eyes while she was used as a sex slave for ISIS fighters. Her sister was spared the constant raping, but she, being the youngest and more delicate of the two, was raped repeatedly by four men. Each time her body was savagely used for the satisfaction of these cruel men, she endured beatings until she was bruised from head to toe. Every day, for almost two years, this young girl suffered daily brutal rape, beatings, and crushing dehumanization, all because she belonged to the Yezidi community. As I looked at this fragile girl, I couldn’t
“You are free in the eyes of your Savior.” I wanted so much for her to know that she is worthy of love in Christ. PERSECU ION.org
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contain my anger, knowing how this young child was ripped away from her family and stripped of her innocence. Just as palpable as the anger was a profound breaking of my heart and compassion for a soul and life that has been irreparably damaged. Due to the rape she had endured, in the eyes of her community, she was defective and unworthy of a suitable marriage. Whatever marriage opportunities she might have had before are all gone. She is now permanently stained. Although I knew she would not understand a word I would to say to her, and her eyes would not dare to look at mine, I approached her, embraced her, and whispered in her ear, “You are free in the eyes of your Savior.” I wanted so much for her to know that she is worthy of love and admiration in Christ. As I prepared for the second part of my trip to Duhok, Iraq, my heart was burdened. The next few days, I witnessed the evidence of mass murders that ISIS had committed in August of 2014. Remains of bodies spread across the Sinjar plains of men and elderly women who were slaughtered mercilessly, and left for the world to bear witness to the true face of evil. The Iraq that I once loved so much is gone and in its place is something grotesque. Truly, hell has been opened and evil has poured into Iraq. The country I knew died from a million cuts, each one committed with the cry Allahu Akbar (God is great). The only thing that can mend Iraq is the same thing that can restore and bring rebirth to Amira’s heart. This is my constant prayer.
JUNE 2016
Smoke rises from the Sinjar plains, the former home of many Yezidis who have been displaced by ISIS.
Bajed Kandala, a refugee camp in Duhok, continues to serve many victims of ISIS.
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ISIS Takes Note of ICC After one year in ISIS captivity, the Assyrian Christians’ faith never waivered. By Andrew Kerr
T
here was a time when the world looked upon the Islamic State as nothing but a small insurgency arising among the ashes of two biblical nations. I will admit I was one of those people who viewed them in the same manner. That view gradually began to evolve as people began to realize that ISIS is a legitimate threat, not only to the region, but also to the world. In truth, even then it seemed they would be a better organized Al-Qaeda, targeting Western forces and their allies. Then the name “Mount Sinjar” entered the homes of countless millions around the world as we heard about thousands of Yazidi men, women, children, and elderly surrounded on a mountain by ISIS with one goal in mind— extermination. From there I knew ISIS’ true intentions were to eradicate everything that did not follow fundamentalist Islam; ancient Christian communities and peoples would be wiped off the map, never to be heard from again. What began to follow, the constant stream of beheadings, crucifixions, and various other brutal methods made me think I had stepped into an H. G. Wells novel and entered another time. Scores of religious and ethnic minorities have been systematically targeted by ISIS in a coordinated effort to eliminate all vestiges of
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their history and presence from the region. As ISIS follows fundamentalist Islam, they leave Christians with a choice: live under dhimmitude and pay the Jizya (a tax on non-Muslims) or face death. For many, death would be a release from the horrors they experience at the hands of the barbaric Islamic State. Assyrian Christians in Iraq and Syria can trace their lineage back to the early Church, but many have been taken hostage after ISIS invaded their villages and cities. One such instance occurred in February of 2015 after 38 historically Assyrian villages near the Khabour River were raided in the dead of night. When the dust settled, over 253 Assyrian Christians were missing. Word broke that ISIS was holding them and demanding a large ransom per believer.
Men, women, children, and the elderly were in fear for their lives each day... PERSECU ION.org
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The amounts demanded would have been impossible for an average believer to pay but the biggest outrage was the lack of effort on the part of Western government officials to rescue them. The hostages had been in captivity for nearly a year when ICC released a petition directed towards the US State Department to recognize the hostage crisis, admit the targeting of Christian minorities, and make a concerted effort to see their safe return to their loved ones. Four days after the release of the petition, we received a call that was stunning. We spoke with an insider from Syria (whose placement and knowledge we verified) pleading with us to take down the petition. We were informed that certain people were in talks with ISIS attempting to win the release of the remaining hostages. A deal had been struck for the final group and then ISIS saw our petition and demanded to know why ICC (US Christians) were trying to bring the US government to bear on them when a deal had been struck. Upon the request of the negotiating party, we of course took down the petition and a short time later, news broke that the remaining Assyrian Christians held by ISIS were released and returned to their families. Their nightmare had ended.
JUNE 2016
The petition that ISIS took note of, and strongly reacted to.
The final group of Assyrian hostages in the province of Hasakah released from ISIS captivity.
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Who’s the Biggest Evangelist in the Middle East? You would never guess, but it’s ISIS! ISIS, The Muslim Brotherhood, al-Shabaab, and Boko Haram are creating massive discontent within Islam and causing many Muslims to leave Islam for Christianity. One prominent leader in the Middle East told me that ISIS is the evangelist, while he is merely the one doing the baptizing. On July 7, 8, and 9, we are gathering the Church to an international conference in the US to meet their persecuted brothers and sisters and those that work on their behalf. This year’s conference is focused on “The Disappearing Church of the Middle East.” From members of Congress, to nonprofits, to churches, to missionaries, to the persecuted themselves, we are gathering the free and persecuted Church together to learn from each other and to learn how to connect and fight for the persecuted Church as well as how to take part in this historic opportunity to reach Muslims in the Middle East. This isn’t an ICC conference, but rather a conference about persecution where the speakers and leaders we gather will give you the inside scoop on ISIS, persecution, and how to get your church engaged and connected with Christians in persecuted countries. Finally, we want this conference to be a call for revival for the Western Church. In the persecuted Church, you find real devotion, sacrifice, and great love for the Lord in spite of the terrible cost Christians pay for their faith. It’s that spirit that we love and hope to spread, starting with you! Come with us and let’s cross The Bridge together! Jeff King President Persecution.org/International Christian Concern
To register for The Bridge, please visit: www.thepersecutionconference.org or call George Gomez at 301-329-2846 44
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JUNE 2016
2016 INVITED SPEAKERS
Eric Metaxas New York Times best selling author of Bonhoeffer and Amazing Grace
Jason Upton Anointed Christian artist with 18 albums
Jeff King ICC President
Senator Marco Rubio (Invited) US Senator for Florida
Tass Saada Former PLO hitman
Daniel Shayesteh Former Iranian Muslim
Don James
Dr. Sharon Linzey Ackerman
Rep. Frank Wolf
Rep. Trent Franks
Juliana Taimoorazy
David Saperstein
Rep. Joe Pitts
Rep. Chris Smith
Erick Schenkel Director of The JESUS Film
Dr. Nemam Ghafouri NGO leader working with ISIS sex slave escapees
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JUNE 2016
The ancient ruins of an old monastery in Al Qosh, Iraq overlooks the now ISIS-occupied Nineveh plains.
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You Can Help Today!
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