Year: 2000

On Cults, Leaders and Politics in China

Letters from Chinese Christians Detail Local Problems and Persecution ANHUI “Here we only have one registered church, which is packed out with people standing in the courtyard. However, since the church was opened, none of the accounts listing all the believers’ donations have ever been made public to them. The pastor has dismissed several Christians who originally were responsible for the finances. He also hands over the donations to the Religious Affairs Bureau to use. Not long ago, several elderly believers formed a church, but the Three Self pastor asked the Religious Affairs Bureau not to grant them a license … Read more

Arafat Wanted This Day

JERUSALEM – 12 October 2000. The intense media war had already been raging for two weeks. Now, tank fire and helicopter rockets have been unleashed – against Yasser Arafat’s governmental and broadcasting positions. Today’s missile attacks on Palestinian government targets in Ramallah and Gaza City sent the clearest message possible that the Barak government, reflecting the anguished feelings of most of its Jewish citizens, has abandoned all hopes of ever signing a workable peace accord with the current Palestinian leader.

Israeli-Palestinian clashes center on holy sites

JERUSALEM, Israel, 11 October 2000 (Newsroom) — With more than 90 deaths and the destruction of synagogues and mosques, observers increasingly are describing the recent strife between Palestinians and Israelis as a religious war.

Sudan loses in attempt to win seat on U.N. Security Council

10 October 2000 (Newsroom) — Under intense lobbying from the United States and numerous human rights and religious groups, the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday rejected Sudan’s bid to win a seat on the Security Council.

Two UN Summits, One Millennium Goal: Conforming Humanity to Socialist Solidarity

“For the first time in history religious and spiritual leaders from the major religious traditions and from all regions of the world met at the United Nations to pledge themselves to work for peace. They signed this ‘Commitment to Global Peace’ and resolved to join together to address the pressing problems of conflict, poverty and the environment.” Commitment to Global Peace

Two churches hit with bomb attacks in India

10 July 2000 (Newsroom) — Bomb blasts damaged two churches in India’s southern Karnataka state over the weekend as Christians across the nation staged marches and rallies to protest sectarian violence.

U.N. vote on Security Council seat for Sudan mobilizes opposition

6 October 2000 (Newsroom) — The prospect of Sudan gaining a seat on the United Nations Security Council may help galvanize opposition against a repressive regime that condones slavery, religious persecution, and bullying its African neighbors, human rights and religious freedom activists contend.

Will UN Be Asked to Intervene in Current Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

JERUSALEM (AgapePress) – Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen exchanged gunfire in Gaza today despite an agreement to end the fighting. The Prime Minister of Israel says he hopes the violence that has claimed 51 lives is over. AFR New’s Jerusalem correspondent Carrie Hart reports on what effects the latest unrest could have on the peace process.

Open Doors Challenges Claims of Religious Freedom in China

When millions of Chinese evangelicals gather for services in their homeland, the worship is rarely music to the ears. Forget the last minute sound checks, voice warm-ups, or instrument tuning. This worship is music to the heart.

Attacks on Christians in eastern Indonesia resume

Dozens of Christians have been killed in renewed attacks by extremist Muslim warriors in Indonesia’s eastern province of Maluku. At least 32 people died in an attack on the Ambon island village of Hative Besar, according to news reports.

Kenya church, political leaders renounce decree to muzzle radio stations

Government plans to regulate the FM radio industry are an attempt to muzzle stations broadcasting in indigenous languages and will violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press, religious and political leaders in this East African nation charge.

Vietnam Jams Hmong Christian Radio Broadcasts

Authorities in Vietnam are jamming Christian radio broadcasts in a desperate attempt to curb the rapid spread of Protestant Christianity among the Hmong minority in the country’s northwest provinces along the China border.

‘Al Aqsa’ Clashes Persist as Albright Seeks Truce in Paris

Armed Palestinian rioters confronted Israeli troops at key flashpoints for the seventh straight day on Wednesday, while the US summoned Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Paris in a desperate bid to douse the unremitting flames of the “Al Aqsa uprising.”

VOM Hospital bombed by Government of Sudan

A VOM-sponsored hospital in Southern Sudan was targeted by bombs of the radical Islamic Government of Sudan (GOS) early Tuesday morning, killing one Christian worker and one other person and injuring several others.

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