Christian Persecution

The Forgotten Christians of Iraq

While the Kurds of Northern Iraq are well known, for some reason almost completely ignored in the current discussion are 1.2 million Assyrian Christians living, many in their historic lands in Iraq.

Blair Woos Leftwing Mitzna in England

Jerusalem (ICEJ) — While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was getting battered at home, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was hosting Sharon’s chief opponent in the upcoming Israeli elections, Labor Party chairman Amram Mitzna. Blair said on Thursday that he would work toward reversing England’s restrictions on exporting security-related equipment to Israel.

Sharon Speech Cut in Mid-Sentence as He Defends Himself

Jerusalem (ICEJ) — Israeli politics reached a crescendo of scandal and media hype on Thursday night as embattled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, walloped in the past week by accusations of wrongdoing, was cut off mid-sentence during a speech to answer charges of improper campaign financing in the 1999 elections.

Anti-Semitism Splashed All Over Cult’s Web Site

Jerusalem (ICEJ) — The web sites of the cult-UFO group, Rael, which claimed last week to have cloned a woman, are rife with potent anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli propaganda tucked among movement’s doctrines and cloning stories.

Arab Candidates Can Run for Election, Supreme Court Rules

Jerusalem (ICEJ) — The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the Central Elections Committee’s decision to disqualify two Arab Knesset members and the Balad party from running in the Jan. 28 election.

Labor’s Plan: Withdraw Israelis from Gaza Within One Year

Jerusalem (ICEJ) — A Labor-led government would drain the Jewish settlements in Gaza and transfer Israelis living there to the Negev and the southern coastal plain within one year, according to an internal Labor Party document obtained by Ha’aretz.

Religious Liberty 2003

Lack of religious freedom has always been an issue in Islam; however, the advance of the Islamic renewal movement and Islamic militancy has accentuated this. The rise of Hindutva over the past decade now extends to alleged government complicity in religious violence, and, in parts of India, anti-conversion legislation. Likewise the rise of Buddhist nationalism and militancy, which has lead to increased persecution, may soon extend to anti-conversion legislation being introduced in Sri Lanka.

Chinese Christian Family Beaten and Left in the Cold

At about 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 5, 2003, approximately 10 unidentified men burst into the home of Brother Hua Huiqi and his wife, Ju Mei in Beijing. Forcing all of the members of the household, including Hua’s elderly parents, to lay on the floor, the attackers savagely beat the family, breaking one of the legs of Hua’s 80-year-old father. They then confiscated all of the home’s portable heaters, leaving the family to suffer from the cold of winter. It is believed that the intruders were either sent by the police or could even have been plain-clothes policemen.

Ten Palestinians Die in Clashes with Troops, as IDF seek Gaza Bombmakers

erusalem (ICEJ) — At least nine Palestinians were killed and at 10 were injured in the early hours of Friday morning during an Israeli military operation in the El-Bureij neighborhood in the Gaza strip, according to Palestinian sources. The AFP news agency quoted Palestinian medical staff as saying that a 10th person, a woman, died in hospital of her wounds.

15 Suicide Attacks Prevented in Israeli Territory

Jerusalem (Bridges for Peace) — The Israeli Defense Minister disclosed that during the past week the security forces prevented 15 attacks that were intended against Israeli citizens and, in addition, arrested over 400 terrorist activists. “The IDF and security forces are making immense efforts to prevent terrorism. Over the past two weeks we are witnessing an increase in terrorist attempts against Israeli citizens. The assessment is that these increasing waves of terror are aimed at interfering with the democratic process in the State of Israel.”

Shooting Incident in Southern Mexico Signals Rising Tension

Traditionalist Catholic “caciques”(village leaders) in Chiapas, Mexico, accused evangelical Christians of provoking a violent confrontation that left seven people wounded by high powered rifles. However, the 27 evangelical Christian families left homeless for two weeks following the shooting say they are not at fault.

Christians Killed and Churches Burned in Nigerian Riots Sparked

by Miss World Protests At least one hundred people were killed and 200 injured yesterday as Muslim youths rampaged through the capital of Kaduna State in Nigeria in protest at a newspaper article that was said to have blasphemed the Prophet Mohammed. Muslim youths arrived in Kaduna city in a convoy of buses bearing Arabic inscriptions which observers suspected of belonging to an Islamic organisation. As the day wore on the protest became more violent. Chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great), thousands of youths marched on the Kaduna offices of ThisDay where they proceeded to search for the Chief Correspondent, … Read more

More Than 200 Churches Destroyed in Kaduna, Nigeria

Christian University Worker Arrested for Controversial Prayer by Obed Minchakpu KADUNA, Nigeria (Compass) — A total of 294 churches have been burned in Kaduna city of northern Nigeria during Muslim-Christian clashes since the Kaduna state government decided to adopt and implement the Islamic legal system last year. The violence has also left thousands of Christians homeless and dramatically increased the number of widows and orphans, according to the Macedonian Initiative (MI), a Christian non-governmental organization, which released the figures in June. Nigerian Christian ministers and denominational leaders established the Macedonian Initiative to provide aid to those who have suffered because … Read more

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