Displaying items by tag: Middle East

Nessrine Hamad, aged six, is covered with a painful rash and has tears in her eyes. ‘She has been like that for three days,’ her mother said. ‘It is because of the dirty water. Most of the children here have sores on their skin.’ Dozens of families accused of having relatives in IS have been forcibly displaced to Shahama camp by the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), under the control of the Iraqi army. The camp, located north of Tikrit, has been described by Human Rights Watch as ‘akin to an open-air prison’. They are prevented from coming and going freely, only allowed to leave via ambulance for medical emergencies, and even then some are rejected by the main hospital in Tikrit when staff discover they are from Shahama. Dirty water, food and medical shortages have made living conditions in the camp unbearable. People in the camp are also barred from having mobile phones.

The UK Government is being tested on the issue of whether or not to stand with Israel. With terror threats on every side, the Jewish state is potentially in as great a peril now as its people were under the Nazis. An estimated 120,000 missiles are aimed at Israeli cities by Iran-sponsored, Lebanese-based terror group Hezbollah, while their supporters have been allowed to march through London streets waving flags featuring an assault rifle and calling for Israel’s destruction. To date 11,177 people have signed a petition calling on the UK Government to ban Hezbollah. On 22 June, in the House of Commons, Amber Rudd said she would look into banning the annual demonstration and proscribing Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. Conservative MP John Howell believes that no lasting peace is possible if Palestinians continue to be indoctrinated to hate Jews, while Scottish MP Ross Thomson called for a full ban on Hezbollah, adding Israel was a beacon of democracy in a troubled region. See also

Nikki Haley, the new US ambassador to the UN, has described her first Security Council meeting, which was discussing the Middle East, as ‘very strange’. She expected to be addressing maintenance of international peace and security. However, the debate was not about Hezbollah’s illegal build-up of rockets in Lebanon, or about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists, or how to defeat IS. It was not about holding President Assad accountable for slaughtering hundreds of thousands of civilians. Instead it focused on criticising Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. She said, ‘ I am new around here, but I understand that that’s how the council has operated month after month for decades. I am here to say that the US will not turn a blind eye to Israel’s needs any more.’

An Egyptian blogger writes: ‘Lack of parking spots used to be one of the few concerns on Cairo streets, but there’s a different perspective now. Families used to go to church together to celebrate; now they separate, attending mass in twos and threes in different churches. It’s a precaution so that at least part of the family will survive in the event of a bomb attack. Now that most places of worship have closed their doors to visitors for “safety” reasons, people have lost the opportunities to make their usual summer spiritual visits to places of peace and prayer. Churches have cancelled all children’s summer camps and trips. I make fewer trips to church, and have become very selective where I go. With many warnings on social media against going to malls and public places, I am wary about my errands. Security checks and metal detectors all around me add to my fear instead of making me feel secure.’

A civil council, which is expected to rule Raqqa once IS is dislodged from the Syrian city, pardoned 83 of the jihadist group's low-ranking militants recently as a goodwill gesture designed to promote stability. They were transported to the Raqqa city HQ, in an amnesty coinciding with Eid-ul-Fitr. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces predict that Raqqa could fall within months. ‘We would never release senior Daesh officials or anyone who has blood on their hands’, senior council member Omar Aloush told Reuters. ‘We are giving these men a second chance.’ Abdel Rahman Kalas, 43, worked in the IS department that imposed taxes on citizens. ‘I have seven children’, he said, as former militants walked away after the ceremony to face the uncertainty that hangs over the city. ‘I had no choice but to cooperate. They paid me $115 a month.’

Dr Daphne Burdman, a psychiatrist, pathologist and lieutenant colonel in the US army, says that in both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas-ruled Gaza, there are carefully planned and widespread campaigns to incite children to hatred. This process of incitement has had totally inadequate coverage in the international media, and these deeply ‘successful’ programmes - based on both old and new techniques of persuasion and indoctrination - are being ignored by the west. There is mounting evidence that some techniques are similar to, and been inspired by, those used by totalitarian regimes such as the Soviet KGB and Chinese intelligence services. This incitement of Palestinian children has led to widespread hatred and a propensity for violence among them. Palestinian leaders urge them to carry out violent acts against Israelis, even though they are likely to be wounded or killed. They are promised that they will become martyrs.

Ramadan is a time of increased security tensions, particularly on Fridays when hundreds of thousands of people gather on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for prayer. Lord, give wisdom to Israel’s security forces during this month to know how to handle the emotions of multitudes of Muslims, often stirred up against Israel by the preaching of their leaders. Give alertness to those who are guarding against people intent on doing evil acts of terror, especially after many days of high alert during President Trump’s visit. Protect security personnel from murderous attacks against them. Guard them against ‘alertness-fatigue’, tiredness, hot weather, and mobile phone distractions. Give police, government and security guards discernment of danger and decisiveness to act when needed. Pray that Jerusalem, ‘the city of the Great King’ (Psalm 48:2), will be kept safe. ‘Like birds flying about, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem’ (Isaiah 31:5).

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran on 7 June, killing at least 13 people. IS claimed responsibility, and threatened more attacks against Iran’s majority Shi'ite population. Iran's Revolutionary Guards blame their regional rival Saudi Arabia. Sunni Saudi Arabia denied any involvement in the attacks, but the assault further fuels tensions between Riyadh and Tehran as they vie for control of the Gulf and influence in the wider Islamic world. The attack happened one week after the meeting between Donald Trump and the Saudi leaders (who support terrorists). Trump said that he prayed for the attack victims but added, ‘States that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.’

A Christian agency in Israel said, ‘We see a great deal of fear among vulnerable members of our Eritrean community,’ after a new law, known as the Deposit Law, was implemented by the government. It deducts 20% from the earnings of African asylum-seekers, and their employers must also make monthly payments equivalent to 16% of the person’s salary. This law impacts the 40,000 Eritreans (mainly Christians) who fled to Israel hoping to find freedom and security in a country where they could worship without fear. The funds - from employee and employer - will be set aside by the Israeli government and released to the individual asylum-seeker when they agree to leave the country permanently. No Eritreans wish to return to the brutal communist regime which hounds Christians, imprisoning them for years in atrocious conditions just for meeting together to pray. Eritreans trying to go to Uganda or Rwanda have sometimes ended in the hands of human traffickers or been killed by IS.

A recent wave of terror has brought fear to people in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. Many are fearful of exposing their families to danger. Tourism is in decline as many people cancel holidays, causing negative effects on the Israeli economy. This damages small businesses and the families they support. The attacks, which many have called the ‘third intifada,’ have worsened a major ongoing problem. Recent reports show that almost one third of Israeli families live below the poverty line. Thousands of babies frequently miss meals or have their feed portions diluted, causing an increased likelihood of experiencing significant problems in their physical and mental growth. If this continues, one-third of Israel’s population will enter adulthood under these circumstances. Pray for underprivileged families to receive enough support from government programmes and NGOs to enable them to manage their basic living expenses. May the children and babies receive the food, clothing and education they need.