Displaying items by tag: Syria

Friday, 16 February 2018 09:32

Syria: Israeli air strikes

Israeli planes regularly strike Syrian facilities to disrupt and prevent Iranian missiles being delivered to Hezbollah in Lebanon. However the loss of an Israeli fighter jet marked a serious escalation in hostility as Israel bombarded Syria in their largest air strikes since 1982. The final chapters of this battle should be a shift of opportunity but US, Russian, Turkish, Iranian and Israeli forces are active parties to the conflict. The UN said, ‘The conduct and management of this war has been utterly shameful and the failure to end it marks an epic failure of global diplomacy.’ Many now believe steps toward a new and lasting approach to Syria should begin in Washington and Moscow, because local and regional parties cannot make peace amongst themselves - and may not have an interest in doing so. Pray for the Security Council to be united in bringing peace to the region, and to be a forum for action rather than a podium for speeches and recriminations. See also

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 09 February 2018 09:40

Turkish offensive on Afrin

On 20 January, Turkey launched an air and ground offensive against the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in Afrin, on the Syrian/Turkish border. The action has revealed a well-defined split in the Syrian public between supporters and opponents of the operation of daily bombing by troops, tanks, artillery and war planes. Some Syrians support this action as it could provide an opportunity for them to return home; others fear Turkey’s intentions are far from noble. Hundreds have died. 400,000 Kurds are sheltering in Afrin, and no one can enter or leave the area. Many believers are sheltering in churches. See also

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 09 February 2018 09:38

Syria still using banned chemical weapons

Amnesty International says that testimony gathered from the scene showed evidence that on 4 February the Syrian government used internationally-banned chemical weapons on the town of Saraqib. It accuses the Assad regime of showing ‘utter contempt’ for international law. The next day the UN Security Council failed to agree on a US-proposed statement condemning the continued use of chemical weapons in Syria. Russia was blamed by some diplomats for this failure. On 6 February, another chemical attack is reported to have targeted Afrin. An eyewitness reported, ‘Russian airplanes have not left the skies of East Ghouta. I watched missiles that look like they were made locally, carrying chemicals targeting civilians specifically in Douma. The fear is difficult to comprehend. Women and children are running in chaos. Injured are everywhere with blood all over. It is a civilian massacre. The airplanes come back to target the rescuers attending the wounded.’

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Police arrested senior members of the Turkish Medical Association, and President Erdogan branded them ‘terrorist lovers’. The association, which represents 80,000 doctors, publicly voiced opposition to the offensive against Syrian Kurdish militia, warning: ‘Every clash, every war, causes physical, psychological, social and environmental health problems, and human tragedy.’ After publishing their statement they were inundated with threats of violence via telephone, email and social media. The New York-based Physicians for Human Rights group condemned the intimidation campaign. ‘It is a bleak commentary on the state of affairs in Turkey that a group of doctors can’t make a peaceful statement without being targeted with physical threats and condemned by the head of state’, said Dr Homer Venters. ‘Medical professionals must have the freedom to call out threats to public health without fear of retribution.’

Published in Worldwide
Wednesday, 31 January 2018 16:51

215 Million Christians Persecuted, Mostly by Muslims

by Raymond Ibrahim
January 21, 2018 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11775/persecuted-christians-open-doors

In short, the overwhelming majority of persecution that these 215 million Christians experience around the world — especially the worst forms, such as rape and murder — occurs at the hands of Muslims.

If time is on the side of Christians living under Communist regimes, it is not on the side of Christians living under Islam. The center of the great Christian Byzantine Empire is now an increasingly intolerant, rapidly Islamizing Turkey. Carthage, once a bastion of Christianity — where one of Christendom's greatest theologians, St. Augustine, was born and where the New Testament canon was confirmed in 397 — is today 99% Muslim-majority Tunisia.

As what began in the seventh century comes closer to fruition and the entire world becomes more Islamic and "infidel" free, as in Iraq, confronting these uncomfortable facts is at least a welcome first step in countering the problem.

"215 million Christians experience high levels of persecution" around the world, according to Open Doors, a human rights organization. On its recently released World Watch List 2018, which ranks the world's 50 worst nations wherein to be Christian, 3,066 Christians were killed, 1,252 abducted, and 1,020 raped or sexually harassed on account of their faith; and 793 churches were attacked or destroyed.

The Islamic world had the lion's share of this persecution; 38 of the 50 worst nations are Muslim-majority. The report further cites "Islamic oppression" behind the "extreme persecution" that prevails in eight of the 10 worst nations. In short, the overwhelming majority of persecution that these 215 million Christians experience around the world — especially the worst forms, such as rape and murder — occurs at the hands of Muslims.

These Muslims come from all walks of life and reflect a variety of races, nationalities, languages, socio-economic and political circumstances. They include Muslims from among America's closest allies (Saudi Arabia #12 worst persecutor) and Muslims from its opponents (Iran #10); Muslims from rich nations (Qatar #27 and Kuwait #34) and Muslims from poor nations (Afghanistan #2, Somalia #3, and Yemen #9); Muslims from widely recognized "radical" nations (Pakistan #5), and Muslims from "moderate" nations (Malaysia #23 and Indonesia #38).

But if the World Watch List ranks North Korea — non-Islamic, communist — as the number one worst persecutor of Christians, why belabor the religious identity of Muslims? Surely North Korea's top spot suggests that Christian persecution is not intrinsic to the Islamic world but is rather a byproduct of repressive regimes and other socio-economic factors that proliferate throughout the Muslim world?

There are some important distinctions that need to be made. While Christians are indeed experiencing a "life of hell" in North Korea, overthrowing Kim Jong-un's regime could not only lead to a quick halt to this persecution but also to a rise of Christianity — as has happened recently in Russia. Under the Soviet Union, between 12 and 25 million Christians were killed for their faith[1], and approximately 153,000 churches were shut down.[2] Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, about a thousand churches have been (re)built every year, and, according to a 2014 Pew report, between 1991 and 2008, Russians identifying themselves as Orthodox Christian rose from 31% to 72%. That "South Korea is so distinctively Christian" reflects what could be in store — and creating fear for — its northern counterpart.

In the Islamic world, the fall of dictatorial regimes rarely seems to alleviate the sufferings of Christians. On the contrary, when secular dictators fall — Saddam in Iraq, Qaddafi in Libya, and attempts against Assad in Syria — persecution of Christian seems to rise as a grassroots byproduct. Today, Iraq is the eighth worst nation in the world in which to be Christian, Syria is fifteenth, and Libya seventh. Under dictators, these countries were significantly safer for religious minorities.

A militiaman from the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU) walks through a destroyed church on November 8, 2016 in Qaraqosh, Iraq. The NPU is a militia made up of Assyrian Christians that was formed in late 2014 to defend against ISIS. Qaraqosh is a mostly Assyrian city near of Mosul that was captured by ISIS in August 2014, and liberated in November 2016. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Similarly, the only countries that were part of the former Soviet Union that still persecute Christians are, rather tellingly, the Muslim-majority ones of Central Asia. These include Uzbekistan (#16 worst persecutor), Turkmenistan (#19), Tajikistan (#22), Kazakhstan (#28) and Azerbaijan (#45).[3]

The "extreme persecution" of Christians throughout the Muslim world is part of a continuum begun nearly fourteen hundred years ago. The same patterns of persecution are still prevalent — including attacks for blasphemy and apostasy, restrictions and attacks on churches, and a general contempt for — followed by the vile treatment of — "subhuman infidels."

Unlike the persecution of Christians in Communist nations, rooted to a particular regime, Muslim persecution of Christians is perennial, existential, and far transcends any ruler or regime. It unfortunately seems part and parcel of the history, doctrines, and socio-political makeup of Islam — hence its tenacity and ubiquity. It is a "tradition."
That those persecuting Christians come from a wide variety of racial, linguistic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds — from African, Arab, Asian, and Caucasian nations — and share little in common with one another, except for Islam, sadly only further underscores the true source of the persecution.

If time is on the side of Christians living under Communist regimes, it is not on the side of Christians living under Islam. The center of the great Christian Byzantine Empire is now an increasingly intolerant, Islamizing Turkey. Carthage, once a bastion of Christianity — where one of Christendom's greatest theologians, St. Augustine, was born and where the New Testament canon was confirmed in 397 — is today 99% Muslim-majority Tunisia. Centuries of persecution and forcing non-Muslims to live as barely-tolerated third-class residents are responsible for the demographic shift that Tunisia and other formerly non-Muslim nations are experiencing.

Long after North Korea's Kim Jong-un has gone, tens of millions of Christians and other "infidels" will still suffer persecution. As what began in the seventh century comes closer to fruition and the entire world becomes more Islamic and "infidel" free, as in Iraq, confronting these uncomfortable facts is at least a welcome first step in countering the problem.

Raymond Ibrahim is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (published by Regnery with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).

[1] James M. Nelson, Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality, 2009, p. 427.
[2] Paul Froese, "Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 43, Number 1, March 2004, p. 42
[3] While Open Doors ascribes the persecution of Christians in these five nations to "Dictatorial Paranoia," considering that they are all overwhelmingly Muslim majority, it seems reasonable to conclude that Islam is at least partially responsible. Open Doors itself notes that "There is a grassroots revival of Islam in Central Asia, and that means more pressure from the nationalist pro-Islamic governments and within society—causing increased persecution levels on two fronts."

The 50 worst places on Earth for Christians
'They will just execute somebody who commits their life to faith'
http://www.wnd.com/2018/01/the-50-worst-places-on-earth-for-christians/

215,000,000 Christians Persecuted, Mostly by Muslims
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11775/persecuted-christians-open-doors

Friday, 26 January 2018 09:28

Syria: the forgotten people

Last week we prayed for more international intervention to end the unspeakable conditions in Ghouta, near Damascus. Please continue to pray for the beleaguered 400,000 inhabitants still living in the area, who have been under siege for five years. Throughout January they have been pounded with 350+ airstrikes, killing approximately 200 civilians, including many women and children. Recently the Syrian American Medical Society announced that the regime had allowed only 29 out of the approved list of 500 critically ill patients to be evacuated for hospitalisation. Incessant mortar fire by rebel fighters is wounding and killing people in a predominantly Christian district of Damascus. The most recent report, on 22 January, stated that another 21 people had been wounded in the area. Armed opposition forbids food, medicine or aid into a zone established by Russia, Iran and Turkey. Click the ‘More’ button for a Voice of America report. See and

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 19 January 2018 10:23

Chilling threat to Britain

Ex-army colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon became a volunteer in Syria and said, ‘I’ve never seen anything as horrific as what is going on in Ghouta. Its starving people live underground in cellars, caves and tunnels. Three times in the past four days chlorine bombs were dropped by Syrian forces. Outlawed by the Geneva Convention, the chlorine combines with water in the lungs to produce hydrochloric acid, which dissolves the lungs. When civilians are flushed out onto the streets, they face death from the barrel-bombs and high-energy explosives that rain down from Putin’s Russian jets and Assad’s aircraft. Water is contaminated. Hospitals are targeted in air strikes. Ghouta is the last bastion to hold out against Bashar al-Assad and its inhabitants are being bombed, gassed and starved into submission.’ He added, ‘Putin can do as he pleases, and there will be chilling consequences for Britain’s security unless we act.’

Published in British Isles
Friday, 19 January 2018 09:56

Syria/US/Turkey: fragile relationships

The USA is working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to create a border force, potentially 30,000 fighters, along the Turkey/Iraq borders and along the Syrian side of the Euphrates. Since 2014 it has led the coalition of nations using air strikes and specialist troops to fight IS across Syria and Iraq. IS has now lost most of that territory. For much of the war, the US and Turkey worked together against the Assad government. But this decision to back Kurdish fighters has enraged Ankara, and Syria denounced any new border force as an assault on its sovereignty, adding that Syrians joining the force would be ‘traitors’. Turkey vowed to ‘drown’ Kurdish border security forces in bullets, and Erdogan accused America of forming a ‘terrorist’ force on Turkey’s border. The fragile state of relations between the nations deteriorates.

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Thursday, 21 December 2017 14:18

Syria: fighting and refugee plight

In just one area of East Damascus over 500 Syrians are in urgent need of medical evacuation from an area which has been under siege since 2013. There are severe food shortages, with 11.9% of children suffering from acute malnutrition. On 20 December, in the western countryside of Damascus province, advances against the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda terrorists were being made and a number of key hilltops were captured. Pray for civilians still trapped in jihadist strongholds. Pray for those living in fear and desperation, where Syrian troops are unleashing machine gun fire from the hills above their towns, particularly Mazaraat Beit Jinn and Mughir al-Mir. Pray for jihadist fighters to be prevented from mobilising any coordinated counter-attack against army advances in key areas such as East and West Damascus.

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The 'Hope for the Middle East' petition, signed by over 800,0000 people, was presented at the United Nations on 12 December, urging the protection of Christians and other persecuted minorities in Iraq and Syria post-IS. It calls on the UN to work with religious leaders to maintain peace and rebuild Iraq and Syria.

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