{"id":6261,"date":"2013-07-24T15:42:50","date_gmt":"2013-07-24T22:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=6261"},"modified":"2013-07-24T15:42:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-24T22:42:50","slug":"muslim-persecution-of-christians-april-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/muslim-persecution-of-christians-april-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Persecution of Christians: April, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Institute<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Before Egypt\u2019s President Muhammad Morsi was ousted, April was one of the worst months for Christian Copts there.\u00a0 On April 5 near Cairo, when a longstanding feud between a Christian family and a Muslim family\u2014based on male Muslims sexually harassing Christian girls\u2014culminated in \"imgres\"the violent deaths of six Christians, including two of the participants, a Christian and a Muslim, being set on fire, local Muslims went on another \u201ccollective punishment<\/a>\u201d spree.\u00a0 It resulted in the injury of at least 20 other Copts, an Evangelical church being set on fire, and an attack on a Coptic church, Two days later, after Copts had mourned their dead in the St. Mark Cathedral\u2014Coptic Christianity\u2019s holiest site and home to the Coptic pope\u2014Muslim mobs, who had waited outside, launched yet another attack\u2014aided by state security<\/a>\u00a0forces. Eyewitnesses said as many as\u00a040-50 tear gas canisters<\/a>\u00a0targeted the mourners, many of whom were women and children hiding in the cathedral. Two more Copts were killed and many dozens wounded as other officers stood by while the Muslim mob tried to destroy the cathedral.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On one Friday after prayers, the Bilal Ibn Rabah Mosque in Cairo was turned into a \u201ctorture chamber<\/a>\u201d for Egyptians, many of whom were Christians, protesting the Muslim Brotherhood. One of the victims, Amir Ayad, a Christian, said he was severely beaten before being left for dead at the side of the road. He suffered a fractured skull, a broken arm, bleeding in his right eye and pellet wounds.\u00a0\u00a0Coptic Christian children, mostly boys, were\u00a0targeted for kidnapping and held for ransom<\/a>; one 6-year-old, after his family had paid the Muslim kidnapper, was killed.\u00a0 And\u00a0a video appeared<\/a>\u00a0on Arabic-language websites showing a crowd of Muslims in Egypt assaulting and raping two Christian women on a crowded street and in broad daylight.\u00a0Throughout, the women scream in terror as the men shout Islamic slogans such as \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d \u201c[Allah is Greater.] None of the many passersby intervenes in any way.<\/p>\n

Also in April, during Easter week in Nigeria, Muslim herdsmen launched a series of raids,\u00a0killing at least 80 Christians<\/a>, on Christian villages. Most of those slain were either children or the elderly.\u00a0 Over 200 Christian homes were destroyed, eight churches burned, and 4,500 Christians displaced.\u00a0 According to a pastor present at the time, \u201cIt was a helpless situation, as no Christians had any weapon to fight back.\u00a0 Women, children, and the elderly who were not able to escape were shot and killed. Luckily, all my children are in school, so this made it easier for our escape from the Muslim attackers. We sneaked away in the midst of the confusion and trekked for more than 20 kilometers [12 miles] to find a place to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Categorized by theme, the rest of April\u2019s Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:<\/p>\n

Church Attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Central African Republic<\/strong>: A number of\u00a0church\u00a0buildings\u00a0were attacked<\/a>\u00a0and the homes of Christians looted in the aftermath of a bloody coup by Sharia-adherent Muslim rebels.\u00a0 During the chaos, as in a standard jihad, Christian property was targeted for plundering, while Muslim property was spared. The leader of the Muslim rebels, Michel Djotodia, \u201cassumed the presidency from the ousted Fran\u00e7ois Boziz\u00e9, becoming the predominantly Christian nation\u2019s first Muslim president.\u201d\u00a0 According to one Christian, \u201cWe are no longer at home. They pillage our goods which are then sold by the Muslims, who export them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indonesia<\/strong>: Local officials, at the behest of Islamist forces, demolished the Batak Protestant Church building in West Java and threatened to close others, causing hundreds of Christians to protest in the streets.\u00a0 Once again, as happens with increasing regularity in Indonesia, congregation members then held services in the street, near the site of the destroyed church.\u00a0 As the\u00a0Morning Star News<\/a>\u00a0added: Indonesian officials routinely delay or deny church building permits\u2026 thus providing Islamic extremists a pretext for protests and attacks.\u201d\u00a0 Newspapers covering the event posted photos of \u201cchurch members in tears\u2014singing hymns, crying and begging local officials not to demolish their facility. Hundreds of police and army officers guarded the area while Muslim militants, shouting Koranic verses, cheered the excavator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia<\/strong>:\u00a0 Apparently once again \u201cThe Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia\u2014the top Islamic official in the country of Saudi Arabia\u2014has [again] declared<\/a>\u00a0that it is \u2018necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.\u201d (\u00a0First reported here<\/a>\u00a0over a year ago.)<\/p>\n

Sudan<\/strong>: In the latest of a series of moves that have put pressure on Christians, a Muslim government minister announced that\u00a0no new licenses will be granted for church\u00a0buildings<\/a>; he claimed that the existing churches are sufficient for the number of worshippers.\u00a0 Building churches has, in fact, been disallowed since South Sudan seceded in July 2011; the Islamist government of Khartoum responded by making the lives of Christians in Sudan even more difficult than usual. Days before this latest measure, the government deported a senior church leader and two expatriate missionaries who had been working with children in Khartoum. No reason was given.\u00a0 The government has also demolished countless church\u00a0buildings\u00a0on the pretext of paperwork irregularities.<\/p>\n

Turkey<\/strong>: A 13th<\/sup>\u00a0century church building, the Hagia Sophia of Trabizon (not to be confused with Constantinople\u2019s famous Hagia Sophia) is set to become a mosque again. After the Ottoman conquest it had been turned from a church into a mosque, but later, under Turkey\u2019s secularist President, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and apparently due to its\u00a0\u201cgreat historical and cultural significance\u201d<\/a>\u00a0for Christians, it had been turned into a museum. Local authorities decreed that its Christian frescoes must again be covered in preparation for its reopening as a mosque.\u00a0 [Update: As of July, the Hagia Sophia of Trabizon has become a\u00a0functioning mosque<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

India Kashmir<\/strong>: In Srinagar, a Muslim mob attacked two men, five women and two children, all of British origin, on theaccusation that they were preaching Christianity<\/a>. The mob also threw stones at their vehicles and tried to destroy their home. The police, however, when they arrived, arrested the two men on, according to Asia News, \u201cfalse charges of forced conversions.\u201d\u00a0 The local imam told police that, \u201cif they try to convert anyone, I will prevent it at all costs.\u201d\u00a0 According to a Christian close to the case, \u201cThe false and defamatory accusations of the imam and the complicity of the police in arresting these Christians are a serious threat to religious freedom, a right guaranteed by the Constitution of India.\u201d Also in Srinagar,another Muslim mob<\/a>\u00a0attacked a Christian-children\u2019s home, beat the staff and visitors, tried to kill the pastor and kidnap the children, destroyed property, and killed the home\u2019s pet dog\u2014again on the accusation that the group running the home was converting Muslim children to Christianity.<\/p>\n

Somalia<\/strong>: Muslims from the Islamic organization Al Shabaab (\u201cThe Youth\u201d)\u00a0shot to death<\/a>\u00a042-year-old Fartun Omar, a widow and mother of five, for converting to Christianity.\u00a0 Months earlier, they had killed her husband for the same \u201ccrime,\u201d and had been hunting for the wife, who, after abandoning Islam, had gone in hiding.\u00a0 She leaves behind five orphaned children.\u00a0 Separately, Al Shabaab Muslims also seized Hassan Gulled, 25, for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity, andimprisoned him, and tortured him<\/a>.\u00a0 According to local sources, \u201cAl Shabaab have been torturing him to see whether he would deny his Christian faith. Since last week, no information has surfaced concerning Gulled. There is a possibility that he could have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tanzania<\/strong>: After a visit by an evangelist, Lukia Khalid, a Muslim mother of three and nearly seven months pregnant, converted to Christianity; she later said: \u201cMy husband asked me whether I had left Islam, to which I said \u2018Yes.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0He threatened to kill me<\/a>\u00a0if I was to stay with him. I then decided to escape that night with my three children to a neighbor\u2019s house\u2026.\u00a0 We left only with the clothes that we were wearing.\u00a0 The command was so urgent that we could not wait any longer. We had to leave immediately.\u201d\u00a0 Unable to pay school fees and supplies without her husband, the children have stopped attending school.<\/p>\n

Dhimmitude<\/strong><\/p>\n

[General Abuse of Non-Muslims as Third-Class \u201cCitizens,\u201d or\u00a0Dhimmis<\/em>]<\/p>\n

Iran<\/strong>: A\u00a0new report<\/a>, based on interviews with 31 Christians and produced by the International Campaign for Human Rights in\u00a0Iran,\u00a0has found \u201cthat the authorities consistently treat standard Christian practices, such as being a member of a house church or attending a Christian conference, as criminal acts. Although the Iranian government claims to respect the rights of its recognised religious minorities, it does not do so in practice. The report found that Christian converts and members of unregistered churches are denied the right freely to practise their faith, and that they face violations of their right to life through extrajudicial killings and even execution for apostasy (though only one Christian convert is known to have been executed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution).\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan<\/strong>:\u00a0 According to the\u00a0Morning Star News<\/a>, \u00a0\u201cIncited by calls from mosque loudspeakers after a dispute between Muslim and Christian youths, which started when Muslims told Christians not to play music [ forbidden in Islam] a Muslim mob attacked a Christian neighborhood in Gujranwala today, injuring at least five Christians and damaging a church and dozens of shops and vehicles\u2026.\u00a0 A resident of Francis Colony, where 2,000 Christian families have settled in the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority country, said police bias was evident in today\u2019s attack. \u2018The police was doing what it does best \u2013 nothing!\u2019 said Asif Barkat, who received minor injuries as he and other Christians tried to defend themselves. \u2018Their bias towards Christians is quite evident, because when the Muslims were raiding our church and property, they just watched, but when we confronted them, they started hitting us with batons and used live ammunition to deter us.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Separately, two unidentified men tried by force to stop the car of the president of All Pakistan Minorities, Saleem Khursheed Khobar, a Christian, and when that failed,\u00a0opened fire on him<\/a>.\u00a0 As with other Christian human rights activists who have been assassinated in Pakistan, Khobar is being hounded for vocally representing the nation\u2019s downtrodden religious minorities: \u00a0\u201cI am being threatened and have gone into hiding to protect myself,\u201d he said\u00a0from an undisclosed location. \u201cLaw enforcement agencies know that I am being followed. My whole family is under threat but the government doesn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Syria<\/strong>: Christians continued to be targeted by Islamic rebels, especially for kidnapping.\u00a0 Among those abducted were two bishops, Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Bishop Paul Yazigi.\u00a0 An armed group of\u00a0Chechen jihadis stopped their car<\/a>, killed the driver, and took the two bishops hostage.\u00a0 Meanwhile, thousands of Christians continued to flee Syria. In in one instance, 500 crossed the border into Turkey, where church officials are considering building a \u201ctent city\u201d to house the refugees.\u00a0 Adds\u00a0AINA<\/a>: \u201cAssyrians and other Christians in Syria have been disproportionately affected by the war, and have been targeted by the Muslims rebels. The Muslim Jihadists have kidnapped Assyrians for ransom, attacked places of worship and created a climate of fear, forcing many Assyrians to abandon their homes and villages and seek safety in Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turkey<\/strong>: Erdal Dogan, a human rights defender, who played an important role in the trial of the 2007 Malatya massacre, against those\u00a0Muslims who tortured and slaughtered three Christian men<\/a>\u00a0working in a Bible publishing house, \u201cremained in life danger Friday, April 12, after receiving death threats,\u201d including from the defendants, one of whom threatened him during a hearing.<\/p>\n

About this Series<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, \u201cMuslim Persecution of Christians\u201d was developed to collate some\u2014by no means all\u2014of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:<\/p>\n

1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.<\/p>\n

2) To show that such persecution is not \u201crandom,\u201d but systematic and interrelated\u2014that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who \u201coffend\u201d Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of\u00a0jizya<\/em>\u00a0(financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like\u00a0dhimmis<\/em>, or second-class, \u201ctolerated\u201d citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.<\/p>\n

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales\u2014from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims\u2014it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam\u2014whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Institute Before Egypt\u2019s President Muhammad Morsi was ousted, April was one of the worst months for Christian Copts there.\u00a0 On April 5 near Cairo, when a longstanding feud between a Christian family and a Muslim family\u2014based on male Muslims sexually harassing Christian girls\u2014culminated in the violent deaths of six Christians, including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[118,225,227],"tags":[366,192,1035,1017,30,478],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/imgres.jpeg?fit=101%2C120&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1CZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6194,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/muslim-brotherhood-out-killing-christians-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":0},"title":"Muslim Brotherhood Out, Killing Christians In","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/ Gatestone Institute \"I tell the Christians one word: We will set you on fire!\" \u2014 Egyptian Muslim lady \"In scattered locations across Egypt, mobs of hard-line Muslims,\" according to\u00a0Morning Star News, \"enraged over the deposing of the country's Islamist president [Muhammad Morsi] this week attacked Christian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/The_Great_Umayyed_Mosque_of_Damascus_Syria_-_9.jpg?fit=947%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/The_Great_Umayyed_Mosque_of_Damascus_Syria_-_9.jpg?fit=947%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/The_Great_Umayyed_Mosque_of_Damascus_Syria_-_9.jpg?fit=947%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/The_Great_Umayyed_Mosque_of_Damascus_Syria_-_9.jpg?fit=947%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3441,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/mosques-flourish-while-churches-perish\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":1},"title":"Mosques Flourish While Churches Perish","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Western tolerance had no mirror in the Islamic world. by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media As Muslims prepare to erect a mega-mosque near the site of the 9\/11 atrocities, it is well to reflect that the sort of tolerance, or indifference, that allows them to do so, is far from reciprocated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1331,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/collective-punishment-wherever-you-can-reach-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":2},"title":"Collective Punishment: “Wherever You Can Reach Them”","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York During a recent altercation in Egypt, a Christian inadvertently killed a Muslim. This incident, according to an\u00a0AINA report, \"turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village.\" Two Christians \"not party to the altercation\" were killed; others were stabbed and critically\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1132,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/christians-behaving-like-islamists\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":3},"title":"Christians Behaving Like Islamists?","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Egyptian Islamists project their own means and methods. by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York \u00a0 The\u00a0persecution of Egypt's Coptic minority\u00a0is taking an ironic, and dangerous, turn: Islamist leaders are now projecting the worst traits of radical Islam onto Egypt's Christians. A psychological phenomenon first described by Sigmund Freud, \"projection\" is\u00a0defined\u00a0as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1987,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/running-for-their-lives\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":4},"title":"Running for Their Lives","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Jihad Watch Historically, non-Muslims whose lands were seized by the jihad had three choices: conversion, dhimmitude, or death. Today, however, they have a fourth option largely unavailable to their forbears: quit their lands of origin \u2014 emigrate \u2014 the latest testimony to the nature of Islam. A\u00a0recent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3412,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/no-revolution-for-egypts-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":5},"title":"No ‘Revolution’ for Egypt’s Christians","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim FrontPageMagazine.com On March 5, Muslims attacked, plundered, and set ablaze\u00a0an ancient Coptic church\u00a0in Sool, a village near Cairo, Egypt. Afterwards, throngs of Muslims gathered around the scorched building and pounded its walls down with sledge hammers \u2014 to cries of \"Allahu Akbar!\" Adding insult to injury, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6263,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6261\/revisions\/6263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}