{"id":6818,"date":"2013-12-05T10:08:23","date_gmt":"2013-12-05T18:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=6818"},"modified":"2013-12-05T10:08:23","modified_gmt":"2013-12-05T18:08:23","slug":"a-month-of-horror-for-christians-under-islam-september-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-month-of-horror-for-christians-under-islam-september-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"A Month of Horror for Christians under Islam: September, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Institute<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The same month that Obama tried to wage war on behalf of the jihadi rebels in Syria (citing \u201chuman rights<\/a>\u201d concerns), some of the war\u2019s worst atrocities were committed against that nation\u2019s Christian minority, most notably in Ma\u2018loula, an ancient Christian region where the inhabitants still spoke the language of Jesus.<\/p>\n

There, among other things, the al-Qaeda-linked jihadis\u00a0fired mortars and missiles<\/a>\u00a0onto at least two ancient churches before looting them; some 80 Christians trying to defend their homes were killed.\u00a0 Others who could not flee were forced on pain of death to convert to Islam.<\/p>\n

One man\u2019s\u00a0last words<\/a>\u00a0before being slaughtered by the rebels were: \u201cI am a Christian, and if you want to kill me for this, I do not object to it.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0A nun involved with humanitarian relief said the man \u201cIs a Martyr in Christ in the full sense of this word, since he was murdered solely because of religious hatred!\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Christian Post<\/a>\u00a0reports:<\/p>\n

Jihadists reportedly forced one man to convert to Islam at gunpoint and slit the throat of another Christian woman\u2019s fianc\u00e9 and then [mockingly] told her, \u201cJesus didn\u2019t come to save him.\u201d\u2026. \u201cI saw people wearing Al-Nusra headbands who started shooting at crosses,\u201d the Christian senior told the AFP. One of the shooters, he said, \u201cput a pistol to the head of my neighbor and forced him to convert to Islam by obliging him to repeat \u2018there is no God but God\u2019 [Islamic\u00a0shehada<\/em>]\u2026Afterwards they joked, \u2018he\u2019s one of ours now.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In al-Thawrah, Syria, Christians were also singled out for attack by jihadi invaders.\u00a0\u00a0 In one incident, they stopped three residents, releasing two who identified themselves as Muslims, while bludgeoning to death the third after identifying himself a Christian (graphic image<\/a>). They also destroyed the Antiochian Orthodox church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus among other churches.<\/p>\n

In Raqqah, a city in northern Syria, the al-Qaeda linked \u201cIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant\u201d\u00a0broke the crosses<\/a>\u00a0off the area\u2019s two Christian churches and placed al-Qaeda\u2019s Islamic flags.\u00a0 They also set the contents of the churches\u2014the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of Martyrs\u2014aflame.\u00a0 In\u00a0one video<\/a>, a Muslim \u201cfreedom fighter\u201d smashed a statue of Virgin Mary to shouts of Islam\u2019s victory cry, \u201cAllahu Akbar!\u201d<\/p>\n

These latest attacks come in the context of yet another\u00a0fatwa<\/a>\u00a0appearing in September and issued by 36 Islamic scholars who legitimized \u201cthe right of the faithful Sunni Muslims to seize and take possession of goods, homes, property belonging to Christians, Druze and Alawite and members of other religious minorities \u2018who do not profess the Sunni religion of the Prophet.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 (Earlier, before the \u201csex jihad<\/a>\u201d solved the problem by\u00a0luring Muslim women<\/a>\u00a0from Tunisia and elsewhere\u00a0to provide their sexual services to jihadis<\/a>\u00a0in Syria fighting to make Allah\u2019s word supreme,\u00a0another fatwa<\/a>\u00a0permitted jihadis to rape all non-Sunni women.)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, when publicly asked about the jihadi nature of the rebellion and the fact that the rebels often shout Islam\u2019s supremacist war-cry,\u00a0Allahu Akbar (such as when firing at Chrisitan churches<\/a>),\u00a0 John\u00a0 McCain\u00a0insisted<\/a>\u00a0that shouting \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d is equivalent to a Christian saying \u201cThank God,\u201d and that the rebels in Syria are \u201cmoderates and I guarantee you they are moderates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, when John Kerry was also asked in September about the jihadi and al-Qaeda elements of the Syrian rebels, the U.S. Secretary of State argued that \u201cThe opposition has increasingly become more defined by its moderation \u2026 more defined by its adherence to some, you know, democratic process and to an all-inclusive, minority-protecting constitution\u201d\u2014an assertion that prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin\u00a0openly to call Kerry a liar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Pakistan Church Attack<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Peshawar, Pakistan, Islamic suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church compound right after Sunday mass and\u00a0blew themselves up<\/a>\u00a0in the midst of some 550 congregants, killing nearly 90 worshippers\u2014including Sunday school children, women, and choir members\u2014and injuring at least another 120.\u00a0\u00a0 The now destroyed Protestant church was built in Peshawar some 130 years ago.\u00a0 The Taliban claimed the attacks.\u00a0\u00a0According to Margrette<\/a>, a parishioner who survived (though her sister\u2019s status was unknown), \u201cI heard two explosions. People started to run. Human remains were strewn all over the church.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coptic \u2018Dhimmitude\u2019 in Egypt<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n