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June 13, 2008

The Human Rights Outrage That Outrages No One (but Christians) - Muslim Persecution of Christians

Learn all about Islam's persecution of Christians - completely ignored by the MSM, in today's must read - the 36 page - online book, by Robert Spencer: Muslim Persecution of Christians:

[...] "Get out your weapons," commanded Jaffar Umar Thalib, a 40-year-old Muslim cleric, over Indonesian radio in May 2002. "Fight to the last drop of blood."1 The target of this jihad was Indonesian Christians. Christians, Jaffar explained, were "belligerent infidels" (kafir harbi) and entitled to no mercy. This designation was not merely a stylistic flourish on Jaffar's part. On the contrary, kafir harbi is a category of infidel that is clearly delineated in Islamic theology. By using this term, Jaffar was not only inciting his followers to violence, but telling them that their
actions were theologically sanctioned.

What happened in Indonesia was treated by the international press as an isolated incident. In fact, however, the violent jihad there was part of the ongoing persecution of Christians by Muslims throughout the Islamic world. This violence, reminiscent of barbarous religious conflicts of seven hundred years ago, is the dirty little secret of contemporary religion. Fearful of offending Muslim sensibilities, the international community has averted its gaze, allowing the persecution to take place in the darkness. Nowhere else is religious bigotry legitimated by holy writ, in this case the Quran, or by a significant number of religious leaders, in this case imams. Nowhere else does religious bigotry have such bloody consequences. Nowhere else does such religious
bigotry take place almost entirely without comment, let alone condemnation, from the human rights community.

Christian persecution by Muslims has become a familiar narrative, repeated with terrifying frequency in Muslim controlled areas throughout the world, but especially in the Middle East.

Murdered Christian Clergy in Iraq

On April 5, 2008, Youssef Adel, an Assyrian Orthodox priest at St. Peter and Paul church in Baghdad, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was opening the gate of his house. This attack came just weeks after the death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of the Chaldean Catholic Church, who was kidnapped in the Iraqi city of Mosul on February 29 while three Christians with him were also killed. On March 12, the kidnappers phoned a church in Mosul to announce
that Archbishop Rahho was dead, and indicate where the body could be found.

While mosques proliferate throughout the west, Christian clergymen have become an endangered species in Iraq. In October 2006, a Syrian Orthodox priest, Fr. Boulos Iskander,
went shopping for auto parts in the Iraqi city of Mosul. He was never seen alive again. A Muslim group kidnapped him and initially demanded $350,000 in ransom; they eventually lowered this to $40,000, but added a new demand: Fr. Jaffar's words had consequences. Boulos' parish had to denounce the mildly critical remarks about Islam made the previous month by Pope Benedict in
an address in Regensburg, Germany, that had caused rioting all over the Islamic world. The ransom was paid, and the church dutifully posted thirty large signs all over Mosul denouncing the Pope's statements. All to no avail: when Fr. Boulos' remains were discovered, he had not only been murdered but dismembered.

Posted by Mike in Iraq at June 13, 2008 7:57 AM