Sounding The Alarm: Christian Persecution In The Middle-east And Beyond

Christians in Morocco: A Crisis of Faith
Forced to worship in secret, Moroccan Christians struggle to practice their religion.


At a secret house church in Agadir, Morocco, a Christian man leads the group in silent prayer.

By Kacie Graves Sept. 30, 2015 | 4:53 p.m. EDT + More
RABAT, Morocco -- Mohammad, 65, remembers his first encounter with the police 30 years ago. He marks where he received the bruises, and grabs his throat to illustrate how the police strangled him with a belt. A convert to Christianity, Mohammed says he and his wife, Fatima, also a Christian, were imprisoned for 19 days because of their religion.

During his incarceration, Mohammad says he was forced to recite the Shahada, the Islamic statement of faith. Instead, he said in defiance, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Jesus Christ is the Messenger of Allah" -- replacing the word "Muhammad" with "Jesus Christ."

Most Moroccan Christians say they worship with caution, congregating quietly in house churches, in an attempt to avoid trouble. Mohammad laughs when asked how many times they have been interrogated. "We can't count how many times," he says.


Eighteen-year-old Ishmael reads from the Bible. Some members of house churches disguise their Bibles in plastic bags or leather covers.
Almost 98 percent of the people in Morocco are Muslim, just over 1 percent are Christians, and a fraction of a percent are Jewish. The Christians are mainly foreigners residing in the country -- the exact number of Moroccan Christians is unknown.

Attempting to convert a Muslim to another religion -- also called "shaking the faith of a Muslim" -- is a crime punishable with up to three years imprisonment and a substantial fine, though recently there has been discussion to delete the law.

Mohammad converted when he lived in France. Fatima was educated by Christian missionaries at a school in Tangier. Today, they attend church in Rabat and accept the risk that goes along with worshiping publically.

[READ: Moroccan Government Delves Into Citizens’ Religious Lives to Purge Extremism]

"I left my religion, and I accepted Jesus Christ my savior, which means for them that I'm supposed to be killed, and they told us that many times," Fatima, 68, says. "I was a person afraid of my shadow. My fear was always there, that one day the police would come and take us again. We were never, never freed from that."

That's at odds with the image portrayed by Moroccan authorities of this North African Kingdom as a moderate Muslim country tolerant of different beliefs – especially when compared to countries like Libya and Syria, where non-Muslims, foreign and local, are being persecuted and killed.

Though it was controlled by Vichy France during World War II, Morroco never surrendered its Jewish citizens, and churches. Churches and synagogues established before independence stand next to mosques and freely operate today, a holdover from 1979 when the government ratified a United Nations covenant guaranteeing the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion to all people.

But Morocco's leader, King Mohammed VI, bears the title "commander of the faithful and defender of the faith" and is said to be a descendent of prophet Muhammad. To be born to Muslim parents in Morocco is to be a Muslim. And while the country grants freedom of worship to foreign Christians and Moroccan Jews, that freedom is not always extended to its own Christians.

In 2011, in response to street protests during the Arab Spring, the king appointed a commission to draft a new constitution that would give Moroccans more freedoms. But when the idea of religious freedom was introduced, the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party threatened to join the street protests. So the right was taken out from the constitution that was then passed to prevent further instability.

Ayub, 33, is a Moroccan who converted to Christianity after studying an online Bible. Ayub says he was arrested twice for attempting to enter the International Church in Marrakech.

"No one answered me when I asked why I was arrested. Just because I want to be with other Christians, they stopped me," he said. "There is no freedom in Morocco, we have to be secret."

[ALSO: On the Road to a More Progressive Morocco ]

In fact, in some cases the Christian churches themselves that bar Moroccans from attending services.

"There are many Moroccans that are searching for a new way of believing," said Gilbert Bonouvrié, the French priest of St. Anne Catholic Church in Agadir. "We simply tell them 'please don't come in because you will be running us into difficulties with the officials of the state'."

Morocco does not take evangelism lightly. In 2010, the government expelled approximately 150 Christian foreign residents accused of evangelism. Also, an orphanage, the Village of Hope, was permanently shut down for allegedly teaching Christianity.


While another member of the his church discusses the lack of Christian rights in Morocco, Hassan, 27, begins to cry.

"Morocco doesn't want to lose its Muslim identity," says Aicha Haddou, of the European Institute of Islamic Studies. Morocco has endured a long history of colonization, during which Christians from Europe attempted to convert Morocco's Muslims. Resentment over that treatment remains and police interrogation, house raids and confiscation of religious material are sometimes seen as an attempt to protect the country's Muslim heritage.

Still, some Moroccan Christians boldly practice their faith, baptizing, preaching and evangelizing. And say they will continue to do so, whether they have the right or not.

Ahmed, 24, became a Christian in 2009 after studying world religions on the Internet. Today in a Casablanca apartment, Ahmed leads a house church in worship, singing "Our God is Greater" in Arabic. Every Sunday, Moroccan Christians gather for church on the red and white couches lining the living room. The preacher stands behind a wooden podium addressing the congregation of 11 believers, who follow along with their Bibles and sip on mint tea. In one corner, a woman in a hijab and jellaba (a traditional Moroccan hooded robe) holds an open, leather-covered Bible in her lap.

"We don't know what might happen, some people want to keep it hidden, and we respect that," says Ahmed. "But at the same time we encourage people to do what God commands us to do, that's preaching and telling people. We don't hide outside the church,."

[MORE: Is Hillary Clinton Taking 'Blood Phosphate' Money From Morocco?]

He is a spokesperson of an online podcast that openly evangelizes in Morocco. They send Bibles to interested listeners even though the government doesn't allow distribution of non-Muslim religious material.

"We don't care if they approve or allow us or not, we won't like it if they torture or arrest us… but still, its not going to stop us," Ahmed says.

"I can't live as a Christian in my country," said Omar, 35. "I feel like I am in a prison, I can't freely talk, I can't publicly practice what I believe."

Omar became a Christian in 2009. He knew the risk – his father is an Imam and Omar says his older brother was shunned from the family for converting. Omar attends a house church in Casablanca.

"We have to fight for our freedom and demand our rights, we must come together. Nothing will change if we stay hidden," Omar said.

The names of Moroccan Christians interviewed for this story have been changed to protect their identities.

Writer Kacie Graves and photographer Julia Levine spent several months in Morocco on an SIT Study Abroad program and produced this story in association with Round Earth Media, a U.S. News & World Report partner.

I feel like we're headed here in the US. People for the most part didn't believe it and some still don't. But people and their views toward religion are changing daily and it's happening before out eyes. I pray daily for Christians in these countries.

and we take the freedom that we have for granted

I changed the title of this thread to be able to include new/older entries and articles. It's been the case that I've been personally sounding the alarm in various places about this persecution but it tends to fall on deaf ears. The threat has existed and increased since Hamas took over in 2007 in Gaza. I'm afraid that Christians will join their Jewish brothers in W. Bank and Gaza from these newest 'intifada' stabbings and that the news will gloss over these murders as it usually does on the world's stage.


http://rescuechristians.org/christi...sing-persecution-since-hamas-wrested-control/

Christians In Gaza Have Faced Increasing Persecution Since Hamas Wrested Control
February 2, 2012/0 Comments/in Christian Persecution /by Keith Davies

Christians in Gaza have faced increasing persecution since Hamas wrested control of the Strip in June 2007.
Since taking control, Hamas has been instituting sharia (Islamic) law throughout the coastal enclave, which, among other things, forbids any non-Muslim from sharing his or her faith.
In January 2010, Majed El Shafie, president of One Free World International, told CBN News Christians are being attacked on an almost daily basis.
“The Christians in the Palestinian Authority [are] facing persecutions. Their homes, their churches — they get attacked almost everyday,” Shafie said.
Christian schools have also been attacked, vehicles torched, equipment stolen and school personnel threatened.

Here’s what Khaled Abu Toameh wrote a few months ago in Hudson New York.

Muslim Genocide of Christians throughout Middle East

It is obvious by now that the Christians in the Middle East are an “endangered species.” Christians in Arab countries are no longer being persecuted; they are now being slaughtered and driven out of their homes and lands. Those who for many years turned a blind eye to complaints about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East now owe the victims an apology. Now it is clear to all that these complaints were not “Jewish propaganda.” The war of genocide against Christians in the Middle East can no longer be treated as an “internal affair” of Iraq or Egypt or the Palestinians. What the West needs to understand is that radical Islam has declared jihad not only against Jews, but also against Christians.

And more recently, by Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News’ Correspondent

Christian Persecution in the Middle East

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, warned that the vacuum left by failed autocratic regimes was being filled by extremists who have turned the Arab Spring into a “very anxious time” for Christians. Williams said there had been more killings of Christians and burnings of churches in Egypt than most were aware of, that life was becoming impossible for Christians in northern Iraq and that tensions were severly strained between Christians and Muslims in Syria. “It is a fairly consistent pattern over a number of months,” he said. “Although at leadership level in the Muslim community in Egypt there is clear condemnation of this, it’s evident that there are other forces at work which of course may not be native Egyptian.” Williams suggested that these foreign forces entered Egypt from Saudi Arabia and northern Sudan. Williams compared the violence against Christians in northern Iraq to ethnic cleansing. In Iraq, Egypt and the Palestinian territories, Christians are being targeted almost on a daily basis by Muslim fundamentalists and secular dictators.

Finally, from beforeitsnews

The forgotten Palestinian refugees even in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians are suffering under Muslim intolerance.

Bethlehem: Meet Yussuf Khoury, a 23-year old Palestinian refugee living in the West Bank. Unlike those descendents of refugees born in United Nations camps, Mr. Khoury fled his birthplace just two years ago. And he wasn’t running away from Israelis, but from his Palestinian brethren in Gaza. Mr. Khoury’s crime in that Hamas-ruled territory was to be a Christian, a transgression he compounded in the Islamists’ eyes by writing love poems. “Muslims tied to Hamas tried to take me twice,” says Mr. Khoury, and he didn’t want to find out what they’d do to him if they ever kidnapped him. He hasn’t seen his family since Christmas 2007 and is afraid even to talk to them on the phone…, Mr. Khoury describes a life of fear in Gaza. “My sister is under a lot of pressure to wear a headscarf. People are turning more and more to Islamic fundamentalism and the situation for Christians is very difficult,” he says… On the rare occasion that Western media cover the plight of Christians in the Palestinian territories, it is often to denounce Israel and its security barrier. Yet until Palestinian terrorist groups turned Bethlehem into a safe haven for suicide bombers, Bethlehemites were free to enter Israel, just as many Israelis routinely visited Bethlehem. But even here in Jesus’ birthplace, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Christians live on a knife’s edge. Mr. Khoury tells me that Muslims often stand in front of the gate of the Bible College and read from the Quran to intimidate Christian students. Other Muslims like to roll out their prayer rugs right in Manger Square.

www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3181/gaza-christians

Who Will Save the Christians in the Gaza Strip?
by Khaled Abu Toameh
July 20, 2012 at 5:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3181/gaza-christians

• "We only hear voices telling us not make too much noise. Today it is happening in the Gaza Strip, tomorrow it will take place in Bethlehem. In a few months, there will be no Christians left in Palestine." — Christian man, Gaza City
  

Are Palestinian Christians living in the Gaza Strip being kidnapped by Muslims who force them to convert to Islam?

This is a story that is considered taboo among many Palestinians, who prefer to lay all the blame only on Israel.

According to the Greek Orthodox Church in the Gaza Strip, at least five Christians have been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in recent weeks.

If anyone has good reason to fear for his life it is Archbishop Alexios, head of the Greek Church in the Gaza Strip, who is spearheading the protests against persecution of Christians and forced conversions.

In the past few days the archbishop has come under sharp criticism from many Palestinians and the Hamas government for daring to speak out about the plight of his community.

Islamic groups and human rights activists in the Gaza Strip claimed that the Christians converted to Islam of their own free will.

They even released a videotape of a young Christian man, Ramez al-Amash, 24, in which he declared that he had voluntarily abandoned his faith in favor of Islam.

The church blamed an unidentified terror group of being behind the forced conversions and called on the international community to intervene to save the Christians.

Church leaders also accused a prominent Hamas man of being behind the kidnapping and forced conversion of a Christian woman, Huda Abu Daoud, and her three daughters. Shortly after she disappeared, the woman sent a message to her husband's mobile phone informing him that she and her daughters had converted to Islam.

In a rare public protest, leaders and members of the 2,000-strong Christian community in the Gaza Strip staged a sit-in strike in the Gaza Strip this week to condemn the abductions and forced conversions in particular, and persecution at the hands of radical Muslims in general.

The protest has further aggravated tensions between Muslims and Christians in the Gaza Strip, which has been under the control of Hamas since 2007.

Leaders and members of the Christian community now fear reprisal attacks by Muslim extremists. Some have appealed to the Vatican and Christian groups and churches in the US, Canada and Europe for help.

But according to Christian families, the world does not seem to care about their plight. "We only hear voices telling us to stay where we are and to stop making too much noise," said a Christian man living in Gaza City. "If they continue to turn a blind eye to our tragedy, in a few months there will be no Christians left in Palestine. Today it's happening in the Gaza Strip, tomorrow it will take place in Bethlehem."

The public protest by the Christians in the Gaza Strip is a first step in the right direction. This is a move that could finally draw the attention of the international community, including Church leaders across the US, to the real problems and dangers facing Palestinian Christians.

Radical Islam, and not checkpoints or a security fence, remains the main threat to defenseless Christians not only in the Palestinians territories, but in the entire Middle East as well.

http://www.theforeignreport.com/2013/01/09/palestine-the-decline-of-christianity-in-the-west-bank/


c The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year, despite the security issues in the region [Templar1307]
Palestine: The decline of Christianity in the West Bank
Posted by Rosanna Rafel on Wednesday, 9th January, 2013
Share the post "Palestine: The decline of Christianity in the West Bank"

The last six decades has seen Christian populations plummet in Palestine. What is causing this mass exodus from this Christian landmark?

In the British mandated Palestine, before the establishment of Israel in 1948, the percentage of the Christian population stood at 18%. This figure has now dwindled to under 1.5%, with fewer than 2.5% of Jerusalem’s population—the city holy to all three Abrahamic religions—being Christian. Why has the number of Christians in the region diminished so rapidly?

Christians controlled the Levant, stretching from Lebanon down to the Red Sea, from the reign of the first Christian emperor of Rome, Constantine, in 306AD, until the Muslim Caliph Omar al-Khattab conquered the region in 637. Since then, the native Christians have not held power, instead submitting to colonial powers such as the Ottomans and the British in the strategically located land.

The beginning of the decline in Christian presence in Palestine became apparent during the British Mandate in the post-WWI era when the British barred any Christian Palestinians from returning if they left before the War.

After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, there was a mass exodus of approximately 725,000 Palestinians from the country. The issue of whether Israel expelled the Palestinians, or whether they fled of their own accord is much debated by historians, yet the Christian emigrants are often forgotten.

Many Palestinians then fled to America, Australia and South America; however, other reasons have been suggested as to why the Christian population in particular continues to shrink. The birth rate of the Christian population in the Palestinian Territories is far behind that of the Muslim population, but more worryingly, the swelling sectarianism between the Christian population and those who adhere to a radical interpretation of Islam are pushing many in the former category out of their homes.

The Christian population in the West Bank currently stands at fewer than 8% of the people, in contrast to 75% who are Muslim and 17% who are Jewish. The subjugation of the Christian percentage has continued with disturbing rhetoric. A prolific Imam from Gaza, Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya, rallied for the deaths of those who act like Americans and Jews, including Christians.

[note color=”#CED4EB”]The discrimination in Palestine is not the only case of anti-Christian sentiments: Boko Haram, a jihadist group in Nigeria, have launched numerous attacks on churches, raising fear among the Christian population. Mali has also seen a recent rise in militant Islam, and reports of Christians being beheaded.[/note]
There are three churches located in the Gaza Strip: the Gaza Baptist Church, the Saint Porphyrius Church and the Holy Family Catholic Church. In 2007, a leader from the Gaza Baptist Church, Rami Ayyad, was murdered following months of threats and intimidation. The murder came just after Hamas’ coup in the Strip in 2007, where they declared an ‘end of secularism and heresy in the Gaza Strip’. The bloodshed continued with gunmen attacking the Rosary Sisters School Gaza city and, in 2008, the YMCA in Gaza City was blown up.

There have been disturbing accusations heralded against the more radical Islamic factions in Gaza, including against Hamas itself. El Shafie, from One Free World International, who fled from Egypt to Israel after converting to Christianity, has claimed that Hamas had exhumed Christian graves in Gaza and then burnt the bodies.

The aftershock of these brutal attacks has reverberated into the everyday lives of Christians. Recently there have been reports that two Christians, Ramez Al-Amash and Hiba Abu Dawoud, were forced to convert to Islam, despite the Quran asserting that there ‘should be no compulsion in religion’.

Across the divide of Israel, in the Fatah governed West Bank, intimidation also continues. In 2002, Palestinian gunmen attacked the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, but in 2011, violent clashes between different Christian groups in the Church of Nativity caused days of riots over the Christmas period. The culpability of intimidation does not just lie in the hands of radical Islamic factions, especially in the West Bank.

In December 2012, coinciding with the Israeli government’s Operation Pillar of Defence in Gaza, Jewish settlers in the West Bank bombarded Christian churches and homes with intimidating graffiti and there have been reports of Molotov cocktails being used against the Christian population.

The recently re-named ‘State of Palestine’ is yet to become a fully-fledged member of the United Nations so international laws, which could take them to the International Criminal Court, do not apply.

Israel has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and, therefore, has a duty to protect religious minorities inside Israel. This includes the ‘C’ zones within the West Bank, which the Oslo Accords assigned to Israel, and the ‘B’ zones, which has joint ownership between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The ICCPR states that religion should not be a ground for discrimination and that everyone has freedom of religion, to adopt a religion of their choosing, and to manifest their religion as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. The fact that there have been allegations against Hamas of forced conversions means that Hamas, as a potential partner in any fully-fledged Palestinian state, would have breached human rights as recognised in international laws. Similarly, the lack of protection offered by the Israelis in their Zones in the West Bank violates the ICCPR as they protect Jewish settlers, but do not seem to offer the same protection for other religious minorities.

In order to move forward, those living in the region and those in the international community should first separate the persecution by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, and that perpetrated by Israel. Only then can analysts, and subsequently the media, begin to unravel and address the situation so the human rights abuses can be brought to light. Additionally those involved in the conflict need to address the issue of sectarian violence and push for peace.

If, however, the discrimination faced by Palestinian Christians is not addressed, their migration will continue in the same high numbers. Experts fear the exodus will continue, and it will instead become a museum for the past Christian presence there.

We are really centered on our lifestyles, money, clothing, fame, houses and many other materrial goods. We are in idolatry to actors, singers, grammy award winners, stellar award winners and the church is reminidng me of Las Vegas and showgirl praise teams. We are really not paying attention to the plight of our brethren. We are sharp as a tack and dull to the suffering of our members ( the body of christ ). I look at these refugees running from war and think of " pray that your flight is not in winter". They are having trouble going anywhere where someone will receive them with the clothes on their backs and babies with no supplies. We are dull to the needs of otherrs with this lavish culture

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePa...-court-on-SCOAN-verdict-urges-UN-probe-369724


eneral News of Monday, 20 July 2015

Source: Nii Otu

NHRC challenges court on SCOAN verdict; urges UN probe

On behalf of the members of the Nigerian Human Rights Community (NHRC), a coalition of 135 civil society groups spread across Nigeria, we rise up to add our voice to the campaigns for peace and religious freedom in our homeland.

We observe with grave concern the recent discovery of a bomb in the premises of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) in Jos. If the bomb had exploded, hundreds of Christians would have died, thereby compounding the security situation in Nigeria.

In Borno State a few weeks ago, terrorist groups also attacked a branch of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God (RCCG), causing scores of deaths. In Monguno, Borno on June 16th this year, 63 people were killed when a terrorist group set up explosions. On Tuesday July 7th this year, the Sabon Gari Secretariat in Zaria, Kaduna wasattacked with bombs and 40 people died.

Consequently, after a thorough reflection on the spate of terrorist attacks in Nigeria, one is bound to conclude that concerted efforts should be made by international institutions, governments and corporate institutions to work with the Nigerian government to be able to stem the ugly trend. We wish to observe some flaws in the case involving a building of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in Lagos which collapsed, leading to the death of 80 South Africans, 22 Nigerians, 2 Beninoise and 2 Togolese. This is a very sad and pathetic incident.

Given the controversy surrounding the investigations of the collapse of the building, it is our opinion that the Lagos State government and the Federal government needs assistance for a thorough and dispassionate investigation into the incident. It is on this basis that we call on the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission to be involved in the probe of the collapsed building at The SCOAN.

The recent verdict of the Lagos Magistrate Court seems, to us, not to reflect the deep reality on the ground. It falls short of global expectations. It undermines global standards and raises serious questions about the capacity of the Nigerian government to deal scientifically with issues that demand a coroner's inquest.

The findings failed in its bid to explore a critical area of the probe by failing to explore international forensic expertise. We are of the opinion that scientific evidence is crucial to establishing the veracity of claims and this often takes several months, given the lack of available modern laboratories in Nigeria which could easily lead to flawed conclusions. We use this medium to call on the United Nations Human Rights Commission to compel the Nigerian government to ensure full investigation into the matter, so as to establish what was the cause of the collapsed building beyond the claims that the building fell on its own.

The NHRC seeks full investigation by the United Nations. The full investigation will unearth the facts behind the explosion that saw the death of 116 people. The findings of the Lagos coroner's inquest, to us, fall short of public expectations. The NHRC believes that there are new evidences that link the collapse of the building to terrorism. By the threats earlier sent to the church and the way and manner the building collapsed, it suggests that the Islamic extremists may have attacked the building due to Nigeria's war against Boko Haram which found a new wave of support from South Africa.

The building was attacked a few days after a deal for the support of the fight against Boko Haram was struck with a private company in South Africa by the Nigerian government. The international organisations should find out if the terrorists may have singled out South Africans for target. They should find out if the attackers may have taken time to plan, waiting for the time the South Africans were visiting The SCOAN in large numbers. Eighty percent of those who died in the collapsed building were South Africans. Was this a revenge attack by terrorists?

The court should do a thorough job. All evidences should have been admitted, including that of forensic experts from across the world. A hurried, short investigation will put the future of Nigerians at peril. There should be deep consideration for circumstantial facts and evidence. With the outcome of the coroner's inquest, it is now certain that the Nigerian investigative capacity needs an overhaul. The investigation was not thorough. There were no evidences from forensic experts who should have taken scientific information from the rubble of the collapsed building for laboratory analysis. The forensic experts should further be invited to examine the particles found at the site of the building if indeed there were materials related to an explosion.

This will remove the growing suspicion that there is a conscious attempt to blackmail the church and its operators and that there is a preconceived notion, aimed at putting the church down which may have beclouded critical examination of the facts before the court.

Signed,

Dr Anselm Oboku
____________________________________________________________________

We realize there are questions regarding the safety of the building but I've seen the videos and know that those planes flew over his residence prior to the imploding of that dorm. I'm only interested in the actual cctv footage of the collapse.