Mideast Without Christians

Christians must realize Israel’s fate intertwined with fate of non-Muslims in region
by: Giulio Meotti

This is the saddest Easter in the long epic of Arab Christianity: The cross is near extinction in the lands of it origin. The much-vaunted diversity of the Middle East is going to be reduced to the flat monotony of a single religion, Islam, and to a handful of languages.

In 1919, the Egyptian revolution adopted a green flag with the crescent and the cross. Both Muslims and Christians participated in the nationalist revolution against British colonialism. Now, according to the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, more than 70 Christians a week are asking to leave the country due to Islamist threats.

The numbers are telling. Today there is only one Middle Eastern country where the number of Christians has grown: Israel. As documented in the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, the Christian community that numbered 34,000 people in 1949 is now 163,000-strong, and will reach 187,000 in 2020.

In the rest of the Middle East, the drive for Islamic purity is going to banish all traces of pre-Islamic pasts. This has affected not only Christians, but other non-Islamic communities too, such as the Zoroastrians and Baha’is in Iran (the late also found refuge in Israel, in Haifa.)

The silence of the global forums, the flawed conscience of human rights groups, the self-denial of the media and the Vatican’s appeasement is helping facilitate this Islamist campaign. According to a report on religious freedom compiled by the US Department of State, the number of Christians in Turkey declined from two million to 85,000; in Lebanon they have gone from 55% to 35% of the population; in Syria, from half the population they have been reduced to 4%; in Jordan, from 18% to 2%. In Iraq, they will be exterminated.

Should the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem continue in the next two or three decades, there may be no clergy left to conduct religious services in Jesus’ birthplace. In Iran, Christians have become virtually non-existent since 1979, when Khomeini ordered the immediate closure of all Christian schools. In Gaza, the 3,000 who remain are subjected to persecution. In Sudan, Christians in the South are forced into slavery.

Israel’s flag a symbol of hope

In Lebanon, the Maronites, the only Christians to have held political power in the modern Arab world, have been reduced to a minority because of Muslim violence and Hezbollah’s rise. In Saudi Arabia, Christians have been beaten or tortured by religious police. Benjamin Sleiman, archbishop of Baghdad, is talking about “the extinction of Christianity in the Middle East.”

The Christian Egypt was symbolically represented by former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a Christian married to a Jewish woman whose sister was the wife of Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban. In 1977, Boutros-Ghali, who was then Egypt’s foreign minister, accompanied President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.

Sadat, who as a child had attended a Christian school, was killed because the treaty his signed with the “Zionists,” among other reasons, and his cold peace is now under attack from the new rulers in Cairo.

In 1948, the Middle East was cleansed of its ancient Jews. Today is the Christians’ turn. Just as Islamist totalitarians have ruthlessly persecuted Christians in the Middle East, they have been waging war for the past 63 years to destroy the Jewish state in their midst. That’s why the fate of Israel is intertwined with the fate of the non-Muslim minorities.

Should the Islamists prevail, the Middle East will be completely green, the colour of Islam. Under atomic and Islamist existential threats, the remnant of the Jewish people risks being liquidated before Israel’s centennial in 2048. It’s time for Christians to recognize that Israel’s survival is also critical and vital for them. During the Holocaust, when most Christians were bystanders or collaborators, the Yellow Star was a symbol of death for the Jews. Today, the white flag with the beautiful six pointed star is a symbol of survival and hope for both Jews and Christians.

Giulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism



Ynet News

In Ishmael's House

The long history of anti-Semitism in Muslim lands.

by Robert Fulford

One of the 2002 Bali bombers, Amrozi bin Nurhasin, on trial in an Indonesian courtroom and headed toward execution, shouted out the message he wanted his crime to convey: “Jews: Remember Khaibar. The army of Muhammad is coming back to defeat you.”

This was his explanation of the murder of 202 people eight years ago. Of those who died, 88 were Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 British. None were Jews. So what was Amrozi, a Java-born Indonesian, raving about? It’s a question worth considering as we assess the recent arrests for terrorist conspiracy in Ottawa. Islamic terrorists can finds motives in ancient struggles the rest of the world long ago forgot.

Martin Gilbert, the author of some 80 books, including the official biography of Winston Churchill, explains Amrozi’s meaning at the start of his alarming chronicle, In Ishmael’s House: A History of Jews in Muslim Lands, published last week.

Amrozi was remembering an event 1,375 years in the past, when Muhammad attacked Jewish farmers living in the oasis community of Khaibar, in what is now Saudi Arabia. More than 600 Jews were killed and the survivors lost all their property and had to pledge half of their future crops to Muhammad.

Today, few Jews know the word Khaibar. But among certain Muslims it has permanent resonance. Khaibar set a precedent, endorsed by the actions of the Prophet. After Khaibar, non-Muslims who were conquered had to give up their property and pay heavy permanent tribute to their Muslim overseers. That form of discrimination lasted for centuries. It was this incident and its aftermath that nourished Amrozi’s homicidal ambition.

Muslims love to recall that Jews once lived in peace among them. Of course, Jews were always second-class citizens, their rights sharply limited. Still, it was sometimes better than settling among Christians. Bernard Lewis, a major authority on Islam, says that Jewish lives under Islam were never as bad as in Christendom at its worst, or as good as in Christendom at its best.

Well before Israel’s creation in 1948, Arabs were identifying Jews as enemies.

In the 20th century, Arab hostility to Jews took an ugly turn. Some claim that the new state of Israel “caused” the trouble. But well before Israel’s creation in 1948, Arabs were identifying Jews as enemies.

In 1910, in the now-Iranian city of Shiraz, mobs robbed and destroyed 5,000 Jewish homes, with the encouragement of soldiers. In 1922, in Yemen, an old decree permitting the forcible conversion of Jewish orphans to Islam was reintroduced. The government searched towns and villages for children without fathers, so that they could be given Muslim instruction. The children were chained and imprisoned till they agreed to convert. In 1936 in Iraq, under Nazi influence, Jews were limited by quota in the public schools, Hebrew teaching was banned in Jewish schools and Jewish newspapers were shut down.

Anti-Semitism intensified when Israel was created, and grew still worse after Israel won the Six-Day War of 1967. By the 1970s, about 800,000 Jews, perhaps more, had been forcibly exiled from Arab countries, their property seized. According to the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries (WOJAC), they lost property now valued at well over $100-billion.

A majority of these exiles settled in Israel. In the 1950s, the UN recognized them as refugees and compensation was discussed. Later, the Arab states turned the UN against Israel and, by association, against Jewish refugees. In 1975, the General Assembly condemned Zionism as “racism and racial discrimination.” Various political leaders in the West (notably Irwin Cotler, the former justice minister of Canada) have continued to argue for compensation. But after the 1975 resolution, as Gilbert notes, that idea was unlikely to receive any UN support.

The number of Jews displaced by the Arabs in the 20th century roughly equals the number of Palestinians displaced by Israel. But the plight of the Palestinians has received several hundred times as much publicity. One reason is the constant propaganda from Muslim states and their admirers in the West. Another is that many Jews, unlike Palestinians, don’t want to be called refugees.

Gilbert quotes an Iraqi Jew, Eli Timan, living in London: “The difference is that we got on with our life, worked hard and progressed so that today there is not a single Jewish refugee from Arab lands.” Those who suggest that this model be copied elsewhere will of course be condemned as heartless bigots.

This article originally appeared in the National Post.

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Islam is Bad to Humankind

by Imran Hossain

Islam is based on Quran and Sunnah (practices of Mohamed). About 1.2-billion people believe in Islam and it is known to its followers Muslims in many ways, such as by birth, conversion, and study. Most Muslims adopt Islam due to their birth to Muslim parents. Among all these Muslims, most of them are familiar with Islam by faith and little practices. However, Islam is not limited with prayers, hajj, jakat, and fast only. Islam is supposed to be the example of Mohamed (the founder) and what Quran emphasises, and all Muslims are required to obey.

In reality, Islam is far away from the ideal of a religion when Quran and Hadis (Sunnah) are thoroughly read. The majority Muslims are not even near Islam and it is not honestly known to them. Imams, Mullahs, or such people who spend their lives on Islam represent the picture of Islam. A literal study in Islam reveals Islam as follows.

1) Mohamed does not qualify as a good person,

2) Quran is a confusing book and its teaching creates hate and fight and takes away the rights of women and non-Muslims,

3) Islam fails to provide appropriate guidance for entire mankind, and

4) More importantly, a) Islam wants to dominate the whole word b) it wants to impose its own law to every citizen.

1) The founder of Islam: The very important factor of Islam is Mohamed. In order to know a religion, it is mandatory to know the originator very well, whether he represents the messages of God. While paying full attention to the biography of Mohamed, unfortunately he is far from a holy being. He waged wars against non-Muslims, killed, and forced them to embrace his religion. He assassinated his enemies. He captured and later raped women like Safia and Jawaraiha. He was sexually attracted to a child. He looted commodities of civilians and made halal for his team (8:69, 48:20) and many more.

Now some questions arise whether this man sent by God or not and humankind choose his religion or not.

Even if people do not care of what Mohamed did in the past, Islam can still be acceptable. But a few more questions to ponder again. Quran says he is a perfect example to follow and a mercy for entire humankind. So Mohamed's examples are an integral part of Islam. During his prophecy, he looted and wage wars against infidels for Islam; he punished the thieves by cutting their hands and feet; he killed people who spoke against his brand religion; he raped and married a child of 9 years old. For human beings, none of these examples is possible to follow. If anyone desires to copy his practices completely, he will definitely end up his life living in jail.

2) Holy Book Quran: Muslims believe in Quran by heart, but it is totally a confusing book. It has no chapter, no chronology. This book is loaded with mistakes in grammar, math, logics, and science. Monotheistic God of Islam is serving himself as "We" and "Us". Without the history context of every Sura, this book cannot be understood. Anyways, it is acceptable but important to know the contents of Quran.

Quran grants different rights to women and minorities. Women cannot enjoy full rights as men. Women do not have the freedom to change husbands while men do deliberately. This book lowers the rights of minorities and asks to pay penalty taxes unless they submit into Islam. Both Quran and Hadith stress to kill anyone who leaves Islam or proselytize. Quran asks Muslims to brutally kill anyone who speaks against or wants to change Islam. Quran asks married Muslim men to have sex with slaves (23:01 - 06, 33:50, 33:52).

Quran says to avoid Jews, Christians, and other non-Muslim who can never be brothers of Muslims (5:51, 3:28). Quran teaches to hate even to own brothers and fathers if they do not believe in Islam ( 3:28, 9:23). It is an obstacle of humanity. A Muslim is not religiously allowed to associate with others just because they do not believe in Islam.

3) Missing Information: Through a study in Islamic sources, there is no special good stuff in Islam. Yes, there is some good, but this does not say better than other books. Islam is claimed to be the true religion but fails to provide with appropriate guidelines that entire humankind needs.

Islam explains the feature of males and females but badly fails to describe about hermaphrodites. They are also part of human beings. A true religion must care for hermaphrodites for this life and afterlife.

Based on the rotation of the sun and moon, Islam schedules prayers, fast, and so on. This was the idea of ancient people that reflects in many religions and cultures. In Islam, praying and fasting time is timed when the sun and moon move their courses. However, it is unknown to people how they in the northern part of the world would perform prayers and observe fasting. Over there, the length of day and night is six months long each, and many countries have very longer daylight and darkness. In this case, performing prayers and observing fast are really confusing. Islam does not provide this information and Muslims solely need to use their intelligence to figure out, which implies they are smarter than Islam.

Islam does not say any story about religions, people and culture of Eastern Asia, Australia, Americas and many parts of the world. A religion that is true must include the fact of every part of the world. It is very ambiguous to think how people in those places would be able to practise Islam and why they are supposed to go to hell without knowing Islam. It is a solid piece of absurdity that God ignores the other human beings but will put them in hell for eternity.

4) The Goal of Islam: People might forget the past of Islam and be able to practise it personally. But it is very, very important to the world that Islam wants to topple the will of people, democracy and culture, and rule the world. Dominating the world with Sharia is an emphasised part of Islam.

Mohamed used religious sentiment to make the people believe in the doctrine of his religion and used them to take over the land of Jews, Christians, and Pagans. He did not stop here. He made a religious obligatory for Muslims to fight for Islam and impose Islamic law all over the world.

Stealing is a crime, but people do not want to cut the hand of a thief. Offence is always bad, but people do not want to flog the guilty. Adultery is a crime, but a sensible human will never stone the guilty to death. Drinking is not good for health, but cultured people never want to flog the drinker. The world wants to go by its own rules. It does not need to adopt the 7th century Bedouin tradition.

Muslim Immigrants to the West must destroy the welcoming and loving culture of their host countries and impose Islamic law in the lands, if they truly go by Quran and Hadis. Islam's ultimate goal is to convert the developed world including all other non-Muslim countries to Islamic paradises like Saudi Arab, Iran, or Talibani Afghanistan.

People always want to live with their own freedom and expect others to enjoy it. But Islam will take it away as soon as it becomes powerful. Islam will impose its own policy that will force people to obey Islamic tyranny.

All four factors mentioned above prove that Islam meaningfully loses concepts of an ideal religious conviction. People must make a choice between reality and falsehood. Islam is completely different faith that cannot stand near the border of humanism, truth, and tolerance. In general, Islam has various parts that appear when it is scrutinised thoroughly.

Here are some core examples of Islam:

* Islam divides human beings into Muslims and Kafirs, which makes Muslims underestimate Kaffirs.

* Islam will put non-Muslims in hell for eternity.

* Islamic punishments and justice are brutal and inhuman (stoning, flogging, beheading).

* Islam is alien to modern culture and democracy.

* Islam keeps Muslims busy in it therefore progression in modernity is fuzzy among them.

* Islam's founder was not a good person.

* Islam has its own law, and it wants to take over the world and impose its rules.

* Islam takes away the rights of women and non-Muslims.

* Islam blocks the freedom and free speech.

* Islam can make Muslims as wild as hyenas while taking revenge.

* Islam encourages fighting and war.

* Islam kills Murtads (Islam leavers) and critics.

* Islam authorizes polygamy for men.

* Islam does not allow women to divorce.

* Islam produces terrorists / Jihadists / muftis (fighters of Islam).

* Islam forces Muslims to pray and fast.

* Islam forces women to wear burkas (veils).

Islam encourages provoking pre-existence fight (that happened 1,400 years ago) against Jews and Christians, it means this faction of hate is never-ending.

In reality, Islam has produced the following scenarios over the last 1,400 years:

* For Islam, 11 September (9/11) has occurred.

* For Islam, Islamic world has no good invention.

* For Islam, some or many Muslims talk nonsense and insult others.

* For Islam, world security is now under a threat.

* For Islam, Muslims are now becoming suspicious to the West.

* For Islam, People in Palestine, Kashmir etc cannot get along with others.

* For Islam, non-Muslims cannot bring their holy books in Saudi and cannot travel to Mecca and Medina.

* For Islam, Muslims are lying too much nowadays creating websites and publishing books.

* For Islam, many innocent people lost their body parts when charged as robbers or thieves but later found no guilty.

* For Islam, oil-rich countries raise funds for expansion, which breeds more extremism and terrorism.

* For Islam, a faithful Muslim can kill another human being.

* For Islam, Muslims become part of Umma and forget his nationality.

* For Islam, the world has much warfare.

* For Islam, hundreds of bombs are exploding and killing innocent people including Muslims in restaurants, hotels, buses, trains, beaches, and many places.

* For Islam, Muslims have conflicts with western/modern culture (e.g. riots in France, Britain, etc).

* For Islam, every media is loaded with Islamic madness news.

* For Islam, some Muslims are still fighting non-Muslims in many Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

* For Islam, thousands of people had to give their lives for religious conflicts.

* For Islam, honour killing is frequent to Muslims families.

* For Islam, many sects like Shia and Ahmedia have grown, and Sunnis and the sects have been fighting since the birth of sects, which caused huge devastations and millions of lives.

These days, Islam has been a centre point of discussion everywhere in the world. People are wondering what actually Islam is. Islam is very complicated, which has various impacts on every walk of life. If there is anything that creates similar shapes, that must be discussed along with Islam. Lie cannot defeat the truth. The truth is that Islam is not a right choice for human beings. The more it is practiced, the more fascism, extremism, and terrorism increase.





Islam Watch