Christmas Holiday, Islamic Horror

by Raymond Ibrahim — 12/24/2013

As Christians in the West go to church and worship during this Christmas season, it is well to reflect on how these two simple acts—going to church to worship—can be life-threatening for Christians in the Islamic world, especially on Christmas.  The following excerpt from my book, Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (pgs. 42-45), provides a glimpse of the horrors and humiliations Christians throughout the Muslim world can be exposed to whenever they try to meet and worship in church on Christmas and other Christian holidays.  One can only hope—perhaps in vain—that this coming Christmas does not add new victims to the list.

Christians in the Islamic world today are suffering attacks motivated by the very same diabolical animus as a thousand years ago under Hakim [Egyptian caliph who ordered the destruction of reportedly 30,000 churches in the 10th –11th century].  Proof of this is that some of the most terrible assaults occur precisely on Christian holidays—Christmas, Easter, and New Year’s Eve (which is a major church day in the Middle East). And no wonder, considering that some Muslim clerics insist that “saying Merry Christmas is worse than fornication . . . or killing someone.”

After some fourteen centuries of church attacks and other persecution—punctuated by a brief Christian Golden Age—Egypt’s Copts began the new year in 2011 once again under assault, at one of their largest churches: during midnight Mass in the early hours of January 1, 2011, the Two Saints Coptic Church in Alexandria, crowded with hundreds of Christian worshippers, was bombed, leaving at least twenty-three dead and approximately a hundred injured. According to eyewitnesses, “body parts were strewn all over the street outside the church. The body parts were covered with newspapers until they were brought inside the church after some Muslims started stepping on them and chanting Jihadi chants,” including “Allahu Akbar!” Witnesses further attest that “security forces withdrew one hour before the church blast.” And a year earlier, Muslims shot and killed six Christians as they were leaving church after celebrating the Coptic Christmas Eve midnight Mass in Nag Hammadi.

Hymns of the Royal Hours of the Nativity

During the Royal Hours for the Nativity this morning, I was struck by so many of the hymns of the Church. This year they seemed to me to have extra significance, extra weight. 

Any of us who sing, read or listen to these hymns with faith are confessing the profound Mystery of Christ, the Incarnation of the Pre-Eternal Word of God. And in the Muslim world and other hotbeds of persecution, confessing one's faith in Jesus Christ, in the Incarnation, makes one a Confessor, and may very well lead to martyrdom. It is for this reason that many of the worst massacres of Christians by Muslims over the last several years have been precisely at Christmas.

Here in the United States, where hatred for Jesus Christ and true Christians is boiling up all around us, yet where we Christians are lulled to sleep by comfort and prosperity, persecution of the Church is done "more by sneer than by spear." Let us rouse ourselves to zeal and watchfulness, for how quickly it may turn!

Let us intercede for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the Islamic world, and let us allow the words and hymns from the Divine Services to "sink down into our ears" this year as we celebrate the Birth of Christ. And let us prepare to be good and faithful confessors all the days of our lives.


Kontakion of the Prefeast
(Audio below)

Today the Virgin  comes to the cave, To give birth ineffably  to the pre-eternal Word. Hearing this,  be of good cheer, O inhabited earth, And with the angels and the shepherds glorify Him Whose will it was to be made manifest   A young child,  the pre-eternal God.

Patriarch Kirill concerned about Islamists’ activities in Moscow

Many migrants have radical views and “are recruited by extremist and terrorist organizations, sometimes right in Moscow... The radicals are extremely negative to Orthodox faith: they killed six Orthodox priests, including Moscow priest Daniil Sysoyev, in the past 15 years." —Patriarch Kirill.

Interfax via Pravmir — 12/23/2013

Moscow, December 23, Interfax – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has expressed concerns about Islamists’ activities in Moscow.

“The increase in the number of migrants, primarily from Central Asia and the Caucasus, in Moscow has increased the risk of ethnic conflicts,” the patriarch said at the Moscow Diocese assembly, according to the Moscow Patriarchate website.

Many migrants have radical views and “are recruited by extremist and terrorist organizations, sometimes right in Moscow,” the patriarch said, adding that such propaganda has intensified among Slavic youth, including in educational establishments, prisons, sports groups, and social networking sites.

Christmas a day of terror for Christians in Iraq, say human rights groups

"We're deeply concerned that Christianity is being squeezed out to extinction maybe in the next decade or so in the Middle East." — David Curry, Open Doors

by Cristina Corbin, Fox News — 12/23/2013

While millions of Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, a dwindling number of believers in Iraq will be forced to mark the birth of Christ in private, if at all.

Guards are seen protecting a church in a suburb of Baghdad in this February 2012 photo. Concrete walls are often put around churches for protection against terrorist attacks. (OPEN DOORS)

Christians are afraid to put up a Christmas tree or other decorations, according to one Christian pastor in Iraq. Such displays of faith in an increasingly extremist nation can bring threats and violence, say human rights groups. Christian churches must be regularly guarded, but congregants are even more on edge during their holiest days.

"There's a culture of fear that has developed there that makes it hard for people to want to go to church to express their faith, especially at the holiday season," David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, told FoxNews.com. "These extremist groups desire religious cleansing and they're increasing in number particularly in northern Iraq" -- once considered a safe haven for Christians.

Iraq, which was once home to more than 1 million Christians, has seen an exodus as persecution has risen, according to Open Doors, a human rights group which monitors treatment of Christians in the Middle East. There are now an estimated 330,000 Christians in Iraq, and the nation ranks No. 4 on Open Doors' 2013 list of nations considered the worst persecutors of Christians. North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan rank as the top three.

"We're deeply concerned that Christianity is being squeezed out to extinction maybe in the next decade or so in the Middle East," Curry said. "Some of these countries, especially Iraq, have environments that are very hostile because of extremists in the region."

Neo-Martyr Ahmet, an Ottoman Saint (Dec 24)

Pemptousia — 12/23/2013 

In every age, the Church has been adorned with saints. This means that our long-suffering and merciful God, the Consubstantial Trinity, and our Most Holy Lady do not leave the world without consolation. And so prophets, apostles, evangelists, martyrs, hierarchs, saints, hieromartyrs and new martyrs, activating the gifts of the Holy Spirit, have become members of the body of Christ (see I Cor. 12, 27).

Saints are manifested in accordance with the social and historical conditions of their time. Thus, we had the martyrs in the period of the persecutions, whereas in the time of the freedom of the faith and the flowering of education and letters, scholars and important hymnographers made their appearance. The new martyrs arose in the time of Turkish rule, as resistance fighters for Modern Greece and Hellenism, as models of faith and patience. As the apostle says, the testing of faith produces perseverance, which must endure to the end (see James 1, 4).

In the New Martyrology, Saint Nikodimos the Athonite states that it pleased God to manifest the New Martyrs for five reasons: because they contributed to the renewal of the Orthodox faith; they will render those of other faiths speechless on the day of judgement; they are the glory and boast of the Eastern Church and the shame of the heterodox; they are an example of patience and a model for Christians to imitate.

Among the Lives of the New Martyrs, there is also the brief account of Ahmet the Apprentice, who was a Muslim who became a Christian in a miraculous way and was martyred in 1682. We honour his memory on 24 December and 3 May. 

The New Martyrology has this to say: 

Syria's War: The Next Phase

"Moderate" myth is dropped as West prepares to leverage terror threat to end war in their favor. 

This shocking approach of the Obama administration and its Western allies is morally bankrupt and an alliance with evil. By openly siding with the Muslim jihadists in Syria, Obama advances his 'Proxy War Against Mideast Christians', and indirectly threatens Christian Russia and the Christian nations in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

See also this article in Foreign Policy, Obama Advisor: 'Extremism' Could Be Key to Ending Syrian Civil War, referenced in the article below.

Syria's War: The Next Phase

"Moderate" myth is dropped as West prepares to leverage terror threat to end war in their favor. 

by Tony Cartalucci, Land Destroyer Report — 12/13/2013 — h/t Abraham

The alleged fleeing of General Selim Idriss of the so-called "Free Syrian Army" (FSA), was more symbolic than anything else. Whether or not he really fled, and whether he is in Turkey or Qatar is of little consequence. The so-called "moderates" he commanded were nothing more than a smokescreen, a cheap veneer applied to the hardcore Wahabist extremists of Al Qaeda's Al Nusra franchise and similar fronts that have formed the core of foreign-backed militancy turned against the Syrian people from the very beginning of the conflict. 

Image (AFP Photo/Daniel Leal-Olivas): The West has abandoned the "moderate" myth to fully embrace the terror menace it itself has created in Syria. By threatening Syria's allies with a prolonged Iraq-style terror threat, and the possibility of it being used as a springboard for operations elsewhere, it hopes to pressure the end of their support for the Syrian government and an end to the conflict favorable for Western interests. Instead, this new "terror threat" gives Syria's allies a chance to more openly and extensively support Syria to combat what is truly a "war on terror." 

It was as early as 2007 when it was revealed that the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia were planning on building up extremists within and around Syria for the purpose of eventually overthrowing the government. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh warned about this in his extensive report titled, "The Redirection: Is the Administration's new policy benefiting our enemies in the war on terrorism?" which prophetically stated (emphasis added): 

"To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda."

While the initial conflict was disingenuously portrayed as the spontaneous militarization of unarmed protesters fighting against a "brutal regime," in reality Al Nusra was already inside the country and operating on a national scale.  The US State Department itself would reveal this in its December 2012 "Terrorist Designations of the al-Nusrah Front as an Alias for al-Qa'ida in Iraq," which stated:

Since November 2011, al-Nusrah Front has claimed nearly 600 attacks – ranging from more than 40 suicide attacks to small arms and improvised explosive device operations – in major city centers including Damascus, Aleppo, Hamah, Dara, Homs, Idlib, and Dayr al-Zawr. During these attacks numerous innocent Syrians have been killed. 

And while the West has attempted to portray these extremist groups as entities entirely separate from the "moderates" they have claimed to be openly training, funding, arming, and equipping to the tune of billions of dollars, there is no other logical explanation for Al Nusra's ability to rise above these Western-backed "moderates," unless of course they never existed and the West was, as was planned in 2007, simply arming Al Qaeda all along.

In Hersh's 2007 report, it was noted that the West could not directly arm or fund the militant groups and that the US and Israel would have to funnel weapons and cash through nations like Saudi Arabia and Lebanon instead. Since 2011 when these plans went fully operational, Qatar and Turkey have also entered the fray. When questions are raised about Al Nusra's rising prominence in the conflict, the West has been increasingly unsuccessful in convincing the world of its own plausible deniability.

As the Syrian government began early this year to decisively turn the tide against the West's proxy invasion, and after several abortive attempts to directly intervene militarily, the West appears to have resigned the myth of "moderates" and as of this week, symbolically ended its so-called "non-lethal aid" to terrorists operating in Syria. In fact, the myth of "moderates" was perpetuated solely to justify intervening directly on their behalf. With direct intervention taken off the table, it appears a new phase in the war has begun.

A Miracle of the Lord: A True Story of Faith

Christian mercy and miracles prompt Muslim conversions to Orthodoxy in Bulgaria

by Simona Georgieva, Lentata via Pravoslavie — 12/21/2013

Fr. Stoyan, from the Holy Trinity Church in the Bulgarian town of Dobrich, has for over eight years been helping people who have fallen on hard times. In 2004, at his initiative a shelter was built as an addition to the church where he has served as rector since 1997. Here, people who have lost all hope in the future can find refuge. The priest stretches out his hand to help scores of needy people; single mothers and their children, orphans, the elderly, and the simply desperate. They all find hope after meeting this Christian.

Fr Stoyan

This man of God is famous for his mercy throughout Bulgaria. His uncle, Fr. Georgy, was the first of his relatives to become a priest. He was also Fr. Stoyan's spiritual father. Stoyan was brought up in the faith, and remembers from his early childhood how his uncle turned his parents’ house into a church in the village of Zheglartsy. In 1962, Stoyan entered the seminary. The first to become priests in his family were his two brothers, the twins Marin and Nedyalko, and then the older brother; even one of his sisters is graduating from the theological department.

Fr. Stoyan does not drive a large car and does not make use of his status as a servant of God to better his material standing. More than that, he has built seven churches and one monastery, feeds the hungry, gives shelter to the poor, and comforts the despairing.

In 2003, three brothers, Moslems, came to this priest hoping to find food and a roof over their head. One of the brothers was named Erkhan. Fr. Stoyan says that he is a kind and honest fellow. The three brothers would help Fr. Stoyan from day to day, building churches in various villages. Erkhan would listen to Fr. Stoyan's instructions with great thirst and reverence, and the priest's kindness had a strong influence on him, despite their differing religions.

Erkhan was a Moslem, but the more time he spent with the Christian Stoyan, the more he saw the priest’s striving to do good, the more he wanted to change his religious views. His wife Tanya is a Christian. They had been without children for thirteen years. His wife easily conceived, but every time, late in the pregnancy, the child would die. This happened nine times.

Christian group plans 100-foot-tall Jesus statue in Muslim-dominated Nazareth

“Slowly, but surely, the Christian identity in Nazareth is beginning to disappear.” Signs in the main square declare that "There is no power but Allah."

by Paul Aster, Fox News — 12/20/2013

A statue of Jesus planned for the Israeli city of Nazareth would be even bigger than the "Christ the Redeemer" statue that towers above Rio de Janeiro. (Reuters)

HAIFA, ISRAEL –  As Christians from across the globe flock to the Holy Land in time for Christmas prayers and ceremonies, some in the community in Nazareth are seeking to reaffirm the historical importance of their town by erecting a statue of Jesus that would tower more than 100 feet above the city.

The idea for the statue comes from Bishara Shlayan, a Christian merchant seaman who lives in Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus. Shlayan has seen the demographics of Nazareth change considerably in recent years, with the Christian community becoming a minority while the Muslim population has grown to 70 percent of the 80,000 residents of the northern Israeli town.

“Slowly, but surely, the Christian identity in Nazareth is beginning to disappear,” said Shlayan, noting that signs in the main square declare that "There is no power but Allah."

The plan is for the statue of Jesus to be sit atop Mount Precipice, also known as the Mount of the Leap of the Lord, the promontory where according to Luke 4:29-30, a mob attempted to drive Jesus off the hilltop only for him to pass through them without injury. Shlayan is raising money for the project, but recently got what may be even more important backing: Israel’s Tourism Minister Uzi Landau gave him the green light, saying, “Start it, and we will bless it.”

“I don’t believe in statues, but it is a symbol of love and peace,” Shlayan told The Jerusalem Post. “People who are against it, it comes from jealousy.”

 The statue is inspired by the iconic Christ the Redeemer figure that dominates the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, but would be even taller, said Shlayan. 

Jihadi Cleric Omar Bakri Defends Anti-Hizbullah, Anti-Iran Suicide Bombings

"Blowing oneself up for the sake of Allah is acceptable." People who want to ban this are "trying to alter the religion of Allah."

This is yet another refutation of the Saudi Grand Mufti's denunciation of suicide bombings, which I discussed here. One doesn't have to look far to find Muslim leaders preaching jihad, terrorist attacks, and suicide bombings. And a recent Pew Poll shows strong support for jihad terrorism and suicide bombings in eleven Muslim countries.

MEMRI — 12/21/2013

Go here for the video.

In a TV interview, Syrian-born Islamist cleric Omar Bakri said that the recent bombings of Hizbullah targets and the Iranian embassy in Beirut were justified. "Blowing oneself up for the sake of Allah is acceptable, so long as the target is legitimate," he said.

Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on the Lebanese Al-Jadid/New TV on November 26, 2013:

Omar Bakri: When a [martyrdom-seeker] wishes to please Allah, the pinnacle of what he can do is to die for His sake, in a justified battle or confrontation with the enemies of Allah – in order to elevate the word of Allah – and attains either victory for the religion of Allah or martyrdom.

Alabama: 15-year sentences for 2 American-born jihad plotting Muslims

Once again, jihad popping up in Americana. 

Creeping Sharia — 12/21/2013

via Judge imposes maximum 15-year prison sentences for Alabama-hatched terrorism plot | AL.com.

MOBILE, Alabama – Citing a lack of remorse and a failure to renounce their intentions to commit violent jihad abroad, a federal judge Friday sentenced a pair of silent men to the maximum punishment for a plot hatched in Alabama.

Randy “Rasheed” Wilson and Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair, both 26, will spend 15 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and then will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose said she read hundreds of pages of recorded conversations and intercepted emails from the defendants and searched for evidence that they were “just talking a big game.” And, she added that she had reserved judgment, hoping they would renounce their intentions.

“Unfortunately, there is no other reasonable conclusion that (their conversations) were for the primary purpose of committing violent jihad,” she said. “I don’t have to speculate about that.”