Persecuted Christians in Iraq look to Putin as an Unlikely Ally

Not really unlikely at all, as this article indicates towards its conclusion, and as I wrote about here last Summer in my article, Resurgent Russia: The Hope of Persecuted Christians.

by Kate O'Hare, Breitbart News — June 29, 2014

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Frequently cited as an old Arabic saying, this oft-quoted phrase more likely came out of India, in a 4th century treatise on military strategy written in Sanskrit. But whatever its origin, it reflects a universal human phenomenon: in desperate times, a friend is one willing to stand with you against your enemy, regardless of that friend's own history or former inclinations.

A post Sunday in The Daily Beast, titled "Iraq's Christians See Putin as Savior," points up the calamitous situation of the followers of Jesus in what is now Iraq, under siege from the Islamist militant group known as ISIS. In droves, Christians have been fleeing the first major city to fall to ISIS, Mosul, and the irony is thick on the ground.

Mosul is the capital of Nineveh province, and the modern city has spread across the Tigris River to encompass areas on the opposite bank, formerly the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. In Rudyard Kipling's 1897 poem/prayer "Recessional," written to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, he begs the Almighty to remain with England, lest it forget Christ's sacrifice and fade away like other great empires.

He wrote, "Lo, all our pomp of yesterday / Is one with Nineveh and Tyre / Judge of the Nations, spare us yet / Lest we forget – lest we forget!"

Forgetting is one charge leveled at the West by some Christians in Iraq, who believe they have been abandoned in the West's geopolitical gamesmanship focused largely on warring Islamic factions in the region, which target Christians as brutally as they target each other.

ISIS/ISIL declares Islamic State, shortens name to “The Islamic State” (IS)

For in-depth background on ISIS, their bloody persecution of Christians, and how they have come to prominence, see here.

Jihad Watch — June 29, 2014
Introductory comments by Robert Spencer.

They clearly intend to hold the territory they have captured. They’ve also declared Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the new caliph; he claims to be a descendant of Muhammad, so it is possible that if they can make their state viable, this claim will gain currency. If that happens, it will be interesting to see how Muslims in the West react to the idea that he is the “leader for Muslims everywhere,” which historically was always a claim of the caliph.

“ISIS declares creation of Islamic state in Middle East, shortens name to ‘IS,’” RT, June 29, 2014:

ISIS jihadists have declared the captured territories from Iraq’s Diyala province to Syria’s Aleppo a new Islamic State – a ‘caliphate.’ They removed ‘Iraq and the Levant’ from their name and urged other radical Sunni groups to pledge their allegiance.

ISIS announced that it should now be called ‘The Islamic State’ and declared its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as “the caliph” of the new state and “leader for Muslims everywhere,” the radical Sunni militant group said in an audio recording distributed online on Sunday.

Intel Official: Americans Have Joined Militant Group ISIS

Muslims from America, Canada, England, Europe and Australia are joining the jihad. This raises several urgent questions:

• Why are American Muslims inspired to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS and the jihad to create a new Islamic caliphate?
• Why are American Muslims swearing their allegiance to an Islamic jihadist group waging open persecution against Christians?
• Should they be allowed to return to the U.S. after swearing their allegiance to an Islamic jihadist organization?
• What does this phenomenon tell us about Islam?

Related:

• The Hour of ISIS Power: How Did It Come To This?
• ISIS or ISIL? The Importance of the Name
• Australia to stop “killer” jihadists who “hate our way of life” from returning

The Goal of ISIS: A renewed Islamic Caliphate

ERBIL, Iraq (CBS News/CBSDC/AP) — The Sunni militant group in Iraq is a force roughly 3,000 strong and includes some Americans, a senior intelligence official told CBS News on Tuesday.

The majority of fighters in the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, are of Iraqi and Syrian origin.

In all, up to 10,000 are fighting with the group, 3,000 in Iraq and another 7,000 in Syria, the intelligence official said. Between 3,000 and 5,000 are foreigners, though how many of those are in Iraq is difficult to assess.

The fighters view Syria and Iraq as one battlefield and have been able to move swiftly inside Iraq with the help of local Sunnis, ties the intelligence official described as more of a “relationship of convenience” than a formal alliance.

The official said the group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, was well-positioned to keep the territory that it has captured but would be stretched thin if it tried to push south into Baghdad. It has intentions to target U.S. interests, the official said.

Its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, rose through the ranks of the organization before becoming emir some time in 2010-2011. The group relies on a handful of senior decision makers, but al-Baghdadi has the final word, according to the intelligence official. Most of its funding comes via robbery, extortion and smuggling, with a small percentage coming from donations.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s top Kurdish leader warned visiting Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday that a rapid Sunni insurgent advance has already created “a new reality and a new Iraq,” signaling that the U.S. faces major difficulties in its efforts to promote unity among the country’s divided factions.

The U.N., meanwhile, said more than 1,000 people, most civilians, have been killed in Iraq so far this month, the highest death toll since the U.S. military withdrew from the country in December 2011.

Sen. Rand Paul: 'American power, if it is to have value in the world, must be used as a force against persecution...'

"Our aid money should never go to countries that persecute women or Christians... Not one dime."

RAND PAUL CALLS FOR CUTTING AID TO PAKISTAN OVER PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS, WOMEN

by Frances Martel, Breitbart News — June 25, 2015

Sen. Rand Paul called for an end to American foreign aid to Pakistan in the name of both persecuted young women and the many Christians forced to face the threat of violence and oppression in the country. Before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee, Sen. Paul named several examples of women suffering for their gender and faith.

Citing the globally acclaimed Malala Yousafzai as an example of the struggles women must face in demanding education and equality in that nation, Sen. Paul noted that no woman in Pakistan who seeks education is safe, thanks to the threat of the Taliban.

Christians, too, are in danger. Sen. Paul noted the case of Asia Bibi, a woman convicted and sentenced to death for being a Christian. Bibi allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad after being stoned, dragged through streets, and threatened with death while visiting a Muslim well. The insult landed her on death row. 

"According to her co-workers, she insulted the Prophet. In our country, we refer to such quibbling as gossip. In Pakistan, if you are a Christian, it can land you on death row," Sen. Paul noted.

Omaha’s Tri-Faith Initiative Mirrors “Pact of Umar”

by Joe Herring and Dr. Mark Christian

FrontPage Magazine

For those of you unfamiliar with Islamic history, Umar bin al-Khattab – the second Islamic Caliph – made an agreement with the subjugated Christians of Syria setting forth the conditions under which said Christians would be permitted to live in proximity to the conquering Muslims.

This Pact of Umar is the origination of the concept of dhimmitude, a dehumanizing status belonging to subjugated non-Muslims in Islamist societies.

The translation I have re-produced below comes from the stellar book by Raymond Ibrahim, titled Crucified Again.

In return for their lives, the Christians agreed:

• Not to build a church in our city—nor a monastery, convent, or monk’s cell in the surrounding areas—and not to repair those that fall in ruins or are in Muslim quarters;
• Not to clang our cymbals except lightly and from the innermost recesses of our churches;
• Not to display a cross on them [churches], nor raise our voices during prayer or readings in our churches anywhere near Muslims;
• Not to produce a cross or [Christian] book in the markets of the Muslims;
• Not to congregate in the open for Easter or Palm Sunday, nor lift our voices [in lamentation] for our dead nor show our firelights with them near the market places of the Muslims;
• Not to display any signs of polytheism, nor make our religion appealing, nor call or proselytize anyone to it;
• Not to prevent any of our relatives who wish to enter into Islam;
• Not to possess or bear any arms whatsoever, nor gird ourselves with swords;
• To honor the Muslims, show them the way, and rise up from our seats if they wish to sit down;

Adhere to these conditions and live. Break these conditions and all bets are off. While this pact was made in the early 7th Century, it is still considered relevant today as evidenced by its widespread application throughout the Middle East.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) certainly considers these conditions to be quite pertinent to the present-day conduct of interfaith relations. They are enforcing the conditions on the Christian residents of Syria, in addition to the regions they have recently conquered in Iraq.

According to the BBC, ISIS offers a heck of a deal – you must convert to Islam or if you remain Christian, you must accept dhimmi status and pay the jizya, (a tax for non-Muslims only) or… you can just be put to the sword.

As wildly enticing as the first or third choices may appear, most opt for door number two and live out their lives as second-class subjects. This is the hard-tyranny of Islamic supremacy. The inherently political and social nature of Islam and Sharia leave no room for other forms of intersection between believers and unbelievers.

This hard-tyranny is the hallmark of the Caliphate system. Freedom is an unknown concept; liberty is blasphemy in a system that crushes the individual into mortar paste for the building of greater Islam.

The global left views the advent of a new Caliphate as something akin to an Islamic version of the European Union, an economic and political alliance designed to trade with the rest of the world on an equal footing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Caliphate is a means toward an end; that end being Islamic dominance. The Caliphate is merely the structural entity that will administer Sharia throughout an Islamist-controlled world.

Considering the recent proliferation of “interfaith” initiatives throughout Western Europe and the United States, it seems prudent to give more than a cursory glance to the preferred ground-rules of the Islamists, and to examine the role such interfaith efforts might play in an expanding the Caliphate system.

One such interfaith initiative, here in Omaha, Nebraska intends to co-locate a Mosque, a Synagogue and a Church on the same campus.

There is a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOA) that governs the interaction between the three faiths that make up the Tri-Faith Initiative, as they call themselves. It lays the ground rules for everything from site planning, to building design and subsequent use.

Under the Protection of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

On June 23 each year, the Orthodox Church commemorates Moscow’s deliverance from the hordes of Khan Ahmet in 1480 through the intercessions of the Most Holy Theotokos (Greek: 'Mother of God') and Ever-Virgin Mary:

In 1480 Khan Ahmet advanced upon Moscow and arrived at the Ugra River in Kaluga region, while John III, Grand Duke of Moscow, was waiting on the other side. Suddenly a strong and unreasonable fear came upon the Tartars; Ahmet did not dare to fight the Russians and retreated to the steppe. In honor of this event, an annual Cross procession was instituted, from the Dormition Cathedral to Sretensky monastery. To this day, the Ugra River is called the “Cincture of Theotokos.”

In commemoration this week of this beloved feast of the Protection of the Vladimir Icon, I thought it meet and right to re-post this special article. I hope it blesses and inspires you.

_______

Originally posted June 3, 2013 —

In my book, Facing Islam: What the Ancient Church has to say about the Religion of Muhammad, I devote a special frontispiece to the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God (celebrated August 26), which commemorates the retreat from Moscow and Russia of the fierce Muslim warlord Timur (Tamerlane) and his armies on August 26, 1395, after he had a powerful dream and vision of "saintly hierarchs with golden staffs descending from a high mountain, and a radiant Lady in the air above them, surrounded by unspeakable rays of purest light. A countless multitude of Angels with fiery swords encircled Her."

As the below article describes, there have been many instances where the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God (Greek: Theotokos) has protected the Russian Orthodox people. Indeed, Her protection of the Byzantine faithful is also well attested.

Significantly, the Muslim Tartars never permanently conquered the Russian land, in spite of centuries of repeated assaults and brief occupations. Now, after withstanding and being pruned by seven decades of merciless persecution by the militant atheists, the Holy Russian Orthodox Church has been resurrected, and is once again preaching traditional, Orthodox Christianity throughout the world. This renewed flowering of the Russian Orthodox Church is a dramatic historical event, prophesied by saints from St. Seraphim of Sarov (†1833) to St. John of San Francisco & Shanghai (†1966).

Such intercessions and interventions as described below are a mystery of the Orthodox Christian Church, and should encourage and inspire Christians to greater faith, repentance, prayer, and hope in the ultimate victory of Christ our True God, which will be accomplished and fully revealed at His awesome Second Coming.

For my non-Orthodox readers and visitors, please don't be scandalized by these forms of piety which perhaps seem very foreign to you. For us, the heavenly realm is quite close, and the saints, those who have led God-pleasing lives and have been recognized by the Church as being true and reliable witnesses of the Life in Christ, live with Christ, and never cease to intercede for us who are still struggling through our earthly journey. Just as you would ask your family or friends, or members of your church, to pray for you, so we unhesitatingly ask the prayers of those who "have fought the good fight, have finished the race, and have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). The Virgin Mary, we believe, is unique among the saints, as she said "Yes" to God and bore the Son of God, Jesus, in her womb. We do not think of her as an intermediary between us and Christ (see 1 Tim. 2:5), but as a powerful intercessor, and as Mother of all the Faithful, whom Jesus mystically instructs us to take into the abode of our hearts (see Jn. 19:26-27). Here is a good article on the Orthodox understanding of the Virgin Mary.

THE VLADIMIR ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

Rejoice, our beloved Orthodox Russia;  Rejoice, for the true Faith is strengthened in thee... Rejoice, thou who prayest for us; Rejoice, our fervent Intercessor! Rejoice, O Most Pure, for from Thy icon mercy pours forth upon us. From the Akathist to the Most Holy Mother of God in honor of Her Vladimir Icon The histories of Moscow and of the icon of Vladimir Mother of God are eternally inseparable. How many times did the Mother of God save the capital city from enemies through the grace of her holy icon? This icon has linked Apostolic times to Byzantium, Kievan Rus’ to Vladimir Rus’, and later to Muscovy, the Third Rome; as it is said, “there will be no Fourth.” The kingdom of Moscow was formed by divine providence and embraced the mystical ties of ancient empires, historical experience and traditions of other Orthodox peoples. The miracle working Vladimir icon became a symbol of unity and succession.

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim: Arrested, Released, Re-Arrested, Re-Released

See also International Christian Concern (persecution.org) for updates on Meriam and her family's hoped-for departure from the Islamic state of Sudan.

Prayers Up!

by Faith McDonnell, Breitbart News — June 24, 2014

Meriam and Daniel with their children and Legal Team

On June 23, 2014, Sudanese Christian Meriam Yahya Ibrahim, who had been sentenced to death by a Shariah court in Khartoum, was cleared of all charges by the Appeals Court and freed. 

Today, while the world was still reacting with joy and surprise to the news of her release from prison, she and her husband, Daniel Wani, along with toddler son, Martin, and infant daughter, Maya, were re-arrested (some reports say “detained”) at the Khartoum airport while trying to leave the country. At approximately 3:10 pm ET this afternoon, the BBC reported that the family had been re-released and taken to a safe location. What is going on?

This is normal procedure for the Islamic Republic of Sudan. Deceptions, denials, and delays have kept the regime in business for decades. In this case, since Meriam was first arrested in September of 2013, all three of these tactics have been used against her, husband Daniel-- a South Sudanese Christian who is an American citizen-- and their children.

Khartoum’s Shariah court had sentenced Meriam to death by hanging for the crime of apostasy. Under Shariah she was considered a Muslim because her father was a Muslim, even though she grew up as a Christian under the care of her Ethiopian Orthodox mother. “Witnesses” attempted to provide a Muslim name for her and denied that she had ever been a Christian. The Sudanese government also denied that their incarceration of Meriam was religious persecution. They said it was a legal matter.

Meriam was also sentenced to receive 100 lashes for adultery for her relationship with Daniel. Under Shariah, their marriage was not recognized because a Muslim woman cannot marry a Christian man. At one point during her captivity, Sudanese officials spread the rumor that she would be released in three days. They deceived many around the world and in the United States who are naïve about Shariah. For days afterwards, advocates had to counter the disinformation that had interrupted the flow of the grassroots movement for Meriam.

The Shariah court judge postponed Meriam’s death sentence for two years, to give her time to breastfeed baby Maya. No such delay was given for the flogging sentence, though. She could have been subjected to the lashes at any day now, if the appeal had not been successful.

But the appeal was successful. Meriam’s attorneys, who themselves have received death threats for defending her, had submitted an appeal soon after the sentence was confirmed by the Shariah court on May 15 and had been waiting to hear the court’s judgment.  According to Middle East Concern, “the Appeals Court overturned the conviction on procedural grounds, on the basis that the prosecution provided insufficient evidence to prove the claims against Meriam and that the defense had not been given adequate opportunity to cross-examine witnesses or provide their own witnesses.” Not exactly a conversion to religious freedom on the part of the court, but it worked for Meriam.

Hours after Meriam’s acquittal, reports told of the reunion of Daniel, and the joy of the attorneys, who accompanied them to a safe house until they could leave the country. The latest photo (included above) shows the whole brave little band of warriors that defied the Islamist masters of Khartoum. Now members of Congress who had been involved in fighting for Meriam’s freedom began plans for the best strategy to get the Wani family out of Khartoum, urging the State Department to provide the appropriate travel documents to enable them to come to the United States.  

Here is where delay entered the picture. 

ISIS forces Iraqi Christians to pay jizya, tells them to convert to Islam or face the sword

See also: Iraq: Islamic jihadists demand jizya from Christian family, rape mother and daughter when they cannot pay

by Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News
via Pravoslavie — June 23, 2014

ANKAWA, Iraq — Convert to Islam or face the sword.

That was the stark message Christians in the Syrian city of Raqqa received last year when ultra-fundamentalist Sunni extremists, proclaiming themselves to be members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), seized power and launched a reign of terror against Shiites and Christians that has included beheadings and at least three crucifixions.

Kerry advocates for Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo

The Obama administration is obviously deeply compromised by its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and is doing all it can to keep the MB poised to return to power in Egypt. The Brotherhood continues its persecution of Coptic Christians, and its drive to institute sharia law in Egypt. The issue is not whether the MB is linked to ISIS as the article below reports, but what the MB has always stood for, and what it actually did when it came to power in Egypt. Banners like the one shown above were widely seen during the June 30 demonstrations last year which led to the Egyptian military removing Morsi and the MB from power. 

Kerry seeks to nudge Egypt's new president toward reforms on Cairo visit

by James Rosen, Fox News — June 22, 2014

CAIRO –  In a hastily-organized trip marked by extraordinarily tight security, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Egypt on Sunday, embarking on a weeklong tour of Middle Eastern and European capitals where he will try to rally support for the embattled central government in Iraq.

But as pressing as the Iraq crisis is, threatening to wreak further havoc on the volatile region and disrupt global oil supplies, Kerry's agenda in Egypt was already stacked with pressing bilateral issues he could scarcely afford to ignore.

Hundreds of Egyptian women and girls kidnapped, forced into Islam, claims report

Obama administration remains silent on Muslim persecution of Christians in Egypt, sends Kerry to Cairo to advocate on behalf of Muslim Brotherhood, which continues to target Coptic Christians, as documented in this report.

by Jack Ellis, Fox News — June 20, 2014

Fifteen-year-old Amira Hafez Wahim slipped out of the Christian church in Luxor, Egypt, where she had attended services with her mother in February, promising to dash to a nearby store and return quickly.

Five months later, she has not been seen since, although her parents immediately suspected a 28-year-old Muslim man named Yasser Mahmoud, who had tried to kidnap her before, had succeeded this time.  When her father went to the Civil Status Authority for a copy of her birth certificate, his fears were confirmed: Her name had been changed and she was now listed as Muslim.

Amira is one of approximately 550 Coptic Christian girls and women who have disappeared in Egypt over the last three years, according to a report from the Egyptian Association of Victims of Abduction and Enforced Disappearances.

Ebnar Louis, the Cairo activist who founded the association in 2010, said police are typically indifferent to reports of missing girls.

“We file an official police report, but it is often ignored,” Louis told the humanitarian think tank Atlantic Council.

The reasons behind this alleged police indifference are unclear. It could be individual sectarian bias, inadequate resources and funding, or plain incompetence.

The report concluded that many of the missing females were abducted by Salafi Muslims and forced to convert to Islam and marry their captors once estranged from their families. It found the abductions increased after secular strongman Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011 and replaced by Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Mohammed Morsi. Although Morsi was in turn ousted by the military nearly a year ago, the abductions have continued.