Barnabas Aid November/December 2007

8/7/2019 Barnabas Aid November/December 2007

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barnabasaidhe magazine of BarnaBas fund HOPE AND AID FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

NOvEmbER/DECEmbER 2007

Iraq’s Martyrs



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Cover:Sixteen of the many Christians killedin Iraq in recent years. Names anddates of death are as follows:

Top row, L to R: Hazim PetrusDamman, 10 April 2003; PaulosIskander, 11 October 2006; AnitaTyadors, 8 August 2005; NinosShamuel Adam, 11 June 2006.

Second row, L to R: Wael Yousif Yacoub, 16 March 2005; RandyRobert Alexin (age 5, shown herewith his family), 2 June 2005;Salwan Sabah Jabbar, 21 July 2006;Rushid Noel Essa, 7 June 2006.

Third row, L to R: Matti ShamounZora Shaya, 26 August 2005; JosephFraidon Potros, 11 October 2006;Sargon Sabah Yacoub, 16 January2007; Nasrin Shaba Murad, 25October 2004.

Fourth row, L to R: Laith GabrielHoodi, 18 May 2005; Haitham

H.M. Ghazala, 12 February 2007;Faraj Moshe Markhai, 4 June 2004;Ghassan E. Rofa Haido, 17 August2006.

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Not knowing wherehe was goingEarly one September morning

last year I climbed up theancient ziggurat in Ur o theChaldeans, the place romwhich Abraham set out on hisjourney to the Promised Land.Surveying the panorama, Iwas deeply moved. From hereAbraham let, moving north-west through what is modern-day Iraq, then on to Haran(in modern Turkey), nallydropping down southwards intothe Holy Land.

Abraham did not knowwhere he was going (Hebrews11:8) and when he reachedhis destination he waslike a stranger in a oreigncountry (Hebrews 11:9). Helived in tents, indicating anexistence that was unsettledand impermanent, and acedopposition and hostility at everyturn.

Today many Christians areleaving Iraq rom Basra (not so

ar rom ancient Ur), Baghdad,Mosul and elsewhere. Fleeingthe appalling anti-Christianviolence, they cross into Syriato cities such as Qamishli,Hassake, Aleppo and Damascus,some entering into Jordan.

Many, like Abraham, donot know where they aregoing. Their uture is raughtwith uncertainty. Destitutionand deprivation mark theircondition. They will be livingas oreigners in countriessuch as Syria and Jordan.Like Abraham their hope ison heaven the eternal city(Hebrews 11:10) but still theyare looking or a place on earthwhere they will gain acceptance.

God had a purpose orAbraham, one which he did notully realise when he startedhis journey, but was to result inblessing or all peoples (Genesis12:3). We do not know God’smind or His people in Iraq or

why they have had to undergosuch tragedies in history andin our own time, but we knowthat God’s purposes or themwill be realised. Prior to theArmenian genocide whichpeaked in 1915, Christians had

prophesied that there would

be an Armenian diaspora andthat out o this tragedy wouldcome great blessing. Althoughan estimated 1.5 millionArmenians died when they weredriven rom their homes by theOttomans, the survivors andtheir descendants settled acrossthe Middle East and elsewhere,creating a Christian presenceand witness wherever they went.

Such was the case ater themartyrdom o Stephen in the

rst century. The church atJerusalem was scattered duringthe great persecution whichbroke out, but “those who hadbeen scattered preached theword wherever they went” (Acts8:4).

Let us believe that it will be thesame or the Church in Iraq. Anew day is dawning, and we,the Church outside o Iraq, arecalled at this time to care, toprovide, to pray or the Iraqi

Church. We must use everymeans possible, under God,not just to ensure her survival,but to enable her to ull God’sdivine purposes or her and orthe world.

Barnabas Fund is heavilyinvolved in supporting the IraqiChurch. We are working closelywith Christian leaders in Iraq and surrounding countries aswell as the West to mount amajor campaign to help thosewho have embarked on thisnew exodus. We have calledour campaign Save IraqiChristians. Read more about itin the enclosed leafet. RecentlyI was at a meeting o seniorChristian leaders rom Iraq,who had gathered in Syria todiscuss how Barnabas Fundcan assist the reugees. I sharedwith them a verse in my dailydevotional reading that morningrom Isaiah 16:3 (NIV) “ Donot betray the reugees.” We

urge you to stand with us as weengage in this task, so that ourChristian brothers and sisters,now reugees, are not betrayed.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo

International Director



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Iraq

There is a saying among Christians in the Middle East that every time Europeans intervene in the Middle Eastthe indigenous Christians suer. This has been true or many centuries. Muslim anger at intervention by the“Christian” West is all too oten channelled into hatred or the local Christian population, considered allieso the West because o their shared religion. This pattern has repeated itsel ever since the frst Islamic jihadthat overran Christian lands in the Middle East. It was reinorced by the Crusades and urther developed bycolonialism and its atermath.

European demands or protection and equality or Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire only made theMuslim majority more aggressive to the Christians. For in Muslim eyes, i Christians got equality they hadbroken the dhimma¹ contract o submission to their Muslim rulers and thereore were liable to jihad. They werealso increasingly seen as allies o the imperial Christian Western powers and enemies o Islam.

The betrayal of the Christians

Student murdered in Mosul,8 August 2005

Anita Tyadors, a 21-year-old student at Nineveh ArtAcademy, was kidnapped and

murdered in the al-Zohoorquarter o Mosul as she letan Internet caé. Around tenattackers pistol-whipped her,threw her limp body into theboot o a car and drove herto a remote location, wherethey beat her and stabbed herto death. They then shot ather dead body and nishedwith a bullet to her head. Herbody wasmutilatedbeyond

recognitionwhen itwas ounddumped inthe Akkadcemetery.

Two sisters murdered,Baghdad, 14 July 2004

A Christian amily had beenthreatened by radical Muslims.

While the parents were away,attackers broke into the houseand shot the two sisters, RaneedRaad (16) and Raphid (6), atpoint blank range.

T ay c t ft Wl WThe terrible Armenian genocidewhich peaked in 1915 isrelatively well known in theWest. Less well known is

the act that between 1914and 1918 the Ottoman Turks,using the Kurds to help them,also massacred some 750,000Assyrians, a Christian peopleoriginally rom Iraq. TheAssyrians reer to this as the“Seyo” (the sword).

When the Ottoman Empireentered the First World War asan ally o Germany in 1915, theSultan had a jihad proclaimed.For many Muslims this simply

meant the opportunity tomassacre and loot the localChristian populations, especiallythe Armenians and Assyrians.This was supported by thegovernment’s drive to ethnicallycleanse its border areas romChristian elements. In June1915 Turks andKurds attackedthe Assyriansand massacredmany. Some80,000 Assyriansfed eastward.

Some Assyriansin the Hakkari²region alliedthemselves

with the Russians against theOttomans. When the Russianront collapsed in 1917 due tothe communistrevolution,they were letalone to acethe might o the Ottomanarmy. TheBritish, whohad invadedMesopotamia (Iraq), oeredweapons i the Assyrians wouldhold the eastern ront untilthey could link up with them.The British also held orththe possibility o an Assyrianhomeland under allied protectionater the war. The Assyrians thusbecame ocial allies o Britain,

and were nicknamed “Britain’ssmallest ally”. However, Britishhelp did not materialise andthe Turks gradually weakenedAssyrian deences, orcing theAssyrians to fee. Large numberswere massacred en route or diedrom starvation and disease.

Most fed toHamadan inPersia where theBritish militarydisarmed themand sent them toreugee campsat Baqubah nearBaghdad. By1919 there weresome 25,000reugees, who

Continued on page 8

asked to be returned to Hakkarias a homeland o their own.This could have been possible in

the immediateatermath o thewar, but the alliesailed to press

or an Assyrianhomeland.

In 1918 anAnglo-FrenchDeclaration

had reerred to indigenous

Thirteen women kidnappedand killed, October 2006

Thirteen Christian women were

kidnapped and killed becausethey did not wear the traditionalIslamic head covering.


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How the anti-Christian threats come

The radical Shi‘a Mahdi Army sent this typed letter to Christians in

Baghdad ordering all Christian women to veil themselves or acethe consequences.

The Legal Veil

Allah be praised, said in His perect andnoble book:

In the Name o Allah, the MostBenefcent, the Most Merciul

(And do not display yourselves like thato the times o ignorance) -- AfrmedAllah the Mighty

Surah Al-Ahzab -- Verse 33

According to Ali, Prince o Believers(peace be upon him), he said, “We werewith the Prophet (saas) and he said, Tellme what is best or women? The Princeo Believers said, when I went back toFatima (peace be upon her) and told herabout what the Prophet (saas) said tous, Fatima said: ‘It is best or women notto see men and or the men not to seethem.’”

And in the Noble Narrative (She whowent out o her home adorned withfnery and ornaments or scented withperumes is under the cursing o Allah,angels and the people all together untilshe goes back home. Neither a religiousduty nor a git shall be acceptedrom her until she perorms the ritualablution. )

According to martyr MohammadMohammad Sadiq al-Sadr (Sacred behis noble secret): “Was the Virgin Mary(peace be upon her) unveiled so thatChristian women be allowed to be

unveiled? Was Fatima al-Zahra unveiled?And were the wives o the Caliphs in theFirst Caliphate or others unveiled? Noand then no…Allah orbid and ar be itrom all o them.”

Furthermore, HisEminence Mohammadal-Sadr prohibitedsel-adoration and notwearing the veil in anumber o religiousedicts, including:

Question: What isthe punishment o the woman who

does not committo the legal veil?

Answer: In thename o the

Supreme Being, Sheis an adulteress, and she even

proclaims sinulness, challenges and fghtsAllah and his Prophet and ignores andneglects religion. So what would be herate but hell and that is best outcome orher?

Question: What measure should betaken against a woman who disobeys herather, husband, or her guardian by notcommitting to the legal veil?

Answer: In the name o the SupremeBeing, they must order her in a courteousmanner to abstain rom the orbidden.I she reuses, he then must guide andeducate her religiously in order toconvince her. I she is not convinced still,then they must imprison her at homeand do not expose her to the orbiddeninteraction with men.

Note: Based on this, special committeeshave been established to ollow up on thismatter and she who is warned is excused.

Preparation

The People’s Foundation or the Masteral-Mahdi Army.

Translation:

In the Name o Allah, the Most

Benefcent, the Most Merciul(And do not display yourselves like thato the times o ignorance)AfrmedAllah the Mighty

From the leadership o Islamic BadrForces

To the noble amily

We hope rom the head o this amilyto stand with the Muslim Brotherhoodsconcerning the veil, honour and inollowing the Islamic principles thatwere practised by Muslims in olderperiods. We the Iraqi people are Muslimpeople that do not tolerate sin.

I you did not ollow the instructions inthis letter or its proclamation, then wewill set out to:

1. Embark on the unbearable2. Kill3. Kidnap4. Burn the house including what isinside or bomb it

This is directed to the girls o the amily,the mother o the two children and thelittle girl.

Copy to:

Islamic Badr Forces, Naja

[The ollowing is unclear, but possible]Tehran Badrjanah Islamic Campaign

[The ollowing is unclear, but possible]Badr Fighting Propaganda

Signed

Badr Forces

12 Rabi’ al-Awwal [3rd month o theIslamic Calendar], 14?? [Year not clear,possibly 1424, which would be May 14,2003 AD]

Letter 1

Letter 2

Text

A text message was sent to thephone o a Christian young man inMosul on January 17, 2007.

“From the Mujahidin to the

Christian dog, Kamal. Don’t answerus. We know where you are hiding,and we are going to attack all yourpossessions wherever they are. Weknow it in detail.”

A handwrittenletter sent to oneChristian amily

Translation:

Kamal’s attackers accused himo criticising Islam. He paid

them some money ater gettingthis message, but other Muslimgroups heard what was happeningand also began to demand moneyrom him.


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government or the Assyrians aspart o the post-war settlement.In 1919 an Assyrian delegationin Paris claimed an independentstate. Others requested a Britishprotectorate. The Chaldean

Patriarch also asked or aEuropean-protectedstate or hispeople. SomeAssyrianscalled orHakkari to beincluded inBritish Iraq rather thanin Turkey.In 1924 theTurks invaded

Hakkari and aurther 8,000Assyrians weredriven intoIraq. By 1925the bordersbetween thenew states o Turkey andIraq had beendrawn, leavingHakkari withinTurkey. The

Turkish and Persian governmentsreused the Assyrians the right o return, so the reugees in Baqubahhad to stay in Iraq.

In 1919 the British organised someAssyrian men into special militaryunits, the Assyrian levies, whichwere used to guard aerodromesand to suppress Kurdish andnationalist Iraqi Arab rebellions.The Assyrian levies were intenselypro-British and displayed greatbravery and good ghtingqualities. Ater the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty, they were graduallydisbanded.

The ruling class o Iraq was hostileto the Assyrians because o theiralliance with the British and theirrequest to the League o Nationsor an autonomous status in Iraq.By 1933 there was great tensionbetween the Iraqi governmentand the Assyrians. The Iraqi

army organised and carried out aseries o massacres near Simmelein which some 3,000 Assyrianswere killed. Priests were torturedand some Assyrians were orciblyconverted to Islam. Around 65

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Assyrian villages in northern Iraq were burned down. There wasalso much anti-Assyrian hysteriaamong Iraqi Muslims. As a result,some 6,000 Assyrians fed to Syriaand settled there. At least 36Assyrian villages in northern Syria

today are largelypopulated bythese reugeesand theirdescendants.The British didnot deend theAssyrians duringthe massacres,claiming it wasonly a minorincident.

During the

Second WorldWar some40,000 Assyrianswere enrolled inthe British RAFlevies based inHabbaniyah,Iraq. Theydistinguishedthemselves inthe ght againstthe RashidAli revolt in

1941. Again there were hopes orAssyrian autonomy under Britishprotection, which as usual weredashed. The levies were nallydisbanded in 1955 at the time o the British withdrawal rom Iraq.

The Assyrians’ military alliancewith the British had brought themno political gains, and had in actmade their plight worse. MostAssyrians still eel a deep senseo betrayal by the British, urtheraggravated by the 2003 invasion o Iraq and its atermath.

The Assyrians (in its broad sense)are the largest non-Muslimcommunity in Iraq. UnderSaddam Hussein’s drive orarabisation, Assyrian culture wasrepressed and many emigratedto the West. During campaignsagainst the Kurds, the Saddam

regime also destroyed some 150Assyrian villages in the north andsome 60 churches. Thousands o Assyrians were deported in theethnic cleansing and Arabs weresettled in their homes and villages.

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ThemainstreetoTel-Breej,anAssyrianChristianvillageinnorthernSyria

Ct iq c t2003 us-l vThe US-led invasion in 2003 wasintended to save Iraq rom thecruel dictatorship o SaddamHussein and to establish ademocratic secular state in Iraq.Many Iraqis had high hopes o

reedom and equality at its start.However these hopes were soondashed by the ensuing chaos inwhich Christians have become thetarget o persecution and o ethniccleansing by radical Islamistgroups, both Sunni and Shi‘a,seeking the total Islamisationo Iraq. As both non-Arabs andnon-Muslims, they are held incontempt and suspected o beingallied to the Western orces.

Furthermore, as the Kurds resettlethe areas which Saddam Husseinhad arabised, the indigenousAssyrians are sometimes beingdisplaced along with the Arabs.While Assyrians and otherChristians are generally oeredsome protection by the Kurdishauthorities in the north, they arestill in need o a great deal o careand attention rom the North Iraq Regional Government, the IraqiGovernment and the internationalcommunity.

Since 2003 Christians have had

churches and institutions bombed,businesses destroyed, propertyconscated, and individualskidnapped and killed. Christianwomen are being orced to wearIslamic dress and many have been

Continued on page 10

Threats to kill one memberof every Christian family,Karakush, 2 November 2004

Church leaders in Karakushnear Mosul received a letterthat threatened to kill oneperson in every amily. Thiswas to be their punishmentor allowing their women togo out with heads uncoveredand or allowing them to

attend university. Beore thisevent, radical Islamists hadwarned all women in Mosul tocover their heads. On October26th 2004 a Christian womanwas killed or having herhead uncovered. Two otherChristian women not wearinghead-covering had nitric acidsquirted in their aces in themarket.

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Following the establishment o a Kurdish sae haven in 1991,

Assyrians have gradually returnedto some o their villages andstarted to rebuild them.



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The original Christian communityin Iraq are the Assyrians. They

are conscious o their identityas the indigenous people o thecountry, descended rom theancient Assyrians. The capital o the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh(near Mosul in modern Iraq), andthe story o Jonah sent to call it torepentance are part o their uniqueheritage. Tradition says that it wasthe apostles Peter and Thomaswho rst brought the Gospel to theAssyrians.

Similar to the Assyrians, thoughhaving their own dierent church,are the members o the Syriac community. Some believe they aredescended rom the Arameans o Biblical times.

Chaldeans are ethnic Assyriansbelonging to a church linked tothe Roman Catholic church. Theystress their link to the ancientBabylonians o the region.

There is also a small Armenian Christian community, as well asProtestants who are converts inthe last ew generations rom avariety o backgrounds.

The conusion in Europeanlanguages between “Syrians”(i.e. Syriacs) and “Assyrians”is due to the ancient Greeks.The Greeks transliterated“Assyria” as “Syria”. To make

matters worse they then used“Syrian” to mean “Aramean”as well as to mean “Assyrian”.

To complicate matters stillurther, in ancient churchterminology the Assyrianswere also termed the EasternSyrian Church and the Syriacswere termed the WesternSyrian Church.

Wy w c?

In modern times, the termAssyrian is oten used to mean

the indigenous Christiancommunity o Iraq, sometimesdened as the “Chaldean AssyrianSyriac nation”. These Christiansorm a distinct community withtheir own language (though lostby most Chaldeans since theeighteenth century) and culturaltraditions. Their language andtheir Christian aith are thetwo main elements o Assyrianidentity. The various Assyrianchurches were great missionarychurches and carried Christianity

into Central Asia as ar as India,China, Tibet, Mongolia and evenJapan.

Aramaic was the lingua ranca o the Persian Empire aterit conquered Babylon (539BC) and o a large part o theMiddle East until ater theIslamic conquests in the seventhcentury AD. Aramaic (alsocalled Syriac in the Christianera) was the mother tongue o the Lord Jesus.

Assyrian and Syriac Christiansstill use classical Aramaic as

their liturgical language, whichexists in two dialects. Thewestern dialect is used by theSyriacs and the eastern dialectby the Assyrians (Church o theEast). In the home they speaka vernacular called “Swadaya”(but oten known as “Assyrian”)which is 60% derived romAramaic. This also exists in twodialects.

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Following the Islamic conquestsin the seventh century AD, theAssyrians became part o thesubjugated dhimma¹ people. Theywere great scholars, translatorsand doctors and contributed muchto the emerging Islamic civilisationby passing on Greek, Syriac and

other Christian learning to theArabs.

As a non-Muslim minority theyaced intolerance, contempt andperiodic persecution rom theMuslim authorities and rommarauding Muslim tribes o Arabs, Turks, Mongols and Kurds.Between 1258 and 1295 they hada brie period o reedom underthe rule o pagan Mongols, whichended when the Mongol rulersconverted to Islam. The Assyrians

were almost totally wiped out inCentral Asia by the Muslim Mongolruler Tamerlane in the ourteenthcentury.

Iraqi Christians(approximate fgures)

Chaldeans 52%Church o the East(Assyrians) 22%Syriacs 16%

Armenians 6%Protestants 4%

Meanwhile in the Ottoman andPersian Empires, Assyrians survivedin a precarious and marginal way,acing requent attacks rom thesurrounding Kurdish and Turkmentribes.

In the nineteenth century theOttoman Empire began to weaken

while the Russian Empire wasgrowing stronger and conqueringmore territory. Assyrians began tohope or liberation rom Islamicrule. Some European powers spokeo the need to protect the Christianminorities, but this simply uelledMuslim hostility. However, whenin the 1840s Kurds massacredAssyrians in Hakkari there wasno European intervention ontheir behal. Again in 1884-1896Assyrians were massacred alongside

Armenians by Kurdish tribes andmilitias and Ottoman soldiers.

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BarnabasFundishelping many hundreds o Iraqi Christianamilies. Some are still living intheir homeland, while others havefed to Syria and Jordan seekingsaety. Funds are sent through localchurches or Christian organisationsin all three countries, whose leadersuse them careully to help theamilies with ood and other basicneeds such as rent, medical help andschool ees.

Sometimes Christian leaders chooseto tell the recipients that their helphas been sent rom Barnabas Fund.This can be an encouragement,reassuring the Christians that theyare remembered and loved by theirChristian amily in other parts o theworld.

When unds were distributed to 243amilies at a church in Syria lastSeptember, there were speeches and

prayers or the sta and supporterso Barnabas Fund, and the Scoutsbrass band played. One Iraqi reugeequoted rom Song o Songs 8:7“Many waters cannot quench love.”Another thanked the church leader

and his sta or their assistance andthen went on to thank visitors romBarnabas Fund:

Today we’re here to meetanother group o those Jesusollowers. They were unknownto us till this moment… Theywere working or us to help us

orget our pain and sorrow, andwe ask them to allow us to callthem a name we suggested, “theIraqis’ happy dream makers”.

Finally I ask the rhymes andalphabets to orgive me, sinceI couldn’t nd the exact wordswhich explain our real eelingstowards you, and simplyplease accept our prayers andinvocations to God to bless you,and thank you. (Mazin EliasThomas, September 16th, 2007)

Thank you to all Barnabas Fundsupporters whose donationsenable us to keep helping ourIraqi brothers and sisters intheir time of trial. It is only byyour generosity that Barnabas

Helping Iraqi Christians (general),reerence 20-227

raped. In several areas Christianshave been called upon to choosewhether to pay the demeaningjizya tax, accept Islam, leaveor be killed. While many havefed to the Kurdish areas andNineveh Plains,hundreds o thousands havelet the countryaltogether, themajority o thembeing now inSyria. It seemslike a repeat o the events in1933.

What ishappening nowto the Christians

in Iraq is ethniccleansing orgenocide.

While all o Iraq’s minoritieshave sueredpersecutionsince 2003, the AssyrianChristians seem to have suereddisproportionately. Accordingto Minority Rights GroupInternational they are the secondmost endangered minority group

in the world,³ acing extinction intheir traditional homeland.

However hard the Christians

try to please their Muslimcompatriots, the radicals alwaysnd justications to attack them.Conversion, death or expulsionseem to be the only terms onoer rom the radical Sunni and

Shi‘a groups.

The US, UK and their alliesare oeringno specialprotection tothe persecutedreligiousminorities in

Iraq and havetended to ignorethe eects o their policieson non-Muslimminorities.They employedmany workers

and translators rom theseminorities, without providing ortheir protection rom vengeulmilitants. Only Denmarkhas voluntarily acceptedresponsibility or its hired Iraqiemployees and moved them enmasse to Denmark. Swedenhas been generous in granting

asylum to Assyrians who todaynumber some 100,000 in Sweden.Britain and America, the maininstigators o the 2003 invasion,have been the most miserly ingiving asylum to endangeredIraqis.

Some Assyrian groups are callingor an autonomous AssyrianAdministrative Region to becreated in the Nineveh Plainso northern Iraq. The aim is tocreate a sae haven or Assyrians,but who would protect thisenclave rom its enemies? Wouldan Assyrian militia be created

strong enough and well enougharmed to guard its rontiers? Theenclave would be sandwichedbetween Arabs and Kurds, bothclaiming the area. While theWestern allies protected theKurdish sae haven during theSaddam era, they are not in aposition to oer protection to anAssyrian enclave today.

allpblty

Ct v tay?

AnIraqiChristianreugeeinSyria,oneothosewhomBarnabasFundishelping

Fund can, in the metaphor of Mazin Elias Thomas, give IraqiChristians “happy dreams”instead of cares and sorrows.

Christian teenager beheadedin Baqubah, 21 October2006

Ayad Tarik, aged 14, was athis work place, maintainingan electric generator, when agroup o Muslim insurgentsentered the building and askedor his identity card. Whenthey saw that it stated he was aChristian, they asked him i hereally was a “Christian sinner”.Ayad answered that he was

a Christian, but not a sinner.The insurgents then calledhim a “dirty Christian sinner”,and beheaded him, pulling hislimbs and shouting “AllahuAkbar”.

¹Dhimma are dened in Islam as the Christianand Jewish communities under Islamic rule.They were second class subjects, permittedto live and keep their own aiths in return orpaying a poll tax (jizya) and obeying various

demeaning regulations.²A mountainous area o south-eastern Turkey,

it is one o the heartlands o the AssyrianChristians.

³Bel Jacobs, “Minority with a major crisis”,MetroFocus, 16 August 2007.

Food and basic needs or IraqiChristian reugees in Syria andJordan, reerence 20-383

Food and basic needs or Christiansin Iraq, reerence 20-246

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Egypt:Hopesraisedthendashedor

convertsromIslam

Norway:ChristiansandMuslimsagreeontherighttoconvertbetweenaithsChristian and Muslim groups inNorway signed a joint declarationon 22nd August arming theright to convert rom one aithto another without ear o harassment or violence. Thestatement signed by the Church o Norway Council on Ecumenicaland International Relations andthe Islamic Council o Norwaysaid, “We reject and want to workagainst violence, discriminationand harassment due to a personwanting to convert or havingconverted rom one religion toanother.”

This simple statement contradictsthe teaching o Islamic law(shari`a) that apostasy rom Islamis a serious oence punishable bya rat o penalties including deathor adult males. As such, theNorwegian statement could setan important precedent. “As aras we know, this is the rst timethat a church and representativenational Muslim organisationhave jointly acknowledged theright to convert,” commented OlavFykse Tveit, secretary-general o the church council.

Christian twins, Andrew andMario Medhat Ramsis, arein danger o being eectivelyorced to convert to Islam. Theboys’ ather converted to Islam

voluntarily some years ago anddivorced their Christian mother,with whom the boys continuedto live. A court in Alexandria hasnow ruled that the 13-year-oldsmust live with their ather andhis new (Muslim) wie, whichmeans they would be treated bythe authorities as i they wereMuslims. According to onesource, their ather has alreadyhad the religion changed on theirbirth certicates to “Muslim”without his sons’ consent. A nalruling on the case was due on

September 3rd but the sessionwas adjourned.

Andrew and Mario are staunchChristians. Having been orced

to study Islamic religion atschool because they were nowconsidered Muslims, they bothhanded in exam answers onwhich they had written onlythe single sentence, “I am aChristian.” The school initiallyreused to move them up tothe next grade without a passin Islamic religion, but Egypt’sEducation Minister intervened onAugust 25th, ater internationaland domestic pressure, to saythat the boys would be able tomove up.

Egypt:TeenageChristiantwinstobetreatedasMuslims?

AndrewandMario

In an extraordinary sequence o events in late July, Egypt’s GrandMuti rst amazed Egyptiansby stating that there shouldbe no worldly punishment or“abandoning one’s religion” andthen issued a complete denial o what he had said. The end resultis that Egyptian Christians roma Muslim background remain inthe same predicament about legal

identity and acing the same kindso harassment and persecution asbeore.

On 24th July the Egyptian presspicked up a statement by GrandMuti Ali Gomaa rom a postingon a Washington Post-Newsweekwebsite, saying that abandoningone’s religion is punishable by Godon the Day o Judgement, but notin this world unless it involvesundermining “the oundations o

society”. But the ollowing day,25th July, Gul News reported thatAli Gomaa denied he had madethe statement and reiterated hisprevious position that apostasyrom Islam is a crime which mustbe punished.

One o the biggest problems acingEgyptian Christians rom a Muslimbackground is that the authoritieswill never change their identitycards to show that they are nowChristians. Yet it is quick and easy

to change a Christian identity cardinto a Muslim identity card. Beinglegally considered a Muslim hassevere implications or Christians,especially in marriage, inheritanceand other amily legal matters.

Although Egyptian liberals havebeen asking or decades thatreligion be removed rom ocialdocuments like ID cards, so as toprevent discrimination, nothinghas changed. However in the lastew months, the issue has becomeone o public debate as a numbero Christians have taken their casesto court.



MalaysianMuslims.InKelantanstatesomeonetellingaMuslim

aboutChristianitycouldnowbepunishedbycaning

12 bARNAbAS AID noV/deC 2007

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Kelantan, one o the most Islamicstates in Malaysia, approvedchanges to the law on June 26thwhich increase the maximumpenalty or trying to convert aMuslim to another aith. The newamendments permit six strokes o the cane, ve years in prison anda ne o 10,000 ringgits (£1,430;US$2,800; NZ$4,000; A$3,430;€ 2,140) or non-Muslims whoshare their aith with Muslims.

The previousmaximum penalty wasa two-year sentenceand a 5,000 ringgit ne. The aim o the newpenalties is to act asa deterrent, explainedHassan Mohamood,chairman o the stateReligious Aairscommittee.

While on the onehand increasingthe punishment orthose who shareother aiths with aMuslim, Kelantan issimultaneously oeringnancial rewardsor any “Muslimmissionary” whomanages to marry anOrang Asli person andconvert them to Islam.The Orang Asli are theindigenous people;

traditionally they donot ollow any o themajor world aiths.

According to Hassan Mohamooda reward o 10,000 ringgits will goto any Muslim missionary, maleor emale, who succeeds in this,as well as ree accommodation,a our-wheel drive vehicle anda monthly allowance o 1,000ringgits. When asked i mencould take Orang Asli womento be their second or third wie,Hassan Mohamood replied that itdepended on the individual.

Malaysianstateintroducescaningaspunishmentorevangelism,paysMuslims

tomarrynon-Muslimsandconvertthem

Egypt:Christians

arrestedorexposingallegedmurderoanotherChristianbypolice

Two Egyptian Christiansrom a Canadian basedorganisation, the MiddleEast Christian Association(MECA), were investigating

an incident in Cairo inwhich a Christian ell tohis death rom his balcony.The man had made aormal complaint aboutpolice attempts at extortionand brutality. Shortlyaterwards, two policeocers came to his home totry to orce him to withdrawhis complaints. When hereused they allegedly threwhim rom the balcony in thepresence o his amily andother eye witnesses.

On 7 August severalmembers o MECA cameto gather evidence o whathad happened. Less than24 hours later the twowere arrested by the StateSecurity and ace a varietyo charges. They weredetained or 15 days pendinginvestigation.

On 9th August teen policeocers came to a church called“Peace” in the town o Nukuswith a video camera. The pastorand his amily, who live in the

building, were arrested, alongwith their guests who camerom another church in theneighbouring town. Bibles andsong books were seized. Theollowing day another church

in Nukus was raided andmore books, CDs and othermaterials seized. The pastorwas arrested.

On 21st August ocialsrom the Public Prosecutor’sOce searched the storageacilities o a Christiancharity in Tashkent, seizingmedications, toiletries

Uzbekistan:ChurchesandChristianministriesraidedand Christian symbols such ascrosses.

Christians have been told thatocials want to close down the

ministry. They believe this attackmay be at the request o a localmaa boss, who used to own thecinema which they bought andconverted or use by the ministry.



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An 11-year-old Christiangirl called Zunaira, living inFaisalabad, was kidnapped on5th August by a Muslim calledMuhammad Adnan and hissister. They orced Zunairato convert to Islam (recitingthe Islamic creed is usuallyconsidered conversion) andthen to marry Muhammad,her kidnapper. Zunaira’s

desperately poor mother gavemoney to the kidnappers to tryto gain her daughter’s reedom,but she has not been released.

Pakistan:Christiangirlskidnapped,11-year-oldorcedtoconverttoIslamandmarry

Seven Indian states now havesome orm o “anti-conversion”

legislation, but it is only actuallyin orce in three o them– Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarhand Orissa. The recently passedFreedom o Religion Acts- the ocial name o what arepopularly called “anti-conversionlaws” - are ostensibly designedto prevent religious conversionby orce, raud or allurement.But in practice it seems thatthe main aim is to preventconversions rom Hinduism toChristianity. Some o the newlaws are tougher versions o previous similar laws. Most o the states involved are controlledby the Hindu nationalistBharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to the IndianConstitution, a bill cannot become

law until the state governor signsit. Ater signature, it still cannotbe put into practice until thestate government has ramedrules to implement it. The anti-conversion legislation in the otherour states is held up at one orother o these two stages. Earlierthis year the governors o bothRajasthan and Gujarat reusedto sign legislation introduced bytheir respective governments in2006. Meanwhile in ArunachalPradesh and Himachal Pradesh

the law has been signed, but therules have yet to be ramed.

ChhattisgarhgovernorraisesquestionsNow the governor o

Chhattisgarh, one o the stateswhere an anti-conversion lawis actually in operation, hasquestioned the law on two counts.On 21st August Governor EkkaduSrinivasan objected to excessivegovernment control and to areligious double standard. Oneprovision o the bill requirespeople to get permission romthe district collector beoreany conversion and anotherpart allows people to “return

to Hinduism” without it beingcounted as conversion andthereore being subject to thelegislation.

GujarattriesagainMeanwhile in Gujarat the stategovernment has reacted to theirgovernor’s decision not to sign byimmediately announcing theirdetermination to reintroduce anearlier version o the bill. Thisearlier version was passed in 2003and gained the governor’s assent

but was never implemented,reportedly because the state legaldepartment objected to some o itsprovisions.

India:Governorshaltprogressoanti-conversionlaws

China:Churchraidedwhile150childrenattendholidaybibleschoolThe Zhongzhuang housechurch in Jianhu City, JiangsuProvince, China, was raidedby the authorities on July 11thwhile a Holiday Bible School or150 children was in progress.At least eight Christians weretaken away, including thepastor and some o the teacherso the “Harmony Express”Holiday Bible School. Two o the Christians were beaten soseverely that blood was coming

rom their mouths and one lostconsciousness or hal an hour.Church property including avideo camera and a computerwas seized.

On 16th August ShumailaTabussum (aged 16) waskidnapped rom her home inthe same city by a group o Muslims, who got her intotheir car by telling her thather ather had been seriouslyinjured and oering to driveher to the hospital where hehad been taken.

Sadly, such abuse o Christiangirls by Muslim men is notuncommon in Pakistan. Thepolice normally do little ornothing to help.

SeveralstatesinIndiaarepassinglegislationtomakeitdifcultorhindustoconverttoanotheraiths,butsomestategovernersareobjecting

Barnabas Aid November/December 2007

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Transcript of Barnabas Aid November/December 2007