I want to begin by switching gears
today, to consider an important, and much neglected issue. Last Thursday
night, a symposium -- co-sponsored by B'nai Brith World Center, the Menachem
Begin Center and the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity in Jerusalem --
was held on "The Present and Future of Christians in the Middle
East."
That Christians in Muslim and
Arab countries in this region have it very difficult was hardly news to
me. But this symposium provided a broader context and some significant
information.
~~~~~~~~~~
Raymond Ibrahim, author
and ME specialist with the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the ME
Forum, is an American born to Christian Copts from Egypt.
Credit:
twitter
He provided an historical context
for the situation:
What we are seeing today is a
1,400-year long manifestation of a Muslim doctrine of conquest of
Christians. This is not an historical aberration or a modern
phenomenon. It is what has been happening over the centuries.
And this has been a conquest by
the sword. There is a Koranic doctrine of hostility to
non-Muslims.
Across the region, there was a
Christian presence before the advent of Islam, and now it is said that "The
entire Islamic world is one occupied territory." This conquest began in
the Arabian peninsula and spread to Egypt, Syria and elsewhere. Fifteen
hundred years ago 90% of Egypt was under Copt control.
With this conquest has come a
pattern of destruction of churches, degradation, persecution and forced
conversions.
Today there is a serious
humanitarian crisis. In different continents, in different
cultures, there is persecution of Christians. The common denominator is
Islam. In Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt, etc. In
recent months, tens of thousands of Christians have been shoved out of
Mali. The Islamist opposition in Syria attacks Christians. In Egypt,
the Copts are suffering with the rise of the Brotherhood.
~~~~~~~~~~
Says Ibrahim: The
situation of the Christians makes the Palestinian issue a
non-issue. Christians in the US do not sufficiently address this
suffering. But leaders within liberal denominations are eager to promote the
Palestinian issue.
The same can be said about the
media.
~~~~~~~~~~
Juliana Taimoorazy is an
Assyrian Christian. The Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans) are indigenous
to the region -- descended from the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians. A
Semitic people, not Arab and not Kurdish, they converted to Christianity in the
First Century of the Common Era and still utilize Aramaic.
Credit:
Voiceofthecopts
Taimoorazy fled Iran, where she
had been born, at age 15 and ultimately made her way to the US, where she
has lived for over 20 years. There she founded the Iraqi Christian
Relief Council, which lends badly needed assistance to the beleaguered Assyrian
Christians living in Iraq.
The information she provided was
chilling:
From 1914-18, three out of four
Assyrian Christians were murdered: As the Turks slaughtered Armenians so
did they kill the Assyrians, some 750,000 in total.
From 2004 until the present
there have been 80 church bombings, as well as numerous
kidnappings. In the south of Iraqi there is ethnic cleansing.
In the north, persecution by Kurds.
There were over one
million Christians in Iraq, but the number is down to 450,000 because the
rest have fled as refugees, to Syria, Jordan and elsewhere. Some 45%
of all Iraqi refugees are Christian. There are those who believe the solution is
for all to leave, but there is reluctance because they have ancient roots in the
land.
Priests are not only murdered,
their bodies are cut into pieces and scattered around their
churches.
~~~~~~~~~~
Even more chilling were the
still photos and video clips she showed. The portrayals of massacres of
Christians were starkly reminiscent of Jewish suffering during pogroms over the
centuries, and I knew I had to write about this. It is forbidden to remain
silent.
In particular, I encourage
Christians reading this to learn more about suffering fellow Christians, and how
you can help them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Taimoorazy said the Obama
administration has been contacted about this situation, but there is no
response.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Moti Kedar, who teaches Arabic
at Bar Ilan University and is an expert on Arab populations, provided
further insight into the situation of Christians in the Middle
East.
Credit:
cjnews
The Copts, he told us, were the
original Egyptians. "Copt" is a Greek version of the word "Egypt."
It was the Christians who brought
ideas of nationalism to the Middle East after exposure to this ideology in
Europe. Their hope was that everyone would be equal, united as patriots of
a nation. But their notion of converting Islamism to nationalism never
worked. Muslims focus on the Umm, the Muslim nation -- intended to unite
Muslims.
Muslims are historically hostile
to Jews and Christians. According to their beliefs, Islam came to
replace Judaism and Christianity, not to live side by side with
these faiths. It is for this reason that they have a common practice of
building mosques over churches -- or turning churches into mosques.
~~~~~~~~~~
Even though Muslims have a long
history of persecution of Christians, the situation has been worse in recent
times.
First there is a factor of
frustration. They knew that Islam was supposed to replace
Christianity because their Koran has told them so. But the US, a much
despised Christian nation, has been successful. Not only successful -- via
modern technology, the despised American culture has invaded their lands.
As a result of this, they vent their frustration upon those
Christians living within their lands.
Then there is the increased
radicalization of Islam. The Copts did not have it good under
Mubarak. It's worse with the Brotherhood.
Lastly, there is the situation of
the Jews. Not only have they not disappeared, they have had the temerity
to establish their own nation, where their people are protected from Muslim
persecution. A source of enormous frustration. But as the Muslims
don't have Jewish populations -- whom they can attack -- within their lands any
longer, they turn with increased ferocity upon the Christians who still live
amongst them.
Jews and Christians, then, are
united in recent history, in facing Islamic animosity, and need to make common
cause.
~~~~~~~~~~
A few diverse political
observations:
Dr. Kedar provides a knowledgeable
description of Islamic
frustration. His understanding, his insight, is what is missing
from most political analyses:
The Muslims were supposed to
replace the Jews. That's what their religious teachings tell them. How
then can they be expected to accept with equanimity the success of the
Jewish state? Israel is an irritant to them, in the best of
circumstances.
How can they be expected to
approach with genuine good will ideas of living side by side with
Israel?
The answer is that this cannot
realistically be expected of them -- and especially is this the case
because moderation is decreasing and there is a growing radicalization of
Muslims, including the Muslims of Fatah (the PA/PLO).
And yet, this expectation is what
the deluded and clueless leaders of the Western world continue
to promote and foster.
~~~~~~~~~~
Juliana Taimoorazy said this at
the end of her presentation:
"The America I knew 20 years ago
is not the America of today. Americans are very politically correct and
wants to welcome everyone who comes." But there are those who are coming,
she explained, who are working to bring Sharia (Islamic) law. "I am very
afraid for America."
~~~~~~~~~~
I, too, am very afraid for
America. And it's not just because the Muslims are coming, as they've come
to Europe. It's for another reason as well.
As I have struggled in the
last few days in an attempt to understand what has happened with the
last election, I have been advised time and again that America is not what she
was because there is now a more diverse ethnic population. But this did
not seem to me sufficient explanation. The United States is proudly a nation of
immigrants. So, it's different immigrants. So what?
And suddenly I knew "so
what?"
I think back to the situation of
the early years of the twentieth century, when the land was flooded with
immigrants: Jewish, Italian, Greek and more. America in those days was
referred to as a melting pot. The goal of immigrants was to become American, to
absorb American values.
That is what is lost in today's
politically correct America, where everything is considered as good as
everything else and it is not considered appropriate to attempt to
inculcate American values in newcomers. "Old fashioned" values
-- such as self-reliance and defense of liberty at all costs and
dedication to the constitution -- are being diluted.
And along with it, notions of
American exceptionalism, which for many decades made America the leader of the
free world. No more. Now America leads from behind and the world is
poorer for it.
John F. Kennedy, in his inaugural
speech, said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you
can do for your country." That was 52 years ago. Would his
words reverberate throughout the land today, inspiring people?
A rhetorical question: The
election just past was about entitlements -- about what America would be
doing for its citizens.
Add to this an America terribly
divided -- by ethnic group and economic class and more -- because there is
less sense of common peoplehood and all pulling together.
I grieve.
~~~~~~~~~~
©
Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner,
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