Calling on Christians: Speak Against Islamic Persecution

Representatives of The National Council of Churches (NCC) recently made a 12 day visit to the Middle East.

In Damascus, Syria, President Dr. Bachar Al-Assad welcomed the NCC stand support for the peace in the Middle East and their opposition to the war in Iraq. The delegation met with high ranking Muslim leaders namely: the Grand Mufti of Syria and the Director of Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro Centre with whom they exchanged with them issues related to Christian-Muslim relations.

The National Council of Churches met with the head of a terrorist state, Syrian President Assad. Here's a few headlines from around the web about Syria: Syrian President Bashar Assad Supports Iran Nuclear Program - Two Day tehran Visit Assad: We won't cut ties with Hezbollah, despite Israel talks (May 2008) Assad: Syria may host Russian missiles in it's territory Aug. 2008) Syrian President says democracy not a goal for his country Now here's a few "news" headlines from the National Council of Churches website: **The NCC Eco-Justice office has honored "green" churches around the nation. **Using Earth Day resources developed by the NCC, hundreds... are celebrating Earth Day **An experienced Mennonite editor has been elected chair of the NCC's Uniform Series Committee. Note: The Mennonites and Quakers are hosting a dinner for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on September 23, 2008! **Faith groups and individuals sent encouraging messages to Congress yesterday as the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Landscape Conservation System Act by a vote of 278 to 140. **An elegantly hand-lettered edition of the New Revised Standard Version St. John's Bible was presented Friday to a delighted Pope Benedict XVI. Where are the headlines and statements about Islamic jihad? There are none. Where are the headlines of Islamic persecutions of Christians. There are none. Where is the outrage from our mainline Christian churches in America? There is none. Why are our mainline Christian churches members of the National Council of Churches? At the end of the important article below, there is a link to more information about the National Council of Churches. Christians are targeted by the Palestinians By Monkey in the Middle In the Muslim world Jews and Christians have a third-class status known as Dhimmitude. Under the Dhimmitude they have no rights, not even the right to practice their religion if they wished. A special tax called Jizyah is imposed on these groups. Forced conversions to Islam, rape, murder and exile of whole communities is done on a grand scale. In June I wrote about how the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the 2006 take over of the city of Bethlehem the city's Christian population has gone from being 85% of the population to just over 12% of the population. Nothing has changed, if anything it has gotten worse.

It is estimated that, for the past seven years, more than one thousand Christians have been emigrating from the Bethlehem area annually and that only 10,000 to 13,000 Christians remain in the city. International human rights lawyer Justus Reid Weiner, who teaches at Hebrew University, told the Jerusalem Institute for Global Jewish Affairs that, under the PA-Fatah regime, Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent human rights abuses by Muslims. "There are many examples of intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion," he said. PA officials are directly responsible for many of the attacks, and some Muslims who have converted to Christianity have been murdered.

A systematic destruction of one of the world's oldest Christians communities.

In 2006, Hassan El-Masalmeh, a member of the Bethlehem City Council and local Hamas leader, publicly advocated implementing a discriminatory tax on non-Muslim residents. In late 2007 an evangelical pastor was forced to leave Ramallah under threats from Fatah gunmen, and soon after, his congregation dispersed. "Incidents of Muslim men ‘seducing' or kidnapping Christian girls have caused growing anxiety among the Christian population. In May 2004, a sixteen-year-old Christian girl from Bethlehem, who was a U.S. citizen, went missing for five days after being kidnapped by a 23 year-old Muslim. " The girl's family contacted the American Consulate in Jerusalem, and it was only thanks to their intervention that she was rescued and left with her family for the United States. The episode received virtually no international media coverage. In another case, a Muslim family appeared uninvited on the doorstep of a wealthy Christian family in Judea and Samaria and demanded that the Christian family's daughter, known for her beauty, marry their son. Their son was already dressed up for his wedding, accompanied by the sheikh and fifteen Muslim men. To protect his family the Christian girl's father opened fire on the Muslim entourage, killing three and wounding ten. The girl's family immediately abandoned their home and fled abroad."

No child, no woman, no man of the Christian faith is safe. They will be harassed, threatened, raped and killed if they resist.

The PA was involved in the torture of two Muslim brothers from Samaria who adopted the Christian faith.

The first brother was arrested by the PA secret police and accused of collaborating with Israeli and American intelligence. After the interrogation the police placed a cardboard sign on his back upon which was written, ‘Najib the Christian.' Then he was told to ‘curse Jesus.'" He eventually made contact with Israelis who arranged for him to hide in a bomb shelter in a Jewish community and was finally granted asylum in Norway.

His brother spent 21 months in a PA prison after being arrested on fabricated charges. He was held for seven months in underground solitary confinement. Weiner quotes his testimony before him thus: "I was beaten with sticks; they stripped me naked and made me sit on bottles, and on the legs of chairs that they turned upside down, and many, many other sadistic things that I am even ashamed to say." Many times they allowed lynch mobs like the Al-Aksa Brigades to come in and pull prisoners out of the cells. They were taken out and shot on the spot, their bodies then dragged through the streets for all to see." The young man was sentenced to be executed but was liberated from prison by the Israel Defense Forces. He lives in Israel but his wife and eight children remained behind and are under constant threat of harassment. He hopes to find asylum in Norway. Another Christian convert, El-Achwal, was initially arrested on fabricated charges of stealing gold. He was kept in a tiny cell and regularly left without food or water for days on end. The torture he sustained during the interrogation required lengthy hospitalization. Weiner, who interviewed El-Achwal, said Ahmed "had suffered extensive and serious burns on his back, buttocks, and legs. The heated torture implement that was applied to his skin reminded me of similar medieval instruments." He was eventually freed but refused to renounce his Christian faith. One day he was beaten by a group of masked men affiliated with the PA security services, who also torched his car. His residence was firebombed and on January 21 2004, he was shot dead by masked gunmen who have never been arrested.

And what is the Christian community in the US saying about this?

American Episcopalians and Presbyterians frequently blame Israel for the Middle East conflict. Leaders of other North American churches including the Methodists, the United Church of Christ, and the Lutherans "have also gone to great lengths to offer up one-sided condemnations of Israeli policies." [**see notes in red text after this article]

They know not what Christianity is it seems. For they condemn those who until they gave up control of Judea and Samaria, had guaranteed religious freedom to all. But that is not enough. What the Methodists, United Church of Christ and Lutherans have actually done is to show themselves to be anti-Semites of the worst form. Instead of a cross, they should place a swastika above their altars.

If this keeps up there will be no Christians in Bethlehem, and one of Christendom's most holy sites will become a mosque. Exactly what the Muslims have been striving for all along.

I ask my Christian friends to speak out about this at your church, to your pastor, to your friends. The western media will not mention it for it puts the PA into a bad light and that is not allowed. And to pray for your Christian brothers and sisters who are facing a persecution the likes of which has never been seen in the land of Israel before. End Monkey in the Middle article. From American Thinker, Joseph Puder, The United Methodist Church and Israel

** Susanne Hoder, a member of the UMC's New England Conference Divestment Task Force, led an informational gathering on the Middle East last June. It was intended to provide participants with the opportunity to "learn how companies profit from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, and examine the impact of occupation on Israeli and Palestinian society." **The UMC's General Board on Global Mission Women produced a Mission Study for 2007-2008, endorsed by the national church, which refers to Israel's creation as "original sin," and likens the birth of Israel to the Holocaust and Israeli practices to those of the Nazis. [I cannot view this report, so cannot verify. Here are links to a powerpoint presentation: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflift or the Simon Wiesenthal Center - scroll to the bottom of the page. If you can view this document, please let me know if you find the above quotes therein].

From Dhimmi Watch: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Considers Boycott of Israel.

**US Lutherans consider Israel boycott by Haviv Rettig for the Jerusalem Post:

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which has almost five million members in the US, took a step toward a partial boycott of Israeli goods at its 2007 Churchwide Assembly in Chicago last week.

On Saturday, the assembly, the church's top legislative authority, passed a resolution calling to work toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urging investment in the Palestinian Authority. [better known as the PLO]

National Council of Churches: Far-Left and Dangerous