MidnightWatcher's Blogspot

Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

By Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute – “Two of the most tragic Islamic attacks on Christians, killing several women and children, took place in the month of October, one in Syria, another in Egypt.

On October 21 in Syria, U.S.-supported Islamist rebels invaded and occupied the ancient Christian settlement of Sadad for over a week, until ousted by the Syrian army. What took place that week was ‘the largest massacre of Christians in Syria,’ in the words of Orthodox Archbishop Alnemeh. Among other things, 45 Christians—including women and children—were killed, several were tortured to death; mass graves were discovered; all of Sadad’s 14 churches, some ancient, were ransacked and destroyed; the bodies of six people from one family, ranging from ages 16 to 90, were found at the bottom of a well (an increasingly common fate for ‘subhuman’ Christians).

The jihadis also made a graphic video (with English subtitles) of those whom they massacred, while shouting Islam’s victory-cry, ‘Allahu Akbar!’ [‘Allah is Greater!,’ meaning ‘than anything’]. Another video, made after Sadad was liberated, shows more graphic atrocities.

The day before rebels invaded Sadad, on Sunday, October 20, the Church of the Virgin Mary in Warraq, near Cairo, Egypt, was attacked during a wedding ceremony. The attack left four dead and nearly two dozen wounded. According to a report issued by a forensic team, two of those murdered were young girls, each named Mary: 12-year-old Mary Nabil Fahmy, who was shot five times in the chest, and 8-year-old Mary Ashraf Masih (‘Masih’ meaning ‘Christ’), who was shot in the back.

The security forces charged with protecting the church were seen leaving their posts immediately before the massacre began, as happens frequently in Egypt and other Islamic nations. In the words of Asia News, ‘Eye-witnesses of the al-Warraq attack confirm that despite numerous distress calls, police and ambulances only arrived on the scene two hours after the shooting.’

These massacres in Syria and Egypt received scant attention and even less condemnation from Western media and governments. Instead, people such as Mohamed Elibiary, an Obama administration Homeland Security adviser, condemned Copts who raise awareness of anti-Christian violence in Egypt as promoting ‘Islamophobic’ bigotry.

Although Christians are habitually killed in Muslim countries, as this series attests, the U.S. government rarely condemns the practice or even acknowledges it. When five Muslims were killed in western Burma, however, the U.S. issued a formal condemnation, according to Voice of America, ‘urging authorities to do more to address the long-standing sectarian tension there.’

The rest of October’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts Read more…

Revelation 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

Qur’an Sura 9:29-30, “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are of the People of the Book … the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them …”

Agenzia Fides – “The Christian village of Kanayé, Orontes River, in the Governorate of Idlib, has been invaded by Islamist militants that terrorize the population, threaten a massacre and have imposed the Islamic law. This is what was reported to Fides Agency by Mgr. Giuseppe Nazzaro, vicar emeritus of Aleppo, who received an alarming report by the faithful Christians of Aleppo. This has become a pattern that repeats itself and that in recent weeks has focused on a number of Christian villages: armed guerrillas penetrate into the village, terrorize civilians, commit kidnappings, kill, sow destruction. ‘In Kanayé Salafi militants and the jihadists of ‘Jabhat al-Nousra’ have imposed on the pastor not to ring bells. Women must not go out on the street bare-headed, but must be veiled. And if they do not obey these orders, the threat is massacre’, reads a note of Msr. Nazzaro, sent to Fides.

‘We are facing what they have already done in the nearby village of Ghassanieh for over a year. In Ghassanieh they warned the residents to leave the village immediately, otherwise they would have killed them, and they got the desired result: to occupy the village with what Christians possessed. In Kanayé, they have not imposed on the population to leave but to live according to the Islamic law’. According to the vicar emeritus, ‘this could be the first step: tomorrow they will force them to convert to Islam’.

In recent days, Fr. George Louis, Greek-Catholic parish priest of the village of Qara, which has been devastated and burned, explained to Fides: ‘Maalula, Sednaya, Sadad, Qara and Deir Atieh, Nebek: armed jihadists target a village, they invade it, kill people, burn and devastate it. For civilians, Christian or non-Christians, life is always more difficult. The foreign militia act out of the control of our Syrian Free Syrian Army (FSA) compatriots, who instead respect everyone, and they do not want to raze the entire country’.” Source – Agenzia Fides.

Flashback: Syria: Thousands Of Families Flee, Children Crying In Fear As Islamists Besiege Two Villages In Search Of Christians To Kill – “Islamist rebels besieged two Christian villages in Syria, killing around 13 people and forcing thousands of families to evacuate their homes. Militants from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front stormed Saddad and Haffar on Monday last week (21 October). Until then, the villages had been relatively safe, and thousands of internally displaced families had sought refuge there.” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: Rebels Attack Christian Homes, Churches, Many Feared Dead, ‘Convert To Islam Or You Will Be Beheaded’ – “A Maaloula resident said the rebels, many of them sporting beards and shouting [Allahu akbar], attacked Christian homes and churches shortly after moving into the village overnight… Now, Maaloula ‘is a ghost town. Where is President Obama to see what befallen on us?’ asked the man… Another resident, a Christian man, said he saw militants forcing some Christian residents to convert to Islam. ‘I saw the militants grabbing five villagers Wednesday and threatening them (saying): `Either you convert to Islam, or you will be beheaded,’ he said.” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: Mass Graves With Dozens Of Christians Killed By Islamist Rebels Found In Sadad – “The bodies of thirty Christian civilians have been found in two separate mass graves, including women and children, killed by Islamist militias in the city of Sadad. And, altogether, the Christian civilians killed in a small town halfway between Homs and Damascus are 45… According to eyewitnesses, many of the civilians were killed by militia gangs of ‘Al- Nusra Front’ and ‘Daash’. The city is now completely destroyed and looted.” Read more.

Flashback: Al-Qaeda Vows To Slaughter Christians After Syria Is ‘Liberated’ – “Arabic news agency Al Hadath gives more information concerning this latest terror attack on Syria’s Christians, specifically how the al-Qaeda linked rebels ‘terrorized the Christians, threatening to be avenged on them after the triumph of the revolution.’ Thus al-Qaeda terrorists eagerly await U.S. assistance against the Syrian government, so they can subjugate if not slaughter Syria’s Christians …” Read more.