MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

In case anybody was wondering, no, this is not a draft of next week’s Saturday Night Live skit …

Hurriyet Daily News – “European countries will face new humanitarian tragedies leading to mass killings of people if they continue in their failure to embrace tolerance toward different cultures and religions, President Abdullah Gül has warned.

‘Islam and migrants have been a reality in Europe for centuries. As long as the continent of Europe doesn’t approach segments which are different from the majority with tolerance, particularly in regards to religion, an occurrence of new inquisitions and Holocausts, as well as incidents evoking Srebrenica, are probable,’ Gül said yesterday.

His strongly worded remarks came as he delivered a keynote speech at the opening of a two-day international symposium on ‘Migration, Islam and Multiculturality in Europe’ arranged by Hacettepe University’s Migration and Politics Research Center.

Racism and a lack of tolerance of different cultures and lifestyles are some of the chronic diseases in Western societies, Gül said, drawing attention to the increase in support for political parties which portray migrants as the main reason for societal problems in European countries such as safety, unemployment, crime and poverty.

‘When politics begins ‘otherizing’ a segment, then we see the alienation of migrants and minorities from the country in which they live and from the society in which they live as an inevitable consequence.'” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey: Muslims Subjecting More Christians to Discrimination and Attacks, Followers of Christ Vilified in Media, Textbooks – “The only way to remove the root of intolerance in Turkey is to remove Islam, but this isn’t humanly possible with a population that is at least 96% Muslim.  Fortunately, there is Someone who can make a difference. And He’s coming soon …” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey, Key US Ally, Added to List of Worst Religious Freedom Offenders – “Yes, you’ve read that right.  The country that has become ‘a useful model for new Arab regimes‘ has now been added to the list of worst religious freedom offenders in the world. Alongside Egypt who now vows to one day kill all Jews, this is a nation that the Obama Administration is now actively arming, a nation that now makes verbal attacks against Israel ‘a central feature‘ of its political discourse. Welcome to the ‘new’ face of ‘moderate Islam’ …” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey: 40% Of Turks Do Not Want To Live Next To Christians, 58% Do Not Want A Jewish Neighbour – “‘The social inquiries in Turkey show that 40% of the population does not want to live with [a] Christian neighbor. And 58% of [the population] does not want to live with [a Jewish] neighbor’, Simavoryan noted. Expert also noted that [the] Armenian community is on the eve of vanishing in Turkey as a result of [Christian intolerance]. According to him [the] media is very active in this issue. ‘Every action by the Christian Church is presented as [a] negative action. Even the churches are presented as terrorist organizations’.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey: Secular Opposition Laments the Rise of Islamism in Turkish Government and Society, Christians Under Increasing Pressure – “In a Turkey with a secular constitution and a government and population of the Muslim faith, the social-democrat opposition has denounced an attack by the government and the presidency on the tradition of Ataturk festivities, symbol of the state’s secular nature. The alarm has come on a day in which a daily paper provided details on a report by the Association of Protestant Christian Churches noting numerous ‘attacks’ on Christian communities.” Read more.

By Nirmala Carvalho, AsiaNews – “‘The anti-Christian intolerance in Jammu and Kashmir is reaching alarming proportions’ is the complaint of Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), after the arrest of two Christians in Srinagar, the capital of Indian state, on false charges of forced conversions. The arrest took place on April 10 last, after a Muslim mob attacked two men, five women and two children, all of British origin.

The foreigners had been living for about four years Shivpora, a district of Srinagar. According to local residents one of them, James Thomas, was engaged in conversion activities. So, two days ago a large group of people attacked the Christians, threw stones at their vehicles and tried to destroy their house. The intervention of the police prevented the demolition and the wounding of those present, but officials arrested James and Alora Milli to clarify the charges against them.

The police have impounded the building and evacuated the foreigners. The local imam told police that he had repeatedly asked the foreigners not to convert Muslims, but to no avail. ‘Now – he added – they can no longer access the area. And even if they try to convert anyone, I will prevent it at all costs.’

‘The false and defamatory accusations of the Imam – says Sajan George – and the complicity of the police in arresting these Christians are a serious threat to religious freedom, a right guaranteed by the Constitution of India.’

Jammu and Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority state of India where religious intolerance frequently occurs. This past January, a group of foreign tourists risked being lynched after the publication of some posts on Facebook. An exemplary case dates back to 2011, when the Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Anglican Church, was arrested for having baptized seven Muslims and then indicted by an Islamic court (which has no legal authority in the State or in India, ed) for proselytism and forced conversions.” Source – Asia News.

• Flashback: Kashmir: Suspected Islamists Attempt To Burn Down Christian Church
• Flashback: Kashmir: Christian Couple Distributing Pamphlets About Christianity Arrested for ‘Promoting Enmity’
• Flashback: Police Detain, Beat Converts from Islam to Christianity in Muslim-Majority Kashmir Valley
• Flashback: India: Christian Pastor Talks To Muslims About Christ, Islamists Severely Beat Pastor, Attempt To Destroy Churches

Flying kites? That’s “un-Islamic.” Playing cell phone music? That’s “un-Islamic.” Attacking and killing Christians? Now that’s Islamic! The god of Islam is praised as the Most [un]Gracious and Most [un]Merciful for many [nonsensical] good reasons …

Reuters – “Lahore: Pakistani authorities have dropped a plan to revive the ‘Basant’ festival and kite-flying in the central province of Punjab in the wake of a warning issued by Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which has described the event as ‘un-Islamic’.

The interim government of Punjab headed by caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi surrendered to detractors of the festival and dropped the proposal to revive Basant.

Sethi, a journalist by profession, had recently spoken about his desire to revive Basant, which he had described as an intrinsic part of Lahori culture.

During a high-level meeting held in Lahore on Monday, officials were warned by police about the possible negative fallout from the revival of Basant, which marks the onset of spring.

Police officials warned the government of possible protests and a fallout of a warning issued by the JuD, a source said. After the meeting, senior officials recommended Sethi to drop any plans to mark the festival, to which the CM acted.” Read more.

Cell Phone Music Sparks Islamist Attacks Against Christians – “A mob of Muslims, apparently angered by Christian youths playing music on their phones from the back of a rickshaw taxi, responded by attacking residents of the mostly Christian Francis Colony section of Gujranwala, near Pakistan’s city of Lahore. The incident started after the prayer leader of the Lahore suburb’s largest mosque accused the teenagers of playing their music too loudly. A scuffle resulted, but the argument quickly erupted into an armed attack by a Muslim mob on the Christian homes in the Francis Colony.” Read more.

How Can Any Rational, Normal Person Believe In Islam? – “On March 30th 2013, the New York Times ran an article asking the question: How can reflective and honest intellectuals actually believe this stuff, referring to the Catholic Church? The piece instigated no riots by Catholics. No cars were fire bombed, and no fatwa was issued by Bishops calling for the destruction of the New York Times offices or for murdering their employees. That’s their right to free speech, but the more pressing question that must be asked are as follows” Read more.

The incident recorded below apparently took place in 2009, before the 2011 ouster of Hosni Mubarak. For nearly 1400 years, Islam has been in a persistent state of war against non-Muslims, and non-Muslim women have been its spoils. When female activists in Egypt openly admit that Egypt was much friendlier towards women and women’s rights under the Presidency of former dictator Mubarak, one can only imagine how much worse it must now be under the Islamic hegemony of the Muslim Brotherhood …

Daniel 11:37a, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women …”

Qur’an Sura 33:50a, “O Prophet! Lo! We have made lawful unto thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowries, and those whom thy right hand possesseth of those whom Allah hath given thee as spoils of war…”

By Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch – “They’re shouting ‘Nasara! Nasara! Nasara!’ (Christians! Christians! Christians!) as they set upon the terrified woman. And then ‘Allahu akbar’ (Allah is greatest) and ‘There is no god but Allah.’

But remember: it is ‘hate’ to oppose this savagery.

(Video thanks to Mark George.)” Source – Jihad Watch.

• Flashback: Egyptian Cleric: Christian Women Who Refuse To Dress Like Islamic Women Should Get Raped
• Flashback: Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Warns Granting Rights To Women Would Lead To ‘Complete Disintegration Of Society’
• Flashback: Egypt: Muslim Preacher Says Raping Women In Tahrir Square Is Justified, ‘They Want To Be Raped’
• Flashback: Egypt: Dozens Of Women Sexually Assaulted During Anniversary Of Uprising
• Flashback: Arab Lecturer Admission: Part Of Our Identity Is To ‘Attack’, ‘Beat’ And ‘Kill Women’

By Jibran Khan, AsiaNews – “For more than 20 years, a Pakistani Christian family has been living in a constant state of fear, the victim of threats from extremist groups and under constant pressure from the radical fringe to convert to Islam. A tragic story in a country increasingly hostage to the Islamists, in which young people prefer Sharia law and the military to the democratic model proposed by the West and branded as ‘corrupt.’ In recent times, threats and pressures against the Zafar family have increased. And the father has been forced to lock one of his daughters indoors for fear she will become a victim of kidnapping, as was the case in 1998 when her older sister was abducted and subjected to torture.

Sadiq Masih Zafar, born in Muridke, a town in the district of Shaikhupur, in the province of Punjab, was appointed to oversee the construction of a church between 1988 and 1989, by the Lahore Church Council that had previously purchased the land. Since then Islamic extremist groups have showered him with threats and injunctions, ordered him to stop building places of worship and convert – with his family members – to Islam.

In 1990, a raid of fanatics led to the demolition of the structure and the confiscation of the land. In the context of the assault, the Islamists also violently attacked Zafar and some relativesHis reporting of the incident to police proved futile, who closed the case without proceeding to any investigation. A similar result, a few months later, when the man filed a complaint against the daily threats of fundamentalists who want him to convert to Islam.

In 1998, Zafar’s daughter, Sarwat Naheed was kidnapped while returning home and subjected to violence and torture that resulted in the breaking of her legs and deep wounds to the head. The girl also had signs of strangulation and was found abandoned and unconscious in a field. A few days later his son Azeem Zafar was stopped by a group of people, who beat him up.

These two incidents prompted the Zafar family to flee to Lahore, in search of a quiet place. However the extremists hunted them down, and discovering their new home, continued to threaten them with death.” Read more.

• Flashback: Pakistan: Islamic Persecution Forcing Christians To Flee Into The Wilderness
• Flashback: Pakistan: Christian Man Murdered For Refusing To Convert To Islam
• Flashback: Pakistan Islamists: ‘You Christians Have Offended Our Prophet, We Will Kill You All!’
• Flashback: Christians In Pakistan Told To Convert To Islam Or Leave, ‘Otherwise They Will Face Consequences’

By Emmanuel Uzodinma, Daily Post – “Unknown gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram sect launched a daring attack on a local Church of the Brethren, popularly known as Ekilisiyar Yan’uwa Nigeria, EYN during a sunday service in Maiduguri, the Bornu state capital.

This will be the first time an attack would be launched on a church in the Maiduguri metropolis in broad daylight during Sunday service since the Boko Haram insurgence in the area reached its crescendo.

According to worshippers, about five gunmen riding in a [a three-wheeled motor vehicle] came to the church area located at Bulunkutu ward in the metropolis at about 11a.m and began shooting sporadically into the church targeting the worshippers as the sermon was being delivered.

The worshippers were taken aback that the gunmen could dare the soldiers in front of the church to launch such an attack.

Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Lt Col Sagir Musa who confirmed the incident said the soldiers at the church post immediately repelled the attack.

‘They came firing into the church area but our men at the post rose to the occasion and fired back at them. We successfully repelled the attack and the gunmen fled immediately,’ Lt Col Musa said.

He however revealed that a policeman attached to the JTF was injured at the process. He further confirmed that he has since been treated and discharged.” Source – Daily Post.

• Flashback: Boko Haram: Our Goal is to Eliminate Followers of Christ
• Flashback: Nigerian President: Islamist Killings Means End Times Are Upon Us
• Flashback: Islamists Massacre Dozens Of University Students For Being Christian

And what should be done about all of the Christians who attend those churches? The prophet of the “Religion of Peace” is equally clear …

Qur’an Sura 8:12b, “… terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.”

Charisma News – “Earlier this month, news reports surfaced out of Saudi Arabia that raised the red flag for Christians.

Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs USA, says, ‘The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia—the top Islamic official in the country of Saudi Arabia—has declared that it is ‘necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.’ Nettleton goes on to note that the report hasn’t surfaced anywhere except on the Council on Foreign Relations Web site, which was then picked up by The Atlantic.

As Saudi Arabia is ranked second on the Open Doors World Watch List (a compilation of the 50 countries where persecution of Christians is most severe), the news is not really a surprise. There is no provision for religious freedom in the constitution of this Islamic kingdom.

All citizens must adhere to Islam, and conversion to another religion is punishable by death. Public Christian worship is forbidden; worshippers risk imprisonment, lashing, deportation and torture. Evangelizing Muslims and distributing non-Islamic materials is illegal. Muslims who convert to Christianity risk being subjected to honor killings, and foreign Christian workers have been exposed to abuse from employers.

Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, created an implication with his assertion. Nettleton explains, ‘This was in a meeting with Kuwaiti officials who came to Saudi Arabia. They were asking this Islamic official, ‘What should we do about the churches?’ His statement was, ‘There should be no Christian churches on the Arabian Peninsula.”

According to the report, the delegation wanted to confirm Shariah’s position on churches. Essentially, Nettleton says, ‘If you have churches in Kuwait, which they do, they should be destroyed. The interesting thing about this is that there are no churches in Saudi Arabia. There are no church buildings that are allowed to exist there. So he clearly wasn’t talking only for his own country. He was trying to export this ideology to the surrounding countries.’

This proclamation could affect churches in Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Nettleton observes that ‘in most of these countries, we’re not talking about a lot of churches; we’re talking about a few that are allowed to exist primarily to serve foreigners that are living in that country.’

However, the U.N. Human Rights Council has yet to take a stand on such blatant violations of freedom of religion. How the governments implement this declaration is yet to be determined.” Read more.

Saudi Arabian Textbooks Promotes Hatred Of Jews And Christians – “… AlAhmed gave examples of what Saudi children are taught. He said a guidebook says first-grade teachers should tell students that: ‘Adhering to Islam is the only path to enter heaven, and escape hellfire.’ ‘It is from Islam to love Muslims, and to hate the unbelievers and not to imitate them.’ ‘Examples of false religions [include] Judaism, Christianity.’ AlAhmed says a ninth-grade book teaches that, ‘The Jews and the Christians are enemies of the believers. He says an 11th-grade book states, ‘The cursed are: The Christians and all those who have erred from the true path, and worshipped God with other than his orders.'” Read more.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi wasn’t joking …

Mining Gazette – “Ezzat Kromer’s resistance to his kidnappers did not last long. One of the masked gunmen fired a round between his feet as he sat behind the wheel of his car and said with chilling calm, ‘The next one will go into your heart.’

The Christian gynecologist says he was bundled into his abductors’ vehicle, forced to lie under their feet in the back seat for a 45-minute ride, then dumped in a small cold room while his kidnappers contacted his family over a ransom.

For the next 27 hours, he endured beatings, insults and threats to his life, while blindfolded, a bandage sealing his mouth and cotton balls in his ears.

Kromer’s case is part of a dramatic rise of kidnappings targeting Christians, including children, in Egypt’s southern province of Minya, home to the country’s largest concentration of Christians but also a heartland for Islamist hard-liners.

The kidnappings are mostly blamed on criminal gangs, which operate more freely amid Egypt’s collapse in security since the 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Crime has risen in general across Egypt, hitting Muslims as well. But the wave of kidnappings in Minya has specifically targeted Christians, and victims, church leaders and rights activists ultimately blame the atmosphere created by the rising power of hard-line Islamists.

They contend criminals are influenced by the rhetoric of radical clerics depicting Egypt’s Christian minority as second-class citizens and see Christians as fair game, with authorities less likely to investigate crimes against the community.

Over the past two years, there have been more than 150 reported kidnappings in the province — all of them targeting Christians, according to a top official at the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police.

Of those, 37 have been in the last several months alone …” Read more.

• Flashback: Egypt: Christian Girls Kidnapped by Islamists and Forced to Convert to Islam
• Flashback: Egypt: Christian Boy Kidnapped At Knifepoint, Abductors Open Fire On Church
• Flashback: Egypt: Salafistists Kidnap 13-Year Old Christian Girl, Attempt To Convert Her To Islam
• Flashback: Egypt: Christian Father Fights For Daughter Abducted By Islamists, ‘Become A Muslim And We’ll Spare Your Life’
• Flashback: Egypt: Muslim Gang Attempts To Kidnap Christian Mother, Kills Family Members And Threatens Coptic Community For Resisting

By Raymond Ibrahim, Jihad Watch – “Just as Islamic terrorists feed off of Christian minorities by kidnapping and ransoming them, especially in lawless regions—like ‘liberated’ Iraq and on-its-way to being ‘liberated’ Syria—last Sunday, four armed and masked men kidnapped a 12-year-old Coptic Christian boy, Abanoub Ashraf, as he was walking to his church in ‘Arab-Spring-liberated’ Egypt. Right before he reached the St. Paul Church in Shubra al-Khayma district, the men put a knife to his throat, dragged him to their car, opened fire on the church, and then sped away. The kidnappers later called the family asking for five million Egyptian pounds in ransom—almost the equivalent to one million U.S. dollars, likely an impossible amount to raise.

During a live interview with Wael Ibrashi concerning this incident, Coptic Bishop Marcus said that, while the immediate motive behind the kidnapping is money, the other purpose is to frighten Christian families from sending their children to church. Otherwise, why kidnap him from right in front of the church door? (Considering that some Egyptian clerics consider attending church as worse than attending bars and brothels, the kidnappers likely deem this the ‘altruistic’ side of their greed and hate.) The kidnappers also covered their faces only right before they pounced on the boy, displaying their confidence that there would be no repercussions.

When Ibrashi asked the bishop ‘previously [during Mubarak’s era] there always used to be guards; who removed the guard from the church?’ a dejected sounding Bishop Marcus responded, ‘I don’t know; ask security not us.’ Similarly, according to the 12-year-old’s distraught family, while the local security agency has portrayed itself as doing all it can to discover the boy—that, is, on Egyptian media—’it has not contacted us, nor asked us about anything whatsoever.'” Source – Jihad Watch.

Flashback: Heartbreaking Video Gives Viewers A Taste Of The Growing Plight Of Egypt’s Christians – “A procession of Christians bravely vows to stand firm in the faith of Christ, even unto death. An anguished church leader cries out to the Lord to deliver His people from their turmoil. A Christian mother languishes over the abduction of her daughter. This is but a mere drop in what has now become a sea of Christian persecution …” Read more.