Al Qaeda's Ultimatum to Baghdad's Christians

Baghdad Christians have been in a heap of trouble for quite some time, and it is only getting worse. Now Al-Qaeda jihadists have issued them an ultimatum. "Insurgent group steps up its campaign against Baghdad's Christians," by Hannah Allam and Leila Fadel for McClatchy Newspapers:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -An al-Qaida-affiliated insurgent group is giving Christians in Baghdad a stark set of options: Convert to Islam, marry your daughters to our fighters, pay an Islamic tax or leave with only the clothes on your back.

A U.S. military official said American forces became aware of the threats only last month and now have erected barriers around the largest Christian enclave in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood in an effort to protect its residents.

Christians in Baghdad refuse to discuss the threats for fear of retribution. But in Syria, where thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled, tales abound of families that were killed or driven from their homes because they either refused or couldn't afford to pay the jizya, a tax usually levied on non-Muslim men of military age that's been part of Islam for more than 1,000 years.

"Two or three months ago, we heard we were going to be forcibly removed from Dora," said Rafah Elia Daoud, 53, who fled to Damascus, Syria's capital, on May 24. "Not everyone got a paper with the threat, but we knew. The choice was to convert, pay the jizya or get out."

"My brother was threatened; my sister was threatened. All of them had to pay the jizya," added her husband, Jamal Antone Karoumy, 66. "One of my brothers got a note and a single bullet under his door. The note said, `If you don't pay the jizya to the resistance, you'll be killed.'"

According to classic Islamic law, these choicess should be given to all who are not Muslim. No negotiations, no compromises.

Crossposted from The American Israeli Patriot.

Posted by Jay at June 10, 2007 5:40 AM
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