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Jihad on Churches: Muslim Persecution of Christians, March 2015

Jun 16, 2015 5:19 am By Raymond Ibrahim

iranianchristiansGatestone Institute

On Sunday, March 15, as Christian churches around the world were celebrating morning mass, two churches in Pakistan—one Catholic, one Protestant—were attacked by Islamic suicide bombers. At least 17 people were killed and over 70 wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility. It is believed that the group had hoped for much greater death tolls, as there were almost 2,000 people in both churches at the time of the explosions.

According to eyewitnesses, two suicide bombers approached the gates of the two churches and tried to enter them. When they were stopped—including by a 15-year-old Christian youth who blocked them with his body—the Islamic jihadis self-detonated. Witnesses saw “body parts flying through the air.”

According to an official statement of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan, despite all the threats received by the churches, authorities only provided “minimal” security.

As in other Muslim-majority nations, churches in Pakistan are under attack.  On September 22, 2013, in Peshawar, Islamic suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church right after Sunday mass and blew themselves up in the midst of approximately 550 congregants, killing nearly 90 worshippers. Many were Sunday school children, women, and choir members. At least 120 were injured.

One parishioner recalled how “human remains were strewn all over the church.” (For an idea of the aftermath of suicide attacks on churches, see these graphic pictures.)

In 2001, Islamic gunmen stormed St. Dominic’s Protestant Church, opening fire on the congregants and killing at least 16 worshippers, mostly women and children.

The rest of March’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes, but is not limited to, the following accounts, listed by theme and country in alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity.

Muslim Attacks on Christian Churches and Monasteries

Central African Republic: At least eight churches were burned in the northern province of Nana Grebizi, after heavily armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked several villages. Two Christians, including a pastor, were killed in the attack; another Christian was severely tortured. After the carnage, the Islamic herdsmen started fires and looted the local population. The blaze destroyed swathes of farmland, at least eight churches, several other mission centers and an unknown number of Christian homes.

Egypt: During the early morning hours of March 9, the Coptic Catholic Church of Kafr el-Dawar was attacked by armed men who used an explosive device against the place of worship.  Two policemen were hospitalized after the attack.  Separately, Dr. Yusuf al-Burhami, a leading cleric in Egypt’s Salafi movement, appeared in a video that surfaced in March saying that “Destroying churches is permissible—as long as the destruction does not bring harm to Muslims, such as false claims that Muslims are persecuting Christians, leading to [foreign] occupations.”  He further added that “the reason we agree to their [churches] being built, via the article in the constitution dealing with worship, and the reason we do not collect the jizya [tribute] from the Christians, is because the condition of Muslims in the current era is well known to the nations of the world—they are weak and deteriorating among the people.” Burhami explained that when the Arab Muslims first conquered Egypt in the 7th century, the ancient nation was Christian, and because the Muslims were few in number, Coptic Christian churches were allowed to remain—“just as the prophet allowed the Jews to remain in Khaibar after he opened [conquered] it, but once Muslims grew in strength and number, [second caliph] Omar al-Khattab drove them out according to the prophet’s command, ‘Drive out the Jews and Christians from the Peninsula.’”

Germany: A potential jihadi attack on the cathedral and synagogue in Bremen was averted following action by police, a Belgian newspaper reported.  Numerous police guarded the cathedral and synagogue and searched a local Muslim cultural center.

Iraq: Islamic State militants blew up a 10th century Chaldean Catholic church north of Mosul and bulldozed a nearby graveyard.  According to Nineveh Yakou—an Assyrian Archaeologist and Director of Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Affairs at A Demand for Action—the Saint George monastery was “wiped out” by IS.  The building was founded by the Assyrian Church in the 10thcentury but rebuilt as a seminary by the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1846. “The current monastery was built on an archeological site containing ancient Assyrian ruins. It was an important show of continuity from the Assyrian to our culture,” Yakou said. “ISIS is wiping out the cultural heritage of Iraq. The monastery was classified as cultural heritage. It’s a cultural and ethnic cleansing.”

Kenya: On the afternoon of February 28, in Maramande, Hindi, Muslims from neighboring Somali set a Christian church on fire.  This same church was set on fire last July 5, 2014, but was built again in January 2015.  According to the pastor of the twice-torched church, “These people do not want Christianity in this area….  They want to finish me so that Christianity will not go on here. But I will continue raising up my eyes to God for help.”  According to Morning Star News, “Violence in Kenya’s coastal region has accelerated in the past few years. On Jan. 11 in the Mombasa area, a gunman shot a Christian dead at the gate leading to a church building, apparently after mistaking him for the church pastor. Police reportedly said the assailants could be members of an active Islamic extremist terror cell in Mombasa blamed for past gun and grenade attacks.”

Lebanon: Unidentified persons invaded Mar Elias, an ancient Maronite church in Bekaa.  Along with damaging one of the church’s windows, they destroyed a portion of the flooring, as they dug a large hole near the altar.  According to Maronite Bishop Joseph Mouwad, much of the church’s sacred items were left intact and not stolen.  Instead, “they broke the tiles and dug the ground, apparently looking for something, though we do not know what.”  Fingerprints and cigarette butts were found. 

Muslim Slaughter of Christian ‘Infidels’

Central African Republic:   An argument between a taxi driver and his Muslim passenger led to the slaughter of at least 16 Christians in Bangui, the nation’s capital.  A Muslim man known as Aladji hailed a motorcycle taxi and asked to be taken to a Muslim-dominated district of Bangui. He was carrying a bag of grenades. When the motorcycle broke down, the driver stopped to fix it, but his agitated passenger pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. The driver overpowered Aladji and killed him instead.  After his body was found, Muslims marched to the Christian sector of the city where they slaughtered at least 16 Christians—some decapitated.  Authorities arrested 10 members of Seleka—the almost entirely Muslim rebel group—following the killings….

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Filed Under: Muslim persecution of Christians Tagged With: Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan, St. Dominic’s Protestant Church


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Comments

  1. Alarmed Pig Farmer says

    Jun 16, 2015 at 7:45 am

    Magna Carta’s Birthday

    Yesterday was the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the founding document of freedom in Western civilization. Mark Steyn points out that the full name of the document is Magna Carta Liberatum, which tells us that even its authors were aware of freedom, and what they were bringing into this world.

    We’ve come a long way since June 15, 1215 AD, not all of it good. Communism comes to mind, imposing misery on hundreds of millions and slaughtering tens of millions, in the doing making Naziism look like a flash in the pan more about expansion than the idea of bringing the productive down to a level of shared misery with the unlucky, the unwilling, the stupid, and the just plain lazy.

    Which brings up Moslems. They have no Magna Carta, they have only the Holy Ko-Ran and the example of Mohammed, the two combining the best of Communism and Naziism: expansion *and* shared misery. Down down down, the Moslem is always working hard to lead the human race back to the pre-Moses day of savagery, chasing the fish bait dangled before them of bad ideals and hope for a porno heaven. Timeless worthlessness. The most base and basic of instincts put into a sour and stinking package that in the modern day produces the startling, sad and just plain wrong news that Spencer tirelessly chronicles in this blog.

    So, to the Magna Carta I say happy birthday. May you continue to live a long life, although you’re looking tired and a bit like an endangered species lately. Save us of from the base, the awful; save us from the Moslems.

  2. Richie says

    Jun 16, 2015 at 10:39 am

    Many on the left have a seething distain for Christianity- I think a reason they turn a blind eye to Islamic persecution of Christians is because they WANT Christians to be killed. Sounds harsh, but I think thats how it is- Leftists see Muslims as allies, even leftist atheists will defend Islam- I once saw an article on Huffington Post by a gay advocate who argued gays should see Muslims as allies as both have been ‘oppressed by Christians’. Of course the writer was ignorant hat Muslims continue to execute gays

  3. Angemon says

    Jun 16, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Richieposted:

    “Of course the writer was ignorant”

    Unfortunately, that’s a bipartisan issue – many on both sides of the fence are ignorant of what islam teaches and regard groups like the islamic state as being “deviants” from the peaceful, “Mr. Affleck, can I have a sandwich?”, real islam.

    Sure, those on the left tend to blame everything on US, and the islamic state is no exception, but overall ignorance about islam is a recurrent theme on both sides.

  4. Walter Sieruk says

    Jun 16, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    One reason those Muslims attacked those church’s ,in such vicious and murderous ways is, in part, because all Christians believe the Biblical doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God. This supreme Bible truth is found in many places of the Bible .As in for example, Matthew 3:16;17, John 3:16,16,36. First John 2:22,23. 4:14,15. 5:12,13, 20. This is just to site of few of many such verses. the Bible doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God is not believe and even hated by Muslims. Islam is thus in terrible error concerning the Nature of Jesus. The Muslim clerics can’t refute that Jesus is the Son of God so they incite awful violence against Christians and Christian churches

    • Celtic says

      Jun 17, 2015 at 10:48 am

      You obviously don’t even see what is wrong with your posting: Claiming that some old scripture of unknown feather is absolute truth is pretty much the same thing that the Muslims are doing…

      • Mirren10 says

        Jun 17, 2015 at 1:50 pm

        ”Claiming that some old scripture of unknown feather is absolute truth is pretty much the same thing that the Muslims are doing…”

        I see. Walter Sieruk is burning down churches, and murdering Christians, is he ?

        ”You obviously don’t even see what is wrong with your posting”

        Pot. Kettle.

  5. Prasad says

    Aug 11, 2015 at 2:51 am

    It is unfortunate that all of a sudden this Jihadi, ISIS, Al-khaida organization have sprung up. Do these organizations think of building a peaceful world ? Do these organizations have any religion ?. Somebody brainwash of killing others. Do they know how a mother struggles for 9 months to keep the baby alive and feeds till the baby stands on his/her own feet. Religion that has no meaning to those who are barbaric and not cultured life. What is happening in Pakistan ? Same religion people killing each other ? Is that a religion. I am not against Muslim religion but I am against those soo called animals butchering people thinking that by butchering somebody they will directly land in heaven. If they kill others with bombs on their body they will directly land in heaven. Do not believe that foolish people blindly and join them. Most of them are shattered when they see the facts and situations after landing in the hands of soo called fanatics. They just call a slogan “Islamic State”. What is it. People polish some illusions and brainwash innocent girls and boys. Where is Jihadi John now. Just find out after killing soo many people, he is on the run for his life Be happy and peaceful where you are and follow God faithfully with what you have. .

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