A caliphate would be required under Islamic law to wage jihad regularly against non-Muslim states, and would relegate its non-Muslim inhabitants to lives of discrimination, deprivation and harassment. But who cares? They’re not “white supremacists,” so there’s nothing to be concerned about.
“Jihadists seeking to build ‘transcontinental caliphate,’ says report,” by Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency, December 1, 2022:
Islamist terrorist groups are unleashing a new wave of violence and persecution to build a “transnational caliphate” stretching from west Africa to the Pacific, according to a new report on religious persecution.
The report, released earlier this month by the international Catholic pastoral aid organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), found that as a result of increased jihadist activity, persecution of Christians along the equator has skyrocketed in recent years.
ACN’s report, “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for their Faith, 2020-2022,” found that the equatorial regions of Africa and the Pacific have been particularly affected. Christians and other minority religions in these regions face violent persecution and in many cases the choice to “convert or die” at the hands of radical Islamist groups, some of which are affiliated with ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
According to ACN, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost and millions displaced as 14 African nations have been subjected to jihadist campaigns, with the situation in 12 of these nations being particularly dire. “With the growing Islamist radicalization, Christians tend increasingly to become a specific target for the terrorists,” ACN states.
The African region has been prone to sporadic and disorganized violence in the past, yet this new rise in jihadism is different, according to ACN. The radical Islamist groups not only are extending a jihad across the continent but are increasingly organizing and coordinating their efforts. ACN has found that “the threat from militant Islamist groups in Africa is not monolithic but comprises a constantly shifting mix of roughly two dozen groups actively operating — and increasingly cooperating — in 14 countries.”
Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and Mozambique have all been subjected to radical Islamist terror campaigns intent on forcing their extreme version of Islam on the local populations.
With millions fleeing the impacted regions, grievous human rights violations abound. In many cases, men and boys are kidnapped and forced to join the extremists’ ranks or face beheadings. Meanwhile, women and children fleeing the violence have themselves been subjected to rape and forced servitude.
ACN’s report posits that the international community’s response to this crisis in Africa has been thus far insufficient to render proper aid to the suffering population. In some nations, such as Burkina Faso, hundreds of thousands have been displaced yet “more than 60 percent of the territory was not accessible to humanitarian aid workers” as of the end of 2020, according to ACN.
ACN’s report states that “the multinational military missions deployed in West Africa have not been successful.” This is further evidenced in that the “Islamic State has declared six so-called ‘provinces of the caliphate’ in Africa.”…
GreekEmpress says
We support ACN. I’m glad to see they are speaking out about this situation.
A lot of the charities that solicit for funds state they are supporting displaced persons, but never mention why they are displaced in the first place.
ntesdorf says
Muslims seem very able to unleash terror, violence, intolerance, and Jihad, with or without a Caliphate. Western governments seem entirely uninterested in the fate of Christians in Africa in any case.
Wellington says
Thanks to detritus like Biden, Trudeau, Macron, Ardern, Pope Francis and the collective idiocy which is the UN, Christians in Africa being slaughtered by the day are of no account.
This is where we are in our era. And an era which is a monumental error if such things as basic decency, resiliency against evil, equality under the law, liberty overall and truth overall mean anything. With those in charge of the West presently, such “things” don’t mean a damn thing.
The descent of the West continues, contra W.H. McNeill’s “The Rise Of The West.” Instructive how quickly greatness can be eclipsed by ignorance, warped agendas and other negatives.
Yes, highly instructive. And with sinking of the West fast like.
H North says
Very true, they are capable, but there are two types of jihad: offensive and defensive.
Defensive jihad can be waged by any muhammedan to take back ANY land EVER occupied by other muhammedans, and no “permission” is needed.
Offensive jihad can only be declared by a caliph to conquer NEW territory, to expand the caliphate until it fills the entire world, which is the goal.
When the next caliphate takes form, I expect the caliph’s first target will be Israel.
tim gallagher says
Good to see a Catholic body doing a report such as this. I wonder if that fool of a Pope, who bizarrely thinks that islam is peaceful, will read the report. I suppose he would be more likely to censure the group for telling the truth about his great mates, the Muslims.