World

Year in Review: 2014

Now 14 years into a new millennium, the year jerked us back to a past we thought we’d left behind: Beheadings, race riots, Soviet-style conflict, and runaway epidemics. In the subterranean reaches of ancient churches in Mosul, Iraq — turned suddenly and in broad daylight to ISIS shrines — the captives of the 21st century met an abyss of medieval-minded militants and the unenlightened dawn of a new dark age.  The year turned on regifting. Like the stiff-necked aunt who keeps handing out fruitcake after all the relatives say, “Enough!” 2014 gave us ample taste of old and familiar history […]

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Sunday in the Middle East

“When Saturday is gone, one will find Sunday,” is an old, Christian Arab proverb that expresses their fear of sharing the terrible fate that has befallen the Jews. In other words, “When the Jews are persecuted, it is as inevitable that the Christians’ turn will come next, as it is that Sunday will follow Saturday.” This proverb has also been used to threaten both Jews and Christians, such as on the eve of the 1967 Six Day War with Israel when Muslims chanted “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.” A prophecy fulfilled There is no longer a need […]

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Understanding the Chaotic Middle East

If you thought the Middle East was confusing before, it just got a whole lot worse. Alliances are changing daily, borders are being redrawn, and countries thought to be allies of one side are becoming allies of the other. ISIS or ISIL Just figuring out the real name of the bad guys is confusing. There has been a lot of speculation on whether the correct name to use is ISIS or ISIL, and what the difference is between the two. There is an easy explanation because both are translations of the original Arabic title of which the first three words […]

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When Will Gaza Learn Terrorism Doesn’t Pay?

The 25-mile strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and Israel’s southwest border known as the Gaza Strip, has been home to over ten thousand rockets launched at Israel since 2006 and in return has suffered billions of dollars of damage. As a result of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, the territory was designated to be a part of a Palestinian State under the same Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank. Hamas, however, won local elections in 2006, and subsequently kicked the PA out of Gaza in 2007. Hamas has been ruling the area since. Who is Hamas? Hamas […]

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Three Ways You Can Transform Iraq

The world is watching with horror as Islamic State jihadists in Iraq crucify Christians, behead children and bury victims alive. When Christians flee ahead of their advance, the terrorists then steal their homes and businesses. They mark them with a red, painted U-shaped symbol with a dot above the center. This is the 14th letter of the Arabic alphabet (pronounced “noon”), equivalent to the Roman letter N. The letter stands for Nazarenes, a pejorative Arabic word for Christians. As Jews were forced by Nazis to wear the Star of David, so the homes of Christians are being painted with an […]

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The US Immigration Crisis: How Human Trafficking Is Disguised As Migration

After three summers of working with Somali refugees in Malta, I have seen the dysfunction and opportunity of immigration. I have seen the joys for those who walk through the process and the anguish of those who are stuck in the midst of the bureaucratic processing. My context was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As a professor at Palm Beach Atlantic, I’ve had the privilege of taking students to minister to North African Muslims, migrants from Somalia, Eritrea, Ghana, Chad and Ethiopia, Nigeria and Libya. All were affected by the Arab Spring of 2010 and detained in […]

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Chinese Pastor Sentenced to 12 Years

ASSIST News Service Three members of a jailed Christian pastor’s family have made an extraordinary escape from China to the United States with the help of an underground network of activists. According Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent for Sky News in Beijing, Zhang Shaojie’s daughter, son-in-law, and one-year-old granddaughter arrived in Dallas, Texas, on Monday after a journey which took them through five countries. Last week, Pastor Zhang was sentenced at a local court to 12 years in jail for ‘gathering crowds to disturb public order’ and ‘fraud’ after a secret detention spanning seven months. His family, who have spent much […]

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Non-Hindu religious practices banned in parts of India

ASSIST News Since mid-May over 50 villages in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region have followed the advice of the Hindu nationalist VHP and used the Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj Act to ban all non-Hindu religious practice. Christian leaders note these rulings are contrary to the Indian Constitution, but the VHP has said it will lobby the authorities to ensure the bans are imposed. Persecution has escalated, with numerous reports of violence and social boycotts whereby Christians are being denied access to water and food rations. The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum has requested that the Panchayat Raj Act (which facilitates rural self-government) be scrapped and […]

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Islamic State Destroys Tomb and Threatens Christians

Compiled from World News and ASSIST News reports MOSUL — Islamic State militants have destroyed tombs long ascribed to the Old Testament prophets Jonah and Daniel in Mosul, according to eyewitness reports and video footage posted on YouTube. The demolition came as the Sunni-led, al-Qaeda-linked militants—who stormed Mosul June 10 and have occupied Iraq’s second largest city and the surrounding area in Nineveh province—also demolished tombs and related sites sacred to Shiite Muslims. The fighters have chased thousands of Christians out of Mosul, confiscating their homes and belongings. According to Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, an Assyrian Christian leader who heads the […]

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UN Calls for Cease-fire in Gaza

WORLD News Service GAZA — The UN reports the death toll in Gaza has crossed 500, and the world body is calling for an immediate cease-fire. That’s what Israel, Egypt, the Arab League, and others wanted over a week ago when Hamas said no. Rarely does international politics present such moments of moral clarity, writes Charles Krauthammer on the Israeli-Gaza conflict. “Here’s the difference between us,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We’re using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they’re using their civilians to protect their missiles.”

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