Tag Archives: Country: Syria

Financial Times: The Muslim Brotherhood is set to open offices inside Syria for the first time since the organisation was crushed there decades ago, in an apparent effort to capitalise on the increasingly Islamised rebellion.

Religion Clause Blog: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday released a 13-page special report titled Protecting and Promoting Religious Freedom In Syria.

AP: Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and John Ibrahim of the Assyrian Orthodox Church were abducted as they traveled from the Turkish border to the city of Aleppo on Monday.

Freedom of religion and conscience is a basic and essential human right. This statement calls for the church worldwide to pray for persecuted Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities being forced out of Syria and to petition the United Nations to pay particular attention to their plight.

BBC: The leader of the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group fighting in Syria, has pledged allegiance to the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Catholic Culture: As rebels in Syria seek to take control of Aleppo, the nation’s largest city, a Jordanian Islamic cleric has issued a fatwa (legal opinion) stating that it is permissible for rebel fighters to rape women who are not Sunni Muslims.

NPR: In rebel-held parts of Syria, a clash of ideologies is playing out. Powerful Islamist brigades are competing with pro-democracy civilians to shape Syria’s future. One battlefront is in the courts. In many areas in northern Syria, Islamists have set up religious courts that deliver rulings under Shariah, or Islamic law — a fundamental change in Syria’s civil legal system.

Haaretz: In interview with Al-Ahram on eve of Islamic Summit Conference in Cairo, Iranian president also says his country opposes outside intervention in Syria.

Israel National News: The United Nations says Israel must withdraw all of its citizens from the regions of Judea and Samaria. The recommendation came in a report issued Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has a history of passing numerous biased resolutions condemning Israel for various alleged ‘crimes’ each year.

Telegraph: In Jordan, hundreds of Syrian females have been affected by an informal trade that has sprung up since the start of the war in Syria, where men use “agents” to source Syrian refugees to use for sex. Often this is done under the guise of “marriage”: The ‘dowry’, which in Muslim society is traditionally paid by the groom as a guarantee of the bride’s security has become a payment for sex. And the “marriage”, is an affair that lasts only a few days or even hours.

The Blaze: A leading nun in Syria is reporting that a young Christian man in Syria was beheaded by jihadi rebels who then fed his mutilated body to dogs.

Middle East Forum: Of all the Christian communities in Syria, the Assyrians, that is, those Christians who identify as such by virtue of belonging to the Assyrian Church of the East, arguably have the most complex relationship with the Assad regime. Assyrians are concentrated in the northeast around Hasakeh, with others settled in Damascus and Aleppo. As was the case in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, a problem for Syria’s Assyrian community has been the traditional denial of the Assyrian identity by the pan-Arab Baathist ideology. This has culminated in the destruction of numerous Assyrian villages in the north of Iraq as part of Saddam’ss Arabization program.

Compass Direct: Christians in Syria say the particularly gruesome death of Father Fadi – his eyes had been gouged out – marks a turning point for them. Before, Christians were caught up in the war in the same way as Kurds, Druze, and all other ethnic groups. Also, a part of the Christian community in Syria has been actively supporting President Assad, thus being an actor in the civil war. But some Syrian Christians say a series of incidents recently points to a trend of violence against Christian civilians, including priests.

WorldNetDaily: German politicians from Angela Merkel’s governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister Christian Social Union (CSU) told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that they are willing to accept Christian Syrians fleeing the violence in their country, in comments due to be published on Sunday.

Catholic Culture: An Orthodox priest who had been kidnapped near Damascus on October 19 has been found dead, the Fides news service reports.

Google News (AFP): Pope Benedict XVI visits Lebanon this week at a time when Christian refugees from the war-torn city of Aleppo in neighbouring Syria are fearful for their future.

Reuters: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has called on all Muslims to back the rebels in Syria, saying the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad would bring them closer to the ultimate goal of defeating Israel, according to an audio recording posted on the Internet on Thursday.

Telegraph: Christian communities in Aleppo have taken up arms and formed their own militias for the first time, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Catholic Culture: In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the head of the Syrian Catholic Church—an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See—said that the right to religious freedom “only exists on paper” in the region and that “fundamental Islam does not want a dialogue on equal terms in the long run.”

Guardian: Thousands of refugees pouring into neighbouring countries with over 100,000 seeking asylum in August

Fides: A terrorist attack hit innocent Christian faithful and innocent Druzes in the area of Jaramana, a suburb of Damascus: yesterday, August 28, at 2 pm, a bomb in a car was detonated while a crowd of faithful, families, elderly people, women and children, were heading to the cemetery to bury two young people . . . Today in Zamalka a family of Armenian Christians was found murdered, and all members of the family horribly decapitated.

Bill Spindle and Sam Dagher at Wall Street Journal: In the land of St. Paul’s conversion, ancient Catholic and Orthodox communities are finding themselves on the wrong side of an increasingly sectarian conflict.

CBS: Arab countries pushed ahead Wednesday with a symbolic U.N. General Assembly resolution that tells Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign and turn over power to a transitional government.

Reuters: President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said.

Global Post: As evidence mounts that foreign Islamists are fighting alongside Syria’s increasingly radicalized rebels, Christians in Aleppo and elsewhere are taking up arms, often supplied by the regime.

World Net Daily: Russian intelligence has information that U.S. troops are in Turkey near the country’s border with Syria, a senior Syrian official told WND today.

Christian Post: Christians in Syria are caught in the middle of an ever-growing conflict between government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebel fighters who want to bring down his regime.

Voice of America: As fighting intensified in Syria, and with international diplomacy at a near standstill, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a 30-day extension to a monitoring mission on Friday so that observers can safely leave the country.

Breitbart carries video of the announcement.

NY Times: It was exactly the kind of case the International Criminal Court was created to investigate: Yemen’s autocratic leader was clinging to power, turning his security forces’ guns on unarmed protesters. Hundreds were left dead, and many more were maimed.

AP: A group of Christians trapped in the besieged, bombed-out Syrian city of Homs has been evacuated after a deal between the army and rebels, a priest involved in the evacuation efforts said Wednesday.

Christian Today: The concerns have prompted an estimated 100,000 Christians to leave Egypt since the uprising.

Boston Globe (AP): Inside the besieged Syrian city of Homs, where hundreds of civilians are caught up in a fierce battle between rebels and government troops, a small group of Christians is making its own desperate pleas for safety.

Spero Forum: The Greek-Catholic church of St. Elias in Qusayr, near the Syrian city of Homs, has been occupied by a group of insurgents who are fighting against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The gunmen have established the church as their base of operations.

Carnegie Endowment: Arabic press reported on May 29 that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia summoned twenty prominent Salafi clerics to Riyadh to ban them from soliciting donations for Syria’s embattled citizenry.

Catholic Culture: In the town of Homs, most Christians have apparently fled after receiving an ultimatum from the leader of opposition forces there. In nearby Qusayr, remaining Christians are being harassed by opposition fighters, who are generally aligned with militant Islam.

Catholic Culture: A Melkite Greek Catholic archimandrite has denounced Western media coverage of the Syrian conflict. “The reality on the ground is far from the picture that imposes disinformation in Western media,” said Msgr. Philippe Tournyol Clos. “Opposition forces have occupied two areas, Diwan Al Bustan and Hamidieh, where there are all the churches and bishoprics.

Paul.House.Gov: Of course, the idea that the administration should follow the Constitution and seek a Declaration of War from Congress is considered even more anachronistic now than under the previous administration.

News.va: A disturbing news reaches Fides from the province of Hama, in the north of Homs: armed men have expelled all Christian families in the village of Al Borj Al Qastal, in the province of Hama.

The Times of Israel: Knesset approves IDF request to call up a further 16 battalions if needed

Christian Science Monitor: A tentative UN-brokered ceasefire does not settle Western concerns over Saudi intervention in Syria. While the US and its allies are wary of seeing Syria become a sectarian battleground, the power brokers in Riyadh seem to have been hurtling toward it – with a form of state-sponsored jihad.

Christian Post: As the violent conflict between rebels and the Syrian government continues putting the lives of civilians at risk, many Christians are reportedly considering fleeing the country, once considered a safe haven for Christians in the Middle East.

Robert Wright at The Atlantic: . . . President Assad hopes to keep Christians in his coalition by harnessing their fear of a radical Islamist takeover. So far they seem to be sticking with him, and word of their allegiance is reaching American Christians. The evangelical press is reporting that Syrian Christians fear Assad’s fall and is quoting them as warning against foreign intervention. Catholic periodicals convey similar concerns . . .

HispanicBusiness.com: European Union leaders on Friday threatened those responsible for a bloody crackdown in Syria with their day in court, as British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke of “medieval barbarity” unfolding in the Middle Eastern country.

Religion Clause: Yesterday’s Christian Science Monitor reports that as the fighting goes on in Syria, the conflict is moving from a popular uprising to a confrontation between Sunnis and Shiites . . .

OneNewsNow.com: Syria is once again a focus of concern for Christian persecution, both now and in the future. As the country continues to be embroiled in violence challenging the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Christians are being attacked.

News from The Associated Press: Syria has entered a state of civil war with more than 4,000 people dead and an increasing number of soldiers defecting from the army to fight President Bashar Assad’s regime, the U.N.’s top human rights official said Thursday.

NYTimes.com: — Abu Elias sat beneath the towering stairs leading from the Convent of Our Lady of Saydnaya, a church high up in the mountains outside Damascus, where Christians have worshiped for 1,400 years. “We are all scared of what will come next,” he said turning to a man seated beside him, Robert, an Iraqi refugee who escaped the sectarian strife in his homeland.

Middle East Forum: Among analysts of the ongoing unrest in Syria, it is a truism that the main reason Christians are generally not participating in demonstrations against Assad’s rule is because they fear reprisals at the hands of the Sunni Arab majority if the Alawite-dominated regime falls.

Reuters: China warned on Tuesday that a European draft resolution asking the U.N. Security Council to condemn Syria would not defuse tension in the region, suggesting Beijing could block it if it is submitted for a vote.

Jerusalem Post: Syria’s minority Christians are watching the protests sweeping their country with trepidation, fearing their religious freedom could be threatened if President Bashar Assad’s autocratic but secular rule is overthrown.

Christian Today: International Christian Concern says that protesters are being led by hard-line Islamists and that Christians have come under pressure to either join in protests demanding the resignation of President Bashir Assad, or else leave the country.

Christian Newswire: Easter weekend was one of the bloodiest since the riots and anti-government demonstrations started in mid-March, leading some churches to cancel Easter services. The Associated Press reported 120 deaths last weekend across Syria and a total of 450 deaths since the unrest began.

AP: “Syria closed the country’s only casino Wednesday and reversed a decision that bans teachers from wearing the Islamic veil – moves seen an attempt to reach out to conservative Muslims ahead of calls for pro-democracy demonstrations.”

BBC: “Like some governments around the world, Syria is taking measures against what it sees as the growing influence of Islamic conservatives.”

Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “President Obama used a recess appointment to name an ambassador to Syria. Robert Ford will become the first United States ambassador to Syria since 2005.”

Christian News Today: “International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that at least eight evangelical churches in northern Syria have been closed by the Syrian government.”

Daily Star: “SYRIA has become the first Muslim country to ban the burka, claiming the face mask encourages Islamic extremism.” | Hat tip: Religion Clause Blog

Associated Press: “Syria has forbidden the country’s students and teachers from wearing the niqab – the full Islamic veil that reveals only a woman’s eyes – taking aim at a garment many see as political.”

The National: “Teachers who wear a full face veil have been quietly barred from their jobs by the Syrian government in a move the authorities say is necessary to protect secularism and ensure children receive an objective education. Civil society organisations believe that 1,200 women have been affected by the measure, with all of them moved from their teaching positions and given jobs in local municipal authority offices.”

The Daily Star: “In Iraq, Syria and Egypt, significant Christian communities are dwindling toward extinction under intolerant practices, while they are completely marginalized politically by the prevailing brutality and their increasingly small numbers . . . Solid proposals are required to translate nonviolence into effective action. Here are three legal avenues which I have developed over the years to confront the extremist anti-Christian, anti-democratic message prevailing in the region.”

WorldNetDaily reports: “A couple whose conversion from Islam to Christianity prompted threats, including the delivery of a video of a beheading, has been granted asylum in the United Kingdom because of the dangers they would face should they return to …

From the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: After lengthy negotiations, a draft law specifically targeting trafficking in Syria has been submitted to the prime minister’s office for approval. Supporters are hoping the new legislation will be passed …