— CDN: “Court Seeks Help to Link Murders in Turkey to ‘Deep State’ ”
— CDN reports “Judges and prosecutors in the trial regarding the murder of three Christians in this southeastern city in Turkey on Friday (Nov. 13) renewed their request for help from the Istanbul High Criminal Court as reports mounted linking the slayings to top gendarmerie officials.”
Month: November 2009
Christian Extremists: Florida Christian “Dove World Outreach” Group Attacks Islam in Columbus, Ohio
On November 16, 2009, members of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center extended their activities from Florida to Ohio attacking Islam as attendees at an event led by others which was reportedly intended to address religious freedom in Columbus, Ohio, in the case of Rifqa Bary, who states that she has been threatened for converting from Islam to Christianity.
We object to Dove World Outreach Center’s tactics as counterproductive and objectionable to the cause of promoting human rights and religious freedom.
At the November 16 Columbus event, we have been told that attendees came from: “Wisconsin, Toronto, California… Michigan, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana.” Although we were not in attendance at the November 16 event, we recognize the challenges that any event organizers might in having a consistent message from diverse members of the public from different parts of the country.
According to reports, the Dove World Outreach Center attendees appeared to be less than 10 percent of the crowd of 120 (reported by the Columbus Dispatch) at that event on November 16, 2009. The Dove World Outreach Center attendees wore shirts that read “Islam is of the devil.” The Dove World Outreach Center has been doing this in Florida since July 2009. On July 7, 2009, the Dove Center first posted a sign reading “Islam is of the devil,” and then started having children wear shirts reading “Islam is of the devil” to local Gainesville, Florida schools in August.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) believes that the issue of religious freedom and human rights is a very real and serious issue. The activities of the Dove World Outreach Center are not reflective of those who seek to defend our universal human rights of freedom of religion and conscience.
R.E.A.L. had our own separate event on November 13, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio which was focused on public outreach and dialogue to the citizens of Columbus, Ohio and the students at Ohio State University in Columbus.
We support universal human rights, including freedom of religion, for all people – as well as supporting human dignity and respect as fundamental human rights as well. During our November 13 public outreach event, we talked to a number of local Columbus individuals who were Muslims who listened to our concerns on human rights issues and politely debated us on some points.
Our point was that all human beings deserve our universal human rights, regardless of their religion. We stated that no one has the right to deny freedom of religion or freedom of conscience to others. We pointed to the threats alleged by Columbus’ Rifqa Bary that she stated she was threatened for changing her religion from Islam to Christianity. We addressed the July 2009 Chicago event with 700 attendees supporting an anti-democracy extremists group (rationalizing anti-human rights views based on its interpretation of Islam) that passed out brochures defending the “death penalty” for those “traitors” who left Islam. We addressed the “honor killings” by religious extremists in Ohio, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, and Indiana that had been rationalized based on a religious extremist ideology. Finally, we pointed to the global problem illustrated by a recent Pew Global Poll in Pakistan that stated that 78 percent of Pakistanis “favor death for those who leave Islam.” Like the global scourge of so-called “honor killings,” such anti-freedom ideological views are against those who seek freedom of conscience and religion as universal human rights.
R.E.A.L. had such discussions with local Columbus area Muslims in a spirit of civility, dignity, and respect for human rights. This resulted in agreement and reflection on some of these human rights concerns. That is what public outreach on human rights issues is all about, reaching the public where we seek to affect change.
Regarding the campaign by the Dove World Outreach Center, it is also clear that two wrongs don’t make a right. Just as it is wrong for religious extremists to call for violence against those who seek freedom, it is also a challenge to human dignity and respect for protesters by wearing shirts stating “Islam is of the devil.” Working for human freedom and human rights begins with respect and dignity, and focusing on what you are for, not what you are against. This is why our organization is called “Responsible for Equality And Liberty.”
Our universal human rights begin with love. We can’t love our fellow human beings and deny their basic equality, liberty, and universal human rights. Moreover, we can’t hate our fellow human beings and claim to be fighting for human rights causes as well.
To those who state that the activities of the Dove World Outreach Center reflect “Christian” views, we note repeated protests of Dove World’s activities in Florida by Christians (and others), as reported in the Gainesville Sun, WCJB TV20 News, and by The Christian Post.
The Columbus Dispatch reported on the reaction by some at the Columbus November 16 rally to the members of the Dove World Outreach Center wearing the shirts “Islam is of the devil,” stating “Paige Bailey, who was at the rally, said she was troubled by that message. Rifqa wouldn’t like the focus to be on opposing Islam but rather on helping people come to Christianity, said Bailey, who met Rifqa through Christian groups at Ohio State University.”
The Dove World Outreach Center uses tactics to generate public outrage in Florida holding “fake lynchings” on church grounds, stating that President Obama’s polices are also “of the devil,” etc. Their campaign on Islam is another one of their campaigns designed to get a public outrage reaction.
From a human rights perspective, we believe that campaigns of outrage demonizing others is counterproductive in effecting change in human rights, because the point of a human rights campaign is to reach our fellow human beings. Moreover, according to the Christian Bible Romans 3:23, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The Dove World Outreach Center quotes the Christian Bible chapter of John on the front of their shirts that on the back states Dove’s message that “Islam is of the devil.” We recommend that they examine John 15:12: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
Whether it is outreach on religion or outreach on human rights, we believe that, ultimately, Love Wins.
Columbus, Ohio: November 13 – R.E.A.L. Public Awareness Activities on Religious Freedom
On Friday, November 13, 2009, R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey and Karen Imm met with the public in Columbus, Ohio and students on the campus of Ohio State University (OSU) to address the issues of the growing threat to religious freedom in America and around the world, as represented by the Rifqa Bary case in Columbus, Ohio.
We traveled throughout Columbus, Ohio to meet with the public there about such threats to freedom, and passed out fliers and other materials to the public and to OSU students, regarding the need to defend religious freedom, the Rifqa Bary case, the growing threat of extremist “honor killings” in America, and the national challenge to human and religious freedom in America.
Our emphasis was on the inalienable human rights of religious freedom in defiance to those extremists who seek to reject freedom of conscience to those who leave Islam or choose another religion, as well as those extremists who have committed ideological violence and “honor killings” to oppress and intimidate other women.
We updated the Columbus public on the case of Rifqa Bary, regarding her statements of threats against her life because she chose to leave Islam, her fleeing from Columbus, Ohio to Florida and her forced return to Columbus, the failure of the press to effectively address the reality of such threats by supremacists in America today and the attacks on Muslim women in America, and the postponement of her hearing to December 22.
We informed the Columbus public and OSU students that threats of violence to intimidate those from their religious freedom were not unique in America today. We addressed our first-hand observation in Chicago in July 2009 where an extremist group had a crowd of 700, all of which had received brochures stating that those Muslims who chose to leave Islam were “traitors” who deserved the “death penalty.” We pointed out how just 10 days earlier 20 year American woman Noor Almaleki had died as a result of an “honor killing” by her father in Arizona for not upholding “traditional Muslim values,” something her friends feared discussing with the press. We pointed to the photos and the stories of other women killed in America in “honor killings” by those who felt they were not being “good enough Muslims” – in Dallas, in Georgia, in Cleveland, in Indianapolis, and one suspected in Buffalo.
We urged the Columbus public to act in Columbus and demand that the Columbus courts take Rifqa Bary’s alleged threats seriously, as too many Muslim women have died in America because their the growing threats to their religious and personal freedoms were not being taken seriously.
To illustrate the global nature of the threat, we pointed to the recent Pew Global poll in Pakistan that stated 78 percent “favor death for those who leave Islam” — 78 percent of Pakistan would be over 130 million people – just in one country.
We spoke, engaged the public, and passed out fliers and materials at locations in downtown Columbus during morning and evening rush hour, and spent the lunch time and afternoon with Ohio State University students at their “Oval” on campus. We also spoke near the Ohio Statehouse. We visited the Columbus Dispatch, first informing them of our planned protests, then offering to provide the Dispatch with additional information on the story not yet published, and then finally protesting in front of the Columbus Dispatch offices.
During of engagement with the public and OSU students, we made them aware of the issues, and the next hearing for Rifqa Bary planned for December 22 in Columbus.
R.E.A.L. at Ohio State University
Iran: Neda grave desecrated by regime supporters
Laogai Foundation’s Harry Wu: Summon the Courage
Bangladesh: Anti-Democracy Group Hizb ut-Tahrir Threatens to Murder University Official
— BD News 24: “Hizb ut-Tahrir threatens Dhaka University’s vice chancellor with death”
— “The organisation in two letters asked A A M S Arefin Siddique to reinstate central coordinator of the outfit and spokesman professor Mohiuddin Ahmed to his position in the university without delay.”
— “He has also been asked to take steps for releasing arrested relatives of some of the convicts in the Bangabandhu murder case.”
— “The university’s assistant registrar Munshi Shamsuddin told bdnews24.com the letters arrived between 1pm and 1:30pm on Sunday; one was posted on Nov 10 and the other on Nov 11.”
— “One letter reads: ‘Don’t involve Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Mohiuddin in any trouble. And reinstate the three teachers sent on forced leave within three days. Or else, we will kill you and your family. No one can save you.’ ”
— “The letter is undersigned as Abdul Hamid, president of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s committee of registrar building officials.”
— “The acting registrar, Syed Rezaur Rahman, could not immediately confirm the identity of anyone working in the administrative building with this name. But he said they were seriously looking into the matter.”
— “The government banned Hizbut Tahrir in Bangladesh on Oct 22, saying the Islamist outfit posed a threat to national security. Dhaka University syndicate sent associate professor Mohiuddin Ahmed of the Institute of Business Administration on compulsory leave from Oct 25 until further notice ‘to maintain peace on campus’ ”
— “The letters claimed that Hizb ut Tahrir has 200 trained members.”
— “The other letter under signed by the same asked for removal of all barriers regarding admission of madrasa students in the university. It also asked the vice-chancellor to get the government to release Mehnaz Rashid, Kamrul Haque Swapan and Harkat-ul-Violent Extemism-al-Islami leader Mufti Abdul Hannan.”
— “The letter also has a phone number which the vice-chancellor has to contact at with Tk 2 crore to avert being killed.”
— “Mehnaz Rashid, daughter of death convict Abdur Rashid in the Bangabandhu murder case, and Swapan, brother of another fugitive death convict Shariful Haque Dalim, were arrested recently over alleged involvements in the bomb attack on Awami League MP Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh.”
— “HuJi Leader Mufti Hannan is standing trial for bombing prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s meeting on Aug 21, 2004.”
— “The bomb attack occurred on Oct 21 while hearing of appeals by death convicts was ongoing. Attorney general Mahbubey Alam also received death threat during the hearings.”
— Financial Express: “Threat to blow up DU VC office”
Additional R.E.A.L. Reports Referencing Hizb ut-Tahrir:
UK: Hizb ut-Tahrir Anti-Democracy Group Schools Receive Government Funding
White House Adviser Joins UK Interview with Anti-Democratic Hizb ut-Tahrir Group
Hizb ut-Tahrir Event Promoted with Beheaded Statue of Liberty
UK: Press Reports of “Furious Residents” over Extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir Conference
Canada: Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) Group to Meet in Govt-Managed Community Center
Chicago’s Moment of Freedom: Chicagoans Stand Up for Freedom Challenging Hizb ut-Tahrir
July 19 – Chicago: R.E.A.L. Pro-Freedom Protest to Challenge Hizb ut-Tahrir America Conference
California: Envelope Set on Fire Outside Mosque Linked to Iranian Govt
California: Arson At Local Mosque Investigated
— KCRA News reports:
— “Investigators are looking for an arsonist who set a fire outside of a Sacramento-area mosque.”
— “The federal government has moved to seize the Qoba Foundation, an Islamic center on Marconi Avenue in Carmichael”
— “Arson investigators said they are trying to piece together who torched an envelope that was taped on a fence. The envelope contained a document.”
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— November 12, 2009: “Feds Move To Seize Sac County Islamic Center – Links to Iran Alleged”
— “Federal prosecutors Thursday took steps to seize an Islamic center in Sacramento County and other properties elsewhere with apparent ties to an organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.”
— “A complaint filed Thursday lists the Qoba Foundation at 4836 Marconi Ave. in Carmichael.”
Mississippi: Civil rights marker vandalized again
— Clarion Ledger Reports – Civil rights marker vandalized again
— Letters “KKK” painted on sign in Neshoba County
— “Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman”
— “The Neshoba County highway marker memorializing the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers by the Ku Klux Klan again has been vandalized, this time with the letters ‘KKK’ spray-painted across the sign on Mississippi 19.”
Egypt: “The Disappearance, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt”
A new report entitled “The Disappearance, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt” has been released by the Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights on the ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity of Coptic Christian women in Egypt.
Preface of the report reads:
“Reports of Muslim men abducting and forcibly marrying and converting Coptic Christian women and girls have filtered out of Egypt with increasing frequency over the past decade. The emerging patterns of force, fraud and coercion correspond to definitions of human trafficking used by the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State., with the UN identifying it as a ‘crime against humanity’.1 These violations of fundamental human rights appear to be encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt – often rooted in Islamic traditions – that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. They appear to be further abetted by the tacit complicity of the government as evidenced by its lack of willingness to thoroughly investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse or to reinstate policies designed to protect Egyptians from coerced conversion by educating potential converts of the full implications of conversion.”
“Details of trafficking cases involving Copts often reach the West through desperately worried relatives of victims. When the Egyptian police fail to find and return (or often even search for) victims of abduction, forced marriage and conversion, some relatives summon the courage to release information and photos to Coptic human rights organizations in the diaspora.”
“The violent abuse of Coptic women and girls in connection with forced marriage and conversion is not altogether new. The Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, protested against this phenomenon in 1976, declaring: ‘There is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands.’2 But the issue has now reached boiling point within Egypt’s Coptic community.”
“As the prestigious Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly recently noted:
‘It is the question of the alleged conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men that elicits the greatest passions. In July [2009] alone three separate incidents received much publicity in the press. Pharmaceuticals student Rania Tawfik Asaad was ostensibly abducted in Giza and forced to marry a Muslim. Two other cases, those of Marian Bishai, Amira Morgan and Injy Basta, also hit the headlines.’3 ”
“Despite the accumulation of substantial evidence and the expressions of concern by the most senior leader of the Coptic community, this aspect of human trafficking has scarcely been acknowledged by the world’s most powerful human rights institutions, including those dedicated to the issue of trafficking in persons. The Coptic Foundation for Human Rights and Christian Solidarity International (CSI) therefore commissioned an anti-trafficking specialist, Michele Clark, and a Coptic women’s rights advocate, Nadia Ghaly, to undertake an investigation of allegations surrounding the abductions and forced marriages and conversions to Islam in Egypt. They performed outstanding pioneering work, interviewing victims, their relatives, lawyers, priests and other Coptic community leaders.”
“This report documents dozens of specific cases and demonstrates consistent patterns used by the perpetrators, their victims, government and law enforcement, and members of Egypt’s faith communities. The report concludes with a valuable set of practical and critical recommendations for the Coptic community, the Government of Egypt and the international community. The findings of Ms. Ghaly and Ms. Clark are deeply disturbing, and should challenge human rights activists and institutions, especially those whose mandate includes women’s rights and trafficking in persons, to undertake, as a matter of urgency, further research into this form of gender and religious based violence against Coptic women and girls in Egypt.”
1 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “Human Trafficking.”
U.S. Department of State. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
2 Mary Abdelmassih. AINA, “Family of abducted Christian Coptic Teenager Assaulted by Muslim Mob”, Cairo, June 9, 2009.
3 Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 3-9 September 2009; no.963
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Media Reports:
— “Report Exposes Forced Conversions of Christian Women in Egypt”
— “Human trafficking caused by religion: Christian teenagers victimized in Muslim countries”
— “Controversy surrounds new Egypt report on forced conversion of Christian women”
— “Christian org to Obama: Egypt gov’t complicit in ‘raping’ Coptic girls”
Additional R.E.A.L. Reports on Freedom for Copts
Egypt: “Coptic Family Forced to Surrender Woman Rescued in Egypt”
“Egyptian Police Arrest Christian Father for Attempting to Free Kidnapped Daughter”
“Egyptian Security Refuses to Return Abducted Christian Coptic Girl”
Egypt: Two Christians Coptic Girls Abducted for “forced Islamization”
Egypt – Convert Woman Arrested for Marrying Christian
Egypt: “Family of Abducted Christian Coptic Teenager Assaulted By Muslim Mob”
Egypt: Report on Increasing Extremist Intolerance to Women, Christians
DC: Egyptian Coptic Christians Protest for Human Rights, Equality, as President Obama Meets Mubarak
California: Jewish Worship Center Vandalized with Swastikas, Kristallnacht Hate Messages
— at Temple Beth Shalom in Carmichael
— FOX 40 News report:
— Local Jewish Temple Vandalism Coincides With Anniversary Of Nazi Event
— “Several swastika symbols were painted on the walls of the Beth Shalom Temple”
— “Police are searching for a suspicious person responsible for vandalism at the Beth Shalom temple in Carmichael”
— “According to a congregation leader with Beth Shalom Temple, the phrase “Kristallnacht Still Lives” was one of many spray painted on the wall of the temple.”
— “Carmichael’s Beth Shalom Temple Vandalized with Swastika, Graffiti”
