Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges the Pakistan Government to reconsider efforts to ban and silence Internet access to the Pakistan people to the “Pakistan Christian Post” (PCP), led by Dr. Nazir Bhatti, which routinely provides a voice on Pakistan Christian minority human rights issues. The PCP also provided a regular defense of minority and global human rights, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). R.E.A.L. learned of the efforts to silence the PCP on July 16, 2018. Since 2001, the PCP has been a regular voice on issues such as the Pakistan Christian minority persecution by extremist and institutional forces.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty strongly urges the Pakistan Government and court system to reconsider such a ban. The extremist and anti-pluralist forces that routinely persecute and oppress religious minorities undermine Human Rights not only for minorities, but also for all Pakistan people.
A victory for intolerance is defeat for all Pakistan people.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty will continue to stand by the Pakistan Christian Post, and we offer our resources to continue to give them a voice to the Pakistan people.
Our UNIVERSAL Human Rights are not just for those we like and those like us – they are human rights for ALL people – including minorities in our societies. Our commitment to this is a commitment to be responsible for equality and liberty.
Pakistan Christian Congress’ Dr. Nazir Bhatti and Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s Jeffrey Imm
Such UK groups, attacked by 5Pillars, have promoted religious freedom, which is part of our universal human rights, while rejecting radical extremism and violence and providing a counter-extremist voice of British Muslims. It is disappointing that 5Pillars has chosen to attack these non-theological groups that advocate civic engagement, peaceful co-existence, counter-extremism, social inclusion, and harmony, free speech, human rights, individual liberty, and the value of open, democratic and diverse societies. 5Pillars has attacked these non-theological human rights and social harmony groups led by British Muslims for seeking to try “change Islam.”
5Pillars released a YouTube video on November 16, 2017, and then posted this on their website on November 18, 2017, generally condemning such groups without any specifics or details, with a title “10 aspects of Islam ‘Muslim reformers’ want to change.” Among the non-specific attacks by 5Pillars in their video, 5Pillars states that the non-theological groups seek to “change” in Islam are a “physical jihad” and a geographical “caliphate.” The actual focus of these British Muslim human rights and social harmony groups are counter-extremism, rejecting violence, and promoting social inclusion and respect in societies.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) respects the efforts by human rights and social harmony groups in seeking to make progress in our shared universal human rights, pluralism, and respect for one another. Such human rights begins with a shared commitment to human dignity for all, including those with different views, while finding pluralistic ways of co-existence and peaceful harmony. We may not always agree with every human rights campaign or activist, which is also part of the individual liberty that we defend – the right to disagree. But the misguided and disappointing effort by 5Pillars to broadly attack those British Muslims seeking to promote pluralism and peaceful co-existence, as somehow unfaithful to Islam, is misguided, mean-spirited, and counter-productive. We urge 5Pillars to reconsider, and R.E.A.L. stands by these groups attacked by 5Pillars’ campaign. With the growing struggles against hate and violence in the world, such attacks on these British Muslim human rights and social harmony groups is particularly disruptive to our shared global society. Those Muslim groups promoting human rights, counter-extremism, and social harmony must be defended by responsible human rights activism.
R.E.A.L.’s mission is the support of universal human rights for ALL, including our Muslim brothers and sisters around the world. We call for the same universal human rights in the U.K., U.S., and around the world that we call for every other human being. As with all of our fellow human beings, Muslims’ human rights matter.
R.E.A.L. has longstoodwith Muslim groups in the U.S., U.K., and other parts of the world that seek to promote our universal human rights, counter-extremism, pluralism, and peaceful co-existence. We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate. Love Wins.
R.E.A.L. Stands with Muslims and All People in Support of Universal Human Rights and Dignity
In a display of anti-Islam fever, a group of nearly 200 had a protest in front of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix mosque in Phoenix, Arizona. The group was led by former U.S. Marine soldier Jon Ritzheimer. While the protest did not result in injuries or deaths, the image of numbers of individuals armed with weapons in front of a house of worship is a disgrace to America’s commitment to our Constitutional rights and our Universal Human Rights.
The media debate about the protest largely was centered on Mr. Ritzheimer and his supporter’s views on Islam. But that is not the real issue in this debate. The unanswered question is his view and his supporters’ views on the Constitution of the United States and our shared universal human rights. Our Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects our freedom of religion (under the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment); the same Constitution which Mr. Ritzheimer made a solemn vow to support and defend. America also is committed to freedom of religion under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 18, signed by the United States on December 10, 1948, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Part III, Article 18, signed by the United States on October 5, 1977, and ratified on June 8, 1992.
In the United States of America, and in international law, freedom of religion is not simply a “good idea.”
Freedom of religion is THE LAW.
Freedom of speech and protest is also THE LAW.
But freedom of speech and protest, while holding an automatic weapon, is no longer “public protest.” It is nothing less than cowardly, despicable threats, which are a disgrace to all Americans, our Constitution, and our universal human rights.
Phoenix, Arizona Protests in front of Islamic Community Center on May 29, 2015 – with Cowards Holding Automatic Weapons (Source: Twitter)
According to the reports, this protest was the result of a terrorist attack on a Texas school earlier in May, during a “Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest,” designed to insult Muslims. As CNN reported, “The Islamic Community Center of Phoenix is the mosque that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi attended for a time. They’re the men who drove from Arizona to a Dallas suburb to shoot up a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest there. Both were killed by police early this month.” But the rest of the story is that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi shot at a security guard in an attempted terrorist attack there. That is the violence we have seen from other pro-violent jihad extremists. Those criminals paid the price for their criminal violence with their lives. This does not discount that there may be other extremists supporting Simpson and Soofi; there must continue to be a human rights call to challenge extremists, and even terrorists in every area of this nation. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) reported on and condemned the terrorist acts by Simpson and Soofi in Garland, Texas, and we defended the right to unpopular, contemptible speech by those they attacked. But there is a difference between respecting the freedom of such unpopular speech, and those extremists who take automatic weapons to protest in hate in front of a house of worship.
The idea that over 100 individuals believe that it is acceptable in the United States of America to hold an “armed” protest outside of a house of worship is an insult to the Constitution, and a slur against the laws of this nation and our shared human rights.
If this were any other nation, the images of armed individuals protesting outside of any house of worship would bring the voices of outrage and disgust from human rights activists, the United Nations, and those committed to religious freedom. So it must be, of course, with the United States as well. The number of “armed individuals” appear to be a small minority of the total protesters. Does this matter? If 100 protested outside of a Pakistan Christian church, a European Jewish synagogue, or any other house of worship anywhere in the world, but only a “small minority” of the protesters held machine guns, would this still not be a source for human rights outrage? Of course, it would, and it must, in the United States of America as well.
Furthermore, the vicious language of some of the protesters show their contempt towards the United States’ Constitution and our commitment to universal human rights of freedom of religion. The protest organizer’s call for protesters to bring guns to the event – “[p]eople are also encouraged to utilize there second amendment right at this event” – is an embarrassment to all patriotic Americans who respect our Constitution and our shared freedoms. We were lucky that no one got injured or killed – THIS time. But the failure to be consistent in our support for Constitution and our human rights remains an issue where we must continue to make change.
An Arizona Muslim activist also reported that the Arizona protest supporters included extremists advising participants to bring ammunition “coated in pig blood and fat.” R.E.A.L. has confirmed this with our own investigation as well. This path to hate, depravity, and violence can be reversed. It begins with a consistent support by all Americans for the truths that we hold self-evident, our commitment to our shared human rights, shared human dignity, and in America, our support for the Constitution.
It begins by being Responsible for Equality And Liberty – everywhere, for all of our fellow Americans, and for all of our brothers and sisters in humanity.
In Saudi Arabia, a terrorist bombed the the minority Shia Imam Hussein mosque, the only Shia mosque in the region, resulting in four killed. This terrorist attack comes just a week after another device was detonated by ISIS terrorists in the nearby village of al-Qudeeh, killing 21 mostly Shia Muslims. The ISIS terrorist group since claimed responsibility for the attack on the Facebook page of member stating that a “soldier of the caliphate,” blew himself up among “an evil gathering of those filth in front of one of their shrines in Dammam.”
The four people were killed outside the Shia mosque, by the terrorist, reportedly dressed in a burka, who tried to drive into the mosque and kill worshipers, but was stopped by security. The terrorist detonated the bomb in the car while in the parking area outside of the women’s entrance to the mosque.
Saudi Arabia: ISIS Terrorist Attack on Minority Shia Imam Hussein mosque – Dammam (Source: Reuters)
Terrorist and extremist violence which seeks to deny our universal human rights, our human dignity, and religious freedom has no boundaries. It can strike anywhere against anyone of any faith. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges people of all faiths to stand together united for our shared Universal Human Rights and defy those terrorists of every kind who would deny us the inherent freedom that we share together.
Volunteer human rights group Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) is receiving updates on continuing arrests of Pakistan Christian refugees in Thailand, as well as new communications with refugee organizations on this urgent issue. We urge the human rights community to act to end the ongoing arrests of Pakistan Christian refugee seekers in Thailand. Today’s arrests this afternoon (March 13) was mostly of Pakistan Christian women and children seeking asylum from oppression in Pakistan.
New Arrests
After what appeared to be a brief delay, there has been a massive group of arrests of Pakistan Christian refugee seekers in Thailand today. The Thailand police have been arresting such refugees who have been waiting for the UNHCR to act on their application for refugee status. The most recent arrests include an emphasis on arresting women and children of such individuals who have applied to UNHCR for refugee status. We are receiving new reports both of new arrests and of new interest by some in the UNHCR and other refugee organizations. (UPDATE: CBN has posted a video news story on the recent arrests.)
In terms of has received local reports that there were arrests of 300 refugee seekers early today, on March 13, 2015. We have been getting reports arrests in the early morning in Thailand, arresting women, children, and men who are Pakistan Christian refugees, with Thai police searching in building to arrest Pakistan Christians. Later in the day on March 13, 2015, we received reports that that “44 children, 43 women, and 35 men were arrested by police.”
The Farrukh Saif Foundation reports: “Immigration Police of Thailand, with the military, raided the houses of asylum seekers living in Samrong district. Hours before raiding the houses, the area and streets were cordoned off by Thai military; it was like an operation against Criminals. Asylum seekers from inside their homes kept calling around to their other asylum seekers for prayers, calling UNHCR also for protection, but their fate was unavoidable. As soon as the operation started, the Thai military smashed the doors and entered in the rooms of asylum seekers and started arresting the people. Minor kids, women, young and old everyone were treated in an inhuman way. Loads of people were arrested and shifted to Samrong Police station. Many were crying, begging and requesting, showing their asylum seekers certificates but none paid any heed. We immediately rushed to the Samrong Police station but no one was in the mood to cooperate. All arrested people were held in the car parking area and later on they were be seated on the floor inside the police station and Immigration police and other authorities were not ready to listen to any request.”
As reported on March 9, 2015, R.E.A.L. and other human rights groups have appealed to the UNHCR HQ, UNHCR Bangkok, Thailand Prime Minister, Thailand Ambassador in the United States, and the United States Charge d’affaires at the United States embassy in Bangkok, and the United States Immigration Service at the United States embassy in Bangkok.
We are receiving reports that the double-persecuted Pakistani Christian refugees who fled religious oppression and persecution in Pakistan are now suffering in Thailand detention. The detention center’s condition has been reported as very poor, overcrowded and highly unhygienic, with women, children, and elderly sick in jail.
The U.N. has previously reported on this issue in 2011, four years ago.
New Communications on Refugee Issues
R.E.A.L. has been calling the Thailand ambassador in the United States and we are trying to get an audience with him on this matter in Washington, D.C.
One suggestion that we offered was to urge the United States of America government to provide sanctuary to these Pakistan Christian refugees.
The U.S. Bangkok Refugee Section (BnkRefugeeSection@state.gov) replied to R.E.A.L. that if the UNHCR refers such cases to the United States, then the United States can act under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). In response to our request if such Pakistan Christian refugees could be accommodated under U.S. CIS asylum application Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, we received the following response from U.S. Bangkok Refugee Section: “Regarding resettlement to the United States, under the guidelines of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), refugees are eligible for consideration for refugee resettlement in the United States if UNHCR determines that they require third country resettlement for protection reasons and refers the case to the USRAP. If UNHCR believes someone should be resettled in a third country, they will refer the case to a resettlement country, such as the United States, Canada, or Australia. ”
Many mature Americans will remember the past activities of the United States in granting asylum to Russian refugees from the Communist Totalitarian U.S.S.R. within U.S. Embassies around the world. Certainly the Pakistan Christian refugees fleeing their oppression have just as much right to asylum and protection by free nations.
Within the United States, R.E.A.L. has also contacted the UNHRC offices in New York City and Washington DC in our efforts to get attention on this issue. We previously contacted the UNHCR headquarters offices in Switzerland and the UNHRC Bangkok field office. We have expanded our call to action the UNHRC Director’s office in New York City, and the Washington DC office, with a call to expedite the issue of Pakistan Christian refugees.
We are in communication with those who are also reaching out to U.S. Congressional representatives on this issue.
Among all of the arrests of refugees in Thailand, we have also heard that some in the UNHRC are beginning to listen, and some additional asylum interviews are being scheduled. This is the importance of using our global voice to defend our oppressed brothers and sisters in humanity.
R.E.A.L. has been urged to reach out to other Christian leaders to get their international support, and we call for major Christian leaders around the world to take a stand on this issue of religious freedom and dignity. We call upon American Christian leaders, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Pope Francis, and Christian leaders around the world to speak out for the oppressed Pakistan Christians, both the refugees in Thailand and those continuing to be oppressed in Pakistan. R.E.A.L has been in touch with the Jubilee Campaign, Open Doors, and other organizations.
We have also been contacted by other Pakistan Christian refugee organizations looking to make a difference.
Government and Refugee Community Points of Contacts
The following are points of contact that we have reached on this topic within the government and the refugee community. These are being shared in the hopes that other human rights activists will also follow up with these individuals to make it clear that this is a shared concern for action on this urgent issue. If you have other contacts, please let us know at usa@realcourage.org, so that we can update this information.
UNHCR, New York: The Director of UNHCR Office in New York, P.O. Box 20 Grand NY 10017, Grand Central, 10017 New York, NY, United States,
Telephone: 1-212-963-0032
Fax: 1-212-963-0074
Email: usane@unhcr.org
UNHCR Regional Representative in Thailand
3rd Floor, United Nations Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, 10200 Bangkok, Thailand
Telephone: 66 2 288 1858
FAX: 66 2 280 0555
Email: thaba@unhcr.org
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Suisse (Switzerland)
Telephone: +41 22 739 8111
FAX: +41 22 739 7377
UNHCR, Washington DC
1775 K Street, NW, Suite 300, 20006 Washington, DC, United States
Telephone: 1-202-296-5191
Fax: 1-202-296-5660
Email: usawa@unhcr.org
Embassy of the United States of America
Bangkok, Thailand
Chargé d’affaires, a.i.
W. Patrick Murphy
GPF Tower A, 10th Floor, 93/1 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Telephone: +66-2-205-4485
Central Fax: +66-2-650-8921
http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/cda.html
U.S. Bangkok Refugee Section
Embassy of the United States of America
Bangkok, Thailand
Refugee and Migration Affairs (RMA) Office
Political Section
120-122 Wireless Road, Bangkok, 10330 Thailand
Telephone: +66-2-205-4000
Fax: +66-2-205-4375
E-mail: BnkRefugeeSection@state.gov
http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/rma_contact.html
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (BKK CIS)
Address: Sindhorn Building, Tower 2, 15th Floor, 130-132 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Telephone: 02-205-5352 (within Thailand)
Telephone: 011-662-205-5352 (from the United States)
Email: BKKCIS.Inquiries@uscis.dhs.gov
Field Office Director: Gregory Sanders
http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/embassy/usgmain/uscis.html
Kingdom of Thailand
The Secretariat of the Prime Minister
Government House, 1 Phitsanulok Road, Dusit, Bangkok 10300
General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister
FAX: 66 2 282 5131
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Today’s letter by R.E.A.L received by UNHCR in NYC and Washington DC.
March 13, 2015
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Director of UNHCR Office
P.O. Box 20
Grand Central, New York, NY 10017
United States
Telephone: 1-212-963-0032
Facsimile: 1-212-963-0074
Email: usane@unhcr.org
cc:
UNHCR Regional Representative in Thailand
3rd Floor, United Nations Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, 10200 Bangkok, Thailand
(Telephone: 66 2 288 1858 FAX: 66 2 280 0555 Email: thaba@unhcr.org)
UNHCR, Washington DC: 1775 K Street, NW, Suite 300, 20006 Washington, DC,
(Telephone: 1-202-296-5191, Facsimile: 1-202-296-5660, Email: usawa@unhcr.org)
URGENT: UNHCR Action Needed for Pakistan Christian Refugees in Thailand
UNHCR Director’s Office –
I am with the human rights volunteer group Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), and I am contacting you on behalf of Pakistan Christian refugees who have fled from Pakistan due to the oppressive religious discrimination that they are facing in that country. They have applied for UNHCR refugee status and they are seeking asylum as refugees.
On March 9, 2015, I contacted the UNHCR Headquarters and the UNHCR Regional Representative in Thailand on this issue, and I have not heard back from either on this emergency issue.
I have heard directly from Thailand-based refugees who have applied for asylum as refugees with the UNHCR offices in Bangkok, Thailand. Some of these refugees have been waiting for years on a refugee status decision. In the meantime, the Thailand police are arresting Pakistan Christian asylum seekers.
On March 9, 2015, I was directly contacted about a round of arrests of Pakistan Christian refugees in Thailand. On the early morning of March 13, 2015, I have heard that 300 such Pakistan Christian refugees were arrested in Thailand. In the past two hours, I have heard that more arrests of Pakistan Christian refugees have happened “44 children, 43 women, and 35 men arrested by police.” We have also been told today that the Thai military smashed the doors and entered in the rooms of asylum seekers and started arresting the people. Minor kids, women, young and old everyone were treated in an inhuman way. Loads of people were arrested and shifted to Samrong Police station. Many were crying, begging and requesting, showing their asylum seekers certificates but none paid any heed.”
We are calling for the UNHCR Director’s Office, the Thailand field office, and the UNHCR Headquarters to act on behalf of these UNHCR Pakistan Christian refugees seeking asylum.
In addition, I have been in direct contact with the U.S. Bangkok Refugee Section (BnkRefugeeSection@state.gov) on this matter. The U.S. Bangkok Refugee Section states that if your UNHCR organization refers these cases to the United States, then the United States can act under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). I am certain that many, many Americans would support such an action to assist in the refugee support. At least give this opportunity a chance.
Pakistan Christian women, children, and men refugees are desperately seeking asylum as refugees from the oppression that they routinely face in Pakistan.
I join with the Pakistan Christian Congress and other human rights groups which call for your agencies to take action to protect the universal human rights, dignity, and security, of such refugees who have placed their hopes in your commitment to the universal human rights that the United Nations has itself declared as standard for all nations of the world.
On March 8, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. Today women and children Christian refugees fleeing from Pakistan are now hiding from arrests going on in Thailand, while they have been awaiting action by the UNHCR.
There are many thousands of Pakistan Christian asylum seekers who are contributing members to Thailand and its economy while they await the UNHCR decision on their asylum applications with office of UNHCR in different cities of Thailand.
Pakistan Christian refugees seeking asylum by Thailand have been communicating in an appeal to human rights groups to address their plight. One such Pakistan Christian asylum seeker, Jarvas Jerry, died last week as he was waiting for medical care, which apparently came too late. Mr. Jarvas Jerry died in the Siri raj hospital Bangkok on February 28, 2015. He had applied for asylum with the UNCHR.
Please act to support these women, children, and men Christian refugees in Thailand who are only seeking the universal human rights that the United Nation is committed to in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) for the world.
Jeffrey Imm, Founder
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
The United States of America
===========================================
Thailand: Pakistan Christians have fled to Bangkok as refugees from oppression in Pakistan
Our human rights, dignity, and security must be for ALL of our fellow human beings of all identity groups. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) condemns the terrorist attack last night, Tuesday night, which led to the death of three young American Muslims.
The family has created a Facebook website of three American Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, and his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and Abu-Salha’s sister, Razan Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh. My sympathies and prayers go out to their families and loved ones.
They were murdered in Chapel Hill, NC, with Craig Stephen Hicks arrested for the murders. Every such murder is a terrorist attack when people of an identity group are targeted.
The actions of the murderer of these young people must be rejected by all people of all identity groups, all religions, all ethnic groups, and all people of conscience. Their murder was an attack on all of us. When someone attacks the shared universal human rights, security, and dignity of one of us, it is an attack on all of us. There is never any rationale, religion, or ideology which justifies such attacks on and murders of our fellow human beings. We must reject any such extremist views as wrong – all the time.
As more information becomes available, R.E.A.L. will update this posting.
R.E.A.L. rejects and condemns violence against Muslim-Americans, and we urge our fellow Americans and our human beings to show respect for Muslim lives, as we respect all lives. #MuslimLivesMatter
R.E.A.L. rejects the anti-human rights view that any would have in targeting people for violence, murder, and abuse of their human rights due to their religion, their ethnic background, and their identity group. We urge all of our fellow human beings to continue working with us to improve our global culture to accept our universal human rights as a priority for all of our leaders, all of our governments, and in all of our lives.
23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19 (Source: Facebook)
Pepsi-Cola Public Relations –
My name is Jeffrey Imm, I am a human rights activist. Pepsi is on the board of directors of the U.S.-Pakistan Business Council promoting business in Pakistan. Human rights activists have been expressing their concern about the growing human rights abuses against Hindus and Christians in Pakistan, including forced marriage and forced religious conversion of Hindu and Christian girls. This is against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Pakistan constitution. We are looking to see if your company is willing to make a positive statement in support of human rights for all people, including Hindu and Christian girls in Pakistan.
We are holding a public rally in support of univesal human rights for all on Saturday, April 14 in Washington DC. If you have such a statement, we would be glad to share this with the public.
Thank you.
Jeffrey Imm
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) human rights coalition
=================================
PepsiCo responds:
“Dear Jeffrey,
Thank you for contacting us to share your concerns about human rights abuses.
As a global corporation, PepsiCo strongly supports fundamental human rights for all people, and we commend the efforts of all those who are working to protect those rights around the world. In our own businesses, we have a very clear global policy on human rights in the workplace (which is communicated annually to our associates in more than 20 languages), and we do not tolerate any infringement or abuse of human rights. In addition, we are a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, which also guarantees human rights in the workplace.
We agree that the protection of human rights around the world requires constant vigilance on the part of international organizations and human rights coalitions such as yours. Please know that we will continue to do our part to strengthen and promote that commitment.
Their Coptic Christians’ courage and resiliency should be an inspiration to all who believe in human freedom and human dignity, but it should be an inspiration most of all to those who defend our human rights, including our human rights of freedom of religion and worship for all. No one would blame the Copts for avoiding such services or finding more private ways to hold services. But their example today shows that there is no enemy powerful enough to destroy human freedom and human rights for all people, no matter how determined their mission of hate.
On Friday, January 7, 2011, the Coptic Christmas Day, there will be thosewho have called for rallies in Egypt to defend Copts freedom of religion. Those individuals who have spoken out and offered human fellowship not just despite, but also because of our diversity, deserve commendation. In addition, we must also congratulate those such as Al-Ahram newspaper’s editor Hani Shukrallah who has openly and fearlessly challenged those that promote religious bigotry against the Coptic Christians and called for change.
But today, Coptic Christmas Day, I have a message to people of all faiths and all beliefs.
While we rightly defend the human rights of Copts and of all people, I urge people of all faiths to find the pluralism and respect for other human beings’ faith in God to respect their eternal rights with their God. It does not matter if you share those beliefs or not. But if you are a person of religious faith, and your life is shaped or even driven by that faith, then you know that no one and nothing can take your faith, your religious beliefs from you.
So it will be with the Copts. We must recognize and defend their human rights as human beings. In conflicts between people of religious identities, we often speak of human rights, but perhaps we also need to speak of eternal rights that people of faith have with their God.
To people of faith, I ask you on the Copts Christmas Day, to respect their eternal rights with their God, their savior, as rights that no one can or will ever take from them as well, just as no one could take your faith from you. Those eternal rights – the bond between you and your God – the bond between you and your Messiah – are just as inviolable, universal, and deserving of respect and honor as our universal human rights.
So today on Coptic Christmas Day, I ask you to think and respect the Eternal Rights of the Copts and of all people of faith around the world.
And to the brave Christian Copts, I wish you a Merry Christmas. No one and nothing can ever take Christmas away from you.
Coptic Christians Do Not Lose Faith, Despite the Violence and Oppression Against Them (Photo: LA Times)
Washington DC: Americans Join Together on 9/11 to Defend Freedom of Religion
September 11, 2010
On September 11, 2010 in Washington DC, American volunteers from diverse faiths, races, and identity groups, came together in a community unity rally in support of freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom at Freedom Plaza. Washington DC’s Freedom Plaza park was named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who worked on his “I have a dream” speech in the nearby Willard Hotel in 1963.
The community public gathering of concerned Americans was a response to the growing anti-Islamic hatred spreading across America, efforts to deny Muslims houses of worship in California, Tennessee, Kentucky, and New York, violence and vandalism against Muslim mosques, and violence against Muslim Americans. About 30 Americans from Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, and some as far as from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Seattle, Washington joined together on 9/11 to stand in solidarity on our freedoms. The event was sponsored by Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.),Muslims for Progressive Values, United for Pluralism, and the Muslimah Writer’s Alliance (MWA)
Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Americans spoke on behalf of the Constitutional religious freedom for Muslim Americans, as well as the need to ensure enforcement of the Religious Land Use Act federal law ensuring all people, including Muslim Americans, have equal opportunity to houses of worship without restrictive zoning or other acts designed to unfairly burden any American from creating a house of worship. The group circulated our petition to ask President Obama and Attorney General Holder to enforce these laws to ensure Muslim Americans equal rights to create houses of worship.
Photo Below: Washington DC – Some of the Individuals at Community Rally for Freedom of Religion
The Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV)’s Fatima Thompson spoke of the need to remind Americans that Muslims are our fellow Americans, who also suffered in the 9/11 attacks. She told the audience “Let’s not repeat the actions of those who would instill fear on others. Let’s consider the US Constitution and its guarantee for freedom of religion, freedom of worship and freedom of conscience. Let’s unite as Americans and demonstrate those values we cherish in order to allow all to enjoy these freedoms regardless of creed. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Photo Below: MPV’s Fatima Thompson Speaks Out for Freedom of Religion, Worship, and Conscience
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)‘s Jeffrey Imm extended the nation’s continued sympathy to those who lost loved ones, family, friends and associates in the 9/11 attacks on 2001. He urged the nation not to allow those who spread anti-Islamic hatred to divide us as a United States of America. He stated that the answers to such anti-Islamic hatred require both enforcement of the Constitution and law, as well as a renewed effort to combat the forces of intolerance with tolerance, meeting the forces of hate with love, and meeting those with an upraised fist with “an outstretched hand in healing and hope.” He stated “Winning minds without winning hearts will give us no victory over hate. We must Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.”
Photo Below: R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm Urges Respect and Love for Our Fellow Americans
R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm went around with the microphone to gather comments from the assembled audience, which shared their individual messages of peace, and support for freedom of religion, worship, and respect for their fellow Americans. (When additional YouTube videos of such messages are available, they will posted on R.E.A.L.’s YouTube page and updated to this web site.)
Mike Rychlik and others urged individuals to also join the Interfaith Youth Action Unity Walk on September 12 starting at 1:30 PM at Embassy Row, in Washington DC – for more information see, 911UnityWalk.org.
Another attendee, Andra, sang “Let There be Peace on Earth,” as other members of the community rally joined in.
Photo below: Concerned American Andra Waves Peace Flag, Sings “Let There Be Peace on Earth”
The group then sang, as our final “surprise” part of the event, a sing-a-long to an American folk song – “This land is your land.”
You can hear and see their solidarity in supporting Muslim Americans and all Americans in our shared America, our shared Constitution, our shared law, and our shared nation – in their singing of “This land is your land, this land is my land” – for ALL Americans.
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
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American Folk Song: This Land Is Your Land
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.
I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
In Indonesia, protests and attacks on Christian churches continue to escalate. On Sunday, August 8, 2010, an attack on members of a Christian Church in the Bekasi, West Java area ended in violence. The attack was made on worshipers at the HKBP church in Pondok Indah Timur at Mustika Jaya district, Bekasi, West Java, before worship services had started at 9 AM that Sunday. Reports stated that about 20 individuals were injured, most of whom were women worshipers.
One Jakarta Post reported stated, “‘The police did not do anything when the mob started throwing stones and hitting and kicking us,’ HKBP Filadelfia minister Pietersen Purba said. However, Bekasi Police chief Adj. Comr. chief Iman Sugianto blamed the victims. ‘We have warned the congregation not to hold their services in the area, because residents do not want them to do so, but they did not follow our instructions,’ Iman told The Jakarta Post.”
Islam Defender Front (FPI) Protesters (Photo: Jakarta Post)
According to multiplereports by the Jakarta Post, HKBP church members were attacled by a mob which included members of the “Islam Defender Front (FPI),” while Indonesian police were “unable” to stop the attacks. One Jakarta Post report states “‘We hadn’t started our church service when in all of a sudden FPI masses occupied the church service location by forcing their way through police barricade,’ Hendrik Siagian, a guide of HKBP church members, said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. Hundreds of police officers had actually been on a stand-by to help secure the church service, but they turned out to be unable to stop the FPI masses from entering the church service area.”
According to the Jakarta Globe, “The HKBP’s church house was sealed by authorities in June as part of an agreement between Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Muhammad and Murhali Barda, the leader of the Bekasi chapter of the FPI.”
The Indonesian Jakarta Post reported on the protests and violence against the house of worship on August 8, 2010, that “For months, Christians in the industrial city of Bekasi have been warned against worshipping on a field that houses their shuttered church. They’ve arrived to find human feces dumped on the land and sermons have been interrupted by demonstrators chanting ‘Infidels!’ and ‘Leave now!’But last week, tensions finally exploded. Twenty worshippers were met by 300 Islamic hard-liners, many of whom hurled shoes and water bottles before pushing past a row of riot police. The mob chased down and punched several members of the group. ‘The constitution guarantees our right to practice our religion!’ Yudi Pasaribu of the Batak Christian Protestant Church said, vowing to return every Sunday until their request for a place of worship, made more than two years ago, is approved. ‘And we want to do that on our own property, in our own church.'”
“In a rare show of force, hundreds of police showed up to protect the Batak Christians on Aug. 8. But they made little effort to stop FPI members as they got increasingly vitriolic. ‘The Batak Christians deserve to be stabbed to death,’ yelled Murhali Barda, who heads the FPI chapter in Bekasi. ‘If they refuse to go home we are ready to fight.’ An argument broke out between Barda and three female members of the congregation. The hard-liners shoved and started punching them. All the while, men chanted from a truck and clerics made speeches saying ‘Leave. … We will not let you perform prayers here!’ The crowd, made up largely of children, cheered in response: ‘God is great!'”
On August 13, COMPASS news reported that police and government official joined forces with a mob “to close a church in North Sumatra Province on July 30, with church leaders forced to promise never to hold services at the site.” COMPASS reports that “The Rev. Leritio Panjaitan of the Binanga HKBP (Huria Kristen Batak Protestant) Church on the Gunung Tua-Sibuhan Highway in Siboris Dolok Village, Sipirok, North Sumatra Province said government officials and mobs threatened to burn the facility if worship continued there. Pastor Panjaitan said rejection of the church was aided by the presence of a Quranic boarding school, Darul Hasnah Madrassa, which appeared in the vicinity six months ago. ‘I have received information that the leader of that madrassa [Islamic school], Dr. Gong Matua Siregar, has incited citizens to reject the presence of the church,’ Pastor Panjaitan said. She said that a local government official admitted to her that the head of the madrassa had pressured him to close the church. Pastor Panjaitan added that the church had applied for a building and worship permit long ago but that authorities had not acted on it, and that all necessary administrative requirements had been fulfilled. ‘At this time, we haven’t decided if we are going to move to another place,’ Pastor Panjaitan said. ‘But temporarily, the congregation will worship by moving from house to house.'”
On the Binanga HKBP web site, a leader is quoted as stating “The government should be put in order regarding the use or development permit places of worship such as church building, but no one in this world who can arrange or give permission on a person’s right to worship according to the belief that he had because someone may do his worship of God that he worship, anywhere, anytime with no one is entitled to regulate, license or banned it because it was the essential rights of human and religious rights.”
Image from HKBP Sipirok Web Site (http://hkbpsipirok.blogspot.com/)
The Indonesian Jakarta Post previously reported that Indonesians of diverse religions “demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono take a firmer stand in the name of the nation’s credo, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) by taking action to stop attacks on churches.” Izzan Budi, a student at Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, West Java told the Jakarta Post that “Recent attacks on church congregations may be too small an issue for the President to take notice of and respond to, but it reflects the tip of the iceberg of a larger looming conflict that threatens religious harmony in the country.” One Jakarta Post commentator, reflecting on the differences between the actions of the Indonesian president on the church protests and the U.S. president on the Park Place Islamic center debate, asks “Can we trade Yudhoyono for Obama?”
The Indonesian Jakarta Post reported on the rejection of the violence against the Christian Church by Muslim leaders. In the Jakarta Post report stated that “Hasyim Muzadi from 40-million-strong Islam organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) deplored Tuesday the assault on religious freedom.”
Interfaith Christian and Muslim Leaders Speak Out for Religious Tolerance, Freedom, Condemn Attacks - International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS) secretary-general and Nahdlatul Ulama former chairman Hasyim Muzadi (center) Speaks (Photo: JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
The Indonesian Jakarta Post reported that Indonesia Islamic leader Hasyim Muzadi said: ‘We reserve our rights as citizens to practice our beliefs. No one can forbid us to worship, including the government, let alone our own community,’ Hasyim said during a dialogue between Muslims and Christians at the HKBP Church on Tuesday. Hasyim said that people should differentiate between worship activities and administrative issues such as legal licenses. ‘For administrative matters, let’s leave [licensing] to the congregation and the government,’ he said. ‘[Regarding worship activities], the government should protect followers of any religion so they can perform their rituals without the threat of violence.’ He called on diverse communities in the neighborhood to learn more about religious tolerance. ‘Let’s build together a harmonious inter-religious life,’ he said.”
On August 16, 2010, a group of around “1,200 people supported a Sunday service near the National Monument Park in Central Jakarta, in an act of peaceful protest against the state’s silence toward the persecution of religious minorities. “Legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari, who joined the protest, condemned the government’s lack of action in handling the matter. ‘I urge the President to show his leadership. Authorities, including the police, the Home Ministry and the Religious Affairs Ministry, will follow their leader. And they are the actors who can solve this issue.. The President did not dare act because the Islam Defenders Front [FPI] was formed and nurtured by his seniors in the military. Police were also too scared. This is the last term of his presidency; he should dare to raise his voice to overcome this problem.”
The Indonesian Jakarta Post also reported that the “Islamic Community Forum (FUI), with which FPI is affiliated, was reportedly behind the fifth attack on the HKBP Pondok Timur congregation last week, leaving up to 20 people injured. Rev. Erwin Marbun from the solidarity forum urged the government to take action to settle any religious issues, including the HKBP Pondok Timur case. ‘We want a really fair solution, not just moving the wound. Bekasi administration has in fact already offered a substitute site for the HKBP Pondok Timur congregation, but it is too far away for them. The government has to act as a mediator for both sides,’ he said.”
The Indonesian Jakarta Post reports that “Many uneducated and poor people join hard-line religious or ethnic-based mass organizations to be part of a collective identity, experts say. Acts of violence carried out by hard-line groups have escalated around Greater Jakarta, with churches, residents perceived as non-native Jakartans and opposing gangs becoming prime targets.”
The Indonesian Jakarta Post reported in an editorial “Religious intolerance and Indonesia’s future” by Elwin Tobing that “Tempo magazine in 2006 reported that between 1996 and 2005, about 180 churches were destroyed, burned or closed by force. The recent attack on HKPB church members in Bekasi and the forced closure of more than two dozen churches in West Java have added to the growing list. Compared to only five similar cases for a half century, from 1945 to 1996, the recent number appears very disturbing. No society can survive long where religious intolerance is permitted to thrive.”
The editorial also states“religious freedom, which encompasses the freedom for others to practice their religious beliefs and build their house of worship, constitutes the very heart of human rights.” (emphasis added).
Surely this is a global message that applies not just to Indonesia, but also to America, and all of the world.
Responsible for Equality and Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights to freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience for all people of all faiths. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
We urge those who promote hate and intolerance to unburden the hate from their hearts.
