Jerusalem Post: Extremist Christians: ‘God hates Jews’
— “Westboro Baptist Church members protest in front of several Jewish institutions throughout New York”
— “Westboro Baptist Church” on Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) list of hate groups
Burma: Myanmar sentences Aung San Suu Kyi to more house arrest
(Burma) Myanmar sentences Suu Kyi to more house arrest
— AP reports:
— “Myanmar’s generals have again succeeded in isolating democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but her fleeting emergence during a grueling trial showed that her steely resolve and charisma remain intact.”
— “A Myanmar court on Tuesday convicted the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate of violating her house arrest by allowing an uninvited American to stay at her home. Her sentence of three years in prison with hard labor was quickly commuted to 18 months house arrest after an order from the head of the military-ruled country, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.”
— “Suu Kyi has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years, and the extension will remove her from the political scene next year when the junta holds its first election since 1990. Her party won in the polls then but was never allowed to take power.”
— “Her conviction and continued detention were condemned by world leaders and sparked demonstrations in cities from London to Japan. The European Union began preparing new sanctions against the country’s military regime and a group of 14 Nobel Laureates, including the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called on the U.N. Security Council to take strong action against the country.”
— “President Barack Obama termed Suu Kyi’s conviction a violation of ‘the universal principle of human rights’ and said she should be released immediately.”
Congo: “Rape in Congo: What got me was the laughter”
(Congo) Rape in Congo: What got me was the laughter
According to V-Day reports on the Congo war, “[a]n estimated 5 million people have died here since 1996, with over 250,000 victims of rape.” U.S. Department of State Secretary Hillary Clinton recently reported from a trip to the Congo: “Women and girls in particular have been victimized on an unimaginable scale, as sexual and gender-based violence has become a tactic of war and has reached epidemic proportions. Some 1,100 rapes are reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day.” This misogyny against women in Africa includes the use of rape as acts of war by military and terrorist organizations. Regarding the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations reports that “the Congolese army, security sector personnel, and several armed groups still use sexual violence as a weapon of war in the DRC. Further, international actors, including UN personnel, have been implicated in perpetrating sexual violence in the DRC.” While the United States is providing funding for medical care and support for rape victims in the Congo, it must also set expectations for President Kabila to prosecute Congo military involved in such sexual violence, and U.N. Secretary Ban to ensure action against any UN personnel involved in such sexual violence. The violence in the Congo is linked to violence in Sudan (where a human genocide continues to rage) and Uganda on its borders. In addition, these rapes are also performed by the Uganda rebel terrorist organization, the “Lords Resistance Army” (LRA). The LRA terrorist organization claims to seek to create theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments, while murdering and raping other Christians and destroying their churches. In addition to setting expectations for the Congo and U.N. leaders, we must have a continued commitment against the LRA Ugandan terrorist organization, and Christian organizations must publicly and aggressively reject the actions of the LRA. The continuing conflicts in the Congo, Uganda, and Sudan must be a priority for Africans, Christians, Muslims and human beings around the world.
Al-Arabiya TV Deputy Secretary-General on Palestinian Human Rights
MEMRI: “Al-Arabiya TV Deputy Secretary-General Calls for Resettlement of Palestinian Refugees”
— “Objecting to Refugee Resettlement Is Objecting to Peace”
— “Stop Treating the Palestinians Like A Plague”
— “The Arabs Have Turned the Palestinians Into a People Defeated Both Morally and Materially”
— Daoud Al-Shiryan, Al-Hayat columnist and deputy secretary-general of Al-Arabiya TV reported as stating regarding Arab countries:
— “These countries must stop treating the Palestinians like a plague, using slogans which, as we all know, have become nothing but empty utterances in a loathsome struggle. We must break the isolation of the Palestinians in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. A Palestinian should be made to feel like a welcome and dear guest – before some external intervention comes along and grants him the right to live in dignity, to everyone’s consternation.”
August 10, 2009 – Washington DC: National Press Club “Black Day” Press Conference Videos Online
August 10, 2009 – Washington DC: National Press Club “Black Day” Press Conference Videos Online – Calling for End to Pakistan Blasphemy Laws
— Part 1: Introduction by Ahmar Mustikhan and Jeffrey Imm of Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
— Part 2: Dr. Nazir Bhatti – Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC)
— Part 3: Jeremy Sewall, International Christian Concern (ICC)
— Part 4: Ahmar Mustikhan, AFB
— Part 5: Ahmar Mustikhan, AFB Continued – on Baluchistan
Pakistan: Christians remember victims of Gojra violence
UCAN Report: Christians remember victims of Gojra violence
— UCAN reports: “More than 500 people packed the Sacred Heart Church in Gojra recently to remember those who died in anti-Christian rioting”
— Father Hadayat: “I believe their blood will not go wasted and will bring about a revolt against the black (blasphemy) laws.”
— “According to Church sources, the death toll from the rioting has now risen to 10, including three children and three women.”
Canadian Pakistani Christian staged rally to condemn Gojra massacre
Pakistan Daily Times: “Blasphemy laws once again in the limelight”
Pakistan Daily Times: “Blasphemy laws once again in the limelight”
— Pakistan Daily Times: “Religious affairs minister says major amendments in blasphemy laws will benefit Taliban”
— Pakistan Daily Times reports:
— “When an angry mob of Muslims torched 40 houses and a church in the town of Gojra, two children, their parents and 75-year-old grandfather were burnt to death.”
— “Three days later, two people were killed in Muridke in what was a private employee dispute against a Muslim factory boss, but coloured by unfounded allegations that the businessman desecrated the holy Quran.”
— “Arbitrary law: ‘It’s an arbitrary law, which has been badly misused by extremists and influentials and should be abolished,’ Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Co-chairman Iqbal Haider said.”
— “‘There is no option but to abolish this law. More than that, the government should revive the secular nature of the state as our founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah envisaged, otherwise it will aggravate religious unrest,’ he said.”
— “The government moved quickly to try to limit the fallout of the anti-Christian killings, offering compensation but cabinet ministers have stopped short of pledging to scrap the blasphemy laws.”
— “‘A committee will [examine] the laws which are detrimental to religious harmony to sort out how they could be made better,” Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Christians during a solidarity visit to Gojra. Just one witness is enough to incriminate a ‘heretic.’ Anyone accused of blasphemy is immediately arrested and charged, before an investigation begins.”
— “In many cases, people take the law in their own hands and go for killing the alleged blasphemer and rights groups say this trend is increasing.”
— “Benefit: But Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the government could not risk a ‘full-fledged review’ inciting a religious backlash.”
— “‘Any move for a major amendment in the law will generate another controversy that will benefit extremists and harm the cause of our Christian brothers.'”
Pakistan – Additional Report on 60-year-old woman charged with “blasphemy”
— BBC reports: “The women says it wasn’t the Koran she flung to the ground but a register in which the shopkeeper had listed her credit”
— August 5, 2009: Pakistan: Mob attacks home of 60-year-old woman in extremist “blasphemy” charge
Nigeria: Thirteen-year-old forced to watch Pastor hacked to death in Boko Haram deadly violence
Nigeria: Thirteen-year-old forced to watch Pastor hacked to death in Boko Haram deadly violence
— Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports: “A thirteen-year-old Nigerian Christian has told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) sources how she was forced to watch her pastor’s murder, and has also spoken of her four-day ordeal as a prisoner in the besieged compound of Islamist group, Boko Haram.”
— “On 26 July, Mary was in church with her pastor, his brother and an older Christian woman when a group of fifty militants broke in. She and her pastor hid as the group killed the pastor’s brother and dragged the older woman out of the room. On discovering their hiding place, the militants cut off her pastor’s hand to stop him holding on to her, then hacked him to death with machetes before setting him on fire.”