Tag: Arab Spring

Sharia enforced in Libya

December 5, 2013 Libya Arab Spring, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, Sharia, Tunisia

Libya has voted to make sharia law the basis of all legislation. Two years after the NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is still in messy transition with no new constitution and its temporary assembly caught in deadlock between an Islamist party and political rivals. As in Tunisia and . . . Read More

One third of Syrian Christians have gone, says cleric

October 23, 2013 Syria Arab Spring, Maaloula, Syria

Many Christians have fled from their homes in places such as the historic city of Maaloula.Mounir Soussi Idrissi / Flickr / Creative Commons Almost a third of Syria’s Christians have left since the start of the civil war, according to one of the country’s senior clerics. Syria’s most senior Catholic . . . Read More

Viewpoint: A country in confusion

September 27, 2013 Egypt Al-Nour Party, Arab Spring, Copts, Hamas, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

World Watch Monitor / David Degner, Getty Images Markus Tozman, a graduate student of the Middle East at Johns Hopkins University SAIS, did research work in Cairo from 17 June until 16 August 2013. His views, contained in the essay below, are the product of information gathered from interviews, . . . Read More

Beyond count

August 6, 2013 Arab Spring, Copts, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, London, Middle East, Netherlands, Syria, Turkey

This much seems certain: Christians are leaving the birthplace of Christianity in large numbers. Just how large those numbers are, however, is a matter of educated conjecture, according to a new report on Christian migration from the Middle East. A precise accounting is impossible, but report author Markus Tozman says . . . Read More

Pro-Morsi backlash turns deadly for some Christian communities

July 18, 2013 Egypt Arab Spring, Copts, Luxor, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Pope Tawadros II, Port Said

Violence in the town of al-Dabayia on July 5 claimed the lives of Rasim Taodharos Ocaldius, 56; Mharib Noshi Habib,38; Romany Noshi Habib, 33; and Emile Naseem Sarofim, 41.Special to World Watch Monitor Violence across Egypt following the July 3 ouster of Mohamed Morsi has claimed the lives of . . . Read More

Voices from the revolution

July 3, 2013 Egypt Arab Spring, Copts, Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

Hebatalla Safwat Ghali in Tahrir Square. “As a Coptic I present my Christian love of my country. I care about my people’s worries.”World Watch Monitor Who stole Egypt? The answer depends on who you ask among the thousands of Egyptians who have swarmed the streets across the country since . . . Read More

Algeria’s Protestants want their churches back

June 27, 2013 Algeria Algeria, Algiers, Arab Spring, Bejaia, Bibles, Churches, Islamic extremism, Kabylie, Mostaganem, Protestant Church of Algeria, Protestants

The Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) has reaffirmed its desire to regain control of several former churches used today for other purposes. Christians are the distinct minority in Algeria, representing less than 1% of Algeria’s 38 million inhabitants, and often face restrictions when seeking to build new churches. The presence . . . Read More

The rise of Islamic extremism in Central Asia and the Caucasus

June 6, 2013 Afghanistan, Arab Spring, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, Central Asia, Chechnya, Dagestan, Georgia, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islamic extremism, Kazakhstan, Muslim Brotherhood, Russia, Soviet Union, Uzbekistan

Islamic extremism in Central Asia and the Caucasus will further increase in the next few years, predicts a new report by Anna Münster, a Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House. US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, and expected regime changes in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan threaten to . . . Read More

‘Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians’

June 5, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Algeria, Arab Spring, Armenia, Asia Bibi, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Central Asia, China, Communism, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

This is a book designed to show that “Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today” (p4). With that aim, three authors well known in the field of religious advocacy give the reader the ultimate global briefing on the causes, patterns and trends in the persecution . . . Read More

Zahle dispatch: Life among Syria’s Christian refugees

May 1, 2013 Syria Arab Spring, Hijab, Lebanon, Refugees, Syria

Lisa Pearce is deputy CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, which works with partners worldwide to support Christians who are under pressure for their faith. She traveled to Lebanon in April to meet with Syrian Christians who have fled the violence in their homeland. Here are some of her . . . Read More

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