Tag: Iraq

ISIS used Iraqi church ‘as shooting range’

January 24, 2017 Iraq Churches, Iraq, Islamic State, Qaraqosh

Iraqi Christians returning to their homes in Qaraqosh have found their houses burnt and churches desecrated. One woman, Manal Matti, told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that “jihadists [had] used the church as a shooting range”. She added that mannequins taken from her clothes shop, close to . . . Read More

‘90,000 Christian martyrs annually’ claim disputed

January 20, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Boko Haram, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Islamic State, Nigeria, Syria

Global charity Open Doors has disputed the way in which statistics on Christian “martyrs” are collected, arguing that an annual figure of 90,000, recently reported widely, is significantly higher than the accurately verifiable number. The figure, reported by some media and cited by an Italian academic on Vatican Radio, was . . . Read More

Religious persecution ‘central’ to refugee crisis

January 12, 2017 Afghanistan, Europe, India, Iraq, Libya, London, Nigeria, Pakistan, Refugees, Somalia, Syria

Religious persecution is playing a “central role” in the global displacement crisis, the charity Open Doors UK and Ireland has said. Refugees eating donated food outside a derelict warehouse in Belgrade, Serbia. According to Open Doors, more than half of the world’s 65.3m refugee population come from Somalia, Afghanistan and . . . Read More

Nationalism in Asia, Islamic extremism in Africa – the 2017 World Watch List

January 11, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Africa, Asia, Bhutan, BJP, Ethiopia, Hindu nationalism, India, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Libya, Narendra Modi, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Yemen

One of the greatest increases in animosity towards Christians last year took place in India as a result of religiously motivated nationalism, according to the latest annual survey of the 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian. Since the rise to power of Narendra . . . Read More

Iraqi clergy say Prince’s solidarity message needs political backing

December 22, 2016 Egypt, Iraq, London, Prince Charles, Shia, Sunni, Syria

Prince Charles speaking at London’s St Thomas Cathedral Syriac Orthodox Church, UK, October 2016The Prince of Wales Iraqi church leaders in Britain have welcomed a radio message by Prince Charles, the future King of England highlighting the persecution of religious minorities, but said that it must be followed by . . . Read More

6 years on: what has the Arab Spring meant for Christians?

December 20, 2016 Arab Spring, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Iraq, Libya, Middle East, Muammar Gaddafi, Syria, Tunisia

Demonstrators on the streets of Cairo, Egypt in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, November 2012. World Watch Monitor The Arab Spring, which began 17 December, 2010, started with a wave of protests in Tunisia, followed by other Arab countries. It was positively acclaimed as a social movement demanding an . . . Read More

‘We must distinguish between Islam and terrorism’

November 28, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Amman, Boko Haram, Europe, Fulani herdsmen, Hungary, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Jacques Hamel, Jan Figel, Middle East, Nigeria, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Refugees, Religious freedom

Keeping the distinction between Islam and terrorism clear could prevent an ultimate ‘Clash of Civilisations’, an EU diplomat says. “All this hatred and bloodshed is a misuse of religion,” said Ján Figeľ, the European Commission’s first Special Envoy for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU. . . . Read More

Failure to bring IS to justice shows UN genocide conventions ‘obsolete’

November 28, 2016 Canada, Europe, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Qaraqosh, Rwanda, Syria, UK, UN

The UN has broken the pledges it made in the aftermath of World War II to prevent genocide from recurring, said Ewelina Ochab.World Watch Monitor The UN must urgently put in place measures to hold to account jihadists who have committed atrocities against minorities in Iraq and Syria, because . . . Read More

‘Defeating IS won’t guarantee Christians’ return’

November 21, 2016 Iraq Erbil, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds

The military defeat of Islamic State (IS) will not be enough to encourage displaced Iraqi Christians back to the cities, towns and villages from which the jihadists chased them, according to a senior priest in the region. Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, a priest in the Assyrian Church of the East and . . . Read More

6 steps to being a ‘refugee’ in your own country

November 11, 2016 Iraq Erbil, IDPs, Iraq, Nineveh Plains, Refugees

Tens of thousands of Christian families were chased from their homes in north-eastern Iraq when Islamic State jihadists invaded the Nineveh Plains in summer 2014. At first they expected to return within a few days. But the days became weeks, the weeks months, and the months years. World Watch Monitor traces . . . Read More

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