Tag: Islamic State

Birthday for a missing girl

July 17, 2015 Iraq Assyrians, Christina Abada, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Kurds

July 18 is Christina Khader Abada’s birthday. She’s 4. Her family won’t have a party for her. A soldier of the Islamic State took Christina from the arms of her mother nearly a year ago, and nothing has been heard about the girl since. “My biggest joy would be when . . . Read More

IS turns ancient Mosul church into mosque

July 14, 2015 Hasakah, Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Ramadan, Syria

Islamic State has turned an ancient Chaldean church in Mosul, Iraq into a mosque, according to Fides. St Joseph church, which is considered to be one the oldest churches of the Chaldean denomination and overlooks the Tigris river, has been turned into the Abi Abd El-Rahman Elbilawi mosque, named after a . . . Read More

Iraqi Franciscan priest abducted in northwest Syria

July 8, 2015 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Assyrians, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Hasakah, Idlib, Islamic State, Jacques Mourad, Kidnapping, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

Father Dhiya Aziz was kidnapped by militants from Yacoubieh, Idlib Province, where he serves as parish priest on Sat 4th July. The militants were purportedly taking him for a brief meeting with the Emir who exercises authority in that area, which is under the control of the Al-Qaeda affiliate group, . . . Read More

Growing signs of ISIS activity in Jerusalem

July 1, 2015 Israel Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Israel, Jerusalem, Palestinian Territories, Ramadan

A new Islamist threat to Christians has emerged in Jerusalem, according to Middle East Concern. On 25 June leaflets were distributed in East Jerusalem by a group calling itself Islamic State in Palestine. The leaflets bore the black flag of ISIS and carried a message warning Christians to leave Jerusalem . . . Read More

Muslims must ‘face up’ to Quran’s violence

June 23, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Prophet Muhammad, Quran

Egyptian President al-Sisi’s New Year’s Day speech asking how belief in Islam could make Muslim nations “a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction” ought to have triggered a worldwide theological debate amongst Muslims asking where the mechanism for restraining Islamic violence lies, according to Canon Dr. Gavin Ashenden, writing . . . Read More

Coptic boys on bail, anti-Islam charges pending

June 18, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Copts, Gad Younan, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan

The last of four Egyptian boys accused of having “offended” Islam has been released on bail while trial is expected to continue after the Muslim month of Ramadan. The 17-year-old student from Upper Egypt was released after 62 days in prison, subject to the payment of 10,000 Egyptian pounds, equivalent . . . Read More

Community ‘justice’ expels Copts from their homes

June 17, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Gad Younan, Islamic State, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

Forgive Emad Youssef if he and his extended family felt quite confused. The crowd welcoming them back to the village had only a few days earlier demanded they leave. “They said this is the first time something like this has happened in our village,” he told private satellite channel, OnTV “and that, . . . Read More

Forced out by ISIS, Iraq’s Christians start over

June 10, 2015 Iraq Greek Orthodox, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurds, Refugees

World Watch Monitor One year ago, Mosul fell to militants belonging to a Sunni Muslim movement calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Thousands of Christians and other religious minorities, threatened with execution, fled. These are the stories of two who have found refuge, one in . . . Read More

86 Eritrean Christians kidnapped by ISIS

June 8, 2015 Libya Islamic State, Libya, Refugees, Tripoli

Islamic State has kidnapped 86 Eritrean Christians in Libya, including 12 women, according to the Stockholm-based International Commission on Eritrean Refugees (ICER). The militants ambushed a vehicle carrying Eritrean refugees to Tripoli, before separating out the Christians from the Muslims by testing their knowledge of the Quran. Meron Estefanos, a . . . Read More

Islamist forces battle for Hassaka and Aleppo

June 5, 2015 Syria Aleppo, Hasakah, Iraq, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Syria

Islamic State jihadists have begun closing in on two cities in northern Syria where there are still significant Christian communities. “IS is attacking Hassaka, and the situation is not that secure,” Father Emanuel Youkhana from the Christian Aid Program in Northern Iraq (CAPNI) told the Catholic Aleteia network on June . . . Read More

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