Tag: Lebanon

What’s the threat of Islamic State to the Church worldwide?

September 25, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Qaeda, Bartella, Dohuk, Erbil, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Israel, Jizya, Jordan, Kurds, Lebanon, Muslim Brotherhood, Qaraqosh, Quran, Salafism, Sharia, Sunni, Syria

While Islamic State is wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria, its ambitions do not stop there. Moreover, several world leaders are saying it is one of the biggest threats they are facing. But exactly how does Islamic State fit into the global picture of Christians under pressure for their faith . . . Read More

Lebanese stockpiling weapons against IS

September 10, 2014 Lebanon Islamic State, Lebanon, Refugees, Syria

The Associated Press (AP) reports that some Lebanese Christians are stockpiling weapons and setting up self-defence units to protect themselves from the Islamic State. This report came the day before IS militants beheaded Lebanese soldier Abbas Medlej who had been taken hostage by the group’s militants in August. Photos of . . . Read More

Lebanese library torched after blasphemy accusation

January 7, 2014 Lebanon Al-Saeh Library, Blasphemy, Greek Orthodox, Lebanon, Tripoli

Around two-thirds of the library’s estimated 80,000 books are thought to have been damaged.MTV Lebanon News / YouTube A huge library of books collected by a 72-year-old Greek Orthodox priest, but used by the whole community, was torched in Lebanon on Friday (January 3) after he was accused of insulting . . . Read More

A postcard from ‘Little Baghdad’

December 12, 2013 Assyrians, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Refugees, Sweden, Syria, Syriacs, Turkey

Nuri Kino Södertälje, Sweden, is also known as Mesopotälje – “Little Baghdad”. One in four people in Södertälje is a Christian from Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or Egypt. Most are Assyrian/Syriacs. The city was once home to more Iraqi refugees than the United States and Canada combined. Every week, 30 . . . Read More

Leaving home

October 7, 2013 Syria Assyrians, Free Syrian Army, Islamic extremism, Lebanon, Middle East, Raqqa, Sharia, Syria, Tabqa, Turkey

A couple of days after she fled Syria for Turkey, a colleague sent me a message. “Dear Nuri, this is a court that the extremists established in my city, Lattakia, in the [Syrian] village of Kansabba. This Islamic court issues the law according to the extremists’ religion. It started today. . . . Read More

Viewpoint: A troubling call from Syria

August 29, 2013 Syria Assyrians, Bashar al-Assad, Lebanon, Syria, Tabqa

Nuri Kino is a Sweden-based independent investigative reporter, filmmaker, author, Middle East and human-rights analyst. His report, titled ‘The Camp‘, which examined the construction of a massive refugee camp for Syrian Christians inside Turkey, appeared on May 5 at World Watch Monitor. Aug. 26 Early this morning I received a phone . . . 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

Lebanon on the brink

July 12, 2013 Lebanon Lebanon, Shia, Sunni, Syria, Tripoli

The war in Syria threatens to spill over into Lebanon, where the Damascus regime and the rebels both have supporters. A Lebanese BBC journalist’s film ‘Lebanon on the Brink‘ shows the latent sectarian enmity between Sunni and Alawite Shia in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

All change again in the Middle East

July 7, 2013 Andrew Bennett, Baghdad, Bishop Angaelos, Cairo, Canada, Copts, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, London, Middle East, Muslim Brotherhood, Religious freedom, Saddam Hussein, Syria

Middle Eastern Christians are experiencing one of the most significant periods in their history, according to religious and political leaders meeting in London last week. Regime changes in Egypt and Iran, and sectarian violence in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, have presented an opportunity for the Christian minority to speak out, . . . 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

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