Tag: Middle East

New book rejects Western view that Christians ‘cannot be victims’

April 16, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Asia, Censorship, Human rights, Middle East

The author of a new book about the persecution of Christians says she wants to “shed light” on the issue because it has become ingrained in Western thinking that “the Christian is not a victim because, historically, he has been an executioner”. Spanish journalist and politician Pilar Rahola told Christian . . . Read More

Palestinian father who lost daughter: ‘Don’t be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel, be pro-justice’

April 5, 2018 Palestinian Territories Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, Education, Egypt, Gaza, Greek Orthodox, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Minorities, Palestinian Territories, Syria, West Bank, Youth

George Saadeh is headmaster of a school where children are taught to "have respect for those who think differently than you". (Photo: Open Doors International)

A Palestinian Christian father whose 12-year-old daughter was killed by Israeli soldiers has spoken about the ongoing conflict and his decision to forgive the soldiers who shot her, just over 15 years ago. Violence erupted once again at the weekend along the Israeli border with Gaza, leaving at least 16 . . . Read More

Persecuted Christians celebrate Easter with mixed emotions

April 3, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Aleppo, Bashar Warda, Catholics, Easter, Erbil, Gaza, Hanoi, Hmong, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Israel, Jakarta, Jerusalem, Ludhiana, Maluku, Marawi, Middle East, Mindanao, Minorities, Philippines, Pope Francis, Prince Charles, Southeast Asia, Syria, Vietnam

Flag of Syria is waving as sign of victory over the destroyed heavily damaged city of Aleppo. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Easter this year was a time of mixed emotions for the Christians who live under pressure for their faith. While political and religious leaders called for peace, reconciliation and brotherhood, Christians in countries like Syria and the Philippines continued to face violence and its consequences. Below, World Watch Monitor gives . . . Read More

Bomb scare intimidates another church in Turkey

February 7, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Armenians, Balikesir, Bursa, Churches, Diyarbakir, Edirne, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Greek Orthodox, Halki Seminary, Human rights, Istanbul, Izmir, Malatya, Mersin, Middle East, Protestants, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Surp Giragos, Trabzon, Turkey

Trabzon church in a 2007 photo (World Watch Monitor)

Turkish police were called to Trabzon’s Santa Maria Catholic Church on Sunday morning (4 February) to examine a smouldering device spotted in the garden by alarmed church staff. After discovering a partially burned homemade pipe bomb, which had failed to explode, local authorities promptly checked the church’s security camera footage. . . . Read More

A Middle Eastern Christian’s view of Pence’s agenda

January 22, 2018 Donald Trump, Egypt, Human rights, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jerusalem, Middle East, Mike Pence, Palestinian Territories, Refugees, Saudi Arabia, Syria, USA, West Bank

A Jordanian Christian trauma counsellor has urged US Vice President Mike Pence to recognise Palestinian statehood to make good his pledge to help Christians in the Middle East. Issam Smeir, who has worked with refugees in the Middle East and in the US, wrote a first-person piece for the Washington . . . Read More

Pence’s plans to help Middle East Christians overshadowed by political storm

January 19, 2018 Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Arabs, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bethlehem, Churches, Copts, Donald Trump, Egypt, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Jordan, King Abdullah II, Middle East, Mike Pence, Palestinian Territories, USA, West Bank

US Vice President Mike Pence’s postponed trip to the Middle East goes ahead this weekend amid myriad tensions and a fast-shifting diplomatic landscape. Pence’s trip is a shortened version of the one planned for last month, which was abruptly cancelled when protests erupted at President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem . . . Read More

Netherlands joins UN Security Council to shine light on IS genocide

January 11, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Lord Alton, Middle East, Netherlands, Syria, UK, UN, Yazidis

A church in Karamles, a town near Mosul, after IS was pushed out in October 2016. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Netherlands has just joined the UN Security Council as a temporary member for a year. Ten days before, its Foreign Minister, Halbe Zijlstra, published a letter explaining the Dutch government’s response on the use by politicians of the term “genocide”. The Dutch Parliament had had several debates on the . . . Read More

‘Unprecedented’ persecution of Egypt’s Christians heads 2018 World Watch List

January 10, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Anti-conversion law, Boko Haram, Cairo, Central Asia, Churches, Converts, Copts, Egypt, Eritrea, Fulani herdsmen, Hindu nationalism, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Jharkhand, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Marawi, Middle Belt, Middle East, Mindanao, Minorities, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Philippines, Somalia, Southeast Asia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Upper Egypt

More Christians abused in India than in all other countries combined; Nepal enters list Islamic extremists driven out of Iraq and Syria are behind a new intensity of Christian persecution in surrounding countries, says global charity Open Doors in its latest annual survey of countries where it is most difficult . . . Read More

Sweden opens church for 5,000 Christians who fled Middle East

December 15, 2017 Baghdad, Catholics, Chaldeans, Germany, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Mosul, Sweden

Evening mass at Mar Elia Chaldean Catholic Church in the Iraqi city of Erbil, attended by many refugees from Mosul and Nineveh Plains who fled IS. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2014)

A new church opened last week in the Swedish town of Södertalje, 30km south of Stockholm, for the estimated 5,000-6,000 Chaldean Catholics who have resettled there after fleeing their homes in the Middle East. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne, Germany, who participated in the inaugural service, explained to German . . . Read More

British PM Theresa May hears about plight of Christians in Middle East

December 14, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Karamles, Middle East, Mike Pence, New York, Nineveh Plains, Theresa May, UK

The British Prime Minister Theresa May was briefed on the plight of Christians and minorities in the Middle East in a meeting yesterday (13 December) with an Iraqi priest who has been looking after refugees who fled IS violence. Father Daniel Alkory highlighted the plight of Christians and minorities in . . . Read More

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