Tag: Middle East

Sunni Arabs ‘helped drive out’ Middle East Christians

March 13, 2017 Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Rape, Sunni, Syria

Amid the push by Iraqi government forces to retake Mosul from Islamic State (IS), some former inhabitants of Christian villages in the Nineveh Plains and northern Syria are refusing to go back because they believe their former Sunni Muslim neighbours were complicit in driving them out, says Middle East analyst . . . Read More

Iraq urged to allow UN investigation into genocide

March 10, 2017 Iraq Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Middle East, Rape, Torture, UN, Yazidis

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has called upon the Iraqi government to allow a UN investigation into the treatment of Yazidis by the so-called Islamic State (IS), reports Reuters. A year ago, the UK Parliament joined US Secretary of State John Kerry, the US House of Representatives, the EU . . . Read More

Devastated northern Iraq needs ‘new Marshall Plan’ for reconstruction

February 3, 2017 Iraq Bashar Warda, Erbil, IDPs, Islamic State, Kurds, Middle East, Refugees

The liberated town of Bartella in the Nineveh Plains, 21km east of Mosul, is today a picture of destruction.Open Doors The Archbishop of Erbil in northern Iraq, who is overseeing the care of thousands of displaced Christians who fled Islamic State jihadists, has announced ambitious plans for the Church . . . Read More

Trump’s migrant policy ‘a trap for Christians’

January 30, 2017 Bishop Angaelos, Damascus, Donald Trump, Islamic extremism, Louis Raphael I Sako, Middle East, Migrants, Refugees, Syria, USA

US President Donald Trump’s fast-tracking of Christian refugees from the Middle East will be “a trap,” according to Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, Primate of the Eastern Catholic Church. “Every reception policy that discriminates the persecuted and suffering on religious grounds ultimately harms the Christians of the East,” he . . . Read More

Film shows desperate plight of drowning refugees

January 27, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Europe, Greece, Middle East, Migrants, Refugees, Turkey

An Oscar-nominated documentary film shows the heroic efforts of the Greek Coastguard to rescue some of the 600,000 refugees attempting to cross the 4.1-mile stretch of water between Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos from 2015 to 2016. The 21-minute film, 4.1 Miles (embedded below), is an uncomfortable and . . . 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

Fresh criticism for Egypt church construction law

November 18, 2016 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Middle East, Muslim Brotherhood

After the ratification of a law on the building of churches in Egypt in September, Copts and rights organisations have voiced concerns that this will not aid in turning the tide on discrimination against Egypt’s Orthodox Christian minority. For decades the construction and renovation of churches has been obstructed by . . . Read More

Syrian Christian spearheads ‘one million voices’ petition to support Church to stay in Middle East

November 8, 2016 Aleppo, Iraq, Middle East, Refugees, Syria

A Syrian Christian now living in the UK is helping to bring hope for the future to his native land as part of a worldwide advocacy campaign. Rami (who can’t use his real name for security) co-ordinates ‘Hope for the Middle East’, a seven-year advocacy campaign from charity Open Doors . . . Read More

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