Tag: USA

Malaysia’s reputation as moderate Muslim nation hangs by a thread

February 9, 2018 Malaysia Children, Churches, Converts, Donald Trump, Hudud, Islamic extremism, Joshua Hilmy, Kidnapping, Malaysia, Minorities, Najib Razak, PAS, Raymond Koh, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, UMNO, USA, Wahhabism

Malaysia is seen by most Western countries as one of the moderate Muslim nations, an ally to be cultivated and befriended in the battle against militant Islam. The country’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was among one of the leaders to visit US President Donald Trump in his first year of . . . Read More

Religious freedom ‘most important foreign relations topic’ – Sam Brownback

February 8, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Marrakesh, Sam Brownback, Ukraine, USA

Newly appointed head of the US Office of International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, made his first public appearance at a gathering this week of Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders meeting to discuss a shared commitment to protecting religious minorities in the Muslim world, reports the Catholic News Agency. “I think . . . Read More

Egypt rejects US claim of Copts’ persecution as ‘lies’

January 26, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, USA

The Foreign Relations Committee of the Egyptian Parliament is preparing a report in response to the US Congress “Coptic Solidarity” memorandum alleging persecution of Copts in Egypt. The memorandum was introduced last month and claimed that Copts were subjected to “systematic bigotry” and “treatment as second-class citizens in Egypt”. Described . . . Read More

Do Christians really ‘thrive’ in Israel?

January 26, 2018 Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Jerusalem, Messianic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Palestinian Territories, Tel Aviv, Theophilos III, USA, West Bank

Jews praying at the Western Wall, Jerusalem. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Protests in the southern Israeli town of Dimona have flared up again, two weeks after a meeting centre for Messianic Jews re-opened its doors. The centre was closed in May last year following violent protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews and attacks on the homes of church leaders. Earlier this week a . . . Read More

Iran protests saw people ‘turn their backs on political Islam’

January 25, 2018 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Ayatollah Khomeini, Donald Trump, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Mashhad, Shia, Syria, USA, Yemen

Ayatollah Khomeini spoke about human rights and religious freedom when he returned to Iran 40 years ago. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Iranians are challenging the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic because corruption and inequality undermine its ideals, a human rights activist has claimed. In an interview with World Watch Monitor, Mansour Borji, Iranian-born advocacy director of UK-based human rights charity Article 18, said the street protests that spread across the country . . . Read More

US installs Sam Brownback as religious freedom ambassador

January 25, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Darfur, Mike Pence, Religious freedom, Sam Brownback, USA

Sam Brownback was confirmed as Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom in January.

The US Senate has confirmed Sam Brownback as the new head of the Office of International Religious Freedom. Brownback is the first ambassador under the US’s revised International Religious Freedom Act, which affirms a commitment to international religious freedom as a foreign relations policy. Brownback, 60, ran for president in . . . Read More

Syria church leader condemns Turkey’s ‘unjustified aggression’

January 24, 2018 Syria Afrin, Free Syrian Army, Kurds, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, Turkey, USA

A senior church leader in Syria has condemned Turkey’s new military offensive as “unjustified aggression” and urged the international community to exert “maximum pressure” to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. Rev. Abdalla Homsi, of the Evangelical Christian Alliance Church of Aleppo, issued a statement as an estimated 5,000 people were reported to . . . Read More

Jailed US pastor still refused ‘due process’ in Turkey

January 23, 2018 Turkey Andrew Brunson, Ankara, Coup, Fethullah Gülen, Izmir, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, USA

A photo of the Rev. Andrew Brunson during his time in prison. Photo courtesy of World Witness

As a high-level US delegation arrived in the Turkish capital today (23 January), in an effort to resolve high-level tensions between the two NATO allies, discussions were slated to include what officials in Washington have termed the “wrongful detention” of US pastor Andrew Brunson for the past 15 months. Led . . . 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

Syrian church in Turkish-hit enclave calls for aid

January 22, 2018 Syria Afrin, Bashar al-Assad, Free Syrian Army, Kurds, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, Turkey, USA

A church in a Syrian province under fire from Turkish troops has issued a plea for protection from the international community. Pastor Valentin Hanan of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Afrin, north-western Syria, wrote in an email to his supporters on Sunday (21 January): “We are at this . . . Read More

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