Month: July 2007

Where Does This Fit in Iraq?

Mission Network News reports:

Christian Persecution in Iraq is much worse than most people think, according to a report from the Christian Post.

“The situation is more than desperate,” said White, pastor of 1,300-member St. George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad. White’s firsthand account of the plight of Christians on the ground included a report that 36 members of his own church were kidnapped. Only one has been released so far since the church found enough money to pay his ransom.

White and others also reported that Dora, Iraq has seen many incredibly violent acts against Christians in the last few months. Almost all the churches have been bombed and burned. Almost all Christians have been forced to leave their homes after receiving death threats.

Somehow, this just doesn’t seem right (or even to be expected) in a country “liberated” and “dominated” and “secured” by the United States.

Why is it so?

A Deal to Rue Later?

Rice says Mideast military aid will counter Qaeda:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed to the Middle East on Tuesday with huge military aid for allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, saying it would help counter al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.

Maybe so.

For myself, I can’t shake the (paranoid?) notion that this weaponry will eventually be used against Israel. And perhaps the US or her interests.

They Call This Honor?

Woman raped before honor killing:

LONDON (Reuters) – A Kurdish woman was brutally raped, stamped on and strangled by members of her family and their friends in an “honor killing” carried out at her London home because she had fallen in love with the wrong man.

Banaz Mahmod, 20, was subjected to the 2-1/2 hour ordeal before she was garroted with a bootlace. Her body was stuffed into a suitcase and taken about 100 miles to Birmingham where it was buried in the back garden of a house.

They need redemption. As do all of us.

Indeed, they can be fully redeemed. As can all of us.

Interestingly, though I can’t categorize this under Middle East, it definitely fits in the category I chose.

Democrat Charges

What is he charging?

Toward what is he charging?

For what is he charging?

On whose credit is he charging?

“Yes,” he said in answer to his own question:

“Were we duped?” he asked.

“Were we too easily impressed by the charm of nominee Roberts and the erudition of nominee Alito?” Schumer asked. “Did we mistakenly vote our hopes when our fears were more than justified by the ultraconservative records of these two men?”

He could take comfort in the assurance that not all who are duped are dupes.

Shaymaa: In Danger in Egypt

On July 19 I reported on this.

Now Compass Direct News provides us with this sad update:

Egyptian police in Alexandria who last week arrested a Christian convert woman today handed her over to her fanatical Islamist family, who beat her before driving her away.

Eyewitnesses said family members of Shaymaa (Eman) Muhammad al-Sayed, 26, today dragged her screaming from the police station where she had been closeted. According to the eyewitnesses outside Alexandria’s Bab-Sharky police station, Al-Sayed’s relatives severely beat her in the Shatby Cemetery behind the police station at 4 p.m.

She was then forced into a family microbus and driven off toward the district of Abeis, east of Alexandria, where her father’s knitting factory is located.

One week ago, on July 16, these same family members openly threatened to kill Al-Sayed for leaving Islam to become a Christian, after spotting her walking through a fair in Alexandria.

Local police promptly took her into “protective custody,” allegedly to prevent her physical harm at the hands of her irate Muslim relatives.

But instead of protecting her, local police and State Security Investigation (SSI) officials have subjected the threatened woman to days of severe physical and emotional torture. Her maltreatment included electrical shocks, beatings and being photographed naked.

A Time to Hope?

A day of mourning may open doors for outreach:

Tisha B’Av is the ninth day of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar. It’s observed as a day of mourning, and this year it falls on July 24.

[…]

During this three week period, celebrations are not permitted, and people refrain from cutting their hair. From the first to the ninth of Av, it is customary to refrain from eating meat or drinking wine and from wearing new clothing.

E3 Partners’ Tom Doyle says there’s good reason for it. Over the course of history, Israel has suffered tragedy and catastrophe on Tisha b’Av. “The first Temple was leveled on the ninth of Av. The second Temple was leveled on the ninth of Av. The Spanish Inquisition started on the ninth of Av. The ‘Final Solution’ was presented to Hitler on the ninth of Av. So, as we’re heading toward that, there seems to be, every year, this collective sigh of [resignation] ‘ok, what’s gonna happen this year?'”

Add to that the tinderbox situation Israel is in the middle of, and the tension mounts. Doyle says their partners are concerned. “With all of the pressure–Israel in a vice grip right now and Syria openly saying they’re going to attack–Israelis are just bracing themselves for another tragedy, something coming their way. But on the other hand, that gives believers a chance to openly share their faith and talk about the hope in Yeshua as Savior.”
Above all, love God!
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