‘Largest Massacre of Christians in Syria’ Ignored

One of the worst Christian massacres—complete with mass graves, tortured-to-death women and children, and destroyed churches—recently took place in Syria, at the hands of the U.S.-supported jihadi “rebels”; and the U.S. government and its “mainstream media” mouthpiece are, as usual, silent (that is, when not actively trying to minimize matters).

Images of three of the six family members tortured and thrown in a well by U.S.-supported Islamic terrorists.

The massacre took place in Sadad, an ancient Syriac Orthodox Christian habitation, so old as to be mentioned in the Old Testament.  Most of the region’s inhabitants are poor, as Sadad is situated in the remote desert between Homs and Damascus (desert regions, till now, apparently the only places Syria’s Christians could feel secure; 600 Christian families had earlier fled there for sanctuary from the jihad, only to be followed by it).

In late October, the U.S-supported “opposition” invaded and occupied Sadad for over a week, till ousted by the nation’s military.  Among other atrocities, 45 Christians—including women and children—were killed, several tortured to death; Sadat’s 14 churches, some ancient, were ransacked and destroyed; the bodies of six people from one family, ranging from ages 16 to 90, were found at the bottom of a well (an increasingly common fate for “subhuman” Christians).

The jihadis even made a graphic video (with English subtitles) of those whom they massacred, while shouting Islam’s victory-cry, “Allahu Akbar” (which John McCain equates to a Christian saying “thank God”).  Another video, made after Sadad was liberated shows more graphic atrocities.

Here are the words of Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Homs and Hama (another detailed account, with pictures, appears here):

What happened in Sadad is the most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two years and a half… 45 innocent civilians were martyred for no reason, and among them several women and children, many thrown into mass graves. Other civilians were threatened and terrorized. 30 were wounded and 10 are still missing. For one week, 1,500 families were held as hostages and human shields. Among them children, the elderly, the young, men and women….  All the houses of Sadad were robbed and property looted. The churches are damaged and desecrated, deprived of old books and precious furniture…  What happened in Sadad is the largest massacre of Christians in Syria and the second in the Middle East, after the one in the Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Iraq, in 2010.

In the Iraqi attack of 2010, al-Qaeda linked jihadis stormed the church during service killing some 60 Christian worshippers (see here for graphic images of the aftermath).

While the archbishop is correct that this is the “largest massacre of Christians in Syria,” it is but the tip of the iceberg of the persecution the nation’s Christian minority has suffered—including beheadings, church bombings, kidnappings, rapes, and dislocation of hundreds of thousands of Christians—since the war broke out (see Syria entries inmonthly persecution series).

A month before Sadad, another ancient Christian region, Ma‘loula, one of the world’s very few regions that still spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus, was besieged by the jihadis, its churches bombarded and plundered, its inhabitants forced to convert to Islam or die.  The last  words of one man who refused were: “I am a Christian, and if you want to kill me for this, I do not object to it.”

The archbishop concluded his statement concerning Sadad by asking: “We have shouted aid to the world but no one has listened to us. Where is the Christian conscience? Where is human consciousness? Where are my brothers? I think of all those who are suffering today in mourning and discomfort: We ask everyone to pray for us.”

Serge Trifkovic—who hails from a European region especially acquainted with Islamic jihad—responds to the archbishop as follows:

That no “human consciousness” is to be found in the White House, or in the editorial offices of the leading Western media, is now a matter of well-established record. Just try searching for “Sadad” (or alternatively “Saddad”) on the websites of the Department of State or The New York Times. Ditto the leading European dailies, the CNN/BBC/RTF, the human-rights defending “NGOs” et al.

The problem, of which Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh appears unaware, is no longer in the Western elite’s mere indifference to the impending demise of Christianity in the lands of its birth, but in its active, ongoing, and open contribution to that demise. Cyprus (1974) and the Balkans (1991-9) provided the test, Iraq (2003-today) the conclusive proof. In Syria the Obama administration remains committed to supporting the rebels—ah, yes, only the “moderate” ones, like the Christian-murdering “Free Syrian Army” (discretion advised again), not “even though” the result will be the same, but precisely because it will be.

In one of the Arabic videos documenting the aftermath of the Sadad massacre, as the mutilated bodies of one family are drawn from a well (around :30 second mark), a middle-aged male relative, in tears, says:

Another of Sadad’s churches, desecrated by jihadis.

The most precious in the whole universe [his family], are now gone, leaving me alone, but thank God I am still surrounded by these loving people who remain.  I want to say, let people [the jihadis] return to their minds.  The problems of the world can only be solved by knowledge and brains.  Enough insanity, the nerves of the people are shredded.  Enough, enough—return to your minds; you people, you humans—return to your humanity, enough crimes.

As a sign of the times, here is a Syrian, an “easterner,” evoking rationalism and humanity, products of the Christian West, at a time when the post-Christian West is governed by anything and everything—propaganda, emotionalism, mindless indoctrination—but the twain

by Raymond Ibrahim on November 21, 2013 in Islam

http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/largest-massacre-of-christians-in-syria-ignored/

A Global Slaughter of Christians, but America’s Churches Stay Silent

Christians are being singled out and massacred from Pakistan to Syria to the Nairobi shopping mall. Kirsten Powers on the deafening silence from U.S. pews and pulpits.

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Christians in the Middle East and Africa are being slaughtered, tortured, raped, kidnapped, beheaded, and forced to flee the birthplace of Christianity. One would think this horror might be consuming the pulpits and pews of American churches. Not so. The silence has been nearly deafening.

As Egypt’s Copts have battled the worst attacks on the Christian minority since the 14th century, the bad news for Christians in the region keeps coming. On Sunday,Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 85 worshippers at All Saints’ church, which has stood since 1883 in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. Christians were also the target of Islamic fanatics in the attack on a shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya, this week that killed more than 70 people. The Associated Press reported that the Somali Islamic militant group al-Shabab “confirmed witness accounts that gunmen separated Muslims from other people and let the Muslims go free.” The captives were asked questions about Islam. If they couldn’t answer, they were shot.

Pakistanis protest against violence against Christians in Lahore on Sept. 24, 2013. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

In Syria, Christians are under attack by Islamist rebels and fear extinction if Bashar al-Assad falls. This month, rebels overran the historic Christian town of Maalula, where many of its inhabitants speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. The AFP reported that a resident of Maalula called her fiancé’s cell and was told by member of the Free Syrian Army that they gave him a chance to convert to Islam and he refused. So they slit his throat.

Nina Shea, an international human-rights lawyer and expert on religious persecution, testified in 2011 before Congress regarding the fate of Iraqi Christians, two-thirds of whom have vanished from the country. They have either been murdered or fled in fear for their lives. Said Shea: “[I]n August 2004 … five churches were bombed in Baghdad and Mosul. On a single day in July 2009, seven churches were bombed in Baghdad … The archbishop of Mosul, was kidnapped and killed in early 2008. A bus convoy of Christian students were violently assaulted. Christians … have been raped, tortured, kidnapped, beheaded, and evicted from their homes …”

Lela Gilbert is the author of Saturday People, Sunday People, which details the expulsion of 850,000 Jews who fled or were forced to leave Muslim countries in the mid-20th century. The title of her book comes from an Islamist slogan, “First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People,” which means “first we kill the Jews, then we kill the Christians.” Gilbert wrote recently that her Jewish friends and neighbors in Israel “are shocked but not entirely surprised” by the attacks on Christians in the Middle East. “They are rather puzzled, however, by what appears to be a lack of anxiety, action, or advocacy on the part of Western Christians.” 

As they should be. It is inexplicable. American Christians are quite able to organize around issues that concern them. Yet religious persecution appears not to have grabbed their attention, despite worldwide media coverage of the atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.

It’s no surprise that Jews seem to understand the gravity of the situation the best. In December 2011, Britain’s chief rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, addressed Parliament saying, “I have followed the fate of Christians in the Middle East for years, appalled at what is happening, surprised and distressed … that it is not more widely known.” “It was Martin Luther King who said, ‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’ That is why I felt I could not be silent today.”

Wolf has complained loudly of the State Department’s lack of attention to religious persecution, but is anybody listening?

Yet so many Western Christians are silent. In January, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) penned a letter to 300 Catholic and Protestant leaders complaining about their lack of engagement. “Can you, as a leader in the church, help?” he wrote. “Are you pained by these accounts of persecution? Will you use your sphere of influence to raise the profile of this issue—be it through a sermon, writing or media interview?”
There have been far too few takers.

Wolf and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) sponsored legislation last year to create a special envoy at the State Department to advocate for religious minorities in the Middle East and South-Central Asia. It passed in the House overwhelmingly, but died in the Senate. Imagine the difference an outcry from constituents might have made. The legislation was reintroduced in January and again passed the House easily. It now sits in the Senate. According to the office of Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the sponsor of the bill there, there is no date set for it to be taken up.

Wolf has complained loudly of the State Department’s lack of attention to religious persecution, but is anybody listening? When American leaders meet with the Saudi government, where is the public outcry demanding they confront the Saudis for fomenting hatred of Christians, Jews, and even Muslim minorities through their propagandistic tracts and textbooks? In the debate on Syria, why has the fate of Christians and other religious minorities been almost completely ignored?

In his letter challenging U.S. religious leaders, Wolf quoted Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed for his efforts in the Nazi resistance:  “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

That pretty well sums it up.

-Kirsten Powers

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

Gulf Women Have Vitamin 'D' Deficiency- DUH!

It doesn't take a genius to figure out WHY Arab women in the Middle East have a deficiency in Vitamin D. Look at the photo! If they're not in their abayas then they're in really expensive, stylish designer outfits with arms, chest, hair (most of the time), & legs covered. But the article below doesn't mention that perhaps their dress code is the biggest reason for the cause. Look, I understand covering up is important to these women because they want to be very modest  (or because they have to obey the man in the family who makes them cover up). But what they need is sun exposure and it's not going to happen when they are completely covered up like that. 

Vitamin D Deficiency An ‘Epidemic’ In GulfOsteoporosis Risk Increasing: Kuwait Doctors

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 31: Kuwait doctors have warned that the lack of sufficient vitamin D intake is becoming a growing problem in the state and entire region, due to lack of exposure to sunlight, leading to an increased risk of the debilitating bone disease osteoporosis and associated bone fractures.

The warning was issued this week by doctors attending the “New Era in Treatment of Osteoporosis” Speaker Tour in Kuwait, where physicians gathered to listen to Professor Serge Ferrari, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Bone Diseases, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland, a world expert in osteoporosis.

“The Middle East has the highest vitamin D deficiency worldwide, and this statistic is not decreasing at all and in fact we see younger people every day with severely low levels of the mineral. Younger patients have lower bone mineral density (BMD) levels compared to the standards, and fractures are occurring at a lower age than the equivalent in the Caucasian population,” said Nadia Al Ali, Head of Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Amiri Hospital, Kuwait.

“Unfortunately the Gulf is synonymous now with bad lifestyle choices that increase the risk of contracting osteoporosis, such as lack of physical activity, bad diet, and reduced sun exposure due to the extremely hot summers,” she added.

Osteoporosis affects one in two women and one in four men over the age of 50, higher than the incidence of breast cancer and prostate cancer respectively, with the rate of osteoporosis-related fractures almost doubling over the last decade. 

Statistics suggest an osteoporotic fracture occurs every three seconds, with one in three women and one in five men over 50 years old expected to be burdened with a fracture at some point.

“Once someone gets their first osteoporosis-related fracture, it doubles the risk for the second. Once a bone is fractured for the second time, it triples the risk for the third, and so on.  BMD tests are therefore crucial in the Middle East for people over 60, which is still younger than the international standards of 65 for women and 70 for men due to the increased risk factors here,” added Dr Al Ali, who is also a Clinical Member of the Committee for the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis, a committee under the umbrella of Kuwait’s Ministry of Health.

 The committee established the first Kuwait-specific guidelines for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and also made available all drugs licensed for the treatment of osteoporosis.
Vitamin D deficiency is the result of lack of exposure to the sun and poor dietary intake of foods containing the vitamin, such as fish and eggs. Vitamin D is essential for bone health as it assists in the absorption of calcium, without which the bones become less dense and fracture easily.

Many people do not know they have osteoporosis until they suffer a fracture and undergo a Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan to check their bone density.

Treating osteoporosis involves reducing bone resorption using bisphosphonate drugs, which are either taken weekly or monthly orally. However, a new medication, which is given via an infusion, only needs to be administered once a year, so helping to improve medication compliance.

Spending 10 minutes per day, exposing 40 percent of the body area such as the back, arms and legs to the sun as well as eating sufficient foods containing vitamin D, are both recommended actions for helping to maintain vitamin D levels within the normal range that prevents osteoporosis.

The “New Era in Treatment of Osteoporosis” Speaker Tour took place 24 October at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuwait City.

Want to Know About Kuwait in a Summed up Version?

Ahh....life in Kuwait....

First Impression: The Airport


Camels






Call to Prayer


Sandstorms






The Things Sold at Souks


Kuwaiti Kids


Kuwaiti Speed Racers (Car Accidents)


Camel Spiders


Apartments in Kuwait


Arab Music & Music Videos in Restaurants


Eyebrow Henna (a beauty discovery!!!)


Street Cleaners
Part 1

Part 2



There is SOOOO much to Kuwait! All the food choices, the diverse cultures, the fact that Kuwait does allow the worship in other religions, shopping, malls, fashion, class levels....but hopefully these short videos give you an idea of what Kuwait is like.

You Can Make a Difference for Coptic Christians in Egypt!!!

Coptic Christians have suffered a LOT in Egypt. But even more so now that the Arab Spring has toppled Mubarak's regime. A simple Google search of "Coptic Christians in Egypt" will yield several articles of the atrocities & injustice they face. There have been many Muslim Egyptians who have stood  in front of churches to protect them, but most Egyptians have voted to have an Islamic State & it looks like the Muslim Brotherhood will have met their secret agenda for Egypt. 

Politics aside, people are suffering. Especially Copts. Today, you have a chance to make a difference.

The Egyptian government is not responding.  Currently Egypt is being controlled by an interim government, set to be dismantled by parliamentary and presidential elections this coming September.  Most experts agree that these elections will instate a government controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, who has historically persecuted those outside of the Islamic faith, particularly Christians.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to pressure the Egyptian government to change its laws regarding religious freedom, before a more permanent governing force rules out all opportunities for lasting change.
ICC is petitioning the interim government to take immediate steps to ensure the safety of Coptic Christians, and to repeal current laws that stifle religious freedom for all Egyptians.
Please join ICC in demanding legislative reform in Egypt in the coming months. Follow the instructions below and have your signatures back to us by July 11th.

Here’s How You Can Help

#1 Pray: The first thing you can do to help is stop right now and ask the Lord in the government structures of Egypt and in the lives of Coptic Christians who are being persecuted.
#2 Next, Review our petition
#3 Electronically Sign the petition
#4 Print out petition and take it to your friends and church and have everyone you know sign it. Send the signatures back to us so we can compile the responses. Feel free to print out extra signature pages for large numbers of sign ups. When you have collected all your signatures, please mail the signature pages to: 

ICC
PO Box 8056
Silver Spring, MD 20907
or fax them to us at (301) 585-5918.
Please get them back to us by July 11th.
Sincerely in Christ,
Jeff King
President, ICC
International Christian Concern
P.O. Box 8056
Silver Spring, MD 20907
Phone: (800) ICC-5441
Fax: (301) 585-5918

This has been a historical year for Egypt where a 30-year dictator has been overthrown and its citizens are seeking to create a new government and identity.  Amidst this turbulent change, Coptic Christians are facing increasing persecution and attacks.  We are continually receiving reports of Christians being killed and attacked, of churches being burned down, and of communities fearing for their safety.  The blood of innumerable Christians is soaking Egyptian soil.

Nakba, 3rd Intifada, Israel, & Twitter

What an amazing time to be alive. Technology has changed the world as we know it. I remember the days before we had the internet! Gosh...that makes me sound old...but at least I can tell my grandchildren what life was like pre-social network & pre-internet ahaha.

But now the internet has been able to form online communities from people all around the globe. Myspace, Facebook, & Twitter all made a huge impact on the world. And so did smart phones- with their ability to use the internet, check emails, check FB, & tweet.

Twitter has been one of the best sources for me to find out breaking news & to learn of current events happening ALL over the world.

I'm addicted to Twitter. A recent article stated that Twitter is bad for romantic relationships (see HERE). Let me explain how it all got started...

When Tunisians ousted their President- I was impressed. When I learned they used Twitter & Facebook to orchestrate it- I was impressed. Then I realized I could follow Tunisians & journey with them through their "revolution" on Twitter. So I did. I was refreshing my page a thousand times a day & re-tweeting other people's experiences, like getting shot at, where they were going to meet, etc. Then Egypt had their "revolution." Then I started following news agencies like FoxHeadlines, CNN, Gulf News, Jerusalem Post, Guardian, Reuters, & self-proclaimed journalists who would write about their experiences in the Middle East, complete with pictures & video footage.

I was able to see inside a hospital & see dead Libyans because of Twitter. Not that I wanted to see that, but the people involved made it that available.

And even now with Syria not allowing any media in- the major global news agencies are resorting to using amateur video captured by cell phones- all through Twitter & Facebook! So since I was already mesmerized by feeling a part of certain world events, it was only natural for me to be hooked to Nakba (The mourning of the existence of Israel), The 3rd Intifada, & Israel.

I have been paying close attention because as a Christian, Israel is IMPORTANT in Biblical prophecy. Yes, I support Israel because God says that He will keep his covenant with David & exalt Israel, as well as the Bible stating that nations who support Israel will be blessed. Sadly, many Israelis today have forgotten what their prophets had said to their forefathers:

These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me [Moses] to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
 ¹⁰ When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, ¹¹ houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, ¹² be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. ¹⁴ Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; ¹⁵ for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. ¹⁶ Do not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah. ¹⁷ Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. ¹⁸ Do what is right and good in the LORD’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors, ¹⁹ thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.

 ²⁰ In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?” ²¹ tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² Before our eyes the LORD sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. ²³ But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴ The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. ²⁵ And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” (Deuteronomy 6)

I quoted this chapter not only to remind Israelis to NOT forget their God, but to also teach Muslims (who supposedly believe in the Torah & Bible), that the Prophet MOSES received words from Allah that the Holy Land was given to the children of Jacob (aka Israel) because Allah promised to give them their own land. Allah does NOT break his promises. So the land belongs to the Jews. Muslims, you say you believe in the Torah & you say Moses is one of your prophets- yet you disregard holy texts that are older than your Quran & you disrespect your precious prophet, Moses, by calling him a liar. In fact, it has even been written in the Quran that the land belongs to the Jews:

Surah 5:20 Recall that Moses said to his people (the Jews), “O my people, remember GOD’s blessings upon you: He appointed prophets from among you, made you kings, and granted you what He never granted any other people.
21 “O my people, enter the holy land (Israel) that GOD has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers.”

So with my fascination with being kept up to date on historical events around the world on Twitter, to my Biblical literacy- It has been educational & entertaining seeing what Palestinians believe & said as well as what Israeli's believe & said.

In just a few screen shots I'd like to welcome you to the fight:

What was that again Palestine? it's YOUR land? Are you SUUUUURE? 

Surah 5:20 Recall that Moses said to his people (the Jews), “O my people, remember GOD’s blessings upon you: He appointed prophets from among you, made you kings, and granted you what He never granted any other people.
21 “O my people, enter the holy land (Israel) that GOD has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers. 

Someone brought this to my attention:

Ali says:
"And how many Muslims know that THIS is stated in the Koran??? Sura 17:104 The Jews’ return from 19 centuries of exile is actually the fulfillment of Islamic prophecy!
Surah 17:104 says that ‘And we said to the Children of Israel afterwards, “Go live into this land. When the final prophecy comes to pass, we will summon you all in one group.”‘IF the Koran is the TRUTH, then the truth will prevail. And the Jews have returned to their land.
Praise the Lord."