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Sydney Unveiling of Assyrian Genocide Memorial |
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Thursday, 19 August 2010 |
Assyrian Martyrs’ Day (August 7) was commemorated with great reverence at the unveiling ceremony of the impressive memorial to the 750,000 Assyrian victims of the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during WW1. The moving ceremony at Bonnyrigg Park in Sydney was attended by 2,000 people, supported by representatives of Federal, State and local
Assyrian memorial
government, all united in sorrow for the suffering of the past and in resolve to uphold human dignity and freedom in the future. The unveiling was followed by a seminar which included an address by Dr Sabri Atman of Sweden and Dr Diamadis, Director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Australian, British and New Zealand soldiers, prisoners of the Turks during WW1, are known to have witnessed some part of the suffering of the Assyrians which has been described as ‘bestial cruelty’. The inability of the international community to intervene or hold the perpetrators of the massacres to account is believed to have encouraged Hitler in the holocaust later unleashed by the Nazis. To Assyrian, Hellenic and Armenian Australians, acknowledging the systematic annihilation of their people - the Christians of Asia Minor - is of paramount importance in preventing similar crimes against humanity occurring again. In a joint press release they acknowledged Australia’s demonstrated leadership in international human rights issues; as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and as a generous provider of humanitarian relief.
Crowd at the dedication of the Assyrian Memorial
Looking back on the suffering and heroism of the martyrs of the past is an encouragement to look around the world and respond to the plight of Christians in our time who give up their lives rather than their faith. The last words of martyred Assyrian Bishop, Mar Dinkha: “Be brave, take courage, be patient, falter not, be firm and look up” resound through the decades as encouragement to all Christians to remain vigilant; to unite against all forms of tyranny; to uphold people with love, and the truth with courage, and faithfully defend our God-given freedom.
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Inspirational Courage of Christian Lawyer |
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Thursday, 19 August 2010 |
EGYPT - Last year Nagla Al-Imam, an Egyptian lawyer, Sharia expert and prominent human rights activist, publicly announced that she had converted from Islam to Christianity. Nagla was subsequently abandoned by her husband, her family, her colleagues and her friends. Her license to practice law was revoked, depriving her of her income and career.
Nagla Al-Imam (Photo: Former Muslims United)
Egypt’s State Security Administration placed her under house arrest, thereby depriving her of her freedom. In early July, Egyptian Security officials, infamous for their brutality, took her into custody, bashed, threatened and psychologically abused her. She responded courageously by posting a full report on the internet and a video of herself, her face visibly bruised and swollen, holding her young son and daughter close to her as together they sang a lament, requesting Christ’s comforting, strengthening presence through times of persecution. She has boldly declared, “I am an Egyptian citizen; it is my right to follow the religion of my choice. I have harmed no one. Christianity is a religion of peace and love”. Nagla Al-Imam and her children subsequently ‘disappeared’ and Al-Tarek, the TV station from which she used to broadcast, was vandalised by Egyptian security forces. Nagla has survived a second severe beating in custody. She was found unconscious in the street and treated at a Christian hospital until a phone call warned that she would be killed by someone inserting an air bubble into her IV drip, and the hospital would then be prosecuted for her death. She has since been given sanctuary at an unknown location from where she continues to broadcast on Al-Tarik TV. Her children are reported to be safe in the care of a Christian family.
(Elizabeth Kendall, Religious Liberty Monitor)
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Rise of Anti-Christian Aggression in Indonesia |
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Thursday, 19 August 2010 |
Bekasi - Christians are facing increasing threats as 9 Muslim organizations establish paramilitary units in mosques including a Laskar Pemuda youth army to oppose ‘attempts to convert people to Christianity’.
Wahabism, which enforces verses of the Koran mandating subjugation or death to ‘infidels‘, has fuelled religious violence and led to the rise of extremist groups such as Laskar Jihad, involved in the Bali bombings, and the jihad unleashed against Christians in Maluku (1999-2002) in which 10,000 people were killed and 500,000 were forced to flee as homes, towns and villages were destroyed.
“Strike fear into the hearts of Christians”
Associated Press reports that 100 jihad recruits recently gathered for military training. "We want to strike fear into the hearts of Christians", said Murhali Barda, leader of the hard line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) which has infiltrated the police and armed forces, and advocates the implementation of Sharia law. The voices of advocates of justice and peace, including many Muslims, are being drowned out by militants, increasingly confident of their political power and military influence.
Incitement to Murder Pastor
Emblazoned on a banner erected on a Bekasi mosque are the words, "Death penalty for Andreas Dusly Sanau" which pictures the young pastor with his head in a flaming noose. The Catholic news agency Fides reports that radicals of the FPI are exploiting the fact that the weak, corrupt government of President Yudhoyono is dependent upon Muslim support, and is fearful of Islamic belligerence.
Threat to Democracy
Christians worship outside boarded up Church (Photo: Compass Direct)
Legislators have demanded strong Presidential support for decisive police action. Andreas Yewangoe, Chairman of the Communion of Indonesian Churches agrees: “The Government must protect all citizens from anarchist action as mandated by the Constitution". Political analyst at the University of Indonesia, Arbi Sanit, believes that democracy is threatened by the reluctance of the government to offend Islamic parties which hold the balance of power in Parliament.
While some blame Protestants for the volatile situation, TIME noted that Islam’s violence fuels conversion by disillusioning its more nominal, secular adherents whose worldview is more compatible with Christianity.
Respected religious liberty monitor, Elizabeth Kendall, brings conversion into Scriptural perspective: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. (Matt 28:18-20). She notes that Christians who are motivated by compassion for Muslims are compelled to share the gospel of grace, despite the risks to those who demonstrate the love of Christ as thriving, joyous Christians, when Islam mandates that they be subjugated, vulnerable, ‘dhimmis’.
Assessing the severity of the situation she observes: “The willingness of the government to enforce the law in the face of rising Islamic fundamentalism, belligerence and ‘talibanisation’ is the watershed issue on which the future of Indonesia balances. At the root of it all is the ageless problem of Islamic apostaphobia.”
Elizabeth Kendal - Religious Liberty Monitoring; Compass Direct
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Release Of Celebrated Journalist |
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Thursday, 19 August 2010 |
New York June 19: Christian journalist, J.S. Tissainayagam, internationally acclaimed for his courageous and ethical journalism, was reunited with his wife, Renatte, following his release from prison in Sri Lanka. He served 22 months of a 20 year sentence imposed for ‘inciting violence’ after exposing human rights abuses against Tamil civilians.
Tissainayagam (Photo: Compass Direct)
International demands for his freedom resulted in the granting of a Presidential pardon on World Press Day, May 3rd. Welcoming him to freedom in the US, Kamel Habidi, of The Committee to Protect Journalists said, “He was all smiles, and thanked everyone who helped him gain his freedom. We join in the joy he and Renatte are feeling. We hope this is the first step in Sri Lanka addressing its harsh policies towards the media”.
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