Fox News May 7, 2013 The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world By : Raymond Ibrahim
A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway. Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other. We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being. The _U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom_ (http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/christians-could-disappear-from-iraq-and-afghanistan/69 19.htm) recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.” In our lifetime alone “ Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.” Ongoing reports from the Islamic world certainly support this conclusion: Iraq was the earliest indicator of the fate awaiting Christians once Islamic forces are liberated from the grip of dictators. In 2003, Iraq’s Christian population was at least one million. Today _fewer than 400,000 remain_ (http://www.persecution.org/2011/10/31/remembering-iraq’s-displaced-christians-one-year-after-baghdad-church-massacre/) —the result of an anti-Christian campaign that began with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, when _countless Christian churches were bombed_ (http://www.meforum.org/2878/iraq-christians-persecution) and countless Christians killed, including by crucifixion and beheading. The 2010 Baghdad church attack, which saw nearly 60 Christian worshippers slaughtered, is the tip of a decade-long iceberg. Now, as the U.S. supports the jihad on Syria’s secular president Assad, the same pattern has come to Syria: entire regions and towns where Christians lived for centuries before Islam came into being have now been emptied, as the opposition targets Christians for kidnapping, plundering, and beheadings, all in compliance with mosque calls telling the populace that it’s a “ _sacred duty_ (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/christians-flee-from-radical-rebels-in-syria-a-846180.html) ” to drive Christians away. In October 2012 the _last Christian in the city of Homs_ (http://www.fides.org/en/news/32561?idnews=32561&lan=eng#.UYbwY7WTioN) —which had a _Christian population of some 80,000 before jihadis_ (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-plight-of-syrias-christians-we-left-homs-because-th ey-were-trying-to-kill-us-8274710.html) came—was murdered. One teenage Syrian girl said: “We left because they were trying to kill us… because we were Christians…. Those who were our neighbors turned against us. At the end, when we ran away, we went through balconies. We did not even dare go out on the street in front of our house.” In Egypt, some _100,000 Christian Copts_ (http://www.christiannewstoday.com/Christian_News_Report_900171.html) have fled their homeland soon after the “Arab Spring.” In September 2012, the Sinai’s small Christian community was attacked and evicted by Al Qaeda linked Muslims, _Reuters reported_ (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/28/us-egypt-sinai-copts-idUSBRE88R1A32 0120928) . But even before that, the Coptic Orthodox Church lamented the “ _repeated incidents of displacement of Copts from their homes_ (http://www.investigativeproject.org/3761/guest-column-egypt-christians-distraught) , whether by force or threat. Displacements began in Ameriya [62 Christian families evicted], then they stretched to Dahshur [120 Christian families evicted], and today terror and threats have reached the hearts and souls of our Coptic children in Sinai.” Iraq, Syria, and Egypt are part of the Arab world. But even in “black” African and “white” European nations with Muslim majorities, Christians are fleeing. In Mali, after a 2012 Islamic coup, as many as _200,000 Christians fled_ (http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=15403&utm_sou rce=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+CatholicWorldNewsFeatureSt ories+(Catholic+World+News+(on+CatholicCulture.org))) . According to reports, “_the church in Mali faces being eradicated_ (http://www.christiantoday.com/article/appeal.for.christians.in.mali/29908.htm) ,” especially in the north “where rebels want to establish an independent Islamist state and drive Christians out… there have been house to house searches for Christians who might be in hiding, churches and other Christian property have been looted or destroyed, and people tortured into revealing any Christian relatives.” At least one pastor was beheaded. Even in European Bosnia, _Christians are leaving en mass_ (http://www.bosnewslife.com/24019-report-christians-flee-bosnia-amid-discrimination-islamizati on) “amid mounting discrimination and Islamization.” Only 440,000 Catholics remain in the Balkan nation, half the prewar figure. Problems cited are typical: “while dozens of mosques were built in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, no building permissions [permits] were given for Christian churches.” “Time is running out as there is a worrisome rise in radicalism,” said one authority, who further added that the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina were “persecuted for centuries” after European powers “failed to support them in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire.” And so history repeats itself. One can go on and on: * In Ethiopia, after a Christian was accused of desecrating a Koran, _thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes_ (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/24/thousands-christians-displaced-ethiopia-muslim-extrem ists-torch-churches-homes-2057387870/#ixzz2SSF8T1xb) when “Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes.” * In the Ivory Coast—where Christians have literally been crucified— Islamic rebels “_massacred hundreds and displaced tens of thousands_ (http://www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2012/s12080114.htm) ” of Christians. * In Libya, Islamic rebels forced _several Christian religious orders_ (http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Islamists-chase-nuns-from-Libya,-people-pray-for-their-return-27021.html) , serving the sick and needy in the country since 1921, to flee. To anyone following the plight of Christians under Islamic persecution, none of this is surprising. As I document in my new book, “_Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians_ (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1621570258/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creative ASIN=1621570258&linkCode=as2&tag=uhurnetw-20) ,” all around the Islamic world—in nations that do not share the same race, language, culture, or economics, in nations that share only Islam—Christians are being persecuted into extinction. Such is the true face of extremist Islamic resurgence. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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