VIDEO: Raymond Ibrahim � The ongoing war between Islam and Europe

In the following video, Hanne Nabintu, historian of religions, interviews Raymond Ibrahim on the history of Islam and the West.  Topics include the original (but forgotten) Arab conquests, the (demonized) Crusades, and why the modern West�s notion of �history� is immensely skewed.

Raymond Ibrahim � May 21, 2015

Interview with scholar Raymond Ibrahim on the Middle East and vital facts of history that we often hear little about in the media today. We often forget that during the early Islamic conquest a high number of Christian nations in the Middle East were taken over by Islam. Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Marocco - these were Christian lands at the time.

Europe itself was under siege for several hundred years, - only Scandinavia, Germany and the British Isles were exempt from the Muslim effort to take Europe. We forget that the Crusades were originally a European reaction to the horrors that was done to Christians, both pilgrims and the indigenous Christians in the Middle East as a result of the Muslim Conquests.

Scroll down for video...


We tend to hear much about that which was not so good about the Crusades, but little about the Islamic horrors that led to the European Crusader reaction in order to save the lives of Christians in the Middle East. We are forgetting history as a result of the politically correct, radical leftwing and liberal teaching that permeates the curriculum and teachings in schools today: History is twisted, vital facts not presented and the valuable European contribution to civilization demeaned.



A ConCerva Production

VIDEO: 'Refusing to Take Islamist Ideology Seriously'

Dr. Jeffrey Bale lays out the ideological blinders of too many analysts and politicians today.

Nowhere Man--American Policy Toward Islam Is At Your Command
Timothy Furnish,  Mahdi Watch � May 21, 2015

One of the best lectures from the Boston University conference on Islamic apocalyptic is up--although it does not, ironically, really deal with the main topic of the venue.  Dr. Jeffrey Bale, eminent expert on terrorist ideologies across the board at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (CA), talked about "Refusing to Take Islamist Ideology Seriously."

John Lennon's lyrics, "he's as blind as he can be/just sees what he wants to see," aptly describe (too) many analysts of jihad and terrorism today--and Jeffrey Bale lays out the ideological blinders of these Nowhere Men and Women.

VIDEO: Timothy Furnish � 'Rejecting Millennial Time: The Ottoman Empire's 700-year War against Mahdism'

The usual Ottoman kinetic response to Mahdist rebellions started with the janissaries--but often this was supplemented with IO/IW in the form of fatwas and other religious salients.

Video of Tim Furnish's presentation at the recent Boston University Conference, "Apocalyptic Hopes, Millennial Dreams and Global Jihad."  The introduction by Richard Landes is noteworthy for his high estimation of Dr. Furnish in this formerly obscure but now frighteningly relevant field of Islamic Eschatology and Mahdi Movements.

This is a profound talk, which touches on Sufism and other Islamic sects, complexities of Ottoman rule, and an array of related topics which are of great help in informing our understanding of the Islamic State and its apocalyptic ambitions.

The COIN of the Ottoman Realm Spent Against Proto-ISIS Groups

Timothy Furnish, Mahdi Watch � May 19, 2015

"My lecture from the Boston University conference on Islamic apolcalyptic movements, "Rejecting Millennial Time: The Ottoman Empire's 700-year War against Mahdism" is up. [Scroll down for video.]

"Its two main points are that 1) eschatological/Mahdist groups are not new with ISIS, but have been around for centuries; and 2) the counter-insurgency (COIN) methods employed by the Sunni Ottoman state to fight such Islamic challenges to its rule are instructive for Muslim regimes today."

Link to video:
Rejecting Millennial Time: The Ottoman Empire's 700-year War against Mahdism

VIDEO: Obama's Model Mosque in Boston linked to a Dozen Jihad Terrorists

Powerful, truth-telling 1-minute video ad banned in Boston.

Related:

• Challenging Mosque Expansions - The Time is Now
• Book of Jihad (In the Vast Majority of Mosques in America)
• Islam Analyst: ISIS in America - Estimated 1.5 million practicing Muslims present real internal threat to U.S.

The Dirty Dozen � President Obama�s Model Mosque

CounterJihad � May 15, 2015

Banned in Boston. The local FOX and NBC television stations in Boston refused to play our ad. That is certainly their right, but sadly indicative of a culture now where messages about the dangers from the Global Jihad Movement are being suppressed. We don�t think that is healthy for a our liberty or security. So our policy is See Something, Say Something.

There are jihadists in our midst. There are mosques where they congregate. Many of these mosques hand out jihadist literature and the worst of them preach it openly. But we are supposed to stay quiet, we are told that pointing this out is Islamophobia. Keeping quiet led us to the horror of the Boston Marathon bombing, and a mosque in Boston has not just the Tsarnaev brothers, but a Dirty Dozen jihadists associated with it.

Yet this very Mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston, was singled out by President Obama as an example of how his Countering Violent Extremism program is keeping us all safe. He invited members if its leadership to the White House to participate in a summit earlier this year.

Americans for Peace and Tolerance have documented just how bad an example of countering violent extremism this mosque actually is.

Federal agencies in Boston are working with the Islamic Society of Boston and its political arm, the Muslim American Society, which both have links to many extremists who are either in jail, in flight from federal authorities, or have been killed during terrorist attacks. Indeed, as APT research has shown, both the ISB and the MAS are Muslim Brotherhood entities that indoctrinate their followers with radical Islamist ideology. Far from being a model, Boston should serve as a cautionary tale � about deception and denial.

It is long past time to keep quiet about the known wolves in our communities. One shooter in the Garland Texas attack was well known to law enforcement well before his failed attempt to slaughter a room full of peaceful, law abiding citizens.

It appears that this attack is yet another case of what I have termed �known wolf� syndrome, when the suspect is already known to law enforcement and intelligence. Virtually every terror attack in the West over the past year has been by one of these �known wolf� suspects. 

The Dallas Morning News reports:

�Simpson was well known to the FBI, ABC News reported. Five years ago he was convicted for lying to federal agents about his plans to travel to Africa, �but a judge ruled the government did not adequately prove he was going to join a terror group there.�

We have been handcuffing our law enforcement and national security agencies in their efforts to investigate and stop these infiltrators for decades. Now in the wake of Garland we are being told that we shouldn�t do or say things that make the jihadists angry. There is nothing in our Constitution that says we have to tolerate those using religion to hide indoctrination into violence or be silent in the face of attempted censorship.

Secure Freedom has launched the CounterJihad Campaign and we will speak freely. We will expose the concerted and organized efforts to use our freedoms against us. We will name the Global Jihad Movement as our enemy, and we will call them out whether they wear fatigues and fly the black flag or business suits and fly the banner of the Muslim Brotherhood and its assorted front groups.

The truth is not hate speech, so if you See Something, Say Something.

VIDEO: Graeme Wood speaks on the Islamic State's Apocalyptic Motivations

Courtesy of Timothy Furnish at Mahdi Watch:

'Atlantic' editor and writer Graeme Wood describes pushback on his now famous article 'What ISIS Really Wants' in a lecture entitled 'On the Resistance to Seeing Global Jihad as Apocalyptic Movement'.

Recorded at the Boston University conference 'Apocalyptic Hopes, Millennial Dreams and Global Jihad' (May 3-4, 2015).

Very special thanks to Tim Furnish for sharing this at his site, Mahdi Watch, where he is posting links to videos from the Boston conference. I will be posting some of the other talks in the days ahead.

(VIDEO): LIVE GLOBAL TELECAST OF THE CANONIZATION OF THE MARTYRS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Historic Canonization Service set to become one of the most powerful Christian symbols of the 21st Century.

See also: Armenian Orthodox Church to canonize all victims of the Armenian Genocide

OCP Media - April 23, 2015

Historic Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia

We invite the Armenian faithful world-wide to view the Canonization of the Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. Services will be offered on 23 April, starting at 17:00 Armenia Time Zone (UTC+04:00), from the Open Air Altar at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. There are several ways to watch the event:

In Armenia

In addition to attending the event at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, LIVESTREAM broadcast will be offered on screens in the Republic Square, Yerevan.

World-Wide

LIVESTREAM via the internet, with simultaneous explanation of the service offered in the following languages: Armenian, English, and Russian, is being live-streamed on the following websites:

• www.agbu.org
• www.agbu.am
• www.armeniangenocide100.org

LIVE GLOBAL TELECAST � Armenia and worldwide � via Armenian Public Television (Channel 1) available through satellite providers. Check with local cable and satellite providers for your area.

Raymond Ibrahim: Christians on way to Extinction in Mideast (VIDEO)

On March 26, Raymond Ibrahim appeared on NewsMax TV�s �America�s Forum with JD Hayworth� via Skype. The topic of discussion was the very real threat of Christian extinction in the Middle East.

Note: There are two segments sequenced together in this nine-minute video. Be sure to watch past the brief "break" at the midpoint.

The video follows:

Yemen: At time of mosque bombing, worshippers were chanting �death to America�

To watch this video play out is to see the tragedy innate to Islam. That so much hatred could be stirred up and perpetuated consistently for fourteen centuries is hard to fathom, but there is no denying it. Notice the young boys chanting the death slogans and curses too. Generational curses handed down age after age. And the hatred endemic to Islam explodes in their midst. Tragic.

posted by Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch, March 22, 2015

In full, they were screaming, �Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse upon the Jews. Victory to Islam. Allah Akbar. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse upon the Jews. Victory to�� The last part got caught off by the bombing, which, oddly enough, was not set off by an American or an Israeli.

�Worshippers Chant �Death to America� at Moment of Houthi Mosque Bombing in Yemen,� MEMRI, March 20, 2015:

Following are excerpts from a video of the bombing at the Houthi Al-Hashoush Mosque in Sanaa, Yemen, which was posted on the Internet on March 20, 2015:

Preacher: Our belief in Allah will increase after today. We will triumph over their deceit and their arrogance. Allah is with us�

The worshippers chant: Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse upon the Jews. Victory to Islam. Allah Akbar. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse upon the Jews. Victory to�

An arrow on-screen points to a man walking through the crowd, a bomb goes off and worshippers cry out.

CBS 60 Minutes to air special report on Iraq's Christians this Sunday, March 22

This sounds like it will be a significant contribution to our understanding of the situation in Iraq and Syria. Lara Logan will be interviewing two archbishops, one of the last monks from an abandoned 1,600 year old monastery, and other refugees in her on the ground reporting from Iraq.

Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil says waging war against ISIS fighters is the only way to save the Christian Church in Iraq. Calling ISIS a "cancer" he says, "So sometimes you take some hard measures, unfortunate measures, to deal and treat this cancer." 

Archbishop Nicodemus Sharaf of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul... says Christianity is indomitable. "They take everything from us, but they cannot take the God from our hearts, they cannot."

Scroll down for preview of story from CBS News. I could not get the embed function to work properly for the video preview, so click here to view the video promo.

Bishop: Make War on ISIS

An Iraqi bishop says waging war against ISIS fighters is the only way to save the Christian Church in Iraq

CBS News, March 19, 2015

The leader of one of Christianity's oldest communities reluctantly says that waging war against ISIS - killing their fighters - is the only way to stop the radical Islamists from destroying Christianity in Iraq. Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil speaks to Lara Logan for her report on the plight of thousands of Christians forced to flee ancestral homes from ISIS. Her story will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday, March 22 AT 7 p.m. ET/PT.

The situation with ISIS in Northern Iraq is a dire one for Christians, says Archbishop Warda. "For me, Daesh is a cancer," says the Chaldean Catholic prelate referring to ISIS by its Arabic name. "So sometimes you take some hard measures, unfortunate measures, to deal and treat this cancer," he says. The bishop has seen his flock expand by about 60,000 people in recent months because of an influx of Christian refugees who fled Mosul and the surrounding villages on the Nineveh Plains when ISIS stormed the area last summer. Should the military defeat them, asks Logan. "Please God," replies the archbishop.

Logan speaks to an Iraqi refugee who was given a choice by ISIS to convert to Islam or be killed. He agreed to convert - and his entire family was forced to do the same. But about a month later, ISIS members came to their door and advised them that under their interpretation of Islamic law, 10-year-old girls, like their daughter, should be married. "As soon as they left, my wife and I shut the door. We looked at each other and she started to cry -- and pray." They managed to escape to Erbil by taxi, swearing that they were Muslims at each ISIS checkpoint.

Erbil, in Iraq's Kurdish-controlled North, the capital of what's referred to as Kurdistan, offers a sanctuary for many fleeing Christians. There, the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters offer a bulwark against ISIS. In all, it is believed some 200,000 Christians have been displaced by ISIS. Logan finds an entire Christian village empty.

Father Yusuuf Ibrahim was one of the last monks in a 1,600-year-old monastery, where prayers and services were still said in Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. He fled to Erbil; he is not optimistic about the future of Christians in the area. "We don't know exactly but we are expecting the worse," he tells Logan. Just a few miles from the monastery is the frontline, where the flag of ISIS can be seen flying in the distance. Every town and village between that frontline and Mosul is in the Islamic State's hands, Logan reports. And now, she adds, "for the first time in nearly 2,000 years, it is believed that the city of Mosul has no Christians left in it."

Nicodemus Sharaf is the archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul. He just made it out of the city with five ancient texts, but had to leave behind hundreds more, many precious relics of early Christianity. "I think they burn all the books. And we have books from the first century of the Christianity," he says, beginning to cry and telling Logan it's the first time since the birth of Christianity in Iraq that Christians can't pray in their churches. But the archbishop says Christianity is indomitable. "They take everything from us, but they cannot take the God from our hearts, they cannot."

� 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

VIDEO: Underground Christian movement building in Mideast

Proving that "the Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church."

Underground Christian movement building in Mideast

FoxNews, March 12, 2015

Tom Doyle shares details on how the faith is actually spreading in the region, not merely in spite of ISIS, but because people, including Muslims, see such a strong and peaceful Christian witness in the face of murderous persecution. They see the Gospel, and Jesus' words, made real right before their eyes, and they want to follow Him.  

We Orthodox have got to get revved up in this direction, and our Bishops have to stop apologizing for and defending Islam! Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in the Mideast, and for all our new Christian brethren.

'This little girl puts us to shame!' (VIDEO)

A Christian girl in Iraq, displaced from her home and village by ISIS, praises God and shares her faith, love and forgiveness in this deeply moving interview.

#PrayForMyriam

Many thanks to Fr Steven and Presvytera for sharing this uplifting video. His comments below... I would only detract with my words if I tried to add anything.

Here is another quite remarkable video forwarded by Presvytera featuring an extraordinary young girl named Miriam. Virtually impossible not to be deeply moved by this interview.  Miriam is not only articulate for her age, but she is a powerful Christian witness!  What Miriam says is not merely "cute" and her words spoken to her interviewer went well beyond any sentimental appeal.

"This little girl puts us to shame!"

There is something else at work here.  In fact, though it is not fair of me to speak for others, one of my first impressions was:  this little girl puts us to shame!  Her pure faith, her assurance of God's providential care for everyone, her openness in speaking of Christ, her maturity in articulating difficult feelings, and especially her attitude toward the ISIS forces that stripped her of her native town, might just eclipse our own Christian witness - by far!  I do not think that we need to necessarily consider her capacity to forgive as merely an indication of her young age and na�ve outlook on life.  There is something experiential in her words.

Whenever I think of Christianity in the Middle East, I usually cannot help but feel discouraged if not depressed, because the Christian Faith seems to be disappearing in the land of its origin. The number of Christians is certainly declining annually. One wonderful little girl cannot alter that basic feeling and those basic facts.

"Perhaps the Christian Faith is being purified and strengthened in the Middle East through the crucible of suffering and hardship."

Yet, listening to Miriam I realize that someone taught her about Christ and the power of forgiveness.  Her priest, her family, her wider circle of Christian neighbors, I would imagine. Perhaps the Christian Faith is being purified and strengthened in the Middle East through the crucible of suffering and hardship. 

There is a mysterious paradox at work here:  we do everything in our power to avoid the least bit of discomfort and struggle, while it seems as if those forces are the ones that are showing the world the power of the Cross and the suffering Christ. By the grace of God this seems to be shaping the mind and heart of this little girl.  The martyrdoms now occurring among Christians in the Middle East cannot but have some effect on even unbelievers throughout the world.  They may have to re-think their assessment of Christianity, if only grudgingly.

"... Humanity at its best in the beautiful face and words of this little girl."

We all need examples to inspire us. The faith of Miriam could just be that example, regardless of her tender years.  Parents may want to share and discuss this interview with their own children.  As a challenge: Whenever we get to feel complacent; whenever we put comfort and other "worldly things" before church and decide not to come to church because it is inconvenient; or because there is something better or more exciting to do; or when we just don't "feel like it;" this little girl's image might just help us reassess such attitudes. 

With all of the horrible and horrific images emerging on a daily basis in the Middle East, it was a breath of fresh air, so to speak, to momentarily see humanity at its best in the beautiful face and words of this little girl.  May God bless and protect her!

Dynamic Map of the Crusades vs the Global Jihad

Some of you may have seen this.  It is such a powerful resource that I wanted to post it here.  Share widely.

Raymond Ibrahim offers this introduction:

Speaking of the Crusades (as Obama recently did ), Dr. Bill Warner of the Center for the Study of Political Islam has created a nifty video (below) that maps out the location and amount of jihads throughout the centuries versus the location and amount of crusades throughout the centuries.   The sheer volume and ubiquity of jihads radically dwarfs the much more maligned crusades � placing in context the significance, or need, for the latter, which as discussed here, were �in every way defensive wars.�

For a text list of the battles Bill Warner refers to, see his post The Jihad That Led to the Crusades.

Inside Oklahoma Beheading Suspect's Mosque (VIDEO)

This interview rings true, and perfectly echoes the interview I recently conducted with a former Muslim, which you can read here.

Both these interviews corroborate, in their anecdotal manner, four separate studies over the last 10-15 years, which report that upwards of 80% of mosques in the United States teach/preach offensive jihad warfare and call for the institution of sharia and the overthrow of the U.S. Constitution.

I know there are many good-hearted readers out there who find all this very hard to believe. I wish that it weren't so, but sadly, we are seeing the fruits of Islam in these Quran-inspired crimes, in the steady stream of Western Muslims traveling to Syria/Iraq to join the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and wage jihad, and in the many jihad terror attacks and thwarted plots here in the U.S.

The Lord Jesus Christ warned us about false prophets: "By their fruits you shall know them." 1400 years of Islam provides ample fruit.

Orthodox Christian Nun warns against Islam, slams media silence (with video)

�The reason for all this disaster is the Qur�an.� Sister Hatune Dogan - See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2014/09/muslims-slice-off-the-breasts-of-kidnapped-christian-girls-in-syria-and-iraq.html/#sthash.Os3VIOmb.dpuf

"The reason for all this disaster is the Quran." 

� Sister Hatune Dogan

via 'Muslims Slice off the Breasts of Kidnapped Christian Girls in Syria and Iraq'
Sharia Unveiled, September 16, 2014

Sometimes it takes a David to defeat a Goliath � or, in this case, unassuming nuns to speak where the media remain silent. Speaking out for Christians persecuted in the Middle East, Mother Olga Yaqob and Sister Hatune Dogan slammed the American media for keeping silent. 

The nuns spoke with MRC (Media Research Center) during the In Defense of Christians (IDC) Inaugural Summit in Washington, D.C. Sept. 9-11. Both told the stories journalists ignore: of refugees displaced and Christian girls �repeatedly raped� and �misused� � some as young as 5-years-old. 

Mother Olga of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, an Iraqi native recognized by the Iraqi government for her care of the poor, recently established a religious order in Boston.

Raised in Germany after fleeing from Turkey, Sister Hatune Dogan, is an Orthodox Christian nun who aids Christians in Syria and Turkey through her organization, �A Helping Hand to the Poor.� Addressing the American coverage of Christian persecution in the Middle East, Mother Olga stressed, �In the early months, there wasn�t much coverage.� �Some of the Christian networks � media networks � were covering [the persecution]. But not very much the secular media.�

Sister Hatune expressed similar dismay. �The media make a mistake,� she began, �Because they don�t say the truth.� She criticized, �But the media has big duty to tell the truth, to make Americans see what is really going on.�

That truth, she explained, consists of �slaughtering, raping, kidnapping, taking ransom, killing, crucifying, and ridding the Christians of what they need.�

As one of her �thousands of stories� of Christian persecution, Sister Hatune began:

 �I met an Iraqi girl, five-and-a-half-years maybe, and they kidnapped her. I met her at seven-and-a-half-years. Until today, she [will not] say, no one knows, what happened to her, because she was misused. They [were] paid $30,000 dollars to release her. They released her, but under that condition. I am sorry for her. That was the youngest girl that I met. She was misused.�

Sister Hatune also told of meeting a 21-year-old Christian girl from Jordan. Once a captive, her abductors �every day� �were raping her all night.� When they weren�t satisfied with her ransom money, they �cut her face in different ways.� 

Another time, Sister Hatune met 280 girls. She described how they were �misused� by their kidnappers, some of whom �cut breasts and other [sensitive areas].� �I saw them with my own eyes,� she emphasized. 

Those are the stories the media should report � the �human face of this tragic reality,� as Mother Olga described. 

Mother Olga compared the news coverage of Christian persecution to the coverage of NFL player Ray Rice�s abuse scandal. �I know he�s probably a famous player, and this [football] team, it�s a big, big issue in America, but this is a personal life of two people.� While, at the same time, she continued, �200,000 people are displaced� and �people are dying from hunger� in the Middle East.

�It�s just like I try to put in perspective these kind of things,� she explained. �I�m just surprised how much sometime our secular media they cover some things over and over and they miss such a big picture.� Raised in Kirkuk, Iraq, Mother Olga had some stories of her own. �My old parish, and other parishes, and my sisters� home and lot of church communities there and houses,� she said, are �full of refugees from Nineveh region, from Mosul.� The locals, �are cooking meals every day, and bringing mattresses and pillows.� �It�s too big of a reality,� she concluded.

She called for �raising awareness� in the States. �People are just frustrated with our own politics here,� she acknowledged, �so we don�t have time to worry about the foreign policies.� But, she added, �If we don�t stop this, this is dangerous for the whole Middle Eastern region.�

�Now it�s Iraq, but if we don�t stop it, it will impact the whole Middle Eastern region, and it will impact us in the West,� she continued.

She offered an additional warning on the silence of Christian persecution:

�Only recently, after, unfortunately, the tragedy of beheading two of our American journalists we realize now how many we have foreigners who are, whether American, Canadian, Australian, British, who have joined ISIS. And they have access to come back to the Western countries, and so, if they have such a radical mentality, and this is what they�re doing in the Middle East, do we think we will be safe here?�

Sister Hatune similarly concluded, �The media have to condemn this, and to be a witness, and to tell the truth.�

�What is going on here?� she asked at one point. �We are human beings.�

Instead, the networks prefer royal baby anticipation to things like Iraqi Christians given one week to �leave, convert to Islam or face the sword� or videos of Iraqis desperately escaping ISIS terror.


For Mother Olga�s full interview, please click here.

Christian Refugee from Mosul, Iraq: 'Our Neighbors Drove Us Out' (VIDEO)

This personal report details a phenomenon likely to be repeated as the Islamic State Caliphate grows in strength. As the IS moves into new areas and cities/villages, Muslims � whether motivated by fear or by agreement with the Quranic purity of the Islamic State and its application of sharia and the Pact of Omar against conquered Christians � will themselves take up arms against and persecute their Christian neighbors. They will side with the 'strong horse' and with the commands of their 'god' and their 'prophet'.

The personal report below is virtually identical to reports from the early 20th century in Turkey, as well as contemporary reports from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, and virtually all Muslim countries today, as per this post:

'We knew our Muslim neighbours all our lives...We had excellent relations. It never occurred to us that Muslim neighbours would betray us.'


Christian Refugee from Mosul: 'Our Neighbors Drove Us Out'
Video and translation from MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute).
August 11, 2014

We left Mosul because ISIS came to the city. The [Sunni] people of Mosul embraced ISIS and drove the Christians out of the city. When ISIS entered Mosul, the people hailed them and drove out the Christians.
Why did they expel just the Christians from Mosul? There are many sects in Mosul. Why just the Christians? This is nothing new. Even before, the Christians could not go anywhere. The Christians have faced threats of murder, kidnapping, jizya. This is nothing new.
[...]
I was told to leave Mosul. They said that this was a Muslim country, not a Christian one. I am being very honest. They said that this land belongs to Islam and that Christians should not live there.
- See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2014/08/christian-refugee-iraq-muslim-neighbors-drove-us.html/#sthash.bpBW2Ix7.dpuf

We left Mosul because ISIS came to the city. The [Sunni] people of Mosul embraced ISIS and drove the Christians out of the city. When ISIS entered Mosul, the people hailed them and drove out the Christians.
Why did they expel just the Christians from Mosul? There are many sects in Mosul. Why just the Christians? This is nothing new. Even before, the Christians could not go anywhere. The Christians have faced threats of murder, kidnapping, jizya. This is nothing new.
[...]
I was told to leave Mosul. They said that this was a Muslim country, not a Christian one. I am being very honest. They said that this land belongs to Islam and that Christians should not live there.
- See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2014/08/christian-refugee-iraq-muslim-neighbors-drove-us.html/#sthash.bpBW2Ix7.dpuf

Christian Refugee from Mosul: Our Neighbors Drove Us OutMEMRI Video Transcript

In an interview to the Lebanese LBC/LDC TV channel, a Christian refugee from Iraq recounted how his Sunni neighbors drove the Christians out of Mosul. "[Our neighbors] said that this land belongs to Islam and that Christians should not live there," he said.

Following are excerpts from the interview, which aired on July 30, 2014:

Unnamed Christian refugee: We left Mosul because ISIS came to the city. The [Sunni] people of Mosul embraced ISIS and drove the Christians out of the city. When ISIS entered Mosul, the people hailed them and drove out the Christians.

Why did they expel just the Christians from Mosul? There are many sects in Mosul. Why just the Christians? This is nothing new. Even before, the Christians could not go anywhere. The Christians have faced threats of murder, kidnapping, jizya. This is nothing new.

[...]

I was told to leave Mosul. They said that this was a Muslim country, not a Christian one. I am being very honest. They said that this land belongs to Islam and that Christians should not live there.

Interviewer: Who told you that?

Christian refugee: The people who embraced ISIS, the people who lived there with us...

Interviewer: Your neighbors?

Christian refugee: Yes, my neighbors. Our neighbors and other people threatened us. They said: "Leave before ISIS get you." What does that mean? Where would we go?

[...]

Christians have no support in Iraq. Whoever claims to be protecting the Christians is a liar. A liar!

Greek Orthodox Archbishop: 'Hamas Used Church to Fire Rockets' (VIDEO)

"Christ tells us we must love each other, our neighbors, and our enemies... No other religion says that except the Christian faith." � Archbishop Alexios of Gaza

The source news report for this post.

by George Thomas, CBN News � August 8, 2014

GAZA STRIP -- Air raid sirens sounding in the Eshkol Region on Wednesday afternoon turned out to be a false alarm. The 72-hour ceasefire appears to be holding for now.

Hamas is not only using mosques to launch attacks against Israelis. It has also used a church compound.

Archbishop Alexios is Gaza's most prominent Christian leader. His decision to open his church to 2,000 Muslims escaping the war surprised many of Gaza's residents.

"Christ tells us we must love each other, our neighbors, and our enemies," Bishop Alexios told CBN News. "No other religion says that except the Christian faith."

Alexios and the estimated 1,500 Arab Christians who live in the Gaza Strip walk a fine line between trying to stay alive and the Bible's command to share God's love. Since Hamas' 2007 takeover of Gaza, residents say it's imposed strict Taliban-style Islamic laws on the people.

"Islam is the rule of this place and whatever Hamas says we must obey or face consequences," Alexios explained.

[This is a classic description of what the dhimma contract imposes on Christians living under Muslim tyranny. These are not "Taliban-inspired laws," but rather are commanded in the Quran and drawn expressly from the Sira (the Life of Muhammad) and the hadiths (sayings by and about Muhammad), and were first codified in the Pact of Omar, the first caliph after Muhammad.]

Now he's now concerned about what comes next after the guns fall silent and missiles and rockets stop flying.

"There's a lot of anger on the street. We need forgiveness and love to flow," he said.

Alexios took CBN News to the roof terrace outside his office to show how Islamists used the church compound to launch rockets into Israel. He refused to discuss details on camera for security reasons, but days after the war started, Israeli missiles targeted an area close to the church sanctuary.

Little is left of one of two minarets that used to stand tall here, not too far from the Mediterranean. It was a major mosque in the area and was reportedly hit by seven Israeli missiles.

The Israeli government said places like mosques and hospitals in densely populated areas are routinely used by Hamas to fire off their rockets.

Just around the corner from the church, Mohammed, a resident of Gaza, sat in complete shock.

"I picked up the phone and the Israeli army said I have five minutes to get out of my house -- they were going to destroy it. I had 60 people living in my apartment and had to get them out," he recalled.

Mohammed's three-story apartment complex was destroyed. He and his five brothers and their families lived in the building. The word on the street is the brothers are tied to Hamas and used the apartment to store weapons, a claim Mohammed denies.

Asked why Hamas is interested, he said, "The Israelis attack schools, they attack hospitals, they attacked mosques. You ask them. They know why. I don't know why."

This week, Israel's military released a map of Gaza showing dozens of positions from which Hamas rockets were fired. Dramatic footage from drones flying above the Strip also shows Hamas firing from populated areas.

Back at the church, Bishop Alexios said he's not out to pick a fight with Hamas or Israel. He simply wants to serve people.

"We are disciples of Jesus [and] we must give love to everyone without condition," he said.

What an Islamic Caliphate would mean for the West (VIDEO)

(CBN News � July 7, 2014) Raymond Ibrahim explains the Islamic State (ISIS) goal of restoring the caliphate and what it means for Christians and the West. 

This is the 5 minute video to share with friends and family who are trying to understand what is going on in the Middle East today.