UN, UK Treating Persecuted Christians as "Enemies"

by Raymond Ibrahim
Gatestone Institute

"You have this absurd situation where the scheme is set up to help Syrian refugees and the people most in need, Christians who have been 'genocided,' they can't even get into the U.N. camps to get the food. If you enter and say I am a Christian or convert, the Muslim U.N. guards will block you [from] getting in... and even threaten you..." — Paul Diamond, British Human Rights Lawyer, CBN News, December 4, 2019.

Lord George Carey is suing the UK Home Office for allegedly being "institutionally biased" against Christian refugees and therefore complicit in what he calls "the steady crucifixion of Middle East Christians."

When it comes to offering asylum, the UK "appears to discriminate in favour of Muslims" instead of Christians. Statistics seemed to confirm this allegation: "out of 4,850 Syrian refugees accepted for resettlement by the Home Office in 2017, only eleven were Christian...." — Barnabas Fund, November 2, 2017.

A number of other Christian orderlies were also denied visas, including another nun with a PhD in biblical theology from Oxford; another nun denied for not having a personal bank account; and a Catholic priest denied for not being married.

Christian "infidels" need not apply, but radical Muslims are welcomed with open arms.

When three Christian archbishops from Syria were invited in 2016 to attend the consecration of the UK's first Syriac Orthodox Cathedral (an event attended by Prince Charles), Britain's Home Office not only denied entry to them, but also mockingly told them there was "no room at the inn." Pictured: St Thomas, Britain's first Syriac Orthodox Cathedral. (Image source: John Salmon/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0)

The ISIS Murder of French Priest 19 Months Ago - The Rest of the Story

This article is dated to the previous administration in France but contains information not previously reported on this blog

Attacker who murdered Catholic priest under police supervision, wore monitoring bracelet

One of the two knife-wielding Islamist attackers who slit the throat of a Catholic priest during a morning Mass in northern France Tuesday was under judicial supervision after trying to travel to Syria twice under false names.

Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters that 19-year-old Adel Kermiche's bail conditions allowed his electronic monitoring bracelet to be deactivated for a few hours every morning, a period that corresponded with the attack in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

Priest Jacques Hamel was killed in a terror attack on a France church.

The revelations are expected to intensify criticism of President Francois Hollande's government with the French people already reeling from the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, which killed 84 people.

"To attack a church, to kill a priest, is to profane the republic," Hollande said in nationally televised speech after speaking with Pope Francis, who condemned the killing in the strongest terms.

The church is in the French region of Normandy.

Kermiche and a second unidentified attacker stormed the church, forced priest Jacques Hamel to kneel before they killed him, and captured the bloody assault on film, according to a nun who escaped the assault. 

"They forced him to his knees. He wanted to defend himself. And that's when the tragedy happened," said the nun, identified as Sister Danielle.

"They recorded themselves. They did a sort of sermon around the altar, in Arabic. It's a horror," she told BFM television. Molins said the other hostages were used as human shields to block police from entering.

Both attackers were shot dead by anti-terror police units as they ran outside the sanctuary shouting "Allahu Akbar!" One had three knives and a fake explosives belt, Molins said; the other carried a kitchen timer wrapped in aluminum foil and had fake explosives in his backpack.

What was the point of the fake bombs? It was surely to make sure that the police would kill them so they could go immediately to Paradise and their virgins. Their horror started when they woke up in Hell.

ISIS' Amaq news agency said the France attack was carried out by two Islamic State "soldiers," Reuters reported.

Molins said Kermiche was arrested in Germany in March 2015 trying to join extremists in Syria using his brother's ID, and then was arrested in Turkey two months later using a cousin's ID. 

Family friend Jonathan Sacarabany told the Associated Press that Kermiche's family alerted authorities to his radicalization in an effort to stop him going to Syria. A French law enforcment official told AP Kermiche, who grew up in the town, was required to check in with police once a day under the terms of his supervision.

"[ISIS] has declared war on us," Hollande said Tuesday. "We must fight this war by all means, while respecting the rule of law -- what makes us a democracy."

Democracy will crumble if you lose this war. Radical Islam uses democratic freedoms in their quest to destroy democracy, and we let them. Civil war is already happening, only, there is just one side doing the fighting. France Has Two Choices - Civil War or Submission

The cold-blooded murder of Hamel, who was ordained in 1958, stunned the community of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a working-class suburb of the medieval city of Rouen.

The town's mayor, Hubert Wulfranc, in tears, denounced the "barbarism" and, breaking down, pleaded, "Let us together be the last to cry." 

"Everyone knew him very well," Claude-Albert Seguin, 68, said of Hamel. "He was very loved in the community and a kind man."

Rouen diocese official Philippe Maheut said the slain priest had been at the church for the past decade and "was always ready to help," said.

"His desire was to spread a message for which he consecrated his life," Mahut told The Associated Press. "And he certainly didn't think that consecrating his life would mean for him to die while celebrating Mass, which is a message of love."

While France is officially secular and church attendance is low, the country has deep Catholic roots. ISIS has urged followers to attack French churches and the group is believed to have planned at least one earlier church attack that was foiled when the assailant shot himself in the leg.

The church was reportedly on a "hit list" discovered at the residence of a would-be ISIS attacker in April 2015, The Sun reported. Abdel sid Ghlam was believed to be planning "imminent attacks" in France when investigators arrested him. Officials allegedly uncovered an arsenal of weapons and found that Ghlam was talking with someone in Syria who had ordered him to strike specific churches -- including the one targeted Tuesday.

The attackers entered through the back door of the church and took the priest, two nuns and two parishioners hostage during morning Mass, police said. 

Three hostages were rescued in good condition. Another hostage originally listed in critical condition was expected to survive, Molins said.

One person, a minor, was arrested in the investigation. Molins said he is believed to be the 16-year-old younger brother of someone wanted by authorities for trying to go to Syria or Iraq in 2015.

Vatican Spokesperson Greg Burke told Fox News that Pope Francis was "shocked" especially because the attack "happened in a house of worship." He added the Pope was "…praying for the victims of the attack."

The cluster of towns near Rouen had already been linked to the Islamic State group. A micro-cell of recruits from the area included a Frenchman seen cutting the throat of a Syrian soldier in a November 2014 video. Maxime Hauchard, a Muslim convert, was among at least four people who met at a local mosque and later left to join the extremists.

France is currently under a state of emergency after the Bastille Day attack and a string of deadly assaults last year claimed by ISIS that killed 147 victims.

Philippines Army Rescues 78 Hostages, Kills 13 ISIS-Linked Terrorists

© Erik de Castro / Reuters

At least seven soldiers and police officers were killed in the Philippines city of Marawi where government forces carried out an operation to rescue dozens of hostages held by Islamic State-linked terrorists, according to the army.

Five soldiers and two policemen have been killed in sporadic clashes with militants since Tuesday, Col. Edgard Arevalo of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Affairs Office announced late Wednesday.

The army managed to kill at least 13 gunmen of the IS-affiliated Maute group who had overrun the local clinic, taking hostages, and occupying Marawi’s City Hall.

Government forces managed to rescue 78 civilians from the Amai Pakpak Medical Center where the terrorists tried to use them as human shields as the army moved in, Western Mindanao Command chief, Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., said according to the PhilStar daily.

The troops also secured 42 teachers who had taken refuge and got trapped at Dansalan College after the city was engulfed in violence.

Obviously, the priest and others from the Catholic church who were taken hostage yesterday were not among those rescued.

Authorities provided no details of civilian injuries and casualties, but said at least 31 soldiers were wounded in the attempt to rescue the hostages and escort civilians to safety.

On Tuesday night, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire island of Mindanao under martial law for 60 days after battles between government troops and the Maute in Marawi escalated. Duterte was forced to cut short his trip to Russia to return home to tackle the terrorist insurgency.

“Anyone now holding a gun, confronting the government with violence, my orders are spare no one, let us solve the problems of Mindanao once and for all," Duterte said Wednesday.

“If I think you should die, you will die. If you fight us, you will die. If there's an open defiance, you will die, and if it means many people dying, so be it. That's how it is,” he added.

Duterte also warned that he will not hesitate to declare martial law throughout the entire country if terrorism spills beyond Mindanao.

“Government may consider the covered areas of martial law, in the event that members of Maute group and other ISIS-affiliated terrorists seek sanctuary or expand their terrorist activities in the Visayas and Mindanao,” Duterte said.

“I will not allow the country to go to the dogs. As I said, the military has the primary role now of keeping the law and order situation and in all parts of the Republic of the Philippines,” the president said.

The Philippines leader also promised to resign if extremists prove him incapable of maintaining peace in his country.

“As president, if I cannot confront them, I will resign,” Duterte said. “If I am incompetent and incapable of keeping order in this country, let me step down and give the job to somebody else.”

ISIS Takes on Duterte in the Philippines - This Will Not Be Pretty

Duterte declares state of emergency as ISIS militants BEHEAD police chief

and take Catholic priest hostage alongside worshippers in the Philippines,

hours after martial law is brought in 

A Filipino Archbishop today warned the group threatened

to kill the abductees

By Jay Akbar For Mailonline

Islamist gunmen who took a Catholic priest and churchgoers hostage in the Philippines have beheaded the city's local police chief, President Rodrigo Duterte has said.

Members of the ISIS-inspired Maute Islamist group stormed the Cathedral of Our Lady Help, in Marawi city on Mindanao island, and abducted church staff including Father Chito Suganob and worshipers. 

'They have threatened to kill the hostages if the government forces unleashed against them are not recalled,' Filipino Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement. 

President Duterte, who declared martial law in parts of Mindanao after militants clashed with soldiers in Marawi yesterday, says he may extend it to other parts of the country if extremists seek sanctuary elsewhere. 

Duterte (pictured) declared martial law across the southern region of Mindanao last night after Islamist militants rampaged through the city of Marawi

'We are in state of emergency,' he told reporters in Manila after a state visit to Moscow, adding he would deal with militants 'harshly'. 

'At the time of his capture, Father Chito was in the performance of his ministry as a priest,' Archbishop Villegas said.

'He was not a combatant. He was not bearing arms. He was a threat to none. His capture and that of his companions violates every norm of civilised conflict.' 

But Marawi Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra has refused to confirm reports the terror group took hostages and insisted that the local government has the situation under control.

In a telephone interview with national broadcaster ANC, Gandamra said he was working with the military to bring peace and order to the city.

Police and military spokesmen were not immediately available to comment on Villegas's report of the hostage taking. 

Filipino Archbishop Socrates Villegas said the extremists have threatened to kill the hostages if the government forces unleashed against them are not recalled

Archbishop Villegas went on to say the extremists took an undisclosed number of hostages to a secret location and the abductees have not been heard from since

The fighting in Marawi erupted yesterday when security forces raided a house they believed Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the infamous Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang

WHAT HAPPENS UNDER MARTIAL LAW?

Martial law allows the president to 'call out the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion', according to the constitution.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said security forces would be able to arrest suspected militants and hold them for three days without charge. 

During the nine years of martial law under former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, police and troops tortured, abducted and killed thousands of people who were critical of the dictatorship, according to rights groups and historians.

Duterte said his version of martial law would be 'harsh' and similar to that under Marcos. 

The fighting in Marawi erupted yesterday when security forces raided a house they believed Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the infamous Abu Sayyaf kidnap gang and Philippine head of ISIS, was hiding.

The United States regards Hapilon as one of the world's most dangerous terrorists, offering a bounty of $5 million for his capture.

More than 100 gunmen responded to the raid by burning buildings and conducting other diversionary tactics, according to Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Security analysts say Hapilon has been trying to unite Filipino militant groups that have professed allegiance to IS.

These include the Maute group, named after two brothers who lead it and which is based near Marawi. 

Duterte had repeatedly said the growing influence of Islamic State was one of the nation's top security concerns, and martial law was necessary to stop it.

However Islamist militancy is not new to the southern Philippines, where a decades-long Muslim separatist insurgency claimed more than 120,000 lives.

Muslim rebels orchestrated a siege in the southern city of Zamboanga in 2013 that left more than 200 people dead.

Soldiers at checkpoints as martial law declared in Mindanao

ISIS KILLS FIVE IN FIRST SUICIDE ATTACK IN SOMALIA 

ISIS has claimed responsibility for its first ever suicide attack in the troubled African nation of Somalia.

Police said five people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint in the north-eastern port city of Bosaso, in Puntland, today.

Witnesses told of how the blast occurred near a hotel often used as a meeting place for local officials.

'I think the bomber was trying to target the hotel but he was stopped at the checkpoint close to the hotel and he decided to detonate his explosives,' said witness Awke Mohamed.

Puntland, which set up its own government in 1998, often comes under attack from Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab militants.

It is also home to a breakaway group of fighters who have declared allegiance to ISIS - but failed to gather much support. 

Martial law allows the president to 'call out the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion', according to the Filipino constitution.

But the government of then-president Benigno Aquino did not declare martial law.

Aquino also said he had considered imposing martial law just before standing down last year in Sulu, island strongholds of the Abu Sayyaf in the far south of Mindanao.

But Aquino said he decided against it partly because military rule could spark resentment among local people.

No Consequences for Spanish Priest's Vulgar Behaviour

Playboy priest: Spanish clergyman apologizes for channeling Hugh Hefner in carnival parade

A Spanish priest is seeking forgiveness after exchanging his cloak for a Hugh Hefner ensemble, channeling the Playboy icon during a carnival parade. The clergyman even simulated sex with one of his 'bunnies,' who happened to be a man.

Juan Carlos Martínez typically spends his days leading mass, offering communion, and praying with his congregation. But the 40-year-old clergyman decided to mix things up during last week's carnival celebrations in the Galician town of Cuntis.

Dressed in a red bath robe and captain's cap – the legendary fashion preference of Playboy founder Hefner – Martínez hopped aboard a parade float sandwiched by two men dressed as Playboy Bunnies.

He and his hairy, not-so-feminine bunnies lounged on a trailer made to look like a bed, topped with red satin sheets. They relaxed as they were towed through town by a 4x4.

Martínez and his buddies appeared to be having a good time – so good that he and one of the male bunnies decided to simulate sex while on the float.

Although the encounter likely led to laughs in the crowd, the Catholic Church was less amused, asking Martínez to attend a "spiritual retreat" to reflect on "behavior clearly inappropriate for a priest," La Voz de Galicia reported.

Speaking to his congregation from the pulpit, Martínez said he is genuinely remorseful for his naughty antics, telling the pulpit that he is "so sorry to those who feel offended." He said he had requested an appointment with the Archbishop of Santiago to make a formal apology.

God has a great sense of humour, but is there any way emulating and acting like the most hedonistic man on earth can be called humour, or anything but disgustingly vulgar? It was a parade! There were children watching! What was he thinking? 

Perhaps he should try emulating Christ whose Name he represents and in Who's Name he conducts communion? Did he beg forgiveness from Him? He had better!

However, not everyone seems to share the Catholic Church's disapproving sentiment – many in the town have spoken up to defend Martínez. Dozens gathered to support him when senior priest Calixto Covo arrived to admonish the clergyman.

“Such things happen at carnival, it’s just a bit of fun,” one resident told local broadcaster Antena 3. “He’s a great priest and everyone loves him.”

Martínez's popularity hasn't gone unnoticed by Covo – despite the senior priest making a special trip to give the 40-year-old a dressing-down.

“It’s great that he is well loved by the people he served,” Covo told La Voz de Galicia, adding that there would be no lasting consequences for the priest.

I think you may be wrong there. In fact, I think you ought to be concerned about consequences for there not being any consequences for his appalling behaviour. If this is acceptable behaviour in the Catholic Church, it speaks volumes about the church itself. Congregants, and bishops alike, obviously expect very little in terms of holiness or oneness with Christ from their priests.

Is it even possible to be a church without the fear of God? 

Cuntis, Spain

Muslim Militants Go Door to Door Killing Christians

The attacks come as Boko Haram kills eight at a church and a boat captain starts trial for throwing Christian refugees overboard.

Illustrative picture of Boko Haram victims. (Photo: © Reuters)

Central African Republic

Three horrific incidents in three different countries highlight the global persecution of Christians by Muslim supremacists.

A mob of Muslim militants descended on Ndomete village in the Central African Republic (CAR) and went door-to-door killing Christians. The U.N. confirmed the casualty figures.

The militiamen, believed to belong to the Muslim militia group Seleka, killed 26 people and is thought to have deliberately targeted civilians. Seleka deposed then president Francois Bozize in 2013 and installed the Muslim Michel Djotodia instead.

Faced with mounting sectarian violence, Djotodia resigned in January 2014.

Although the Seleka group was officially disbanded, the group did not put down its weapons. Ex-Seleka fighters and Christian so-called “anti-Balaka” militias have been fighting since, displacing some 25 percent of CAR’s population.

“If the government is not going to beef up the security, then we are going to defend ourselves,” a local Christian leader told Morningstar News. “We shall not keep quiet as our brothers are dying.”

Nigeria 

In Nigeria Boko Haram militants attacked Christians in Kwamjilari village after a church service on Sunday. Gunmen reportedly killed 8 people who congregated outside the church in north-eastern Borno State.

Villagers reported Boko Haram stationed gunmen on the road leading away from the church so they could shoot those trying to flee.

Spain

In Spain an immigrant from Cameroon went on trial for the murder of six other immigrants whom he is accused of throwing overboard while crossing the Mediterranean in his boat. The boat captain, identified as Alain N. reportedly blamed the rough seas which were rocking the boat on the prayers led by a Catholic pastor on board and consequently threw them overboard. Another man who helped him throw them overboard later died.

The pair, both from Cameroon, reportedly beat the Nigerian pastor with pieces of wood before throwing him overboard. They then searched the other passengers for amulets or other identifying signs of Christianity and similarly beat and hurled overboard five other people.

Alain N. “was aware that the victims could not possibly survive and that they would die, either by drowning, from the cold, or from the physical injuries they had suffered,” according to statements made by the prosecution. “He was aware of the low temperature, the rough seas and the great distance from the coast and the absence of any nearby boats which could rescue them.”

Wake Up, Europe! Radicalized Muslims Have to be Locked Up or Deported

Baby-faced ISIS jihadi who slit Catholic priest's throat in Normandy church

THIS is the baby-faced terrorist who stormed into a Catholic church in Normandy and slit the throat of a 86-year-old priest in front of his terrified congregation whilst shouting "Allahu Akbar".

By TOM BATCHELOR AND NICK GUTTERIDGE

Two attackers killed a priest with a blade and seriously wounded another hostage.

Weedy Adel Kermiche was shot dead by police marksmen alongside another maniacal Islamist attacker after the pair targeted helpless nuns taking part in an early morning Mass. 

The baby-faced 19-year-old, who lived with his mum just 200 yards from the church in Normandy, was a convicted terrorist who was known to the French authorities and should have been monitored with an electronic tag.

But despite his attempts to travel to Syria to fight for Islamic State (ISIS) he was free to enter the church at just after 9am and brutally murder Father Jacques Hamel in a barbaric attack.

His brother is believed to be a jihadi militant in the Middle East and tonight it emerged how he became radicalised after hero-worshipping the Charlie Hebdo attackers. 

Kermiche was caught attempting to cross the Turkish border into Syria in early 2015 and was deported back to France via Switzerland, where he was electronically tagged and forced to live with his parents. 

At the time his mother - a teacher - told Swiss media that her son had turned to radical Islam after hearing about the Charlie Hebdo massacre, when jihadi gunmen murdered journalists at a French satirical magazine.

She said: "The Charlie Hebdo killing was like a detonator for him".

"From then this happy, kind young man who would go out with friends – closed himself off. He obsessively attended his local mosque.

"It was like he had been brainwashed and bewitched – preaching to his non-practicing family."

Would you believe demon-possessed? Can it be that hard to pick out radicalized Muslims from social media, friends, colleagues, etc.? France, and all of Europe have to make it illegal to be radicalized and keep all such people locked up until they renounce violence and jihad very convincingly.


Kermiche was radicalised after hearing about the Charlie Hebdo attack. The 19-year-old beheaded a priest at a church in Normandy

Kermiche is pictured as a child on his Facebook page wearing an Algeria football hat, but listed himself online as being from Port Louis in Mauritius.

He went to College Paul Eluard in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, just yards away from where he committed today's barbaric attack.

According to French media, Kermiche should have been living with his parents under a court order.

He was allowed out unsupervised between the hours of 8.30am and 12.30pm. Mass at the church started at 9am.

I-tele reported that the teenager, who was shot dead by police during the siege, spent nearly a year in prison before being released on March 2. 


The church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, blocked by police following an attack by two knife-wielding men GETTY


French President Francois Hollande speaking outside Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray's city hall GETTY

French President Francois Hollande has confirmed the attack was carried out by Islamic State sympathisers. Mr Hollande said the two hostage takers were terrorists who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

He said: ”Daesh has declared war on us, we must fight this war by all means, while respecting the rule of law, what makes us a democracy,” using an Arab acronym for the Islamist extremist group.

A statement released by ISIS’ Amaq news agency said two Islamic State “soldiers” carried out the Normandy church attack in France. The statement said: "They carried out the operation in response to the call to target the countries of the crusader coalition.”

The development will pile further pressure on France's security services, which were already facing criticism for their response to (failure to prevent?) the Nice attack which left 84 people dead.

France has been rocked by a wave of terrorist incidents and police and counter-terrorism specialists are scrambling to stop further attacks.

The latest incident has sent sent shock waves through a nation already reeling from deadly massacres including attacks in Paris aimed at rock fans and sports crowds and the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

    Normandy