Syria Vows 'Surprise' Against Western Military Strike

Voice of America News reports: “Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem is vowing to strike back at any Western military attack with what he calls ‘surprise’ defenses.

Moallem on Tuesday said Syria is hearing war drums. He said the West is using allegations of chemical weapons as an excuse to attack.  He again denied that the Syrian government has used such weapons, and he challenged the United States and its European allies to show evidence.

Because of security concerns Tuesday, United Nations investigators postponed their visit to another Damascus suburb where chemical weapons apparently were used. Snipers fired at a U.N. car during a stop in Moadamiyeh Monday. No one was hurt and the Syrian government and rebels blamed each other for the gunfire.

The United States says there is no doubt Bashar al-Assad's military dropped chemical weapons on four Damascus suburbs last week, killing hundreds including entire families in their homes. U.S. officials say President Barack Obama's decision on a response could come within days.

But it is not just the West condemning Syria. The Arab League meeting in Cairo is blaming the Assad government for the attack and is demanding that those responsible be put on trial…”

Source: JVIM

Anti-Hamas Movement Emerges in Gaza

YnetNews.com reports: “An anonymous group of Palestinians calling itself ‘The rebellion against tyranny in Gaza’ has been established in the Strip driving inspiration from Egypt's Tamarod movement. The group is calling on the public to bring down the Hamas government.

Already making waves on social media sites as well as earning recognition from the Arab press, the group has declared a day of mass protests against Hamas to be held November 11 – the anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. A video posted online said that on that day, the oppression imposed by Hamas will be lifted.

Hamas is referred to in the video as the ‘Gaza brotherhood’ in reference to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. The group stresses that it is not against Hamas in principle, but against what the movement has become since taking over the Gaza Strip. ‘Today's Hamas is not the Hamas of yesterday. Ahmed Yassin's Hamas is not the Hamas of Gaza's security forces,’ they say…”

Source: JVIM

Netanyahu: We Will Strike Anyone Who Tries to Harm Us

Prime Minister says that Israel is working to protect its citizens; United States urges Israel to show "restraint."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu makes a statement, August 22, 2013. Photo: PMO

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to Thursday's rocket attack from Lebanon by saying Israel was working on all fronts – both with defensive and active preventive measures – to protect Israeli citizens.

"We are deploying a wide range of means," he said in a statement, "both defensive and preventative. We are acting responsibly. Anyone who attacks us, or tries to attack us, should know that we will get him."

The United States is calling for "restraint" from both Israel and Lebanon after three rockets, fired from Lebanese territory, hit northern Israeli towns.

"We strongly condemn the firing of rockets from Lebanon toward Israel," State Department spokeswoman Dina Badawy told The Jerusalem Post. "This was a provocative act that undermines the stability of Lebanon and the security of Israel."

Badawy called the rocket fire a violation of the Blue Line, as prescribed by UNSCR 1701.
The State Department could not immediately confirm the source of the rocket fire, or details of the incident, Badawy said.

"We again strongly underscore the need for Lebanon to exercise full sovereignty over its territory," she said.
A fourth rocket was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome short-range missile defense system, which has been funded generously by the US.

No group has yet to claim responsibility for the incident, and no casualties were reported.
MK Motti Yogev (Bayit Yehudi), meanwhile called for the government to retaliate to rocket fire in the north Thursday.

According to Yogev, the government cannot leave the attack without a response, "because this is the reality that the other side understands." "The response must be very strong so that the other side has no desire to continue the escalation," Yogev added.

The Bayit Yehudi MK, a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, pointed out that Hezbollah stockpiled weapons in the seven years since the Second Lebbanon War and has tens of thousands of missiles, which, he said, could lead to a confrontation to ensure the safety of residents of the north.

"Syria acted quickly and determinedly through their allies, Hezbollah, to distract international pressure from the gas attacks and massacres on children in Damascus," MK Nachman Shai (Labor) stated. "Israel must act carefully and responsibly."

Source: Here

Coptic Christians Chant in Tennessee Streets: ‘Obama, Don’t You Care?’

Hundreds of Coptic Christians took to downtown Nashville, Tenn., streets this week to protest the ongoing and escalating violence their faith is facing in Egypt.

Among their chants: "Obama, Obama don't you care? Christian blood is everywhere," The Tennessean reported. The demonstrators, waving Egyptian flags, also called for Americans to "pray for Egypt." And signs abounded, with messages such as: "We are against Muslim Brotherhood."

A woman who said she has lived in the United States for 16 years expressed fear for Christians who live in Egypt, and she said the Muslim Brotherhood is to blame for the 40-plus church burnings that have been reported in recent days.

"What is terrorism," she said in The Tennesseean article, "but being afraid to go out of your house because someone will attack you."

Other protesters expressed the hope that the Obama administration would take a strong stand and support the interim government — not the Muslim Brotherhood — in Egypt.

Read more: Here

Testimonies

Iranian Christian Activist Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison

Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran has sentenced Mohammad-Hadi (Mostafa) Bordbar, an Iranian Christian convert, to ten years in prison.

Mostafa Bordba

According to a story by Mohabat News (based upon documents the news service said it possesses), Bordbar, a resident of Rasht, was tried by Judge Pir-Abbasi on June 9 2013 in branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Bordbar had been arrested on Dec. 27 2012.

According to Mohabat News, Bordbar was sentenced to five years in prison for membership in a so-called “anti-security organization,” and an additional five years for gathering with intent to commit crimes against Iranian national security.

The ruling was issued in branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran by Pir-Abbasi, and delivered to Bordbar's lawyer, Shima Ghousheh, on July 31 2013.
Mohabat News said Bordbar and about 50 other Farsi-speaking Christian converts were in northern Tehran having a Christmas worship service, when 15 plain-clothes security officers raided the house.

Everyone was detained for hours. After interrogation, most of them were released. The incident also led to the arrest of Iranian-Armenian pastor, Vruir Avanessian.
Bordbar had also been arrested in 2009 in Rasht for converting to Christianity and attending a house church.

In addition, Mohabat News said, branch 1 of the Rasht court found him guilty of “apostasy.” He was released after posting bail of 200 million Rials. However, the apostasy conviction remained on his criminal record.

Mohabat News said when Bordbar later attempted to start a “technical company,” he was denied the official permission to do so. The document given to him by police said Bordbar “is found guilty of apostasy and this is kept in his criminal record.” (Supporting document in the possession of Mohabat News).

Appeals Court

Mohabat News said according to a source close to Bordbar, his lawyer, a member of the Iranian Human Rights Commission, said she is working on an appeal.
Expressing her opposition to the ruling, Ghousheh said the two convictions (that resulted in a 10 year prison term) are actually the same, and that her client is being convicted twice for one charge. At the same time she was hopeful that the appeals court will overturn the guilty verdict.
After issuing the ruling, the Revolutionary Court announced that appeals to the decision may be submitted within 20 days of its issue.

The Iranian Constitution recognizes the rights of religious minorities, including Christians. However, Mohabat News said, the Iranian regime prosecutes those who convert to Christianity from Islam.
Persecution of Iranian Christian converts has been considerably on the rise since 2012. According to Mohabat News, many pastors and Christian activists have been arrested in recent years and given lengthy prison sentences. That occurs as the number of Christian converts is increasing, and the network of underground house churches is spreading fast.

Source

Syria: Assyrian Christians Told 'If You Want to Come Back, Convert To Islam, Or You Will Be Killed'

According to the Assyrian International News Agency, Assyrian Christians who have fled from an area of Syria called al-Thawrah (also known as al-Tabqah), have been told by rebels, "If you want to come back, convert to Islam, or you will be killed."

An AINA story said, "Accounts by Assyrian refugees from Syria reveal the real face of the Islamist undercurrent within the Syrian opposition. Furthermore, these accounts serve as a stark and chilling reminder of what has already been suffered by non-Muslim communities in Iraq since 2003.

"On February 11, rebel fighters from the al-Nusra Front took control of the city and its strategic dam, the largest of its kind in the country. They also seized control of the three quarters that housed dam workers - many of whom were Christian Assyrians.
"Whilst they allowed the dam's original staff to remain in the city in order to continue its operation, management and upkeep, those who were not Sunni Muslim were not afforded the same privilege."
One Assyrian refugee was reported as saying, "Everything is now in Jabhat al-Nusra's hands. All the Muslims stayed there, but if any Christians want to go back they have to become Muslim or else they will be killed."

The story goes on to say that Christians report their property being stolen, their homes being confiscated, and their possessions being sold on the black market in order to buy weapons and ammunition. In many of these cases, those forcefully dispossessed were not even allowed the chance to take with them any of their personal belongings.

According to the jihadist Islamist ideology espoused by such forces as the al-Nusra Front, the properties and possessions of such "infidels" are halal (fair game), and it is not a sin to plunder them.

They also threatened Christians with death if they did not comply with strict Islamic laws. "They would call and text me on my cell phone, ordering me to do as they say, or else they would kill me! Can you imagine it?" said a Christian man from al-Thawrah, who had lost all he owned, and is now internally displaced with his family. "Even though I have left they still call me from there to bother me, so I keep my phone switched off unless I really need to use it."

AINA then reported the "gruesome story" of an Assyrian man from al-Hasakah Governorate, allegedly shot by rebels in an execution-style murder just outside al-Thawrah in April 2013, which it said, "still sends shivers up the spines of those who knew him."

He used to earn a living transporting people between al-Hasakah and al-Thawrah, until his car was confiscated by al-Nusra fighters. "They told him that he could buy it back from them, so he returned to his village to bring them the money," one refugee related, "He should have stayed put and thanked God that they hadn't killed him then and there, but he didn't listen to reason and left with the money they'd requested. No one ever saw him alive again. How will his wife and four children support themselves now?"

"Whilst this case has been well-documented, many of the Christian refugees from al-Thawrah insisted that certain details be excluded from their testimonies since, being a small community, they were fearful of being identified and subsequently suffering the consequences. They are also too frightened to provide too much information over the phone or on the internet because they believe that these are being monitored by elements within Syria's opposition," the report continued.
"For most of them, staying in Syria is no longer a viable option either. To leave for Turkey or Lebanon, on the other hand, is also fraught with its own perils."
Another Assyrian refugee who refused to disclose his location said, "All the roads are full of rebel fighters."

While the head of an Assyrian household displaced from al-Thawrah, added, "It's really dangerous. We have lost everything. There is nothing for us over there now, nothing to return to. We just need help to get out of here and settle in a country that's safe."

Source

Bloodshed, Tensions Boil as Egyptian Government, Opposition Trade Blame

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- All agree that scores angry at Egypt's military-backed government and the ouster of President Mohamed Morsy died in late-night clashes in the volatile nation's capital.

But they are of opposite minds as to who began firing first and who is to blame.

Dr. Mohammed Ali Sultan, chairman of Egypt's ambulance services, told CNN that 72 had been killed in Nasr City, an area of Cairo the Muslim Brotherhood has made its base after the group's former leader was forced from power and ordered jailed.

Medics in a Brotherhood field hospital there earlier Saturday had put the death toll at 66, with another 61 on life support and thousands more wounded.

How did they end up in such straits?

Ask the Muslim Brotherhood -- the Islamist group that was sidelined under longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak only to become the country's dominant political force after his forced exit in 2011 -- and its members will say police fired live ammunition on protesters Friday and Saturday.

Photos: Unrest in Egypt

Pro- and anti-Morsy crowds flood streets

Are oil prices and Egypt's chaos linked?

Tahrir Square filled at general's urging

 

A wounded protester getting medical treatment at a field hospital said he saw men in plainclothes fire on pro-Morsy demonstrators with shotguns.

He referred to them as "thugs," a term commonly used for young men who support the government and resort to violence.

"Police forces were standing behind them. Also, military forces were outside blocking three entrances to Rabaa Adawiya neighborhood," the protester said, adding he had also seen corpses with gunshot wounds at the hospital.

Yet the prosecutor general's office, according to a report early Sunday on state-run Nile TV, concluded that protesters not only initiated the clashes but also fired live bullets on security forces.

A police spokesman likewise rejected any allegations police opened fire, saying they only used tear gas canisters and were not responsible for the deaths.

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim offered a similar view during a televised news conference.

The protesters were at fault for starting violence that wounded 14 police, none of whom fired back, he said.

"I want to emphasize here that the Interior Ministry police force has never and will never fire ts weapons at any Egyptian citizen," Ibrahim said.

Fresh clashes erupted early Sunday in Helwan south of Cairo between residents there and pro-Morsy protesters, reported state TV, citing witnesses.

Meanwhile, an attorney has filed a lawsuit at a district court in Cairo, asking that the military overthrow of Morsy be overturned. Tarek Al Kashef is basing his challenge on the country's constitution, specifically sections that stipulate that a presidential term is four years and that the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. A hearing is slated for October 8.

Continued

Bill Passes in India Jailing Converts, Clergy For Failure to Give Prior Notice of Conversion

India's Madhya Pradesh state has passed legislation that would send those who convert and their religious leaders to prison for failing to obtain permission from authorities at least one month prior to conversion.

According to a story by Morning Star News, the bill requires the governor's signature before becoming law.

Existing law in Madhya Pradesh requires those who convert to notify government officials after conversion. The new legislation not only requires prior permission but also obligates religious leaders to report the conversions, and it increases prison terms from one to three years for clergy and converts who fail to do so.

Under the bill in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state, Morning Star News said religious leaders must fill out an application form giving details of the venue and date of conversion ceremonies and provide a list of names and addresses of those seeking conversion. This application has to be submitted at the district magistrate's office a month before conversion.

The bill, which cleared Madhya Pradesh's Legislative Assembly on July 10, includes a provision for a police inquiry on the conversion request. If the prospective converts are minors, women or members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes - disadvantaged people eligible for affirmative action benefits - the legislation stipulates a jail term of up to four years and/or a fine of up to 100,000 rupees (US$1,680).

With India already on a "watch list" of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Morning Star News reported India's Christians were horrified at the bill's level of interference in private personal belief. In August 2012, the Himachal Pradesh High Court struck down similar legislation.

“These laws are political gimmicks used to polarize voters along religious lines - it is common knowledge that these laws have already been misused to terrorize the minority Christian community across the country,” Tehmina Arora, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom India, told Morning Star News.

The bill is an amendment to Madhya Pradesh's existing “anti-conversion” law of 1968. Called “Freedom of Religion Acts,” such laws forbid forcible or fraudulent conversions, but Hindu nationalists have used them to arrest and harass Christians with false accusations.

“The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief noted in a report after a visit to India that there is a risk that ‘Freedom of Religion Acts’ may become a tool in the hands of those who wish to use religion for vested interests or to persecute individuals on the ground of their religion or belief,” Arora said.

Indira Iyengar, president of Madhya Pradesh Christian Association. (mpcaindia.com)

Indira Iyengar, president of the Madhya Pradesh Christian Association, told Morning Star News the association has written to state Gov. Ram Naresh Yadav and other officials urging them to reject the amendment bill. The governor's post is largely ceremonial, and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan holds most executive powers.

In its memorandum, Morning Star News reported, the association stated that the bill not only contradicts various Articles of the Constitution of India but also violates states' obligations under the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Such legislation will create religious tensions, the association stated, urging the governor to protect the rights of religious minorities.

Sujit Williams, president of the Grand Council of Christians (Isai Maha Sangh), called upon all citizens to reject the bill, saying it "violated the provision of various Articles in the Constitution of India."

Anand Muttungal, coordinator of the council, said the bill was unnecessary.

“The government has the right to enact a law, but it should be in accordance with the Constitution of India,” Morning Star News reported he said. “Moreover, there is no alarming situation in Madhya Pradesh of conversions for the need of such an amendment.”

The Hindu extremist BJP proposed and passed the legislation with little discussion. Party and state officials have been strangely silent on the proposal, and none was willing to comment to Morning Star News.

Himachal Pradesh Version Struck DownHimachal Pradesh's “anti-conversion” law of 2006 required prospective converts to give prior notice, and the state high court last August ruled it unconstitutional in response to a petition filed by the ADF-backed Evangelical Fellowship of India.
Under the law, a prospective convert's intentions had been subject to a mandatory state inquiry.

The high court recognized that the provisions violated the fundamental right of privacy safeguarded under the right to life in the India Constitution.

“A person's belief or religion is something very personal to him,” Morning Star News reported the court ruled. “The state has no right to ask a person to disclose what is his personal belief. The only justification given is that public order requires that notice be given."
The court continued, "We are of the considered view that in case of a person changing his religion and notice being issued to the so-called prejudicially affected parties, chances of the convertee being subjected to physical and psychological torture cannot be ruled out. The remedy proposed by the state may prove to be more harmful than the problem.”

For more information about Morning Star News visit http://morningstarnews.org

Have We Become Too Comfortable To Share The Gospel?

The Christian life is great, but at some point in our lives we might reach a point where our own comfort hinders us from looking at the needs of others.

I have to admit that I have become lazy over the years. Sadly I am not referring to my work. Much worse, I am talking about my attitude as a Christian.

It is easy to find yourself in a safe haven, especially if you are mainly surrounded by other Christians. Yet the real challenge begins when we step out of our comfort zone.

For me, however, it does not stop there. The majority of us work or are friends with people, who do not share our belief.

We might also, for example in my case, not have had a Christian upbringing. The problem I find myself faced with now is not that those around me do not know that I am a believer or that I find it difficult to tell them about it.

Since I became a Christian when I was 17, most people have accepted my faith and were interested in my lifestyle. But what happens, when you go a step further and actually do what God said in Matthew 28:19-20?

"[Go] and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (NIV)

Continued