#when it's more like we are 10% of muslims globally and actively persecuted

[songofwizardry]

in light of Recent Events, I’m sharing this excellent (and very in-depth) article from Hoda Katebi: Understanding Structural Anti-Shi’ism in Sunni Diaspora Spaces

Highlights below

[militant-holy-knight]

10.  ISIS establishment of a 'Caliphate' where Christians weren’t welcome

When ISIS began to control territory in 2014 and establish its so-called caliphate, Christian homes and businesses were marked with the nuun symbol, the Arabic-letter-N for “Nazarene” that signified followers of Jesus.

Traditional Christians were offered the choice to flee and forfeit their homes or pay a jizya subjugation tax and remain in the caliphate. Former Muslim converts to Christianity were also given two choices: return to Islam immediately or be killed. Tens of thousands of Christians fled their homes in Iraq and Syria, moving to camps within their nation or in surrounding nations. Many of those are still trying to recover and put their lives back together.

At the height of the ISIS onslaught, I interviewed an Iraqi pastor. As we finished our conversation I asked him how American Christians could pray. I won’t ever forget his first request: “Pray that God will call Christians to stay here.” There were so many good and logical reasons to flee. Many of his church members had left for Europe or North America. But he was asking us to pray that some Christians would feel called to stay and to continue Gospel outreach in their nation.

9. Churches closed in Iran; church explodes in Iran

The church in Iran exploded in growth over the past 10 years as the people of the Islamic Republic have lost faith in their Islamic government — and also in Islam itself. In 2013, Tehran’s Assemblies of God church building was closed — one of the last “building churches” holding services in Farsi that remained open in the country.

Today, all building churches are closed. All Christian meetings occur in private homes, in parks or some other location, and all of them are illegal. House church leaders are arrested, interrogated and imprisoned, yet the Church continues to grow. There are estimates that as many as 1 million Iranians are now following Jesus Christ.

8. Pastor Andrew Brunson arrested, tried and eventually released in Turkey

It is difficult to imagine being more high-profile than having President Trump tweet about your case. When Andrew and Norine Brunson went to the police station in October 2016, they thought they were about to receive permanent resident status in Turkey. Instead Andrew would be held for two years in prison, charged with helping to lead a coup against Turkish President Erdogan.

Since his release, pastor Brunson has been open about the great difficulty he endured in prison; wrestling with his own faith in God and at one point even wondering if he was losing his sanity.

7. Omar al-Bashir removed from power in Sudan after decades of targeting Christians

Bashir’s Islamist government had long targeted Christians in South Sudan; with the separation of that area into a separate, new nation in 2011, Bashir’s government turned more attention to Christians in his new, smaller country.

Meriam Ibrahim was arrested for apostasy and sentenced to execution. Czech Christian Petr Jasek — my coworker at The Voice of the Martyrs — was sentenced to life in prison for alleged espionage before the Czech government arranged for his release. Two Christians charged with colluding with Petr were also found guilty, sent to prison, and later released.

But late in 2018, Sudan’s people rose up and demanded a change. Bashir’s government was removed from power in 2019, with surprisingly-little bloodshed. The former dictator was arrested and is locked in one of the prisons where Petr was held.

6.  John Chau’s martyrdom on North Sentinel Island

It was just before Thanksgiving in 2018 when the world learned that a young American had been killed by islanders on North Sentinel Island, a small island belonging to India whose inhabitants are completely cut off from the world.

The initial news reports painted John Chau as an adventure-seeker or some kind of Christian Indiana Jones. There was criticism, including from many in the Christian community. What was he thinking? What kind of diseases did he expose the North Sentinelese to? Why take such risks?

The details that have emerged since paint a much deeper portrait of a young man who’d been preparing for years to go to the island to share God’s love with the North Sentinelese people. And today, thousands of Christians are praying for the people on an island that they had never heard of before John Chau landed his kayak on the beach there.

5. Hindu nationalism’s rise to power in India

When Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister in India, he presented himself as the can-do, pro-business leader who’d brought electricity to thousands of citizens in his home state of Gujarat.

What he didn’t talk about as much, but was well-known by India’s voters, was his background in the Hindu-nationalist RSS movement that aims to make every Indian citizen a Hindu and make non-Hindus feel as unwelcome as possible.

After his initial election in 2014, Modi was re-elected in 2019 with an even stronger majority, and he’s keeping campaign promises to his RSS base by ending Muslim autonomy in Kashmir and now offering citizenship to non-Muslims from surrounding countries.

Indian Christians received a clear message as they watched Modi’s government take action: you aren’t welcome, and you won’t be protected. Hindu nationalists also received a message: attacks on Christians or other religious minorities will be tolerated and even encouraged by Modi and his RSS-backed government.

4. Changes in China

The past 10 years have seen an alarming increase of persecution of Christians (and Muslims) in China, spearheaded by Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping. New laws on religion took affect at the beginning of 2018 and have led to marked increases in church demolitions, arrests of church leaders and control over all religious activities in China. Concurrently, China has created a surveillance state that tracks every Chinese citizen everywhere in China, making underground Christian work significantly more difficult.

Numerous unregistered churches have been closed down, and several well-known Chinese pastors are in prison. In addition to persecuting Christian citizens, China has attempted to force out foreign Christians, with numerous foreigners finding that their visas have been revoked or won’t be renewed.

3. Asia Bibi’s blasphemy case in Pakistan

Asia Bibi’s persecution saga spanned almost all of the decade as she was arrested in 2009, then sentenced to death by a lower court. Her appeal process took years before the Supreme Court of Pakistan finally ruled in October 2018 that there was no basis for the blasphemy charges against her and ordered her release.

But even after their order, it took more than six months before she was allowed to leave Pakistan for an undisclosed new home where her protection can be better insured.

In spite of the eventual just outcome in Asia’s case, the blasphemy laws that sent her to prison and are often used as a cudgel to settle disputes are still on the books in Pakistan.

2. Chibok girls kidnapped in Nigeria, just one chapter in the story of the rise of Boko Haram and Islamist jihadists within the Fulani tribe

The rise of social media in this decade placed this 2014 story of 276 kidnapped girls — many of whom were Christians — in front of millions of people, as thousands — including former first lady Michelle Obama — tweeted the hashtag #bringbackourgirls.

Five years later, too many of those girls are still missing, and the problem of Islamist jihad attacks not only continues in Northern Nigeria but has spread to Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and other nearby nations.

Christians are targeted, and Nigeria’s government has shown neither the will nor the ability to put a stop to the attacks — something that is unlikely to change with the arrival of 2020.

1. 21 men killed on the beach in Libya by ISIS butchers

Like Leni Riefenstahl in 1930s Germany, the terrorists of ISIS clearly understand the power of moving pictures. The group made sure to release a high-definition record of their evil, from the burning of a Jordanian pilot to the beheadings of western hostages.

Images from the 2015 murder of 21 “people of the cross” on a beach in Libya is seared into the memory of millions. The men — 20 Coptic Christians from Egypt and one Christian from Ghana — were hailed as martyrs and heroes back home. The video captured some of them saying, in the final seconds of their earthly life, “Jesus help me.”

Christians around the world were inspired by their courageous faith. They could have saved their lives by accepting Islam. Yet, knowing what awaited them, they chose the way of Christ.

There will be more stories of Christian persecution in 2020 and beyond — Jesus’ promises are always true. And Christians in free nations will have more opportunities to be inspired — and to pray for — Christians who choose Christ over their comfort or even their lives.

[faithfulnews]

International Religious Freedom Alliance: paper tiger or trendsetter?

International (MNN) -- Vocabulary.com defines “paper tiger” as an entity that appears powerful but is actually ineffectual. Critics might claim this is a fitting description of the new International Religious Freedom Alliance, while supporters laud its potential. Isaac Six with Open Doors USA says the coalition could create opportunities for Gospel workers by making religious freedom a global priority. “Where are the missionaries at, and what's keeping them from being able to share their faith with others?” he asks.

“Often, there are either societal or governmental pressures or regulations that really, really inhibit the freedom of people to share the Gospel.”

What is the International Religious Freedom Alliance?

The International Religious Freedom Alliance launched last week at the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. It’s the first group of its kind, with 27 countries committed to five principles.

Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally (Photo courtesy of American Life League via Flickr)

“Honestly, most countries don't bring this issue (religious freedom) up as one of their top priorities,” Six explains. “So, anything you can do to make this a part of the normal discussion [between countries] is great.” Efforts to secure global focus on religious freedom came up this summer during the U.S. Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.  Additionally, President Trump underscored U.S. commitment to the issue in September. Alliance members continue this emphasis. “The Alliance determined to be proactive in their work, not just… ‘We all agree on these principles and will sort of passively make sure everything's fine’,” Six says. Instead, Alliance members decided “we're going to pro-actively work on promoting religious freedom, not just in our own countries, but in other countries as well.”

Why does it matter?

Last year, the Pew Research Center highlighted a significant rise in religious restrictions worldwide. “I think Secretary Pompeo said… eight out of 10 individuals [worldwide] still aren't free to choose their own religious beliefs without government coercion, or pressure from family or the public,” Six notes.

"Religious Liberty" was commissioned by B'nai B'rith and dedicated in 1876 to "the people of the United States" as an expression of support for the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Teaching leaders and everyday citizens about religious freedom can help a society learn why it’s a fundamental human right.  People must first identify what and why problems exist before they can be part of the solution.  Some countries and cultures perceive religious oppression as “normal” behavior. “I can remember talking to [believers in] Chinese house churches,” Six describes as an example.  These believers said “everything is fine” but when Six asked if they could share their faith with others, their response told a different story. “They said, ‘Oh, no, why would we do that?! We would never do that. You'd be arrested right away’,” he recalls.

“It didn't even occur to them that they should have the ability to go out and give someone a Bible without being arrested. And, that's because of government policy.”

So… what’s the problem?

While the Alliance has widespread support, some find fault with the coalition. This critic warns of unintended consequences connected to interfaith dialogue. Others fear policy decisions will make the Alliance ineffective. “The main obstacle to the U.S. role in this alliance is simply that the administration of President Donald Trump has implemented the tragic travel ban,” Philippe Nassif, the Middle East and North Africa advocacy director for Amnesty International, told Voice of America.

“… how can the U.S. be taken seriously when Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, or Sudanese Christians, or other persecuted groups are unable to enter the U.S. due to this ban?”

How can I help?

Surround this new initiative in prayer. Ask the Lord to guide decision-makers. It’ll take some time, Six says, but pray believers worldwide will benefit as the Alliance gains traction. “Things, especially in international diplomacy tend to move at the speed of an iceberg. It can seem like there [are] endless meetings and discussions, and… it's hard to sometimes translate that into impact on the ground,” he says. “Over the years to come, I think you're going to see action that leads to people who've been in prison for their faith being set free, that leads to religious minorities facing severe persecution getting a little bit of relief.” Subscribe to our daily email to keep tabs on this issue and more.     Header image depicts Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Ambassador-At-Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback at the International Religious Freedom Alliance dinner at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., on February 5, 2020. [State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]

Go to the article

[technicalsolutions88]

A report by campaign group Avaaz examining how Facebook’s platform is being used to spread hate speech in the Assam region of North East India suggests the company is once again failing to prevent its platform from being turned into a weapon to fuel ethnic violence.

Assam has a long-standing Muslim minority population but ethnic minorities in the state look increasingly vulnerable after India’s Hindu nationalist government pushed forward with a National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has resulted in the exclusion from that list of nearly 1.9 million people — mostly Muslims — putting them at risk of statelessness.

In July the United Nations expressed grave concern over the NRC process, saying there’s a risk of arbitrary expulsion and detention, with those those excluded being referred to Foreigners’ Tribunals where they have to prove they are not “irregular”.

At the same time, the UN warned of the rise of hate speech in Assam being spread via social media — saying this is contributing to increasing instability and uncertainty for millions in the region. “This process may exacerbate the xenophobic climate while fuelling religious intolerance and discrimination in the country,” it wrote.

There’s an awful sense of deja-vu about these warnings. In March 2018 the UN criticized Facebook for failing to prevent its platform being used to fuel ethnic violence against the Rohingya people in the neighboring country of Myanmar — saying the service had played a “determining role” in that crisis.

Facebook’s response to devastating criticism from the UN looks like wafer-thin crisis PR to paper over the ethical cracks in its ad business, given the same sorts of alarm bells are being sounded again, just over a year later. (If we measure the company by the lofty goals it attached to a director of human rights policy job last year — when Facebook wrote that the responsibilities included “conflict prevention” and “peace-building” — it’s surely been an abject failure.)

Avaaz’s report on hate speech in Assam takes direct aim at Facebook’s platform, saying it’s being used as a conduit for whipping up anti-Muslim hatred.

In the report, entitled Megaphone for Hate: Disinformation and Hate Speech on Facebook During Assam’s Citizenship Count, the group says it analysed 800 Facebook posts and comments relating to Assam and the NRC, using keywords from the immigration discourse in Assamese, assessing them against the three tiers of prohibited hate speech set out in Facebook’s Community Standards.

Avaaz found that at least 26.5% of the posts and comments constituted hate speech. These posts had been shared on Facebook more than 99,650 times — adding up to at least 5.4 million views for violent hate speech targeting religious and ethnic minorities, according to its analysis.

Bengali Muslims are a particular target on Facebook in Assam, per the report, which found comments referring to them as “criminals,” “rapists,” “terrorists,” “pigs,” and “dogs”, among other dehumanizing terms.

In further disturbing comments there were calls for people to “poison” daughters, and legalise female foeticide, as well as several posts urging “Indian” women to be protected from “rape-obsessed foreigners”.

Avaaz suggests its findings are just a drop in the ocean of hate speech that it says is drowning Assam via Facebook and other social media. But it accuses Facebook directly of failing to provide adequate human resource to police hate speech spread on its dominant platform.

Commenting in a statement, Alaphia Zoyab, senior campaigner, said: “Facebook is being used as a megaphone for hate, pointed directly at vulnerable minorities in Assam, many of whom could be made stateless within months. Despite the clear and present danger faced by these people, Facebook is refusing to dedicate the resources required to keep them safe. Through its inaction, Facebook is complicit in the persecution of some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”

Its key complaint is that Facebook continues to rely on AI to detect hate speech which has not been reported to it by human users — using its limited pool of (human) content moderator staff to review pre-flagged content, rather than proactively detect it.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has previously said AI has a very long way to go to reliably detect hate speech. Indeed, he’s suggested it may never be able to do that.

In April 2018 he told US lawmakers it might take five to ten years to develop “AI tools that can get into some of the linguistic nuances of different types of content to be more accurate, to be flagging things to our systems”, while admitting: “Today we’re just not there on that.”

That sums to an admission that in regions such as Assam — where inter-ethnic tensions are being whipped up in a politically charged atmosphere that’s also encouraging violence — Facebook is essentially asleep on the job. The job of enforcing its own ‘Community Standards’ and preventing its platform being weaponized to amplify hate and harass the vulnerable, to be clear.

Avaaz says it flagged 213 of “the clearest examples” of hate speech which it found directly to Facebook — including posts from an elected official and pages of a member of an Assamese rebel group banned by the Indian Government. The company removed 96 of these posts following its report.

It argues there are similarities in the type of hate speech being directed at ethnic minorities in Assam via Facebook and that which targeted at Rohingya people in Myanmar, also on Facebook, while noting that the context is different. But it did also find hateful content on Facebook targeting Rohingya people in India.

It is calling on Facebook to do more to protect vulnerable minorities in Assam, arguing it should not rely solely on automated tools for detecting hate speech — and should instead apply a “human-led ‘zero tolerance’ policy” against hate speech, starting by beefing up moderators’ expertise in local languages.

It also recommends Facebook launch an early warning system within its Strategic Response team, again based on human content moderation — and do so for all regions where the UN has warned of the rise of hate speech on social media.

“This system should act preventatively to avert human rights crises, not just reactively to respond to offline harm that has already occurred,” it writes.

Other recommendations include that Facebook should correct the record on false news and disinformation by notifying and providing corrections from fact-checkers to each and every user who has seen content deemed to have been false or purposefully misleading, including if the disinformation came from a politician; that it should be transparent about all page and post takedowns by publishing its rational on the Facebook Newsroom so the issue of hate speech is given proportionate prominence and publicity to the size of the problem on Facebook; and it should agree to an independent audit of hate speech and human rights on its platform in India.

“Facebook has signed up to comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,” Avaaz notes. “Which require it to conduct human rights due diligence such as identifying its impact on vulnerable groups like women, children, linguistic, ethnic and religious minorities and others, particularly when deploying AI tools to identify hate speech, and take steps to subsequently avoid or mitigate such harm.”

We reached out to Facebook with a series of questions about Avaaz’s report and also how it has progressed its approach to policing inter-ethnic hate speech since the Myanmar crisis — including asking for details of the number of people it employs to monitor content in the region.

Facebook did not provide responses to our specific questions. It just said it does have content reviewers who are Assamese and who review content in the language, as well as reviewers who have knowledge of the majority of official languages in India, including Assamese, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali and Marathi.

In 2017 India overtook the US as the country with the largest “potential audience” for Facebook ads, with 241M active users, per figures it reports the advertisers.

Facebook also sent us this statement, attributed to a spokesperson:

We want Facebook to be a safe place for all people to connect and express themselves, and we seek to protect the rights of minorities and marginalized communities around the world, including in India. We have clear rules against hate speech, which we define as attacks against people on the basis of things like caste, nationality, ethnicity and religion, and which reflect input we received from experts in India. We take this extremely seriously and remove content that violates these policies as soon as we become aware of it. To do this we have invested in dedicated content reviewers, who have local language expertise and an understanding of the India’s longstanding historical and social tensions. We’ve also made significant progress in proactively detecting hate speech on our services, which helps us get to potentially harmful content faster.

But these tools aren’t perfect yet, and reports from our community are still extremely important. That’s why we’re so grateful to Avaaz for sharing their findings with us. We have carefully reviewed the content they’ve flagged, and removed everything that violated our policies. We will continue to work to prevent the spread of hate speech on our services, both in India and around the world.

Facebook did not tell us exactly how many people it employs to police content for an Indian state with a population of more than 30 million people.

Globally the company maintains it has around 35,000 people working on trust and safety, less than half of whom (~15,000) are dedicated content reviewers. But with such a tiny content reviewer workforce for a global platform with 2.2BN+ users posting night and day all around the world there’s no plausible no way for it to stay on top of its hate speech problem.

Certainly not in every market it operates in. Which is why Facebook leans so heavily on AI — shrinking the cost to its business but piling content-related risk onto everyone else.

Facebook claims its automated tools for detecting hate speech have got better, saying that in Q1 this year it increased the proactive detection rate for hate speech to 65.4% — up from 58.8% in Q4 2017 and 38% in Q2 2017.

However it also says it only removed 4 million pieces of hate speech globally in Q1. Which sounds incredibly tiny vs the size of Facebook’s platform and the volume of content that will be generated daily by its millions and millions of active users.

Without tools for independent researchers to query the substance and spread of content on Facebook’s platform it’s simply not possible to know how many pieces of hate speech are going undetected. But — to be clear — this unregulated company still gets to mark its own homework. 

In just one example of how Facebook is able to shrink perception of the volume of problematic content it’s fencing, of the 213 pieces of content related to Assam and the NCR that Avaaz judged to be hate speech and reported to Facebook it removed less than half (96).

Yet Facebook also told us it takes down all content that violates its community standards — suggesting it is applying a far more dilute definition of hate speech than Avaaz. Unsurprising for a US company whose nascent crisis PR content review board‘s charter includes the phrase “free expression is paramount”. But for a company that also claims to want to prevent conflict and peace-build it’s rather conflicted, to say the least. 

As things stand, Facebook’s self-reported hate speech performance metrics are meaningless. It’s impossible for anyone outside the company to quantify or benchmark platform data. Because no one except Facebook has the full picture — and it’s not opening its platform for ethnical audit. Even as the impacts of harmful, hateful stuff spread on Facebook continue to bleed out and damage lives around the world. 

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/32UMIKB Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

[iuniversallystudentperfectionme]

Yomi Ogunsaya

Yomi Ogunsaya Two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were two weeks ago finally released from Insein prison where they had been held for more than sixteen months by the Myanmar Government following their conviction and sentencing on September 3, 2018. The pair were among thousands of prisoners that were granted a presidential amnesty on May 7. They were arrested on December 12, 2017, and charged under the colonial-era Official Secret Act and subsequently jailed for seven years for breaching that Act. Before they were arrested, the two journalists had been investigating the execution of 10 Muslim Rohingya men and boys in Inn Din. That investigation culminated in their contribution to a Reuters exposé that was published in February 2018 and for which the two and their colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in April 2019. In the aftermath of that investigation and the publication by Reuters, the military was left with little choice but to admit to the killings and seven soldiers that were involved in the crime were convicted. In recognition of their effort and courage, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were honored with the 2018 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. Their arrest and conviction had sparked global outrage, particularly because, as it turned out, the so-called ‘secret document’ for which they were arrested was no secret. Since their release, they have continued to receive plaudits for exemplary courage in reporting the truth in the face of apparent military intimidation and miscarriage of justice by a Myanmar government whose action, through the military campaign against the Rohingya, has been described by the United Nations as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” It has also emerged that the seven soldiers who were jailed for the killing of the 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys were clandestinely freed in November.

The arrest and conviction of the two journalists, the crime which they investigated, and now the clandestine release of the culpable soldiers provide contexts to examine a certain recent events in Nigeria which bear resemblance to the Myanmar killings, and to do so against the backdrop of the publication of a recent book of tribute in honour of Dapo Olorunyomi, founder and publisher of PremiumTimes. I have not read "Testimony to Courage", but the subject of the book, Dapo Olorunyomi, and another book, published more than a decade earlier—Kunle Ajibade’s "Jailed for Life"—capsulize my central purpose in this article, which is to offer a few reflective comments on the need for more courage in journalism in Nigeria, especially in these times of increasing dictatorship by regimes that are purported to be democratic.

I deem it fitting to begin my reflection by drawing parallels between the killing, three years ago, of over three hundred Shi'a Muslims in Zaria, Northern Nigeria, and the murder of the 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in Rakhine state. Although in terms of scale and possible motivation, the two incidents are far apart. However, there are other basis for comparison and some grounds to make the claim that there is something which the former can learn from the latter about how courage is required in the pursuit of truth and justice. Both killings were by soldiers and both took place against a backdrop of state tolerated violence against minority groups. Myanmar is a Buddhist majority country, with a significant Muslim minority. There is a history of persecution of these minority Muslims, especially the Rohingya in Rakhine, the home of most of Burma's Rohingya Muslim minority, and many of whom were forced to flee after the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017. Like Rohingya Muslims, the Shi'a Muslims are a minority sect within the umma in Nigeria and their persecution did not start with the Zaria massacre. Indeed, the killings in Zaria was not an isolated, one-off incident; for over two decades now, the sect has been in perennial open confrontation with the military and the majority Sunni Muslims in northern Nigeria, and as recently as late October 2018, around 46 members of the sect were killed during a joint cheeky military and police crackdown in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. I view these killings of members of the Shi’a sect in Nigeria and Rohingya Muslim men and boys as a form of state or political violence. The anthropology professor, Carol Nagengast, writes that “Political violence encompasses overt state-sponsored or tolerated violence…(coercion or the threat of it, bodily harm, etc.) but may also include actions taken or not by the state or its agents with the express intent of realizing certain social, ethnic, economic, and political goals in the realm of public affairs…” States are primarily responsible for ensuring the human rights of their own citizens, including the right to life. However, in certain circumstances or contexts, a state could tolerate a violent action against its own citizens or a section thereof. And “…insofar as [such an action] is tolerated or encouraged by states in order to create, justify, excuse, explain, or enforce hierarchies of difference and relations of inequality”, they are “acts of state violence, even though states themselves may not appear on the surface to be primary agents.” It is impossible to exculpate both the Nigerian state and the Myanmar government from the crime—for it is nothing short of a genocidal crime in both instances—of mass killing in the two countries. The military are state agents and whether or not they acted based on directives from the government is irrelevant; what is more, the failure of the states to properly bring them to book—as in the case of Nigeria—or to ensure that they serve out their punishment in full measure cast these governments as enablers of genocidal violence.

But there is an important difference between the incident in Myanmar and the one in Zaria, Nigeria, which can be located in the response of media and journalists in both countries to what happened to their minority groups. In Myanmar, despite initial denial and the best effort of the Burmese government to repudiate any wrongdoing, the two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, displayed a great deal of courage which saw them contributing to the production of a piece of investigative journalism that brought to light the despicable situation of human rights in the country and the chilling details of the killings of the 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys. Their investigation also ensured that the courts reached a decision to convict the six soldiers found culpable in that dastardly act. Although Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were jailed on trump up charges, their work give clear indications of the fact that human rights should be pursued with courage and that truth and justice often come with a price. Herein lies the crux of my reflection in this piece. Although the Shi’a massacre was reported at the time it happened and a number of opinion pieces and editorials have been written about it, very little fact-finding journalism has gone into bringing the matter to the front burner since 2015 when it happened. To my knowledge, no soldier has been convicted for the massacre and there has not been any journalist venturesome enough to reveal beyond what is already known. I am not unmindful of the precarious life of journalists generally and the fact that Nigerian journalists are in danger of being exposed to unfavorable treatment if they dug into the matter. According to Amnesty International, “

But then, as the saying goes, freedom is never served on a silver platter. Searching for the truth can sometimes be like finding a proverbial needle in the haystack and the road to finding it is often lined with landmines. There is no doubt that journalism requires considerable courage to practice, especially in climes where a repressive regime is in place. It is in this connection that Kunle Ajibade’s Jailed for Life and the recently launched Testimony to Courage fit into my purpose in this article. Ajibade’s book is a record of his experience as a political prisoner in Sani Abacha’s gulag. It is a book about courage in the face of terror. It is this kind of courage that also animates Dapo Olorunyomi’s life and, I believe, the book that bears testimony to his political activism and his enviable achievement as a journalist and the publisher of a tabloid renowned for investigative journalism. Both Kunle Ajibade and Dapo Olorunyomi, in their separate and sometimes overlapping journalistic engagements, have given us a lot to think about in the face of increasing and often desperate attempt to gag the press and intimidate journalists. They have also shown how investigative journalism, in spite of the odds, can be liberating. For their courage in the face of terror, these journalists have suffered greatly; they have also won considerable acclaim. We celebrate them today, like the two Reuters journalists, not just because of their work, but more crucially because of the courage that defines their vocation. We need that sort of courage more than ever before in these days of unabashed repression, official conspiracy, and increasing intolerance of criticism by the state. We need a journalism that is not afraid to speak truth to power; the kind of journalism that we associate with Kunle Ajibade and Dapo Olorunyomi.

  Dr. Abayomi Ogunsanya is an independent scholar and journalist. He lives in the Republic of Ireland. 

    AddThis :  Original Author :  Yomi Ogunsanya Disable advertisements :  from All Content http://bit.ly/315Vxkb

[trunewsofficial]

Is This How World War III Begins?

The joy of Resurrection Day quickly turned into terror and grief for Christians in Sri Lanka. Suicide bombers took part in the attacks on three churches and several luxury hotels that have killed at least 290 people and wounded more than 500. But, the devastation could have been much, much worse. Under a government-declared state of emergency, more than 1,000 military personnel have been deployed in the capital city of Colombo, where bomb squads have discovered additional bombs at the nation’s largest international airport and outside one of the churches that was damaged on Resurrection Day. Another 87 detonators were found in a garbage dump near the city’s largest bus station. The attacks are now blamed on the Islamic terrorist organization National Thoweeth Jama’ath, which is known for its radical ideology, but has never previously carried out any violence. Also known as NTJ, the group was mostly known for advocating the extreme fundamentalist indoctrination of children, localized clashes with Buddhist monks, and vandalizing Buddhist statues. Sri Lanka’s population is roughly 70 percent Buddhist. The remaining 30 percent is comprised of similarly sized populations of Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. A NJT spokesman claims the terrorist organization received help from “an international network”—claims that are now being investigated. Sri Lankan intelligence officials are under fire for failing to stop the attacks, despite knowing about the plans for at least 10 days. Is this an attack on persecuted believers, is it an attempt to create the next 'hot spot' location to eliminate a terrorist threat, or is this part of a bigger plan to justify war with Iran? Whether this involves Iran or not, Tensions with Tehran are rapidly escalating with President Trump’s decision to end all waivers for Iranian oil exports next month. According to the White House: “This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue. The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three of the world’s great energy producers, along with our friends and allies, are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied. We have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market. “The Trump Administration and our allies are determined to sustain and expand the maximum economic pressure campaign against Iran to end the regime’s destabilizing activity threatening the United States, our partners and allies, and security in the Middle East. The President’s decision to eliminate all SREs follows the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, demonstrating the United States commitment to disrupting Iran’s terror network and changing the regime’s malign behavior. We welcome the support of our friends and allies for this effort.” The White House also announced the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates would ensure global oil markets remain “well supplied.” Additionally, the president also took a swipe at former Secretary of State John Kerry, tweeting: “Saudi Arabia and others in OPEC will more than make up the Oil Flow difference in our now Full Sanctions on Iranian Oil. Iran is being given VERY BAD advice by @JohnKerry and people who helped him lead the U.S. into the very bad Iran Nuclear Deal. Big violation of Logan Act?” Oil prices are now spiking—which will mean Americans will soon pay more at the gas pump—but could former Secretary Kerry be looking at prison time in the near future? Regardless, Iran is renewing its threats to close off the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping lane separating the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman. The general in charge of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ navy, Alireza Tangsiri, said: "According to international law, the Strait of Hormuz is a waterway and we will close it [to other countries] in case we are banned from using it. In case of any threat, we will not hesitate to support and defend Iran's waters. We will defend our honor and will take reciprocal measures when it comes to protecting Iran's rights. Foreigners in the region are enemies of their people. Foreign enemies are bringing their nuclear submarines to the region to threaten our security." A senior Trump administration official told reporters that any move by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz will be deemed “unacceptable.” The official said the U.S. is also looking at ways to prevent Tehran from circumventing the oil sanctions already in existence. Tangsiri, however, has a new boss after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed a new head of the IRGC. Lt. Gen. Hossein Salami is a hardliner and claims he is “planning to break America, Israel, and their partners and allies.” He added: “Our ground forces should cleanse the planet from the filth of their existence … Iran has warned the Zionist regime not to play with fire, because they will be destroyed before the U.S. helps them.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyagu loved the new American announcement, calling it the “right decision” and his hope that it will “increase the pressure on the Iranian terror regime.” Acting Foreign Minister Israel Katz also welcomed the news, saying: “Only tough steps of this kind will force the Ayatollah regime in Iran to completely stop the development of the dangerous nuclear program and their support for Hezbollah and the other terrorist organizations in the region.” Former French Ambassador to Israel Gerard Araud claims his good friend Jared Kushner has shared a few details of the “Deal of the Century” Middle East peace plan. He says it’s “very close to what Israel wants,” but it’s likely doomed to failure as a result. Meanwhile, a newly released video from near Bethlehem showed the IDF shoot and seriously wound a Palestinian teenager who was arrested for throwing rocks and tried to escape while handcuffed and blindfolded. The soldiers then prevented bystanders from providing immediate medical care to the boy, telling them to step back or they would be shot, as well. But former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann says the president better not try to pressure Israel, or it will end his prospects of re-election next year. In a new interview, she claims: “The Bible is clear. If anyone touches the boundaries of Israel, if anyone touches the land or seeks to divide the land, or if anyone touches Jerusalem or divides Jerusalem, that person or that nation also will be divided. There will be negative consequences … “The scripture is very clear: If you divide the land or you put pressure on Israel to divide the people from the land or if you touch Jerusalem, there will be negative consequences. So if President Trump were to reveal a Middle East peace plan that divides the people from the land or pressures Israel or touches Jerusalem, I believe that that action could be sufficient to deny him a second term. It is that serious and that profound.” Bachmann claimed she told Trump administration officials she was speaking to them biblically, not politically, when she said: “God will be the one who protects the people,and the land, and the capital of Jerusalem, and there are only downsides, negative sides, to touching it.” The former congresswoman said everyone in her meeting agreed with her position “unanimously.” She urged those listening to the interview to pray “that the Lord would speak through the power of His Holy Spirit to the heart and mind of the President of the United States” to convince him to either not present any Middle East peace plan, or to offer one that would in now way “pressure the Jewish people to separate from the land or from Jerusalem.” Meanwhile, pressuring the Palestinian Authority is completely acceptable. A senior official of the Fatah political party says several Arab countries have been pressuring President Mahmoud Abbas to accept the American peace deal, even though it offers the Palestinians nothing and Prime Minister Netanyahu has demonstrated he “doesn’t believe in peace.” Abbas says he was told the White House still held to the “two state solution” principle just days before President Trump announced he was making the Jerusalem embassy move. But now, he added, the U.S. is mocking the Palestinians while Netanyahu is sending aid money to rival Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This has all built up expectation that the U.S. is preparing to lead the West into a war in Iran. But, in a closed-door meeting with Iranian expatriates last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration is not going to engage in a military exercise inside Iran in order to expedite “regime change.” In fact, he told the Iranian-Americans, the president doesn’t like to the use phrase “regime change” with regard to Tehran. He then took the additional step of distancing himself and the president from statements made by now-White House National Security Adviser John Bolton and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani that were made in their private capacities to the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, also known as Mujahedin e-Khalq or MeK. Pompeo did, however, make it clear the administration would support a popular uprising, like the 2009 Green Movement, were it to emerge and feature a “non-revolutionary set of leaders.” The Sri Lankan attacks prompted reactions from all around the world, but none were quite as cringeworthy as those from President Obama and Hillary Clinton, who seemingly couldn’t bring themselves to use the word “Christian” to describe the victims. Obama tweeted: “The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity. On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka.” Clinton added: “On this holy weekend for many faiths, we must stand united against hatred and violence. I’m praying for everyone affected by today’s horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka.” Their use of the phrase “Easter worshippers” instead of calling the victims Christians was met with a barrage of mockery from conservatives on social media. That did not, however, prevent a number of Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, from picking up the phrase and running with it. The bombings weren’t the only violence perpetrated against churches over the holy weekend. A man stormed a Catholic church in Munich, Germany, and began shouting “unintelligible words” that frightened the congregation. It caused a panic that resulted in a stampede of parishioners attempting to leave during which at least two dozen were injured, although none severely. And the congregation of Tsidkenu Church in San Diego were terrified when a woman walked into their Resurrection Day services holding her 10-month-old son in one hand and a gun in the other and began ranting about the rapture. Navy veteran Anna Conkey who also worked as a reporter for the local NBC affiliate, was tackled to the ground by members of the congregation after she stormed the stage and threatened to blow up the church. Christian persecution and violence against churches and their congregations is nothing new and is in fact on the rise around the world, despite the mainstream media’s obsession with “rising anti-Semitism.” According to Open Doors USA, there are an average of 105 attacks on churches and Christians every month—that’s more than three per day. (Photo Credit: Twitter) source https://trunews.com/stream/is-this-how-world-war-iii-begins

[usnewsaggregator-blog]

The Most Dangerous Countries In The World To Be A Journalist

New Post has been published on https://usnewsaggregator.com/world/the-most-dangerous-countries-in-the-world-to-be-a-journalist/

The Most Dangerous Countries In The World To Be A Journalist

Gumaro Perez, a Mexican journalist in his mid-30s, arrived at an elementary school in the eastern state of Veracruz on Tuesday morning to enjoy a Christmas celebration with his 6-year-old son.

He was dead before noon. Two gunmen burst into the building and opened fire, according to local media reports, shooting Perez four times in a classroom filled with dozens of children.

Perez had covered criminal issues, including drug trafficking, for a variety of Mexican news outlets. His death brings to 12 the number of journalists slain in retaliation for their work over the past year in Mexico ― the world’s most dangerous country to be a reporter outside of active war zones. Mexico’s 2017 death toll for professional media workers is now on par with that of Syria, which has been mired in brutal civil war for nearly seven years. 

Reports released this week from Reporters Without Borders, also known as Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), reveal an overall decline in the killings of journalists worldwide in 2017 compared with previous years. But both organizations warn that some of the reasons for this downward trend are not cause for celebration.

Reprisal Killings

RSF counted 50 professional reporters killed in the line of duty ― its lowest tally in 14 years ― in addition to the deaths of 15 citizen journalists and media workers. CPJ recorded 42 intentional slayings of journalists, the lowest such number since 2008.

Both RSF and CPJ, which conduct their research independently, had listed Syria and Mexico among the deadliest countries when their reports were published on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

The decrease of press worker deaths this year could be due in part to greater global efforts to protect reporters, but has also been driven by journalists’ self-censorship. Fearful for their lives and safety, many are fleeing dangerous nations or changing professions, which fuels a cycle of impunity for press freedom predators.

Impunity for journalists’ killings begets more killing. Barbara Trionfi, executive director of the International Press Institute

Authoritarian regimes have also cracked down on dissent by detaining and thus silencing their critics, which has also contributed to fewer deaths in 2017.

“It’s a relief to see a drop in the number of annual deaths and we hope it marks an end to the overall global trend in recent decades of increasing killings,” said Barbara Trionfi, executive director of the International Press Institute, which also published the findings of its research into journalist deaths on Tuesday.

“Nevertheless,” she continued, “the brutal murders of so many journalists this year in Mexico and so many other countries tragically show how impunity for journalists’ killings begets more killing.”

As its drug crisis rages on, Mexico has become a hotspot for the disappearances and deaths of journalists ― especially those who work to uncover injustice and high-level corruption. CPJ’s 2011 International Press Freedom Award honoree, investigative reporter and editor Javier Valdez, was dragged from his car and shot dead in the northern city of Culiacán in May. He had written a series of books about the victims of Mexico’s cartel violence.

At least one journalist, Pakistani blogger Samar Abbas, disappeared in 2017 and remains missing today. Bangladeshi reporter Utpal Das, whose whereabouts had been unknown since Oct. 10, was found alive in the central region of Adhuria on Tuesday. He was reportedly abducted and held captive by unidentified assailants.

Both CPJ and RSF found that the number of female journalists killed in 2017 at least doubled since last year.

Reporters Behind Bars

The number of reporters incarcerated for their work hit a record high this year, according to another recent CPJ report. It found that 262 journalists were jailed as of Dec. 1. For the second year in a row, more than half of those detained are being held in just three countries: China, Egypt and Turkey, with the the latter country imprisoning the most journalists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan unleashed a stifling campaign to muzzle dissenters in the wake of a failed military coup in July 2016. His regime has directed mass arrests of journalists and the sudden closures of several newspapers over the past year. With a stronger grasp on power than before, Erdoğan described the attempted takeover as “a gift from God” just days after it happened.

More than 1 in 4 imprisoned reporters worldwide is locked up in Turkey. Each is being investigated for “anti-state” crimes, according to CPJ.

In Egypt, where 20 journalists are being held, a new, draconian anti-terrorism law has tightened the government’s strangling grip on the press. Some reporters spend years in detention without being charged or tried, according to RSF.

And under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, the state of free speech has drastically worsened in China, where 41 journalists are imprisoned, per CPJ. Many media workers detained there were arrested after making coerced confessions, RSF notes.

Two Reuters reporters have now spent more than a week behind bars in Myanmar. Burmese officials apprehended Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on Dec. 12, after the two men had been invited to meet with police officials in the city of Yangon. 

The journalists had been covering the conflict in the state of Rakhine, where hundreds of thousands of the Rohingya Muslim minority have fled to escape violent, state-sponsored persecution. The pair were taken into custody for allegedly intending “to send important security documents regarding security forces in Rakhine State to foreign agencies abroad,” according to Myanmar’s information ministry. They face charges under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, with a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.

The U.S. embassy in Myanmar called for the immediate release of the journalists, following their “highly irregular” arrests.

“These arrests come amid a widening crackdown which is having a grave impact on the ability of journalists to cover a story of vital global importance,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative.

Journalists Held Hostage 

Forty-four professional journalists are being held hostage by armed groups around the world, in addition to seven citizen journalists and three media workers ― a modest increase from last year’s figures, RSF reports.

They are all trapped in war zones: 29 in Syria, 12 in Yemen, 11 in Iraq and two in Ukraine. Extremist groups like the so-called Islamic State and al-Qaeda are responsible for dozens of abductions. ISIS lost major ground in Iraq and Syria this year, and it is unclear what happened to the reporters being held hostage in the group’s former strongholds of Mosul and Raqqa. 

The exact number of journalists in captivity is difficult to calculate, RSF noted, because their families and colleagues often prefer not to report their disappearance for fear of disrupting negotiations and delaying their release.

As best the organization can determine, three journalists in Syria have been held there for more than five years: U.S. reporter Austin Tice, Jordanian journalist Bashar al-Kadumi and British journalist John Cantlie, who has been used by his ISIS captors as a tool for media propaganda.

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[cashcounts]

Social Media and the Fight to Save Iraq’s Past—and Future

On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proclaimed victory in the bloody struggle to free Mosul from the brutal grip of Islamic State. The nearly nine-month battle for Iraq’s second-largest city cost 7,000 civilian lives and wounded 20,000. Almost 1 million more fled from their homes to outlying refugee camps. The climactic final month of the struggle reduced much of the old western quarter of Mosul to rubble. Its narrow ancient streets were devastated by wave after wave of Islamic State bombs, Iraqi artillery shells, and hundreds of coalition airstrikes. Besides leveling nearly 500 buildings in the old quarter, the fighting inflicted damage on dozens of historic mosques, churches, shrines, and cemeteries.

Dozens of buildings burn in the Old City of Mosul on July 3, 2017.

The Battle of Mosul was the final bitter endgame of three years’ occupation of the city by Islamic State militants. “During their first 16 months here,” says Ali al-Jaboori, an archaeologist at the University of Mosul, “Islamic State destroyed a total of over 245 archaeological sites, Islamic mosques, Christian churches, and other religious shrines. These were places where the people of the city had visited and worshipped for centuries—an essential part of their daily lives and culture.”

The most notorious attacks, recorded in videos that triggered worldwide shock and outrage in 2015, showed I.S. operatives sledgehammering 2,000-year-old statues and reliefs in the Mosul Museum and blowing up and bulldozing the ancient Mesopotamian palace of Nimrud south of the city. With its YouTube videos, I.S. turned their attacks into spectacles that won them global publicity and acted as powerful tools to recruit would-be jihadists from around the world.

Today, social and online media are vital for tracking the continuing loss of cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria—whether through deliberate demolition or looting, battle damage, or hasty rebuilding of devastated neighborhoods. Reliable information is hard to come by. The government in Baghdad imposes frequent media blackouts, while access to many areas is still impossible or risky for outside journalists and heritage workers. In this humanitarian emergency, beset by political chaos and uncertainty, information posted online by local, on-the-ground observers has become a crucial source for tracking the ongoing toll of destruction.

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service gather outside the destroyed gate of the Al-Nuri Mosque while others inspect the interiors, in the Old City of Mosul on July 2, 2017.

Social media is also playing a positive role as the people of Mosul return to piece together their lives amidst the rubble. In the devastated villages surrounding the city, refugee families are already banding together to rebuild historic shrines and ancient places of worship, in some cases even before basic services such as running water and electricity are restored. Proudly recorded in Facebook and Twitter posts, these volunteer rebuilding projects are reasserting the presence and identity of ethnic minorities persecuted and enslaved by I.S.

Eyes in Space, Bloggers on the Ground

The fate of the region’s rich legacy from the past is not simply a matter of academic concern for outside archaeologists and historians. While western media has focused on the destruction of high-profile sites like Palmyra and Nimrud, I.S. has mainly targeted more recent religious structures, from medieval to modern. In Mosul, the vast majority of the sites they destroyed were places of active worship by today’s faith communities—the Sunni, Shiite, and Sufi Muslims, Orthodox, Catholic, and Assyrian Christians, Jews, and Yazidis, who have shared this multi-ethnic city for more than eight centuries. I.S. singled out Mosul landmarks widely beloved by many communities and creeds, such as the tomb of the prophet Jonah whose story appears in both the Koran and the Bible, and the famous “leaning” al-Hadba Minaret, blown up as a spiteful gesture in the final days of the battle. “What I.S. carried out in Mosul was systematic cultural cleansing,” says archaeologist Michael Danti. “In their relentless targeting of heritage sites and places of worship, they set out to manipulate and destroy the cultural identity and diversity of the city’s population.”

ISIS destroyed this cemetery in the town of Qayyarah, about 35 miles south of Mosul. This photograph was taken on November 10, 2016.

Danti is principal director of American Schools of Oriental Research Cultural Heritage Initiatives—or ASOR CHI, a small team of archaeologists and image specialists based at Boston University supported by the U.S. State Department. Since August 2014, ASOR has carried out intensive monitoring and reporting on the status of ancient sites in Syria and Iraq, as well as providing training and logistical support for heritage workers in these embattled countries. For its monthly reports, the team draws mainly on high-resolution satellite photography of the Middle East provided by the commercial operator DigitalGlobe. In addition, ASOR’s efforts have been aided by an online crowd-sourced platform known as TerraWatchers, developed at UC San Diego under a special grant from the university. Based on Google Earth, the initiative trains student volunteers in analyzing satellite imagery and has so far recorded nearly 7,000 incidents of damage to Iraq’s ancient sites. Overall, ASOR CHI has reported a minimum of 1,300 such incidents since its work began in August 2014.

Satellite eyes in space offer a crucial advantage, according to ASOR satellite image specialist Susan Penacho. “On aerial photos, the pattern of blast damage is revealing,” she says. “It’s usually evident whether the damage has been inflicted by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes or by explosives set off by I.S. inside a building.”

Take the case of Mosul’s iconic leaning minaret. Built in 1172, the al-Hadba Minaret’s historical connections made it highly significant to jihadists. It was from the adjoining mosque that I.S. first proclaimed the creation of a new “caliphate,” the Islamic State, in July 2014, a few weeks after seizing Mosul. Facing defeat in June 2017, with Iraqi commandos closing in to within 50 yards of the mosque, I.S. set off explosives that obliterated the site. Then I.S. released a video blaming its destruction on a coalition airstrike. “It was out of character for them not to take credit and boast about the destruction of a major ancient site,” Danti says. “But their real motive in this case was surely to prevent this highly symbolic place from being used to announce the liberation of the city and the defeat of I.S.”  Within 24 hours, satellite imagery was released showing a pattern of blast damage that could only have been caused by bombs planted inside the ancient structure.

The leaning al-Hadba Minaret of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, seen here in 2013 before ISIS destroyed it.

Yet the view from space has limitations. Satellite photography fails to capture damage to the walls or interiors of buildings, while cloud cover and smoke from fires, sometimes deliberately set by I.S. to obscure imagery, pose additional problems. All these factors make local social media postings and blogs, often compiled by journalists and activists in Iraq and Syria at considerable risk, increasingly vital to ASOR’s efforts.

“It’s become a huge task. When we first started,” Danti says, “it was fairly easy. One person could get through all this online material in about three or four hours each day. Today, besides a full-time research assistant, we have two or three part-time researchers as well as a handful volunteers, all of them going through Twitter and Facebook feeds, online news sites, and particularly bloggers in the conflict zone. The challenge is to drill down to find reliable primary sources among all the copying of posts, false reports, and deliberate fabrications.”

One of the toughest “fake news” stories to refute, Danti says, concerned the objects destroyed by I.S. during its 2015 rampage in the Mosul Museum. These were said to have been copies and not the original objects, which had been safely removed to storage. Who first started the story is hard to pin down but, perhaps to save face, officials in Baghdad confirmed that the objects had indeed been safely evacuated. ASOR CHI soon heard from its contacts in Mosul that nearly all the objects were, in fact, the original exhibits; while a few of the smashed sculptures visible in the video show modern plaster and iron reinforcements, these were repairs made to genuine antiquities. But, by then, it was too late to debunk the story before it spread.

“Reports like this often start as tweets or blog posts, get picked up by online news sites in Baghdad or Damascus that are typically in a hurry and don’t verify content, until, before you know it, they’re appearing on CNN and BBC. This story spread like wildfire through the online universe because it was what people wanted to hear. It made them feel better to think that I.S. had been duped. But in reality, this was a war crime that destroyed the patrimony of the people of Mosul.”

Minorities Under Threat

A current special focus for ASOR CHI’s team is a vast region surrounding Mosul known as the Nineveh Plains. Here, Iraq’s two main Christian groups, the Assyrians and Yazidis, have worshipped for centuries in dozens of small village churches and temples. Elements of Yazidi faith incorporate pre-Christian rites and beliefs. A major Yazidi shrine at Lalish incorporates a 4,000-year-old Sumerian temple, and here, in 1162 AD, a tomb was built for the “Peacock Angel,” a venerated holy being to whom God is said to have entrusted the world after creation. Their unorthodox beliefs have long made the Yazidis a target for persecution. I.S. brands them as “devil worshippers,” and after capturing Mosul in 2014, I.S. forces advanced across the Nineveh Plains and launched ferocious attacks against Yazidi and Assyrian villages.  According to the U.N., at least 5,000 Yazidis were murdered, some beheaded or burned alive, and 5,000-7,000 women and children were abducted and sold as slaves. Many thousands more fled to refugee camps in northern Iraq.

A girl, displaced by fighting in Mosul, steps out of a refugee tent in Iraq’s Zelikan camp.

“Few of the historic village churches and temples in the Nineveh Plains have ever been properly photographed or catalogued,” says Marina Gabriel, program coordinator of ASOR CHI, “but the identity of Christian communities is deeply tied to these structures.” Scanning online news and Twitter posts, Gabriel and her colleagues are tracking the return of handfuls of families to their devastated villages, where they are starting to rebuild their shattered cultural heritage. “They have help from Christian aid organizations, but there’s no government money,” Gabriel says, “so families pool their own funds and labor to patch up churches or rebuild shrines. It’s a crucial way for them to reassert their presence in this region that’s seen so much division and conflict.” By this summer, for instance, about 200 families had returned from refugee camps to the neighboring villages of Ba’shiqa and Bahzani, 19 miles east of Mosul. Most of the streets are still unpaved, electricity is sporadic, and there’s no running water. Dozens of I.S. booby traps and unexploded U.S. ordnance have yet to be cleared from wrecked streets and buildings. But by late June, local volunteers had already rebuilt five Yazidi shrines in Bahzani and were constructing or restoring 16 more in the two villages.

Restoring the Past, Reclaiming the Shrines

Despite Mosul’s liberation, the future of northern Iraq’s religious minorities and their historic shrines and monuments looks shaky. I.S. was expelled from Mosul by a temporary coalition of Shia and Sunni Iraqi security forces, Kurdish troops, and both Shia and Christian militias, which now control different neighborhoods in and around the city. With I.S. gone, fears run high of continuing sectarian killings and attacks on shrines and churches. These tensions are inflamed by social media in Iraq, where a dramatic recent surge in divisive rumors and fake news has been noted. But responsible bloggers and reporters are fighting back: in May, a diverse group of 30 Mosul journalists met to discuss the setting up of a local media network dedicated to independent reporting. Personal blogs such as Mosul Eye and 2020 Mosul, together with online news sites such as Niqash, Al Shahid, and Iraqi News, also aim to investigate false claims and report even-handedly.

Meanwhile, with nearly 1 million of Mosul’s population still displaced and around 200,000 homeless, the cost of cleaning up and rebuilding Mosul has been estimated at upward of $100 billion. “In devastated cities like Mosul and Aleppo,” ASOR’s Danti says, “where the toll of destruction is so staggering, the biggest threat posed to heritage now is development: the drive to rebuild hastily and simply bulldoze historic sites that should be restored.”

Today, The sixth #Yazidian dome, demolished by #ISIS, is completed in #Bahzani to be the banner of the sun shining without support http://pic.twitter.com/GAC3mDGZ7y

— ممتاز ابراهيم (@mumtazibrahm) June 16, 2017

As NOVA Next reported last year, 3D digital imaging offers a promising new tool for restoring major monuments and World Heritage sites that were well-photographed and documented before their destruction. Allison Cuneo, ASOR CHI’s Program Manager for Iraq, predicts that “there will be a big focus on rebuilding ‘celebrity’ sites like Palmyra or the Al-Hadba Minaret, where the act of restoration will carry important symbolism for Iraqi authorities as they try to reestablish normality.” University of Mosul archaeologist Al-Jaboori agrees that digital technology and the completeness of excavation records will enable sites like the palace of Nimrud to be restored. But he believes that the resulting copy will never carry the same meaning for the people of Mosul. “The special materials, the special construction methods can never be fully replicated,” he says. “It will be fake. You will feel it’s not the original.” Beyond the handful of ‘celebrity’ sites, the fate of the hundreds of destroyed mosques, churches, and shrines in Iraq and Syria and the intact monuments that survive remains an open question.

Yet, against the odds, some communities are already finding ways to reclaim the past. On June 16, the #bahzani Twitter feed posted striking photos of Yazidis climbing to the top of the sixth temple they have restored in the village among the many demolished by I.S. They proudly hoist a gilded star to the top of the dome, standing for the “banner of the sun shining without support,” a gleaming symbol of hope and renewal for a people who have suffered so much.

[itsnelkabelka]

Speech: Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon's speech at the launch of the 2016 Annual Human Rights Report

Thank you Richard.

Excellencies, Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, colleagues, welcome to the launch of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Report for 2016. It is a great pleasure to see friends and colleagues who I have worked alongside for many years. It is always a moment of trepidation to see a former boss sitting in the front row. I look forward to working with Sir Eric Pickles on the important issue of tackling anti-Semitism, which remains a clear priority for this Government.

Promoting and protecting human rights and individual freedoms is a priority for this Government, our Prime Minister and for me personally.

I was greatly honoured to be appointed by Prime Minister Theresa May in June Foreign and Commonwealth Minister with responsibility for Human Rights, as well as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. I pay tribute to my predecessor Baroness Anelay for her sterling work on these agendas.

Human rights are at the heart of our work here at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, be it at home or abroad. Our Annual Report reviews our progress in promoting and protecting human rights over the last 12 months, and highlights some of our successes. It shows that, thanks to our work with international organisations such as the UN and the Commonwealth, as well as with countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom has been instrumental in bringing about real change.

Today I would like to set out our priorities for the year ahead. But first I want to say a few words about how we approach our human rights work.

Working internationally

Working internationally is absolutely vital. The challenges are immense, as our Annual Report clearly shows. That is why we work closely with our international partners to coordinate our efforts and maximise our impact.

As Minister for the Commonwealth, I am committed to working through that institution and within our diverse family of nations to share best practice, build capacity and make the Commonwealth a relevant and revitalised institution with real world impact. Next April’s Summit in London will be a key opportunity to take stock of our achievements and together – all of us – build a vision to take the organisation forward.

As Minister for the United Nations, I will ensure that we continue to use our membership on the UN Human Rights Council to speak out about human rights violations around the world, and to take the lead on resolutions such as the one condemning human rights violations and abuses in Syria.

We will continue to work with our European partners – and aim to enjoy a deep and special partnership with the European Union once we leave. Our vote to leave the European Union was in no way a rejection of the values we share. Our departure will, as the Prime Minister has said, see us become even more global and internationalist in action and in spirit.

Let me turn now to several priority areas that I will be pursuing in my new role.

Modern Slavery

The first is modern slavery. There are currently thought to be around 46 million victims of this evil trade worldwide. It is an illegal industry – if you can call it such – which generates profits of some $150 billion per year – bigger than the entire US banking sector.

But there are practical things we can do. In my visit to Ghana last week, I met the young gentleman James Kofi Annan, a former child slave. I was deeply disturbed to hear of the horrors experienced by victims of child exploitation in the fishing industry, and as a father of three, it hits home in a very personal way. James was sold by his own family into slavery as a child fisherman age six. For the seven years that followed, he worked everyday from 8am to 3am. He was tortured and abused, but considers himself to be one of the lucky ones to survive this ordeal. James founded and now runs Challenging Heights, an NGO dedicated to preventing child trafficking, reducing child slavery and promoting children’s rights.

Having heard James’ harrowing story, I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, to find out more about the steps Ghana is taking to address both the criminal activity and poverty that drives this awful crime. It is a testament to the constructive approach Ghana is taking that James – a former child slave who has suffered such terrible abuse – was able to sit alongside representatives of other NGOs across the table from the Minister and participate in the discussion. We want to see that constructive engagement with civil society in every country, and will continue to be vocal in encouraging it.

More than 200 years ago, fellow Wimbledonian William Wilberforce took a courageous stand to lead Britain in the fight against slavery. Today we require that same level of strength, courage and commitment to root out and bring to justice the present day human traffickers and slave drivers that continue to exploit and abuse some of the most vulnerable in our society.

As you will know, ending modern slavery is an issue also close to our Prime Minister’s heart. She championed it as Home Secretary, and oversaw the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act in 2015, a major step forward. Working with international partners, our goal is to end this modern slavery by 2030. We are leading the way and I am proud to serve on the Prime Minister’s Implementation Task Force, as we seek to build an international coalition and cooperation to drive global change on this issue.

I am also pleased to be leading the work of the dedicated Modern Slavery Unit here at the Foreign Office, as part of a cross Whitehall campaign. Our global network has a vital role to play in translating political will into practical action on the ground, much like I saw in Ghana. I was able to brief our heads of mission on our high level of ambition when they returned to London for Leadership Conference earlier this month.

FoRB

The second area, and one that is a personal priority for me, is our work on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). As the Prime Minister said at a 10 Downing Street reception earlier this year, “We must reaffirm our determination to stand up for people of all religions to practice their beliefs in peace and safety”. Working in collaboration with faith leaders is key to this effort, and I am delighted His Grace Bishop Angaelos has joined us on today’s panel to speak about his work in this area.

The Report describes our diplomatic efforts to safeguard Freedom of Religion or Belief for Rohingya Muslims and Christians in Burma, Ahmadiyya Muslims and Christians in Pakistan, people of the Baha’i faith in Iran, as well as faith groups in other countries, be it China, Russia, Indonesia or Sudan, to name a few.

The report also highlights our groundbreaking conference last year, which explored how inclusive societies could build resilience against violent extremism. Building on that strong foundation, I want to take a fresh look at how the UK can lead internationally on these two mutually enforcing areas of work. I want to ensure that we stand up not just against persecution, but to secure full respect for the human and citizen rights of minority communities around the world.

Women and Girls’ Rights

Turning to the rights of women and girls, improving gender equality internationally is high on the Foreign Secretary’s agenda, and indeed it is high on mine too. The Foreign Secretary’s commitment was demonstrated most recently by his appointment of Joanna Roper as his first Special Envoy for Gender Equality. We want to help bring an end to violence and discrimination and to ensure women and girls everywhere around the world enjoy equal opportunities. I will be working closely with Joanna in the coming months in pursuit of that objective.

The scale of challenge is huge. Our Report shows that 31 million girls of primary school age have never been to school. One in three women around the world suffer violence or sexual abuse in their lifetime. 200 million women have undergone genital mutilation. These statistics are frankly appalling. Women and girls suffer both immediate and long-term effects, and this is to the great detriment of the whole of society.

I was hugely honoured and humbled to be appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and in this role, will be working hard to promote our campaign to end the stigma associated with sexual violence. After the trauma of sexual violence, survivors face the equal horror of rejection by those they rely on most for support in their rehabilitation. This must change. I will present our new ‘Principles for Global Action’ at the UN General Assembly, and will call upon the international community to join our campaign.

LGBT

I’ve already talked about our work to end discrimination and persecution based on faith and gender, but our work on equalities also extends to the important issue of protecting and promoting the rights of LGBT communities. Around the world, 72 countries continue to criminalise consensual same sex relations. Our Report outlines the United Kingdom’s efforts to support the legal, cultural and social change required to make LGBT equality a reality the world over. We will continue to stand up for LGBT rights - as the Foreign Secretary did recently in response to the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya.

FCO Human Rights Programme Funds

Lobbying and advocacy on human rights are the bread and butter of what our diplomats do, but our efforts are also backed up by financial assistance. In 2016 the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy and the new Rules-Based International System Fund were worth over £20 million overall. They supported over 160 projects in more than 80 countries. The Report describes projects in some of our 30 human rights priority countries.

That list of priority countries remains under constant review as we seek to target our human rights efforts most effectively in a changing world, but we continue to believe long term, constructive engagement to offer the best chance of success across the board.

Conclusion

I hope that what I have said today reassures you that the Government stands with you in your efforts, and that the United Kingdom will remain a committed, consistent and passionate advocate for universal human rights. We need to build upon our work and become bolder and stronger, not just in condemning abuse and disregard for human rights, but calling for the principles of absolute justice, as we seek to protect, promote and strengthen the rights of all communities, wherever they may be in the world. Sometimes this will be best achieved by publicly calling out flagrant abuses of human rights; other times firm and clear private messaging will be the most effective method to achieve our aims. On other occasions, it will be a blend of both. But most important and critical to this work is your partnership, your advice, your thoughts, ideas and reactions to the report. I look forward to collaborating with you, as we strive to change the world for the better, for everyone. Thank you.

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[newstfionline]

Turkey’s Worldwide Monitoring of Suspected Gülen Supporters

By Hasnain Kazim, Der Spiegel, March 31, 2017

The Turkish Embassy in Tokyo took the easier route: In a secret report, it listed 15 schools believed to be associated with Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen. The list included the schools’ names, Japanese addresses, names of the school heads, email addresses, telephone numbers and the dates of their establishment. The list filled four pages. It provided no further comments, analysis or criticism.

The Tokyo staff was unusually perfunctory with its sparse list, at least compared to Turkish representatives in other parts of the world, which monitor fellow Turkish citizens by the hundreds, listing in secret documents rumors and family ties to alleged terrorist sympathizers.

The result is a more than 100-page compendium of suspected enemies of the state around the world--an imposing document that provides evidence of global espionage activities against suspected members of the Gülen movement. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed Gülen for last year’s failed coup attempt and his alleged followers have been the subject of widespread persecution in Turkey.

The diplomatic cables contain information collected by Turkish diplomatic outposts in 35 countries. Turkish embassies in Nigeria, Australia, Kenya and Saudi Arabia have all reported on the schools in those countries they believe to be affiliated with the Gülen movement. They document the organizations in which Gülen supporters are active and the media they write for. They also outline the relationships of the alleged supporters to each country’s government. SPIEGEL reviewed the documents together with its partners within the consortium European Investigative Collaborations (EIC).

The request to compile the files came directly from Ankara. On Sept. 20, 2016, the Turkish government’s religious agency, Diyanet, sent out an order asking that “detailed reports about ‘Fetö’s’ organizational structures, activities and educational institutions” be sent back home.

Fetö is the Turkish abbreviation for Gülenist Terror Organization, the label Turkey’s government applied to the group following the July 15 putsch attempt. For years, Erdogan has accused the movement of infiltrating the state and assuming important posts in the judiciary, police, military and the school system and erecting parallel structures that would allow it to ultimately topple Erdogan.

In the months that have passed since the coup attempt, over 130,000 government employees--including judges, prosecutors, police officers, soldiers and teachers--have been fired or suspended from their jobs because of alleged ties to the organization. It has not, however, been conclusively proven that Gülen was, in fact, behind the botched putsch.

Behind the movement is an opaque network that is active internationally and was established by Gülen, who has been living in exile in the United States since 1999. The 75-year-old was once considered a close confidant to Erdogan, but he ultimately amassed too much power and became the subject of persecution himself.

In his desire to convince the world that Gülen is a criminal, Erdogan has been demanding that the U.S. extradite Gülen for months. That also likely explains why the Turkish government is currently collecting information from all over the world. It needs incriminating evidence in order to substantiate the allegations against Gülen.

Earlier this week, German public broadcasters NDR and WDR, together with the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, reported that Turkey’s MIT intelligence service provided Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, with a file on suspected Gülen supporters in Germany that included detailed lists of names, mobile and landline numbers and secretly taken photos of the people in question. The move is a clear indication that Turkey considers its espionage activities to be legal.

Most of the embassies also seemed more than willing to comply with the order from Ankara. Diplomats in Nouakchott in Mauretania, for example, reported that Fetö there is largely active in the education sector, in trade and in the media branch.

In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, diplomats reported that a school believed to be affiliated with Gülen has been demanding “between $6,500 and $15,000” in tuition fees per year. Among the school’s pupils, the report claims, are children of the president, government ministers, ministry officials and foreign diplomats. Turkish diplomats also reported that the Gülen movement deliberately seeks access to the rich and powerful. The Turkish ambassador, according to the report, has repeatedly demanded that action be taken against the infiltration of the educational institution, but that the Tasmanian side has taken no action.

In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, a Turkish diplomat wrote, “Since 1994, Fetö has been exploiting Turkey’s good reputation in Mongolia and the religious values of our Muslim brothers. This organization is like a Trojan horse and is prepared to do anything to achieve its secret agenda.”

Even the smallest of observations seem suspicious. The Turkish consul general in Salzburg even sees a hostile act in the swimming course for women offered by the Akaysa organization, which it believes to be Gülen-aligned. He wrote that the association had succeeded “through its education, cultural and charitable activities and events” in drawing attention to itself. “Through feigned interest in the problems of the people” and other “positive-sounding activities” the “terrorist organization Fetö has attempted to create a good impression among our country’s people,” he wrote.

In Switzerland, a Turkish diplomat observed that Gülen sympathizers had “not been turning up in our mosques--neither during the prayer times nor during Friday prayers,” since the failed putsch.

When questioned about a report compiled by the Turkish Embassy in Sweden, the Turkish ambassador confirmed after initial hesitation that his embassy had written the cable for the religious authority Diyanet. He said information had been gathered about Gülen-aligned schools that had voiced criticism of the Turkish government. The ambassador described the Gülen movement as a “cancerous growth.”

The documents also clearly prove that the Gülen movement maintains a global network that includes universities, schools, child-care centers, media, trade associations, aid organizations and youth groups. What the Turkish government hasn’t succeeded in explaining so far is the alleged link between the Gülen movement and terrorism.

Despite this, parents in many countries have since pulled their children out of Gülen schools out of fear they will be subject to abuse from other members of local Turkish communities or that they will be banned from re-entering Turkey. In Belgium, a school bus was even set on fire.

The furthest-reaching allegations in the embassy reports are directed at the media. A report from the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen claims that the Gülen movement operates newspapers in the country that have published “insulting and derisive news and articles against our honored president and against Turkey” in an attempt “to create a negative image of Turkey and to influence public opinion.” It noted that the coup attempt and the “people’s battle for democracy” was not the focus of the reporting, but rather the “fired government employees.” Individual journalists are cited by name, including Hasan Cücük, who works in Denmark and has now discovered that his name appears on the list as an enemy of Turkey.

“We assume that these people are threatened with arrest as soon as they travel to Turkey,” says Austrian Green Party politician Peter Pilz. “Even the fact that they now have Austrian or German passports is insufficient to protect them.” Pilz wants to establish an information and research center on the Erdogan regime to which people can turn if they are being spied on or threatened. “We need to apply legal means to crack down on the spying structures of the Turkish embassies and organizations,” the politician says.

Since the coup attempt in July, the number of arrests of individuals arriving at the Istanbul Airport has increased dramatically. Those affected, including both Turks and citizens of other countries who have spoken critically of Erdogan, suspect that they were denounced by name. The Foreign Ministry in Berlin has confirmed that the month of February alone saw at least 10 incidents in which Germans were refused entry into Turkey.

In Germany, the Turkish-Islamic umbrella organization DITIB is suspected of having placed Erdogan opponents in the country under observation. Several imams are believed to have spied on members of their congregations and six have been withdrawn from Germany after the spying allegations emerged.

There are similar suspicions of mosque associations in 37 other countries. In Germany, Volker Beck, a member of parliament with the Green Party, filed a legal complaint requesting an investigation after the Turkish-language newspaper Cumhuriyet, which is critical of Erdogan’s government, first published an article about the spying in Germany. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office is now investigating.

In Austria, officials are likewise investigating similar allegations against the Turkish-Islamic umbrella association ATIB. Many of these associations are led by the Turkish Embassy’s religion attachés. “We are investigating the suspicion that actions were taken on orders from the government in Turkey,” says one investigator in Vienna.

[militant-holy-knight]

Is Christian Terrorism Comparable to Islamic Terrorism?

Terrorism is terrorism regardless of ideology, but we need to have a realistic perspective.

Since the Christchurch mosque attacks, I’ve seen certain people (news outlets and pages on Youtube) now saying Christians fundamentalists are actually more dangerous than Muslim fundamentalists. Having watched the footage myself, I was completely disgusted at the massacre and I can safely say those were the actions of a complete monster. However, I need to address some false equivalences made by people who totally have no agenda to push.

The first false equivalence we see it being made is the Crusades, whose name was first sullied by Protestant Christians attacking Catholicism, then by Enlightenment philosophers and has since being co-opted by liberals at large to bash Christians for their violence. What is interesting is that everytime you hear the Crusades being used as an argument, they tend to ignore the rapid advance that Islam took over North Africa and the Middle-East, both of which had a significant Christian presence before being conquered by Muslims. In under one century, the three Christian outposts of Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria fell to Islamic rule with only Constantinople remaining (before its eventual fall to the Ottoman Turks) and Rome itself (which still stands to this day), which were under attack before the Crusades were even called.

The purpose of the Crusades was initially to assist the Roman Emperor Alexios I Comnenos against the Seljuk Turks, but it later evolved into retaking the Holy Land which was taken over by invaders centuries ago. Let me ask you this: three important Christian seats were invaded with no provocation. How many times has Mecca and Medina being invaded during the Crusades? Or ever in time by Christians? And no, American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia’s border to Iraq in the Gulf War does not count since the Saudis invited the Americans to guard them from invading Iraqi forces, which Osama bin Laden loved to pretend that the Arabian Penisula and the two mosques of Mecca and Medina (which they were nowhere near close to) were “under occupation”.

The second false equivalence is pointing out the existence of the KKK as if they are somehow just as bad as ISIS. I want to stress I am in no way a sympathizer to the KKK since I am a Roman Catholic and a Brazilian, and I want to add that at some point in the past the KKK was actually very dangerous, ironically not because it was considered a terrorist organization, but because it was viewed as an legitimate and respectable organization. Many people don’t know this but in 1997, they attempted to blow up an oil refinery in Fort Worth. Admittedly this was not racially-motivated, but actually an distraction so they could rob an bank, but if one of their members did not got cold feet at the last minute, the death toll would have easily topped 9/11 with some estimates going as far as 30,000. The key difference is that the KKK has been largely defanged, has less than 500 active members while ISIS could extend their threat as far way from their borders in Syria and Iraq into the Philippines and Russia.

A third false equivalence that is even more baffling is comparing the United States in general as being a terrorist state because of its interventionist policies. Now you can shit on the USA for many valid reasons, but accusing them of being some Christian empire that is waging war on Islam is nonsense. Unlike what jihadists like to believe, its not in the USA interest to “force Christianity down on Muslims”, but rather “democracy” (a secular concept) as the meme goes, which in theory should be an stable government that works towards normalizing and healing their country but in practice, its just placing their stooges into power that will play ball with them. And that is when law and order break down into chaos, sectarianism or mafia rule as seen with Iraq or Libya. 

Here is an reality check for you: as of the most recent Global Terrorist Index, the top four more dangerous terrorist groups are: ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab and Taliban. All of these groups are Islamist in nature. The report indicates they have been in decline because of counter-jihadist activities, but back in 2015, there was an 80% of increase in terrorism (which incidentally coincides where ISIS was at the peak of their power in Syria). Nevertheless, they still remains a dangerous threat that still left a lasting impact in civil society. The series of attacks they also carried out in 2015 in Western Europe were practically nothing compared to what the top countries like Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

With all that said about Islamic terrorism I also acknowledge that Christian terrorism is no less of an threat, specially by those targeted by it. These groups do exist right now, though sadly very few in the West are actually aware of them because they are locked into local conflicts that hasn’t received much attention by the media. I want to name three examples of Christian terrorist groups operating right now that I believe come close to committing atrocities in the same scale as their Islamic counterparts:

The Russian Orthodox Army

Arguably the closest Christian equivalent to ISIS, they are a militant group operating in Ukraine that makes up part of the Donbass separatists and are backed by Russia (much like ISIS is financed by several donors in the Gulf States). Much like ISIS follow Wahhabi Islam which persecutes all other religions and Islamic denominations like Shias, Sufis and Alawites, this group obviously only recognizes the Russian Patriarchate and persecutes other Christian denominations including Ukrainian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and Protestants because they are viewed as obstacles to uniting with Russia. As of the time of writing, the War in Donbass still persists and this group is still active.

The Lord’s Resistance Army

Arguably the most well-known example considering their exposure by the internet campaign Kony 2012. Founded by Catholic altar boy Joseph Kony, the LRA is an heterodox Christian group that seeks to establish an theonomy in Uganda based on the Ten Commandments, though many observers have questioned the group’s actual ideology, if they could actually were actually Christian fundamentalists or Acholi nationalists. This group is infamous for kidnapping children to be either child soldiers or sex slaves, and Kony himself is believed to have an harem of 50 wives, engaged in cannibalism and many more horrid things. Fortunately, the LRA has been largely neutralized and while Kony himself is still at large and could have been anywhere in South and North Sudan or the Central African Republic, he is down to what is believed to 100 soldiers and no longer represents a threat to Uganda.

The anti-Balaka in Central African Republic

A loose coalition of Christians that originally created self-defense groups after the CAR’s President Françoise Bozize was ousted by the Islamist rebels known as the Séleka lead by Michael Djtodia, who became the country’s first Muslim president. Though Djotdia tried to settle the transition peacefully by dissolving the Séleka, his men refused to disband and began butchering and raping their way across the country targeting their Christian population, who were sedentary due to their status as farmers unlike the Muslims who were nomadic. With Djotodia unable to make his men stand down, the Christians formed self-defense militias known as the anti-balaka coordinated by Levy Yakete. The anti-balaka began carrying out a series of attacks against the Muslim population in retaliation for the violence against their people with one Christian eating the leg of his Muslim victim. Their most recent deadliest attack happened in May 2017 when anti-balaka assailants killed over 107 Muslims in Bagassou, with this attack actually making it in the last position of the Top 10 terrorist attacks in the Global Terrorism Index report of 2018.

While all of these examples are horrific in their own right, one difference I observed between Christian and Islamic terrorism: the former tends to be more isolated and focused in their own domains while Islamic terrorism tends to extend their reach outside their area of operations. While Islamists are compelled to wage violent jihad against the infidel wherever they are and they target Westerners because they are viewed as aggressors, Christian terrorists seem more grounded in nationalism (such as the ROA and the LRA) or expel the “occupiers” out of their lands (such as the anti-balaka) - even the LRA didn’t seem interested in expanding their Christian theocracy like ISIS would have done. This isn’t me trying to rationalize or justify their actions: I am merely explaining this is a reason why you are more likely to fear an ISIS attack than an LRA attack, specially if you are an Westerner. The problem why Islamic terrorism is such insidious threat can be summed up in three reasons:

Many of these groups are backed by foreigner supporters, if not outright state sponsored to fight a proxy war against their rivals. Whether if its Saudi Arabia financing ISIS to fight against Shia militants backed by Iran, Turkey backing the FSA to destroy the Kurds and the Assad government or Pakistan financing both the Taliban or Kashmir terrorists to fight against Afghanistan or India. This guarantees the region will be a hotspot for terrorist activity. 

Islamic countries don’t have the means to put down terrorism by themselves. The Afghan government has been fighting a forever war with the Taliban and the key reason why the USA hasn’t pulled out yet is because they will collapse allowing the Taliban to take power again, making all their effort for nothing. Saudi Arabia has been intervening in Yemen for a long time to oust the Houthi rebels, but they are nowhere near close to winning. It was only by outside intervention that the Iraqi and Syrian governments managed to survive collapsing under ISIS. I will admit this isn’t exclusive to Islamic countries, but the Third World in general since it took decades for Uganda to put down the LRA.

In the eyes of many observers, both Muslims and Westerners, they appear justified. Either because they portray themselves as the brave mujhadeen for standing up against their oppressors, an alternative to failed governments or an offer at redemption for Muslims that lost their way. Of course, anyone reading this can denounce them individually, but remember that the people of the Gaza Strip voted Hamas into power and that there people who will defend the Taliban because they oppose the USA.

This video also shows something really depressing that out of the richest terrorist organizations in the world, only two of them are non-Islamic and some of the ones that do are financed by states like Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and others. Compared to the Christian examples I listed, the only one backed by a foreign country is the Russian Orthodox Army just like all the separatists are backed by the Putin government. Even though as of the time of writing, ISIS has since declined into power and will begin its insurgency campaign in earnest as other militant groups like al-Nusra are still operating in Syria and share the same twisted ideology as ISIS, though never managed to gain territory as fast as they had, I am pretty sure they are ready to continue fighting so long as Turkey insists in forcing a regime change in the Levant. 

As for the NZ terrorist himself, I have to really question his allegiance to Christianity. He used several historical references of clashes between Christianity and Islam, but he admitted being uncertain about being a Christian himself in his manifesto - what kind of fundamentalist is this? I’d expect at least to have picked out the most violent passages of the Bible to have actually made his point, but no - what he picked instead was an speech made by Pope Urban II calling for the First Crusade. He was more of an Cultural Christian - one that isn’t really religious, but still identifies with Christianity’s cultural heritage - which was incidentally something that Anders Brehvik identified himself as before changing his religion to an Odinist. 

What happened in New Zealand was an anomaly and the work of an madman, but lets not even pretend that justifies the UK government turning down an Iranian former Muslim turned Christian because “Christianity is a violent religion” in their view. And finally to close this off, call me when there is actually an ecumenical Christian equivalent of ISIS composed of Whites, Black, Asians and Latinos whose aim is to revive the Roman Empire like the caliphates that ISIS, al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab dreams of reviving.