'Largest Massacre of Christians in Syria' Ignored

Sadad - an ancient site in Syria that is mentioned in the Old Testament.

Sadad - where recently Christian massacres took place with hardly a mention in the western press.
Men and women were tortured and their bodies dumped into the wells. Apparently the jihadis made a video with English subtitles of those killed.

Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Homs and Hama, says,

What happened in Sadad is the most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two years and a half… 45 innocent civilians were martyred for no reason, and among them several women and children, many thrown into mass graves. Other civilians were threatened and terrorized. 30 were wounded and 10 are still missing. For one week, 1,500 families were held as hostages and human shields. Among them children, the elderly, the young, men and women…. All the houses of Sadad were robbed and property looted. The churches are damaged and desecrated, deprived of old books and precious furniture… What happened in Sadad is the largest massacre of Christians in Syria and the second in the Middle East, after the one in the Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Iraq, in 2010.

Sadad is a small town of 15,000 people, mostly Syriac Orthodox Christians, located 160 km north of Damascus. It has 14 churches and a monastery with four priests.

Apparently, this, and perhaps other violent acts, are not being covered by the west. The atrocities in Syria seem to have no end. Read More

Terror in Islam's Name Fuels Islamophobia: Turkish President Gul

Terror in Islam’s name fuels Islamophobia: Turkish President Gül

ISTANBUL

Islam might be the religion of ‘love, tolerance and reconciliation,’ but terrorism in the name of the faith gives ammunition to Islamophobes, President Abdullah Gül says, calling on the Muslim world to rectify the situation    

Turkish President Abdullah Gül (C) adresses Muslim countries’ represenatatives during yesterday’s COMCEC meeting held in Istanbul. AA photo
           

Turkish President Abdullah Gül has blamed terrorism in the name of Islam for soiling the faith’s image in the world and resulting in the growth of Islamophobia, while calling on Muslim countries to intensify their efforts to fight against prejudices against the religion.

“The deliberate negative propaganda activities and the violence and terrorist activities, which some evil people and circles exploiting our sacred Islamic values for their henious aims, have a big role in the perpetuation of this problem,” Gül said during his inaugural address yesterday at the Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (COMCEC) 29th session in Istanbul.

Islamophobia still remains a critical problem that instigates “groundless biases against Islam and Muslims,” Gül said, adding that all Islamic countries should etch the idea that “there is no room for terrorism in Islam” in everybody’s minds.“We must struggle against every movement that urges those who put Islam, a religion of love, tolerance and reconciliation, side by side with terrorism,” he said during the meeting.

The lack of education, spiritual emptiness, poverty and income inequality are what feed violent, militant movements, and governments should act to rectify these issues with determination, the president said.

Addressing representatives from Muslim nations during the main multilateral economic and commercial cooperation platform of the Islamic world, Gül referred to a study that concluded 21 of 57 member countries were ranked among the least developed countries.
 Read more

Arab Dismay and Russia's Chance during USA Weakness?

U.S.-Arab strains hand Russia chance to regain some Mideast clout

William Maclean and Michael Georgy

DUBAI/CAIRO — Reuters

 

Unfamiliar strains between Washington and its Arab allies have given Russia an opportunity to regain some lost influence in the Middle East, capture arms sales from U.S. competitors and enjoy the unusual spectacle of its old rival looking puny.
No one expects Moscow to challenge the United States as the dominant security guarantor in the Gulf. Nor will Washington cede its place as the main outside player in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Iran’s nuclear dispute or other regional issues.

But a perception that America is an increasingly reluctant regional policeman, perhaps because it is less concerned about Arab oil shocks thanks to its own growing output, stirs fears among some Arab rulers that it is no longer a reliable ally.

Arabs feel the balance of world power is changing, and perceptions of U.S. weakness as it withdraws from Iraq and Afghanistan mean Gulf Arabs in particular are hedging their bets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s resolute support for the Syrian leadership has won grudging respect, even among Gulf Arabs who strongly disagree with the Kremlin’s policy.

That means that Russia has a chance to restore some of the clout it has lost since the high water mark of Soviet influence in the 1950s and 1960s, when many newly independent Arab states turned to socialism and Moscow for foreign support.
That decline in the Kemlin’s sway accelerated after the end of the Cold War two decades ago, a development President Vladimir Putin is expected to do his utmost to reverse. Read more

Greek anger over Turkish Desire to turn Hagia Sophia into a Mosque - Again

Greece angered over Turkish Deputy PM’s Hagia Sophia remarks

ATHENS

The Greek Foreign Ministry has reacted angrily days after Turkish Deputy PM Bülent Arınç expressed his hope to see Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum be used as a mosque. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

The Greek Foreign Ministry has reacted angrily over a possible conversion of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque following statements from Turkish officials.

“The repeated statements from Turkish officials regarding the conversion of Byzantine Christian churches into mosques are an insult to the religious sensibilities of millions of Christians and are actions that are anachronistic and incomprehensible from a state that declares it wants to participate as a full member in the European Union, a fundamental principle of which is respect for religious freedom,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Nov. 18.

“Byzantine Christian churches are an intrinsic element of world cultural and religious heritage, and they should receive the necessary respect and protection,” it said.

The statement came days after Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç expressed his hope to see Hagia Sophia Museum be used as a mosque, while already calling it the “Hagia Sophia Mosque” while speaking to reporters.

“We currently stand next to the Hagia Sophia Mosque […] we are looking at a sad Hagia Sophia, but hopefully we will see it smiling again soon,” Arınç said in a speech during the opening ceremony of a new Carpet Museum, located adjacent to the ancient Hagia Sophia complex.

The status of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, with a number of campaigns to open it for Muslim prayers being initiated, despite suggestions that this would be disrespectful to the building’s past as a church.

November/19/2013

Egypt's Brotherhood is Falling Apart

Patrick Martin reports from Ismailia, Egypt, that the Brotherhood is in a state of collapse.

Read Here