₦airaland Forum

For millions of women in Turkey, life has just become more dangerous. And that puts the future of the entire country at risk.

At least one woman is killed nearly every single day in Turkey, usually by a family member or lover, with more than 400 such “femicides” on record last year alone.

Now Turkey’s government threatens to shut down an organization that has vowed to end this cycle of violence. In doing so, the ruling AKP party stands to further stamp its Islamist ideology into the body of the once-secular Turkish Republic.

Just as domestic violence itself often evolves gradually, the government’s attack on women in Turkey has unfolded over a period of years, moving in parallel with the slow dissolve of many of the country’s secular and democratic ideals. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had barely been elected to office in 2014, when he declared , “You cannot put women and men on an equal footing,” insisting that women were primarily suited to motherhood, as dictated by Islam. Since then, he has called for a new “pious generation,” and has increased the budget of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, to reach nearly 1.4 billion euros in 2021 — more than 20 times what it was when Erdogan became prime minister in 2002.

But lately, Erdogan’s efforts — both to oppress women and to promote Islamist ideology (the two often go hand-in-hand) — seem to be gaining speed.

A year ago, for instance, Erdogan withdrew from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women, claiming it “damaged traditional Turkish family values.”

Ironically, the treaty is known as the “Istanbul Convention,” so nicknamed after Turkey became the first signatory.

Unsurprisingly, the number of femicides in the country increased dramatically soon after Erdogan’s withdrawal. That fact is known, significantly, thanks only to the data collection and activism of the We Will Stop Femicide Platform , a group that tracks and fights violence against women and, not coincidentally, is the very organization that Erdogan’s party is working to shut down.

In other words, protecting women from domestic violence may be a criminal act.

The move left many wondering whether he is leading the country into sharia rule. The criminalization of women’s rights groups along with the retreat from the Istanbul Convention may suggest he is.

What seems clear is that he is pressing harder to maintain authoritarian rule, creating an Islamist authoritarian state — one in which the rights of women are not protected. As Harvard Kennedy Center’s Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks wrote earlier this month in Foreign Affairs, “It is not a coincidence that women’s equality is being rolled back at the same time that authoritarianism is on the rise. Political scientists have long noted that women’s civil rights and democracy go hand in hand.

… Misogyny and authoritarianism are not just common comorbidities, but mutually reinforcing ills.”
In a subsequent interview in the Harvard Kennedy School magazine, Marks further noted, “Democracy by definition requires equal human and civil rights for citizens — including, of course, women. … [By contrast], authoritarians often rely on the overrepresentation of male power (patriarchy) — in both public and private life – to consolidate their power and chip away at crosscutting social coalitions.”

All of which does not bode well for Turkey’s future should Erdogan manage to win next year’s election, despite falling poll numbers.

Yet most of Turkey’s secular women, and those who defend their rights, believe that after 20 years, there is a good chance Erdogan can be defeated. Rising inflation and a more Westernized younger generation have cut deeply into his popularity over the past year.

Which is why, despite the crackdowns and the imposition of religious values on women and their children, champions for women’s rights continue to fight for the country’s future and the secular ideals of Kemal Ataturk, its founder. For them, Ataturk’s words remain immortal and carry their greatest hopes: “Humankind is made up of two sexes, women and men,” he once said. “Is it possible that a mass is improved by the improvement of only one part and the other part is ignored? Is it possible that if half of a mass is tied to earth with chains, the other half can soar into the skies?”

Germany: Afghan asylum seeker massacres his wife with 29 knife wounds because of her western lifestyle.

The daughter (2) was sleeping peacefully when her father Samad Q. (39) committed a bloodbath in the living room and killed her mother (23). Ayoubi Q. suffered deep stabs in her heart and lungs from the 18 cm knife blade. The 23-year-old bled to death in the accommodation unit of the refugee shelter in Ahrensburg (Stormarn district). 29 stabs!

After the bloody act of violence in September 2021, the verdict against the man from Afghanistan was pronounced on Friday at the Lübeck Regional Court. Samad Q. must serve life behind bars for the murder of his wife. He did not want to accept the emancipation aspirations of his wife and therefore killed her, said the chairman of the jury chamber in the reasons for the verdict. This was murder for base motives.

With the verdict, the court followed the prosecution’s request, which had demanded life imprisonment for the accused. The defendant’s lawyer, on the other hand, had requested that the 39-year-old be sentenced for manslaughter in the heat of passion.

After the verdict was pronounced, he said it was not yet clear whether he would apply for an appeal.
According to the prosecution, the victim tried to emancipate herself from her restrictive husband, which Samad Q. did not accept. In addition, the Afghan is said to have rejected his wife’s western lifestyle.

After the crime, Samad Q. fled from the refugee accommodation and was only arrested at a border crossing in Bavaria. He was on a bus bound for Milan (Italy), which was checked at the Münchberg motorway station on motorway 9 in the district of Hof.

Tyrol, an Afghan threatened a Shiite compatriot to “slaughter her over the back of the head”, rape her and behead her – He was allowed to do so in Afghanistan because of her religious-ethnic affiliation.

37-year-old Afghan has been in Austria with his family for quite some time and is probably not yet fully integrated in Europe. He is said to repeatedly frighten Muslim women in his neighbourhood with remarks. He allegedly said to a female neighbour, who belongs to the Shiite Hazara minority, that they are not regarded as normal people in Afghanistan and that Hazara should be “slaughtered over the back of the head”.

After the widow refused to take care of the 37-year-old’s children for a short time, he allegedly uttered that “this is the wrong place, but he is allowed to rape and behead her in Afghanistan”.

However, the reported statements could no longer be proven beyond doubt at the regional court yesterday. It is also impossible to carry out the threats now. Thus, the “milieu-related expressions of displeasure” were met with an acquittal.

Threats, poisoned pets and nowhere to bury your dead: life for Kyrgyzstan’s Christian converts is getting worse.

There is rising persecution in Kyrgyzstan against Christian converts. You can hear some of their stories here, as well as how your prayers and support are equipping Open Doors partners to stand with persecuted believers.

Persecution is intensifying for Christian converts in Kyrgyzstan.

Kerim* wasn’t allowed to attend his mother’s funeral in his small village in Kyrgyzstan. The fact that he is a Christian was enough to ban him. After everyone left, Kerim tried to quietly enter the cemetery to mourn his mother – but the mullah (a Muslim leader) and other locals threw him out. They said he would ‘desecrate the holy place’ with his presence.

Kerim asked for an explanation. Instead of getting one, the mullah forced him to pack his belongings and leave the village. The same mullah had previously demanded that the family deny their Christian faith, otherwise he would not allow them to bury Kerim’s brother in their village. The family had to hold the funeral in a Christian cemetery almost a hundred miles away.

Rising persecution against Christian converts.

Kerim’s story is just one example of growing persecution against Christian converts in Kyrgyzstan. Since the beginning of 2022, reports of persecution are rising – including death threats, violent attacks and mental abuse, all because of someone’s faith.
— OPEN DOORS SPOKESPERSON

In one incident, a pastor and several church members in a small village received threats through phone calls and WhatsApp messages after distributing books of Bible stories in a local boarding school. Locals even poisoned the pastor’s dogs.

Persecution comes from within the home, too. A young mother called Kirimaya* was thrown out of her house at night by her relatives, because she’d converted to Christianity. She got a job as a cleaner and dish-washer at a local café so she could support herself and her child – but when the other people working there found out Kirimaya is a Christian, they treated her so badly that she had to leave her job.

Across much of Central Asia, and particularly in rural regions, Islamic values and traditions dominate in the culture. Leaving Islam brings oppression from many quarters, because it is seen as going against the culture of the nation. Official government bodies are almost entirely Muslim – while there are reportedly two Christians within these bodies, experts believe this is to give the impression of religious freedom, rather than genuinely offering it.

“In Kyrgyzstan, the local authorities have considerable power and tend to be under the influence of the local Muslim community,” says Aibek*, an Open Doors spokesperson for the region.

“This has strong repercussions for converts to Christianity.
“For many Christians in Kyrgyzstan, persecution is a daily occurrence. They face discrimination – be it in their local community, workplace or army. Some converts are locked up for long periods by their families and beaten. Local Islamic teachers preach against them and may cause them to be expelled from their communities.”

Another example told by Open Doors contacts is that of a young man, Akim*, and his twin sisters. They all started going to church after the death of their mother, while their Muslim father was in Russia for seasonal work. When he returned and found out that his children had become Christians, he started beating them regularly. The father forced the children to study and memorise extracts from the Quran and, if they did not, he threatened to ‘break their bones’ and even kill them.

Eventually, Akim and his sisters had to run away from their house. They found shelter in a local church. The church members helped with essential supplies, and dental treatment that Akim needed after being violently attacked by his dad. Open Doors partners have now rented an apartment for Akim and his sisters, away from their village for their safety.

* Names changed for security reasons

The mother of a "martyred" Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist named Muhammad Jahjouh said in an April 16, 2022 interview on Al-Quds Al-Youm TV (Islamic Jihad – Gaza) that she always prays for her entire family, including her grandchildren, to be martyred for the sake of Allah.

She said that this would make her happy, that she is proud of her "martyred" son, and that she loves this "path." According do an online PIJ report, Jahjouh was killed in January 2009 after killing "two Israeli soldiers."


"I Always Pray... That When Deaths Comes For [Our Family], We Will Be Martyrs For The Sake Of Allah"
Mother of Muhammad Jahjouh: "[I told my eldest son:] I always pray that I, your father, brothers, daughters, and sons... That all of you become martyrs for the sake of Allah, that when death comes for us, we will all be martyrs for the sake of Allah.

"If All My Children And Grandchildren Are Martyred For The Sake Of Allah, It Will Make Me Happy"

"I am proud of Muhammad, obviously. Allah be praised, all my sons are religious. They are all good. By Allah, if all my children and grandchildren are martyred for the sake of Allah, it will make me happy.

"Allah be praised, I love this path. I feel that this is the road for salvation."

An Egyptian Christian was stabbed multiple times when he tried to rescue his son who was held against his will by a Muslim neighbour.

On the night of 15 February, Magdy Fathy Shehata Awad Allah, deacon at the Coptic Orthodox Church in the northeast of Alexandria and a human rights activist, was rushed to hospital after he was stabbed seven times by a Muslim neighbour, a local source told World Watch Monitor.

Awad Allah, a father of two, incurred his wounds when he tried to rescue his 17-year-old son Thomas who was held against his will in the apartment of Mahmoud Abdel Rahman Farghaly.

World Watch Monitor’s source, who said the man is known throughout the community for his anti-Christian sentiments, said the incident unfolded this way:
The teenager had been out on the street when Rahman Farghaly asked him to buy medication for him because, he said, he was ill. However, when Thomas entered his apartment the neighbour tried to stab him with a knife. Thomas managed to escape to the balcony, lock the door and cry for help.

His father, who was at home across the road, heard his shouts and rushed to the apartment. When he got no answer, Fathy forced his way in but was met by the neighbour and a knife. Rahman Farghaly stabbed him multiple times in different part of his body, shouting “Oh, Kaffirs (infidels) – Allahu Akbar”, the local source said. Neighbours took Awad Allah to the hospital in critical condition.

“There has been tension in the road where they live,” said the source, who is not being named for security purposes. “Rahman Farghaly owns a chicken shop where he plays Koran recitations through loudspeakers. He has been known for mistreating and insulting Christians and they generally try to avoid him.”

However, Awad Allah had never been threatened by his neighbour before, a friend and fellow Christian who attends the same church (Saint Mary, Archangel Michael and St. Wannas Coptic Orthodox Church in Montaza district) told World Watch Monitor.

“Magdy is a very peaceful man. He has no enemies and hasn’t made trouble with anyone. He is an honest church member and is loved by all, including the people in the area” said the friend who also wished to remain anonymous. “All the members of the church are very sad about what happened to him and his son.”

He said Thomas was traumatised by the event, having trouble sleeping, while his father is out of hospital and recovering at home.


Following the attack, Rahman Farghaly was arrested on charges of attempted murder, news site Vito reported . The local source said he had been held in police custody for more than 2 weeks before the Public Prosecutor sent him to a mental hospital for observation after claiming he was mentally ill.

Claiming to suffer from a mental illness is a tactic commonly used by those who attack Christians, to try to avoid sentencing. Also, Egypt’s security services have told local media not to report on ‘sectarian’ incidents, so these kind of assaults on fundamental rights don’t get much attention.

The story has echoes of the experiences of Catherine Ramzy, a Christian woman who was
attacked in the street in Giza district, Cairo, in January 2020. Mahmoud Ramadan accused her of not wearing a veil and shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ as he slit her throat. The perpetrator was released after having gone through a psychological examination, despite the fact that he had committed a similar crime in 2017.

Ramzy said she doubted a mental illness caused Ramadan to attack her. “[It] was a terrorist attack, an extremist acting on his beliefs,” she told international persecution charity Open Doors International at the time. “If he gets out on the street again, he will repeat his crime and more women will fall victim.”

A heinous crime shook Minya Governorate, as three Copts in the village of Ibshadat, Mallawi district, were shot by individuals from the village of Jaweer, which resulted in their death.

The killing was claimed to be a “revenge” for a killing that occurred seventy years ago. The perpetrators mutilated the bodies of the victims using white weapons as they danced.

An individual, his brother and his son had been attacked with automatic weapons while they were working in the plantations, and were killed and mutilated. The victims are Youssef Youssef Youssef, Afifi Youssef Youssef, Bushra Youssef Youssef.

Essam Youssef said that his father, brother, and uncle were attacked by six people from the village of Jaweer while they were working in their agricultural field. Essam indicated that he and his family do not know anything about this revenged killing, which the perpetrators claim to have taken place 70 years ago, when his father was a child. He noted that after the heinous crime, the village turned into screaming and wailing, adding that his killed brother is married and has six children.

Essam said that one of the perpetrators surrendered to the police, saying that he committed the crime alone, and that it was for revenge. However, witnesses in the village saw six people committing the crime. He added that the village of the perpetrators turned into celebrations with drums and flutes to celebrate the killing. Essam said that three families were destroyed without guilt and without knowing anything about the subject of this revenge.

Eyewitnesses confirmed seeing the perpetrators committing the crime, who are said to be Ragab Atfat Khafagi, Ramadan Atfaft Khafagi, Emad Atfaft Khafagi, Zain Atfaft Khafagi, Ahmed Ramadan Atfaft and Ramadan Atfaft.

A source indicated that the police forces arrested a number of people for investigation. The bodies of the victims are still in a hospital awaiting the prosecution’s permission to be buried, after the completion of the autopsy by the forensic medicine.

Romani Michel, a lawyer, said: “A heinous murder took place, and the pictures of the victims show the extent of revengefulness, malice and hatred for the perpetrators . No sane person can imagine that the killer is a single person, especially since the victims are three and in their own land, which confirms what the witnesses said that the perpetrators were a group.” He added, “ This heinous crime cannot be an act of revenge, because the method of killing involves the element of mutilating corpses, which does not happen in typical revenge crimes.

Rather, the method shows that it was committed in the same way as ISIS, and therefore the security and prosecution must verify the truth of the motives behind the crime, in which has the smell of murder on religious identity.

Hardline Muslims who grew furious at the preaching of a speaker at an open-air evangelistic event last week in eastern Uganda beat him to death and burned his body, sources said.

John Michael Okero was quoting verses from the Koran about Christ on Feb. 28 in Kadungulu village, Serere District when a Muslim identified only as Shakuuru grabbed the microphone from him. He and other Muslims started beating Okero as they accused him of blaspheming Allah by saying that he has a Son, misinterpreting the Koran, touching the Koran without ritual cleansing and disrespecting it by placing it under the Bible, an area source told Morning Star News by phone.

He was beaten with iron bars, stones and sticks and later burned his body to a chant in the Ateso language referring to a thief who steals people from one religion to join a bad religion, the source said. Okero was 43.

Police were called but arrived after the assailants had fled, the source said. Officers began a manhunt.
Okero, a resident of Kapaala village, Palissa District, was frequently invited to preach at evangelistic events in predominantly Muslim Kadungulu village by a denomination undisclosed for security reasons.
The assault was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

The young woman’s violent death by her brother and uncle was reported on International Women's Day. With tens of thousands of followers on social media, she promoted women’s rights and freedoms. Her family forced her to marry at the age of 12 a man from whom she separated four years later.

Erbil (AsiaNews) – International Women's Day in Iraqi Kurdistan was marked by reports of the murder last Sunday of a 20-year-old woman by a family member. Her only fault, if it can be called that, was her conversion from Islam to Christianity and the decision to use a new name: Maria.

The case is another sign that Iraq’s journey towards tolerance and coexistence is still a long one, despite last year’s visit by Pope Francis and the work of Chaldean Patriarch Card Louis Raphael Sako.

Even northern Iraq – with its quieter Kurdish region which took in tens of thousands of Christians, Yazidis, and Muslims fleeing the Islamic State – is not free from sectarian violence.

The victim, “Maria” Eman Sami Maghdid, was stabbed to death. She had been using her Christian name for some time on social media and was very popular with many followers.

Although she was killed on Sunday, more details of her killing were reported yesterday, International Women's Day. It appears that she was punished by her family for leaving Islam, specifically for being emancipated and embracing the Christian religion; in short, she was “guilty” of apostasy.

Her murder took place near the Erbil international airport, not far from Ankawa, the predominantly Christian district of Erbil. Her uncle is said to have killed her with the complicity of her brother.

At first, reports indicated that both alleged killers had been arrested, then police issued a statement saying that only one person, the uncle, had been arrested.

The young woman was well known for her activism, her struggle for women's rights, which – together with her conversion to Christianity – led her to be condemned by her family. For their part, her relatives claim that family squabbles and arguments are the cause of her death.

A government source, anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews that “after her conversion, she chose to be called Maria.”

Her family instead said that “Christianity is not the reason” behind the murder; instead, it is due “to the fact that she wanted to live alone, be free, four years after she left the husband she was forced to marry at the age of 12.”

For the source, her relatives were driven to kill her because she “did not want to wear the veil, and no longer wanted to follow Islamic traditions.”

“They say that his father sells fruits and vegetables when in fact he is an imam and is a well-known religious figure in the Muslim community.”

"They found the body tied with a tape, thrown at the side of the road, with many stab wounds.”

Maria was an open person, she lived with a friend and was part of a commission that fought for the rights of Arab and Iraqi women.

Ironically, her death coincided with International Women's Day, a sign that women’s struggle for rights and freedom of choice is still a long and uphill journey in a society still influenced Islamic radicalism. Her conversion came on top of that.

“In recent years, many Muslims have become Christian,” the source explained, “but nothing is said about it so as not to fuel tensions and cause clashes."

Two brothers were attacked because they did not comply with the rules of Ramadan, which stipulate that smoking is not allowed during the fasting period. “But my father and uncle are Coptic Christians, they are not Muslims,” explained the daughter and niece of the victims of an attack that occurred on Monday afternoon in Corso Vigevano almost in Piazza Crispi. “It is not the first time that we ourselves have been attacked in Italy because we are Christians,” says the 23-year-old, who was born and raised in Italy.

Her family has lived in Turin for over 40 years, her father is 62 years old and has always fought for the rights of the discriminated Coptic minority in Egypt. “It makes me angry to think that this discrimination also exists here,” he said.

The 62-year-old father and 70-year-old uncle were standing in the square. They were waiting for my mother,” the young woman said, “my uncle was smoking a cigarette, and this group of passers-by, foreigners, but I don’t know what nationality, started cursing and swearing. My father turned around and asked them if they meant him and my uncle. They answered in the affirmative and said that it is not good for Muslims to smoke."

When the two explained that their faith was different, they were attacked with kicks and punches. Both were treated at Giovanni Bosco with several bruises. They do not personally know their attackers. “But maybe this group of people had already noticed my family members, my uncle lives in the area, my father is known in the community for his work as an activist. Both wear quite obvious Christian crosses”.

The group only fled when one of the attacked told the other to call the police. The girl said: “We have had problems before. It happened to me in the city centre when I was out with my friends and we were approached by a man with a small child who started calling us unclean and said we were dressed like prostitutes because we were wearing western clothes. This always happened during Ramadan. The husband of one of my mother’s friends was attacked because he ate during the fasting month, which he obviously does not comply with because he belongs to a different religion.” In the next few days, the victims of the attack will file a lawsuit.

The Copts who were kicked and beaten on Monday for smoking and wearing crosses during Ramadan are not the only ones reprimanded for disrespecting Islamic law in Barriera di Milano, a multi-ethnic neighbourhood in Turin.

“Last week in Porta Palazzo, a good friend of mine was insulted for drinking water in the street. – They shouted “Ramadan, haram” to remind him that it is forbidden to drink water during the day during the month of fasting.” A few days ago, his brother Nabil was also targeted for the same reason.

“A young man, perhaps Tunisian, outside the same bar told him that Islamic law forbids smoking during Ramadan and that this time, to avoid problems, he had to bow down and comply. I can assure you,” Sherif continues, “if I went out tomorrow to eat a sandwich in the same area, I would not leave it alive.” The reason, the businessman of Egyptian origin explains over the phone, is simple: “They want to apply Sharia law because they consider us inferior and want to rule us.” Over the past few days, Sherif has reported it all to the police. The investigation aims to identify the perpetrators, also thanks to the security cameras installed in the area.

Dozens have been killed or injured in Afghanistan in the second attack on a Shiite target in Afghanistan in three days. A bomb blast hit the mosque as worshipers were praying during the holy month of Ramadan.

A blast at a mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif has caused dozens of casualties, officials said on Thursday.

"Preliminary reports confirm there are at least 25 casualties," Zabihullah Noorani, head of Balkh province's Taliban-run information and culture department, told AFP news agency.

Dr. Ghawsuddin Anwari, the head of the main hospital in northern Mazar-e-Sharif, where the explosion took place at the Sai Doken mosque, told The Associated Press that at least 10 people were killed and 40 injured.

The attack occurred as worshipers were kneeling in prayer during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
It comes just two days after several blasts hit educational facilities in Shiite-majority areas of the capital, Kabul, killing at least six people, mostly children.

The Sunni extremist group "Islamic State" has claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel.

Abd Al-Hamid Dabbou, an Islamic scholar in the Gaza Strip, pronounced that jihad is the “pinnacle of Islam” and makes Islam “glamorous, strong and lovable.”

According to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a show on April 10 on Al-Quds Al-Youm TV (Palestinan Islamic Jihad), Dabbous said that jihad is how Muslims defend their lands and spread Islam to the entire world.

He explained that Muslims don’t want to terrorize people but convert them to Islam. He said that if non-Muslims do not accept Islam and refuse to pay the jizy a poll tax “in humiliation,” then they will fight them until they attain martyrdom or victory.

“Through jihad, Allah conquers lands as w6ell as hearts and minds,” stated Dabbous. “Jihad is the means by which the Muslims, first of all, defend their lands, their lives, their honor and their religion. It is a means to spread this religion because the bottom line is that Allah sent down this religion so it would spread throughout the world until all the people become Muslims.”

Close to a month after two deadly Islamic State attacks in Israel that claimed six lives, the spokesperson of an islamic group has called on supporters to carry out more attacks.

Giving an address for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Abu Omar al-Muhajjr called for a “global offensive” in revenge for the death of the group’s leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi last February during an operation by the Americans in Syria as well as the group’s former spokesperson al-Muhajir abu Hamza al-Qurashi.

“We announced, with the help of God, a blessed battle to avenge the two sheikhs, Sheikh abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi and Sheikh al-Muhajir abu Hamza al-Qurashi,” he said in the address released on Telegram.

In his address titled “Fight them, and God will chastise them at your hands,” Muhajjr called for more attacks to be carried out in Europe since “the opportunity is ripe for you” because it is “preoccupied” with the war in Ukraine.

Citing the March terror attacks in Israel claimed by the terror group, he called on supporters to “follow their path and arm themselves with weapons and carry out further attacks.”

“These acts caused pain to the Jews and showed the world that there is a difference between those who fight and die for God and those who fight for empty political slogans,” he said.

He praised the attackers, saying that “they fought and were killed for the sake of Allah” and said that Jerusalem could only be liberated with the return of the caliphate, not by the Palestinian leaders who he called “secular terrorists.”

“Modern Muslim politicians trying to liberate Jerusalem are nothing more than puppets in the hands of Israel and the West,” he said.

The attack in Hadera , which claimed the lives of the two young Border Police officers, Yezen Falah and Shirel Abukarat, was claimed by the Islamic State.
The attackers arrived at the scene with 1,100 bullets, at least three handguns and six knives. They were killed by security forces.

The attack in Hadera came days after Mohammed Abu al-Kiyan stabbed four Israelis to death in Beersheba. Though the group did not claim the attack outright, they praised it.

Kiyan was known to the police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). He had been arrested in 2016 and sentenced to four years in prison for forming a group that planned to travel to Syria and join ISIS. An elementary school teacher, Kiyan was also convicted of teaching children and members of the community during sermons content inspired by the jihadist group.

There have been Islamic State attacks in Israel in the past, but since the collapse of the group’s territorial caliphate in 2019, the group has struggled to attract support from those who could carry out attacks in their name.

Last week Israel Police announced that it had arrested a Palestinian man from Hebron on suspicion that he had killed three Israelis, including an elderly couple, in Jerusalem in recent years.
According to a report in Haaretz, defense officials believe that some 200 Israeli Arabs support the group, 20 of whom might carry out attacks in the group’s name.

During the height of the Islamic State’s power, close to 100 Israelis joined the terror group and several Israeli Arabs were arrested by the Shin Bet and Israel Police for seeking to join the group. Several who joined the group were killed and a small number are believed to have returned to Israel, either of their own accord or after being caught by Turkish authorities while trying to cross the border and were deported back to Israel.

According to reports, the majority of those imprisoned for supporting the terror group have been released from prison and, like the attacker in Beersheba, they were not tracked by police.

In October 2015 authorities broke up the first known case of an ISIS plot in Israel and indicted seven Israeli Arabs on charges of belonging to an Islamic State cell planning to attack military targets.

The first deadly attack believed to have been inspired by the jihadist group was in January 2016 when an Israeli Arab went on a shooting spree in Tel Aviv killing three people. Six months later two Palestinians shot dead four Israelis in Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market.

Deadly election-related and communal violence in northern Nigeria following the April 2011 presidential voting left more than 800 people dead, Human Rights Watch said today. The victims were killed in three days of rioting in 12 northern states. Nigeria's state and federal authorities should promptly investigate and prosecute those who orchestrated and carried out these crimes and address the root causes of recurring inter-communal violence.

The violence began with widespread protests by supporters of the main opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim from the Congress for Progressive Change, following the re-election of incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger Delta in the south, who was the candidate for the ruling People's Democratic Party. The protests degenerated into violent riots or sectarian killings in the northern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara. Relief officials estimate that more than 65,000 people have been displaced.

"The April elections were heralded as among the fairest in Nigeria's history, but they also were among the bloodiest," said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The newly elected authorities should quickly build on the democratic gains from the elections by bringing to justice those who orchestrated these horrific crimes and addressing the root causes of the violence."

The presidential election divided the country along ethnic and religious lines. As election results trickled in on April 17, and it became clear that Buhari had lost, his supporters took to the streets of northern towns and cities to protest what they alleged to be the rigging of the results.

The protesters started burning tires, and the protests soon turned into riots. The rioting quickly degenerated into sectarian and ethnic bloodletting across the northern states. Muslim rioters targeted and killed Christians and members of ethnic groups from southern Nigeria, who were perceived to have supported the ruling party, burning their churches, shops, and homes. The rioters also attacked police stations and ruling party and electoral commission offices.

In Uganda, a Christian teacher was abducted from his home and dragged inside a mosque where he was beaten and burned by his colleagues at an Islamic school who planned to kill him for praying in Jesus' name.

The victim, Yusufu Mwanje, converted to Christianity earlier this year after hearing a Christian businessman who supplied equipment to the school praying to Jesus in his office. Before he lost his job after being outed as a Christian following the April 2 attack, Mwanje had led the Ibunbaz Primary School in Bugiri, Morning Star News reported.

“I wanted to keep my faith in Christ secret and began missing Friday prayers as I attended evening prayers at the church,” Mwanje said. “Some Muslim teachers noticed my absence and reported to the school management board.”

Mwanje told the school leadership he had been praying from his house.

At around 3 a.m. on April 1, an unnamed staff person overheard Mwanje praying in Christ’s name and recorded him. The following morning, the staffer gathered other schoolteachers to eavesdrop on him.

“As I finished the prayers at 4:45 a.m. and began preparing to go to the mosque to pray, I heard a knock at the door,” Mwanje said. “As I opened the door, there were people outside my door. They began shouting, ‘Allah akbar [“Allah is greater”]! Allah akbar! Allah akbar ! This is a kafir [infidel], this is kafir …They grabbed me and took me inside the mosque and started beating me badly and accusing me of heading a Muslim school, yet I had converted to Christianity. Others shouted, ‘A liar, a liar, a liar. ... He deserves the death penalty.”

Mwanje continued, “I remembered [the supplier] telling me that in times of persecution, I should call on the name of Jesus. As I mentioned the name Jesus in a low voice, one attacker said, ‘Azab Azab,’ meaning ‘punishment’ in Arabic. Immediately, two Islamic teachers named Ustaz Hamudan and Hashim Sajabbi brought two old jerry cans and lit them with fire and started burning me with them. It was too painful. I fainted.”

An elderly Islamic teacher named Alhaji Bruhan intervened and ordered the men not to kill Mwanje because Allah would kill him. “He instructed some to take me to the school clinic for treatment,” he said. “I then realized that Jesus had come to save me.”

Mwanje later called the Christian supplier who took him to a church where he was treated for five days before being transferred to Iganga Hospital, where he is now receiving treatment.

Last month, in a separate attack on a Christian convert in eastern Uganda, a Muslim woman attempted to murder her husband by adding rat poison to his food. Hiire Sadiki had been an Islamic teacher before converting to Christianity, unbeknownst to his wife. After he refused to participate in Ramadan and then overheard him praying in Christ's name, she plotted with other Muslims to kill him by adding poison to his food.

Sadiki is still recovering in a hospital in Butaleja District, Morning Star News reported,
Even though Uganda has a higher percentage of Catholics and Anglicans than Muslims, there are regions where Islam is the dominant religion.

The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project estimates that about 11.5% of Uganda’s population is Muslim, mostly Sunni. Armed attacks and murders of converts are not uncommon in the region.

“Radical Islam’s influence has grown steadily, and many Christians within the majority-Muslim border regions are facing severe persecution, especially those who convert from Islam,” a Voice of the Martyrs factsheet notes.

“Despite the risks, Evangelical churches in Uganda have responded by reaching out to their neighbors; many churches are training leaders on how to share the Gospel with Muslims and care for those who are persecuted after they become Christians.”

A knife-wielding man described as “mentally ill” stabbed to death a 56-year-old Coptic priest, Alexandria Arsanious Wadid, at the popular seaside promenade in the northern city of Alexandria. On the evening of April 7, the 60-year-old man stabbed Walid several times in the neck, which led to his death. The country’s interior ministry says the accused has been arrested.

During the police interrogation, the accused admitted to killing Father Walid. However, he changed the details of the story during their questioning. The man, who police describe as well-spoken, had told authorities that he had a previous mental illness that caused him to lose control over his actions. As a result, the Public Prosecution ordered the detention of the accused at a mental hospital while they determined if he suffered from any “mental and neurological” diseases.

Authorities claim that the three working surveillance cameras in the area did not capture the stabbing. Police reported the recordings only showed passersby panicking, scrambling, and trying to escape.

The pictures show the accused on the ground after people caught him. The public detained the terrorist until the police arrived.

The murder weapon, a kitchen knife, was recovered at the scene.

Archbishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, condemned the killing in a tweet, writing: “In clerical attire in a public space with no one else attacked, it can be safely assumed that Father Arsanious Wadid was targeted as a priest. With a suspect in custody, we wait to see whether investigations rule this to be an ‘individual event’ or part of a known wider phenomenon.”

Wadeed was an archpriest of the Church of the Virgin Mary and Mar Bolous. The Coptic Church posted photos on social media showing dozens attending Wadid’s funeral at the Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria. Priests stood around the open casket. A bible was placed on the slain priest’s chest and a cross around his neck.

Muslims attacking and killing non-Muslims is not uncommon in Egypt, where an Orthodox Christian minority, the Copts, is believed to be among the world’s oldest Christian communities. Christians make up more than 10% of Egypt’s predominantly Muslim population.

“While many details about the incident remain unclear, it does highlight the vulnerability that many Egyptian Christians face, particularly during the religious holidays of Ramadan and Easter,” Jeff King, president of the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, said in a statement.

“It is normal for Christians to face increased persecution during these seasons, and such an incident could inspire further acts of extremism,” he warned.

King added, “Unfortunately, within the Egyptian context, it is common for the attacker to be accused of having a mental illness rather than addressing underlying extremist motivations. This trend is not only a disservice to authentic religious freedom, but also increases the marginalization of those with genuine disabilities.”

Christians Face Persecution in Egypt
According to the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA, Egypt is among the 20 worst persecutors of Christians in the world.

Incidents of Christian persecution in Egypt vary from Christian women being harassed while walking in the street to Christian communities being driven out of their homes by extremist mobs, the group states on its website, adding that Christians are typically treated as second-class citizens.

The Christian Post reports that Egypt’s lack of serious law enforcement and the unwillingness of local authorities to protect Christians leave them vulnerable to all kinds of attacks, especially in Upper Egypt, it explains. “Due to the dictatorial nature of the regime, neither church leaders nor other Christians are in a position to speak out against these practices.”

It adds that churches and Christian nongovernmental organizations are restricted in their ability to build new churches or run social services. This is per Sharia law’s mandates on non-Islamic religious buildings in an area of Islamic rule. In addition, no new facilities and repairs to older facilities are often not permitted. “The difficulties come both from state restrictions, as well as from communal hostility and mob violence.”

Hindu Victim Of Khargone Violence Talks About Betrayal From His Muslim Neighbour

Days after the Khargone Ram Navami violence, Hindus who suffered in the riots have been sharing dreadful stories of betrayal, perfidy and treachery they endured from their Muslim neighbours. On Friday, one of the Hindus revealed to the media that he was attacked by his Muslim neighbor to whom he had alerted about the riots and asked to stay safe amid the violence.

In an exclusive conversation with India TV, the Hindu victim said that he had asked his Muslim neighbors to stay secure amid the escalating violence. He stated that his neighbors defrauded him and joined the rioters who were pelting stones and petrol bombs on Hindu residences.

“As I heard of violence escalating during the Ram Navmi procession in another area of Khargone, I told my neighbors to lock themselves safe in their houses. I also closed the doors to protect my family. Later, these Muslim neighbors joined the rioters and led a mob attack on my family”, the victim said on April 15.

He added that there was no procession in his area but the Muslims began targeting all the Hindu residents of Khargone. “They pelted stones, burnt vehicles belonging to Hindus, threw petrol bombs to create fear in the minds of Hindus. Suddenly 200-300 Muslims gathered in my colony and abused us. They banged at my door intending to break it but could not. So they broke my electricity meter and wrote outside my house ‘Yeh Ghar Bikau Hai'”, he said.

The Hindu victim continued to curse his Muslim neighbours who joined the rioters to attack them. He said that his neighbours maintained good relations with his family earlier, but unveiled their real faces on April 10.

“I and my family inside the house were scared as 200-300 people began thrashing the door. I covered my younger son’s mouth to avert his cries from reaching the rioters. Later they went away but destroyed the outer side of my house”, he added.
In the ground report by India TV, the residences belonging to Muslims in the colony could be seen untouched and safe. Properties and assets owned by Hindus however could be seen destroyed. The report showed the burnt vehicles with ‘Aum’ written on them, remains of the petrol bombs and bricks that were targeted at the Hindus on Sunday. The report further mentioned that the Muslims had climbed up to the terraces of buildings and had deliberately targeted non-Muslims.

Last week, a Ram Navmi procession in the Khargone area of Madhya Pradesh was attacked by Islamists which led to communal riots disrupting peace in the state. The Islamists pelted stones at the procession that began in the Talab Chowk area of Khargone on April 10. Islamists also attacked Hindu women and taunted them saying, “Where is your Ram? We Ravans have come to abduct you”.

Riots escalated after several vehicles and shops were set on fire. The cops struggled to pacify the situation and resorted to firing tear gas shells to disperse the violent crowd. During the orgy of violence, a total of 24 people were injured, including six police personnel. The Khargone administration later took strict action against the miscreants who had pelted stones. The illegally constructed buildings owned by the stone pelters were bulldozed by the administration.

The Police suspect that the attack was pre-planned and that it is part of a huge conspiracy. While the investigation in the case is underway, the Police continue to guard the area, and section 144 stays imposed.

Two men were convicted of involvement in a terrorist criminal organisation.

The special jury court in Paris on Friday April 15, in an appeal, sentenced two men suspected of wanting to commit “a mass murder” in Paris to 24 and 30 years in prison respectively, confirming the sentence of the first instance.

42-year-old Yassine Bousseria was found guilty of involvement in a terrorist criminal organisation for the preparation of acts of terrorism and sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment with two-thirds security detention, while 31-year-old Moroccan Hicham El-Hanafi was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment, the maximum penalty provided by law, with two-thirds security detention.

“The facts established against Hicham El-Hanafi are the most serious that can be committed within the framework of a terrorist group, since they are directly aimed at the carrying out of an assassination using weapons of war on French territory,” said the special court, ruling on appeal. With regard to Yassine Bousseria, the court noted “his real difficulties of internal realisation and the emphasis on his religious practice in detention”. The prosecutor general had on Thursday demanded 30 years’ imprisonment for Hicham El-Hanafi, described as a “genius of terrorism”, and 25 years’ imprisonment for Strasbourg’s Yassine Bousseria. Le Figaro

They are the last members of a network presumably controlled remotely from Syria, with branches in Strasbourg, Marseille and Portugal. Strasbourg and Marseille: the two cities had been the scene of a major coordinated anti-terrorist operation on the night of 19-20 November 2016, during which seven men had been arrested.

There was urgency: according to the information provided by the officials of the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI), the members of the Strasbourg-Marseille group planned to take action in the Paris area ten days later. Possible targets included Disneyland Paris, the Christmas market on the Champs-Élysées, religious sites in the capital or even 36 Quai des Orfèvres, the legendary headquarters of the Paris Criminal Investigation Department, which has since moved.

According to residents of the houses in the Rue des Canonniers, they were “not religious at all” and did not attend the mosque. These “good guys”, described as ” an open mind” and always “smiling”, seem to have applied taqiya, a practice that consists in hiding one’s true ideology. Bernard Cazeneuve, then Minister of the Interior, spoke of a “long-planned terrorist action on our soil” having been prevented when they were taken into police custody.

When a rubber dinghy carrying around 100 African refugees across the Mediterranean began to sink, a Nigerian Christian prayed for his life in an innocent act that would end in the deaths of 12 fellow migrants.

One of the Muslims on board the rickety craft ordered him to stop, saying: 'Here, we only pray to Allah.'

When he refused, 12 Christians were drowned when they were thrown overboard by the Muslim refugees.

The tragic news comes amid reports that an unprecedented 10,000 refugees fleeing war and persecution in Africa have been rescued by Italian ships in the past week.

Those who witnessed the African Christians being murdered on the crammed dinghy told investigators how Nigerian Muslims became angry at Christian who started praying.

'They told him that they would throw him overboard if he didn't stop praying to God,' he said, according to La Republica.

The witness added: 'They started shouting, two pushed the lad and he fell in the sea and drowned.'

The Muslims 'went mad' and began screaming "Allah is great" before they attacked migrants who tried to defend the boy, according to The Times.

When 12 migrants were mercilessly thrown overboard, the other Christians formed a human chain and protected themselves against the attackers by clinging to the dinghy.

A rescue ship arrived one hour later, according to a Ghanaian witness called Yeboah.

Italian police arrested 15 people suspected of the killing

A video on YouTube celebrating last week’s murder of three Israelis in Tel Aviv as a “miracle” may be in breach of the law against encouraging terrorism, legal experts have told the JC .

In a sickening post, Abdel Bari Atwan (above) — an influential media figure known around the world — praised the gunman as a “martyr” and “hero” and said Israelis fleeing for their lives were “like mice”.

The shocking rant was posted on his YouTube channel, which has 750,000 subscribers.
The video was highlighted by media watchdog CAMERA Arabic, and was taken down after YouTube was contacted by the JC — but only after it had been up for four days and viewed half a million times.

Numerous other videos uploaded to channels with millions of subscribers also called Tel Aviv gunman Raad Hazem a “martyr”.

Last week, after pressure from this newspaper, YouTube removed videos for breaking its rules about incitement to violence and supporting terrorism.

YouTube also recently cancelled the accounts hosting the speeches of two hate preachers.
But the latest revelations make a mockery of the commitment by the company to clamp down on hate speech.

Lord Carlile, the UK’s former independent review of anti-terror legislation, said: “Atwans’s statement, full of hysterical passion, is the warlike statement of a dangerous fanatic. Published in the UK, plainly it should be examined by the police for possible breach of section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
“Beyond shocking is that it appeared on YouTube. They must be required to ban such dangerous broadcasts, which encourage and apologise for terrorism.”

Mr Atwan is a British-Palestinian journalist who appears regularly on BBC News in English and Arabic, as well as on France 24. He shares his thoughts regularly on his YouTube channel.

In his Arabic-language post the day after the Tel Aviv attack, he compared Israelis to “mice”, saying those killed and wounded were “are all military, police or security”.

He claimed the terror attack was a response to the recent landmark Negev Summit held in Israel two weeks ago, calling the four Arab foreign ministers who attended “treacherous Arab normalisers” and “lackeys of the occupation”.

He called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Israel as an “outrage,” and instructed him to “just keep quiet”.

He raged: “The Palestinian people won’t have it. That’s the point of the latest operation in Tel Aviv by young Raad Hazem.

“He ‘invaded’ Tel Aviv, the occupation state’s first capital, using just one gun.
“Did you see the Israelis, how did they flee? By Allah, like mice. Horrified, don’t know where to go, because of one person, one Palestinian youth, can you imagine? This is hysteria. This is the enemy.
“Look at the miracle... his father is a security officer, he, the youth, takes a gun, goes to Tel Aviv and opens fire at settlers.
“Look, we will never accept, it is impossible that we accept, that they are civilians. Civilians, no way! They are all military, police or security. Well, when Bennett, who is Israeli PM, tells the settlers ‘get out your weapon and walk around in arms’ that’s it, you all are not civilians. Secondly, they are all soldiers in the Israeli military reserves. So we don’t buy the ‘civilians’ story, nor should the entire world buy it.”

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently called on Israelis with gun permits to carry their weapons to enable them to intervene should they be caught up in or witness further terror attacks.

Mr Atwan suggested the recent terror acts showed restraint, saying: “These youths, had they wanted to shoot, they could have killed great numbers, hundreds killed, by Allah… One warrior liberated Tel Aviv for nine hours.”

Fourteen people have been murdered and many more left wounded by the four terror attacks in Israel over the past few weeks.

Mr Atwan said the attacker “committed martyrdom” and that he was shot by Israeli forces “defending himself, his mosque, his ideology, his [Arab/Islamic] nation… Now there is an extraordinary awakening”.
Three Arabic-language reports on YouTube from Alghad TV, a news channel launched in 2015 and headquartered in London, described the Tel Aviv terrorist as a “martyr”. In one video a reporter said the attacker “ascended [to heaven]” upon death. The Alghad TV YouTube channel has 3.7 million subscribers.

A video on YouTube from an account called “Quds News Network” refers to the perpetrator as a martyr.
One video posted by Alqanat Channel 9 TV on its YouTube account included a commentator who praised the killer, calling him “a steadfast, firm, forthcoming, unhurt, pure Jihad warrior”. It added: “Our youth is fond of death because it is in Allah’s path and for him. How beautiful it is that we put forward spirits, sons, properties and beings in Allah’s path and for him.”

Another Channel 9 report described the terror attacks as “heroic operations [that] are hurting Israel”.

YouTube has specific rules relating to the promotion of violence and terrorism in content uploaded by users. It claims it will not allow “content praising or justifying violent acts by terrorist organisations” or material that may “promote or aid them”. Its policies also say: “Hate speech is not allowed on YouTube. We remove content promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups,” based on their race or religion. The company also says it will “treat implied calls for violence as real threats” and notes its policies apply both to videos and video descriptions on the platform.

Dave Rich, Director of Policy at the CST, said: “There is no excuse for YouTube not to have acted much sooner. It should be a no-brainer that he contravenes YouTube’s policies, but yet again they have been found wanting.”

Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, told the JC: “I think this does constitute encouragement of terrorism contrary to section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006, a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years.”

A spokesman for CAMERA Arabic said “This material is unmistakably consistent with Abdel Bari Atwan’s decades-long record. Many of his inciting rants originate on his personal YouTube channel. The platform is therefore accountable for enabling him to spread hate. Given the popularity of his weekly sermons, with over 700,000 subscribers and hundreds of cheering comments to every video post, the plausible deniability defence does not stand for YouTube. They should already be aware of his reputation and record.”

In a statement, YouTube said: “We are committed to making sure content that promotes violent extremism does not have a home on YouTube.
“Over the last few years we have heavily invested in human review teams and smart detection technology that helps us quickly detect, review, and remove this content.”

Dubai: A 28-year-old Quran teacher has been sentenced to life in Egypt for sexually assaulting a little girl while teaching her, local media reported.

The Red Sea Criminal Court said that the Islamic religious instructor has been found guilty of sexually assaulting the 8-year-old for four years. The accused admitted to his crimes. The Egyptian public prosecution seized a mobile phone belonging to the accused in which there were pornographic videos.

The accused also admitted that he forced the girl to watch the pornographic videos.
In a similar incident earlier last year, a 39-year-old Egyptian imam has been arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl as she attended a Quran memorisation lesson at his home.