cappie Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Direct News from the Christians in Mosul Nineveh Tonight. For Iraqi Christian Fadi and his young family it is a lonely wait to see whether they will be executed soon. Their Christian neighbours and friends have already fled the city of Mosul in Iraq’s north, which last month fell into the hands of Sunni jihadists led by the Islamic State group, which espouses an extreme form of Islam. Along with the rest of the city’s estimated 25,000 Christians who had not already fled years of kidnappings, bombings and shootings, Sunni militants gave 36-year-old Fadi, his wife and son until Saturday to comply with a brutal ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay an unspecified tax, leave the city or die. "I’m staying. I already feel dead," Fadi, a teacher, told AFP by telephone moments before the deadline ran out. "Only my soul remains, and if they want to take that I don’t have a problem," he added, giving only his first name. On Friday, Mosul’s mosques called through loudspeakers for Christians to leave, after centuries of being part of the once cosmopolitan city’s social fabric. Fadi said he could not afford to flee and argued that the prospects for those who did were hardly better. Islamic State (IS) militants robbed departing Christians of their belongings, he said, leaving them to face destitution in grim camps for the displaced. "They were stopped by members of Islamic State, who took everything they had. Mobile phones, money, jewellery," he said, speaking of the fate of some 25 Christian families who had recently fled. "When my cousin and friends, from three families, tried to plead with them, they took their cars." IS fighters took control of Mosul and swathes of north and west Iraq in a sweeping offensive that began last month. Their leader has since then declared a “caliphate†straddling Iraq and Syria. The group claims its goal is to return the lands they conquer to a state approximating that of early Islam, in which Jews and Christians who did not convert had to pay a “jizya†tribute to their Muslim rulers. "From one old woman they took $15,000 (11,100 euros). She asked for just $100 of it so she could reach Dohuk. They told her that these are the funds of the Islamic State, and we cannot give it to you," Fadi said. Robbed of their cars and cash, many Christians were forced to walk to safety.- Exodus - Some of Mosul’s Christians might be able to afford to pay the jizya, but they appear unwilling to take their chances living under the thumb of rulers notorious for executing and crucifying their opponents. "Maybe a few are still hiding in Mosul but I don’t think any would have decided to pay jizya or convert. There is no Christian who can trust these gangsters," Yonadam Kanna, Iraq’s most prominent Christian leader, told AFP. "They even took wedding rings from women fleeing the city at checkpoints… I am astonished they can claim to be Muslims." In a purported statement issued by IS last week which detailed the ultimatum for Mosul’s Christians, there will be nothing left for those who do not comply "but the sword". Ahlam, a 34-year-old mother of two boys, and her husband carried their children on their shoulders on their long march out of Mosul. She described an exodus of hundreds of Christians walking on foot in Iraq’s searing summer heat, the elderly and the disabled among them. "We first reached Tilkkef in a state of exhaustion. We hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for a whole day," she said, referring to a town some 20 km (12.4 miles) north of Mosul where volunteers are picking Christians up in their cars. "My husband and I were carrying our children on our shoulders the whole way." Many Christians are making their way to the relative safety of the city of Dohuk in Kurdish autonomous territory further north. According to the IS statement, seen by AFP, any homes they leave behind become property of the insurgent group. "I left my home in Mosul, that my family built decades ago. And it was taken away in an instant," Ahlam said with tears in her eyes. "Everything’s gone, all our memories. Our home has become property of the Islamic State." We can read, weep and pray, or read, weep, pray and do something., for these are our brothers and sisters in Christ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysostom Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I don't live in Tikklef or Dohuk with a car, but would like to know of any suggestions for offering concrete help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandelynmarie Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Yes, what can we do in the here & now? Is there a reputable charity we can donate to for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayte Postle Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Open Doors serves the persecuted Church through the world. They provide education, bibles, material support, and a few other services. I've given to them many times before, and when I can't give monetarily they have a host of things you can do instead like write letters of hope and encouragement to persecuted Christians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anastasia13 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Direct News from the Christians in Mosul Nineveh Tonight. For Iraqi Christian Fadi and his young family it is a lonely wait to see whether they will be executed soon. Their Christian neighbours and friends have already fled the city of Mosul in Iraq’s north, which last month fell into the hands of Sunni jihadists led by the Islamic State group, which espouses an extreme form of Islam. Along with the rest of the city’s estimated 25,000 Christians who had not already fled years of kidnappings, bombings and shootings, Sunni militants gave 36-year-old Fadi, his wife and son until Saturday to comply with a brutal ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay an unspecified tax, leave the city or die. "I’m staying. I already feel dead," Fadi, a teacher, told AFP by telephone moments before the deadline ran out. "Only my soul remains, and if they want to take that I don’t have a problem," he added, giving only his first name. On Friday, Mosul’s mosques called through loudspeakers for Christians to leave, after centuries of being part of the once cosmopolitan city’s social fabric. Fadi said he could not afford to flee and argued that the prospects for those who did were hardly better. Islamic State (IS) militants robbed departing Christians of their belongings, he said, leaving them to face destitution in grim camps for the displaced. "They were stopped by members of Islamic State, who took everything they had. Mobile phones, money, jewellery," he said, speaking of the fate of some 25 Christian families who had recently fled. "When my cousin and friends, from three families, tried to plead with them, they took their cars." IS fighters took control of Mosul and swathes of north and west Iraq in a sweeping offensive that began last month. Their leader has since then declared a “caliphate†straddling Iraq and Syria. The group claims its goal is to return the lands they conquer to a state approximating that of early Islam, in which Jews and Christians who did not convert had to pay a “jizya†tribute to their Muslim rulers. "From one old woman they took $15,000 (11,100 euros). She asked for just $100 of it so she could reach Dohuk. They told her that these are the funds of the Islamic State, and we cannot give it to you," Fadi said. Robbed of their cars and cash, many Christians were forced to walk to safety.- Exodus - Some of Mosul’s Christians might be able to afford to pay the jizya, but they appear unwilling to take their chances living under the thumb of rulers notorious for executing and crucifying their opponents. "Maybe a few are still hiding in Mosul but I don’t think any would have decided to pay jizya or convert. There is no Christian who can trust these gangsters," Yonadam Kanna, Iraq’s most prominent Christian leader, told AFP. "They even took wedding rings from women fleeing the city at checkpoints… I am astonished they can claim to be Muslims." In a purported statement issued by IS last week which detailed the ultimatum for Mosul’s Christians, there will be nothing left for those who do not comply "but the sword". Ahlam, a 34-year-old mother of two boys, and her husband carried their children on their shoulders on their long march out of Mosul. She described an exodus of hundreds of Christians walking on foot in Iraq’s searing summer heat, the elderly and the disabled among them. "We first reached Tilkkef in a state of exhaustion. We hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for a whole day," she said, referring to a town some 20 km (12.4 miles) north of Mosul where volunteers are picking Christians up in their cars. "My husband and I were carrying our children on our shoulders the whole way." Many Christians are making their way to the relative safety of the city of Dohuk in Kurdish autonomous territory further north. According to the IS statement, seen by AFP, any homes they leave behind become property of the insurgent group. "I left my home in Mosul, that my family built decades ago. And it was taken away in an instant," Ahlam said with tears in her eyes. "Everything’s gone, all our memories. Our home has become property of the Islamic State." We can read, weep and pray, or read, weep, pray and do something., for these are our brothers and sisters in Christ Is this yours or is there a link somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianGirlForever Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks so much for posting this, Cappie. I really wish the free West would do something about this. It really says a lot about a religion that is more known for its violence and oppression than anything else. Prayers for the Christians of Mosul and the Middle East as a whole! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappie Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Is this yours or is there a link somewhere? http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/direct-news-from-christians-in-mosul.html http://www.churchinneed.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7925&news_iv_ctrl=1001 http://www.churchinneed.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7921&news_iv_ctrl=1001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DameAgnes Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Ideas for helping: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2014/07/21/5-things-you-can-do-right-now-as-isis-threatens-iraqi-christians-and-shiites/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysostom Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) Two quick donation links: Open Doors UK has an online donation page set up for emergency family relief packs for those fleeing Mosul: https://partners.opendoorsuk.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=497 And the Catholic Near East Welfare Association has a donation page for Iraqi priests & religious on the ground helping the refugees: http://www.cnewa.org/donations.aspx?ID=1526&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 Edited July 22, 2014 by chrysostom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappie Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) Isis militants 'seize Iraq monastery and expel monks' Islamist militants in Iraq are reported to have seized an ancient monastery near Mosul and expelled the monks. Local residents said monks at the Mar Behnam monastery were allowed to take only the clothes they were wearing. The monastery, which dates from the 4th Century, is a major Christian landmark and a place of pilgrimage. Christians have fled Mosul after the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) told them to convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death. Isis has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq and said last month it was creating an Islamic caliphate. The Mar Behnam monastery is run by the Syriac Catholic Church and is near the predominantly Christian town of Qaraqosh, to the south-east of Mosul. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28408926 Edited July 22, 2014 by cappie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deus te Amat Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 .... and Jesus wept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oremus1 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) Open Doors serves the persecuted Church through the world. They provide education, bibles, material support, and a few other services. I've given to them many times before, and when I can't give monetarily they have a host of things you can do instead like write letters of hope and encouragement to persecuted Christians. For those of you who are looking for a Catholic charity for this cause (Open Doors is non denominational, although in practice, mostly protestant) : Aid to the Church in Need: http://www.acn-intl.org/pg/home.html?p=EN,,,1.2,,, For you brainboxes who are wanting to study something to help this cause, they also offer catholic scholarships. Open Doors lists protestant Pastors who you can write to. anyone know where we can write to Iraqi Catholics and Priests/Nuns who have also been imprisoned? Edited July 23, 2014 by oremus1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappie Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysostom Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 it's just so heartbreaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappie Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/french-daily-suggests-west-s-silence-is-persecuting-iraqi-christians Le Figaro, France's oldest and largest daily, questioned on its front page how long people in the West can ignore the persecutions of Christians taking place there. The editorial ran with the headline: "The Calvary of the Christians of Iraq." Its author, Étienne de Montety, called for the West to speak up, to not remain in silence and wondered how Christians and non-Christians can remain indifferent to the "terrifying procession of horrors, expulsions, murders in Mosul." De Montety pointed out that the Christians of Iraq were 1 million before the American intervention and now there are less than 400,000. "With each wave of vexations, violence, persecutions, they take the path of exodus," he said. He noted that both Pope Francis and the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, have spoken out against the persecution and foreign ministries are worried and have been raising their tone. But he pointed out the irony that Europeans are usually "so eager" to have "mobilizations, petitions, demonstrations of every kind, but "in this case, nothing!" He wondered if the West will only be prompted to act if a massacre takes place outside the summer vacation period. Through silence, the writer stated, "we are persecuting." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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