Obama Admin. Ignoring Widespread Christian Genocide in the Middle East

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A silent persecution of Christians tantamount to genocide is ongoing in the Middle East, according to experts in Washington.

Last week, at a panel organized by The Heritage Foundation to discuss modern Christian martyrs, academic, religious, and media leaders discussed the persecution—as well as the inattention being paid to the issue by developed nations including the United States.

“I am always struck by how utterly abandoned the patriarchs and church leaders [in the Middle East] whose lives are on the line every day … how utterly abandoned they feel by the West, and particularly the United States,” said Kathryn Jean Lopez, a senior fellow with the National Review Institute and one of the event’s co-hosts.

According to recent estimates, the Christian population in Iraq has dropped to roughly 260,000, down from 1.5 million a decade ago.

The shift likely reflects continuing forced expulsions of Christians from northern Iraq and Syria, as well as abductions and murders by extremist leaders who, earlier this year, declared the coexistence of Muslims with Jews and Christians impossible according to the Quran.

“Forcing a population to leave [its homeland] is one of the five tests, and they don’t all need to be met, but it’s one of the tests for genocide,” said Patrick E. Kelly, executive director of the St. John Paul II National Shrine and a member of the Knights of Columbus. Kelly was referring to the five tenets of qualifying characteristics that constitute Article II of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention definition of genocide.

Those qualifying characteristics include murder, causing serious harm, imposing conditions of life that attempt to destroy, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children outside a specific national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.

“I think we have a tendency to think governments always know what’s going on on the ground,” Kelly continued. “They don’t always have the best information. But churches often do, because of the grassroots, with-the-people nature of parishes and ministries. If governments say they don’t have the evidence, they can do more to get the evidence, but they should be listening to the faith communities as well.”

As of this week, according to sources, the State Department does not plan to include Christians in a statement to be released on the status of victims of ISIS-inflicted genocide in the region. The statement will include Yazidis, the Kurdish religious minority.

Washington experts stress that any statement or widespread response must be inclusive of all religions.

“The church and all Christians must be working for the religious freedom of all people, because that freedom is rooted in the dignity of the human person,” Timothy Samuel Shah, associate director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, said at The Heritage Foundation panel.

“What we are fighting for is not our own tribe, not our own group. We’re fighting for religious freedom for everyone,” he added.

On Monday, the Knights of Columbus announced they had written a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging the inclusion of Christians in any sort of State Department finding on Middle Eastern genocide.

“We write as American citizens concerned about the vulnerable Christian and Yazidi minorities of Iraq and Syria who are being targeted for eradication in their ancient homelands solely because of their religious beliefs,” the letter begins.

The letter goes on to request a meeting with a “small delegation” to debrief Kerry on the crises confronting Christians including forcible conversion, mass murder, enslavement, rape, destruction of churches, and theft of lands and wealth, adding that Pope Francis has himself used the word “genocide” to describe the aforementioned persecution.

“All faiths are under attack when one faith tries to kill others because they do not believe,” said Roger Severino, director of The Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, at The Heritage Foundation panel last week. “It is as simple as that.” (Read more from “Obama Admin. Ignoring Widespread Christian Genocide in the Middle East” HERE)

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Kerry Says Paris Agreement Crafted to Avoid Congress

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Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday the climate agreement reached this week in Paris did not contain any enforcement provisions because Congress would not have approved them.

“It doesn’t have mandatory targets for reduction and it doesn’t have an enforcement, compliance mechanism,” Kerry said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Kerry said such mechanisms were not included because Congress would have refused to greenlight the deal.

Binding legal requirements would have made the Paris agreement a treaty, requiring approval from two-thirds of the Senate. Because no climate change measure could close to the high bar in the chamber, the Paris deal was written to avoid it.

Kerry also said he hopes the climate agreement will send “a very powerful message to the marketplace” about where they should place their energy investments. (Read more from “Kerry Says Paris Agreement Crafted to Avoid Congress” HERE)

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Is This US State the next Terrorist Target?

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By Daily Headlines. We’ve been reporting to you about the growing number of Missouri towns, experiencing a run on massive cell phone buys by middle eastern men with accents at several Walmart stores. Well this next item gone missing at should have everyone scared stiff.

The Kansas City and Independence, Missouri areas have been the sites for propane tank thefts, by the dozens, from area CVS and BP gas stations.

From FOX4KC:

Several Missouri law enforcement agencies have notified the FBI about a large amount of cell phone purchases from area Walmarts.

Now, another incident has some people wondering if we are in danger of a terrorist attack in our area. A large number of propane tanks have been reported stolen from several locations is Independence and Lee`s Summit.

At the end of November, a BP gas station in Lee`s Summit reported 18-20 propane tanks stolen from the outside cages. That same night the CVS on Southwest 3rd Street reported the exact same crime.

(Read more from “Is This US State the next Terrorist Target?” HERE)

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Spain Arrests Terrorism Suspect in Plot Against Swedish Artist

By Raphael Minder. Spain on Friday announced the arrest of a suspect wanted by the United States in connection with terrorism activities, including a failed attempt to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had depicted the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body.

Spanish officials said the suspect, Ali Charaf Damache, was arrested in Barcelona, where he had been moving between hostels. The United States has been seeking the extradition of Mr. Damache, who is also accused of planning to set up terrorist training camps and kill several other Westerners.

Mr. Damache is a dual Algerian and Irish citizen who was arrested in Ireland in 2010, where he faced American extradition proceedings. But he was released this year after an Irish judge rejected the extradition request.

Jordi Jané, an official from the Catalan regional government in Barcelona, said during a news conference on Friday that Mr. Damache was the subject of an international arrest warrant, and that he had been detained on Thursday in Barcelona and then transferred overnight to Madrid. On Friday, Mr. Damache appeared before a judge in Spain’s national court, who ordered his provisional arrest. The American authorities now have 40 days to present Spain with another extradition request. (Read more from “Spain Arrests Terrorism Suspect in Plot Against Swedish Artist” HERE)

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ISIS Possesses Passport Printing Machines, Terrorists Have Likely Infiltrated US With Fake Documents

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With the U.S. and other countries on high alert for ISIS attacks, American authorities are warning the terror group’s followers may have infiltrated American borders with authentic-looking passports ISIS has printed itself with its own machines, according to an intelligence report obtained by ABC News.

The 17-page Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Intelligence Report, issued to law enforcement last week, says ISIS likely has been able to print legitimate-looking Syrian passports since taking over the city of Deir ez-Zour last summer, home to a passport office with “boxes of blank passports” and a passport printing machine. Another passport office was located in Raqqa, Syria, which has long been ISIS’s de facto capital.

“Since more than 17 months [have] passed since Raqqa and Deir ez-Zour fell to ISIS, it is possible that individuals from Syria with passports ‘issued’ in these ISIS controlled cities or who had passport blanks, may have traveled to the U.S.,” the report says. . .

Former Department of Homeland Security intelligence official and ABC News consultant John Cohen said, “If ISIS has been able to acquire legitimate passports or machines that create legitimate passports, this would represent a major security risk in the United States.”

Fake Syrian passports have already been discovered in Europe, most notably two used by suicide bombers in the horrific terrorist attack on Paris last month. The two men are believed to have slipped into Europe with a flood of Syrian refugees fleeing the violence in their homeland. (Read more from “ISIS Possesses Passport Printing Machines, Terrorists Have Likely Infiltrated US with Fake Documents” HERE)


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North Korea Now Says It Has a Hydrogen Bomb

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday appeared to say his country has developed a hydrogen bomb, a step up from the less powerful atomic bomb, but the United States and outside experts were skeptical.

Kim made the comments as he toured the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site, which marks the feats of his father who died in 2011 and his grandfather, state founder and eternal president, Kim Il Sung, the official KCNA news agency said.

The work of Kim Il Sung “turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation,” KCNA quoted Kim Jong Un as saying. . . A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, uses more advanced technology to produce a significantly more powerful blast than an atomic bomb. (Read more from “North Korea Nows Says It Has a Hydrogen Bomb” HERE)

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Massive Mural in Tehran Mocks U.S. Soldiers

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A “Times Square-scale mural” mocking American soldiers has been erected in the Iranian capital city of Tehran, according to pictures published by an advocacy organization pushing for democracy in Iran.

The sprawling mural mocks U.S. Marines by parodying the famous Iwo Jima memorial by depicting American soldiers as planting an American flag on the backs of dead Muslims, according to pictures published by the Foundation for Democracy in Iran, or FDI.

The anti-American mural is just the latest propaganda from Iran meant to foster distrust and hatred for the West, according to the foundation. (Read more from “Mural in Tehran Mocks U.S. Soldiers” HERE)

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What Does the Muslim World Think of Jews?

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Earlier today, the political social media world erupted with universal sanctimony and outrage over Donald Trump’s comments suggesting the U.S. bar all Muslims from entering the country. Let’s put aside, for a moment, the problematic nature of Trump’s position in which he included citizens among those he’d exclude. Obviously, that is unconstitutional (exclusion of non-citizens is absolutely constitutional). The political elites are expressing moral outrage and righteous indignation over such an expression of bigotry.

Well, I just want you to consider the following two facts and juxtapose them to each other.

First, over the next 10 years, the U.S. is likely to admit over 1 million immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. That does not include the well over 1 million from those countries who will likely enter on long-term non-immigrant visas, most prominently, student visas. And these are conservative estimates.

Now consider the following study from Pew Research in 2010 regarding views of individuals living in Muslim countries towards Jews which Mark Levin mentioned it on his show tonight.

Now keep in mind the state of Europe in regards to Islamic immigration and the increasing frequency of stories of racist treatment of Jews. Now pair this with the first fact listed above with regard to the source of America’s Islamic immigration.

Which immigration policy reflects true compassion, humanity, and tolerance?

Anyone who is not concerned about this trend and what it portends for American Jews is being sanctimonious and not concerned with actual tolerance.

The chart speaks for itself. (For more from the author of “What Does the Muslim World Think of Jews?” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

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FBI Director: Terrorist in Texas Attack Sent 109 Encrypted Messages on Morning of Attack to Terrorist Overseas

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FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that one of two terrorists who tried to kill people outside a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, in May sent 109 messages to a terrorist overseas the day of the attack, and the FBI has no idea what was said, because those messages were encrypted.

“In May, when two terrorists attempted to kill a whole lot of people in Garland, Texas, and were stopped by law enforcement, again, that morning before one of those terrorists left to commit mass murder, he exchanged 109 messages with an overseas terrorist,” Comey said.

ISIS sent two gunmen – Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi – to launch a terrorist attack at an anti-Muslim event on May 3, wounding a security guard before police shot them, the Associated Press reported. A third man – Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem – was arrested and charged with helping to orchestrate the attack. ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack.

“We have no idea what he said,” Comey said about one of the gunmen, “because those messages were encrypted, and to this day, I can’t tell you what he said with that terrorist 109 times the morning of that attack. That is a big problem. We have to grapple with it,” Comey said.

During his opening statement before the committee, Comey said both tech companies and the FBI care about safety on the Internet. They understand that “encryption is a very important part of being secure on Internet,” he said. “We also all care about public safety. We also all see a collision between those things right now.” (Read more from “FBI Director: Terrorist in Texas Attack Sent 109 Encrypted Messages on Morning of Attack to Terrorist Overseas” HERE)

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Russia Launches New Airstrikes in Syria

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Photo Credit: APRussia has unleashed another barrage of airstrikes against targets in Syria, including the first combat launch of a new cruise missile from a Russian submarine in the Mediterranean Sea, the country’s defense minister said Tuesday.

The Kalibr cruise missiles launched by the Rostov-on-Don submarine successfully hit the designated targets in Raqqa, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin. The submarine was in a submerged position during the launch, he added.

Putin noted that the new cruise missile can be equipped with both conventional and nuclear warheads, adding he hopes that the latter “will never be needed.” (Read more from “Russia Launches New Airstrikes in Syria” HERE)

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In Unique Discovery, Archaeologists Find King Hezekiah’s Seal

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Israeli archaeologists have discovered a mark from the seal of biblical King Hezekiah, who helped build Jerusalem into an ancient metropolis.

The circular inscription, on a piece of clay less than a centimeter (0.4 inches) long, may very well have been made by the king himself, said Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University who directed the excavation where it was uncovered.

Hezekiah ruled around 700 BC and was described in the Bible as a daring monarch—”There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him” (2 Kin. 18:5)—who was dedicated to eliminating idolatry in his kingdom.

“This is the first time that a seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king has ever come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation,” Mazar said.

The clay imprint, known as a bulla, was found at a dig at the foot of the southern part of the wall that surrounds Jerusalem’s Old City, an area rich in relics from the period of the first of two ancient Jewish temples. (Read more from “In Unique Discovery, Archaeologists Find King Hezekiah’s Seal” HERE)

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