Iraq Crisis: End 'Very Near' for Christianity after Isis Takeover, Says Bishop

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Photo Credit: REUTERS / Ahmad Mousa

Photo Credit: REUTERS / Ahmad Mousa

The vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq has warned the end for Christians in the country appears “very near” as he appealed for help after a deadline set by Islamic militants to convert or be killed expired.

Canon Andrew White, dubbed “the bishop of Baghdad” for his work at St George’s church in the capital, spoke after the ultimatum handed to Christians in the northern city of Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq Levant (Isis) to convert, pay a tax or be put to death passed last week.

For those Christians who did not comply with the decree by 19 July, Isis warned that “there is nothing to give them but the sword.” Many have since fled their homes and Rev. Andrew-White told BBC Radio 4 Today desperate Christians were trapped in the desert or on the streets with nowhere to go.

“Things are so desperate, our people are disappearing,” he said. “We have had people massacred, their heads chopped off.

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Isis Militants Blow Up Jonah's Tomb

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Photo Credit: Uncredited / AP

Photo Credit: Uncredited / AP

Islamic State (Isis) militants have blown up a revered Muslim shrine traditionally said to be the burial place of the prophet Jonah in Mosul, residents of the city said.

Residents said on Thursday that the militants first ordered everyone out of the Mosque of the Prophet Younis, or Jonah, then blew it up.

The mosque was built on an archaeological site dating back to the eighth century BC and is said to be the burial place of the prophet, who in stories from both the Bible and Qur’an is swallowed by a whale.

It was renovated in the 1990s under Iraq’s late dictator Saddam Hussein and until the recent blitz by Isis that engulfed Mosul, remained a popular destination for religious pilgrims from around the world.

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Facebook Page Publishing Identities of French Jews to Encourage Attackers; 15 Men Assault a Jew in Paris Suburb After Confirming Photo

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Photo Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

Photo Credit: Screenshot / Facebook

A violent mob of more than a dozen men in France assaulted a Jew at his home in a Paris suburb after confirming that his photograph had been published by a French Facebook page identifying Jews to be targeted for physical intimidation, The Union of Jewish Students of France, the UEJF, said in a statement on Friday.

The Facebook page, ‘Jeunes Révolutionnaires Français’, JRF, or ‘Young French Revolutionaries’, posted the names and photos of 32 Jews. The assault on one of those listed took place on Thursday night in Bobigny, Seine-Saint-Denis, a Paris suburb. The assailants were armed with iron bars.

On the ‘Secret Tel Aviv’ Facebook page, Daniel Cohen called the group anti-Semitic, and exhorted Facebook users to report the JRF page to site administrators for removal.

On Facebook, Cohen wrote, “An anti-Semitic page is publishing names and pictures of French Jews in order to target them physically! A few have already been attacked at their homes, one last night by 15 people on one Jewish guy. We need to remove this page!”

The JRF captioned its page with the photos of the Jews to be targeted, “Smile, you’re caught! JRF watches! # AntiLDJ,” referring to the LDJ, the French initials of the Jewish Defense League, an organization created to teach Jews how to defend themselves from anti-Semitic attacks.

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Finally Free: Persecuted Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim Welcomed to Safety in Italy by the Pope

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Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian who faced death for not renouncing her faith within Sudan, is finally free. After a failed attempt to leave the country a month ago, the Italian government stepped in and used its historic ties with the region to organize her safe passage out of Sudan.

Yesterday, Ibrahim, her husband, and two children were flown to Italy on an Italian government jet. On the journey back to Italy, Italian politician Lapo Pistelli posted the picture below on his Facebook page.

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US Official: ISIL Is 'No Longer a Terrorist Organization–It's a Full-Blown Army'

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

By now, we all know how wrong President Obama was when he repeatedly said on the campaign trail in 2012 that al Qaeda is on the path to defeat. Indeed, it seems like we’ve got a much bigger problem on our hands. According to top U.S. officials, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is “worse than al Qaeda.”

Via The Hill (emphasis mine):

“It is al Qaeda in its doctrine, ambition and increasingly, in its threat to U.S. interests,” Brett McGurk, deputy assistant secretary of state, told lawmakers at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. “In fact, it is worse than al Qaeda.”

McGurk said the group, which splintered off from its parent, al Qaeda in Iraq, had strengthened its capabilities and was “no longer a terrorist organization. It is a full-blown army.”

Elissa Slotkin, acting principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for policy, added that the group has threatened: “We’re coming for you, Barack Obama.”

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Iran Calls on Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas to ‘Ink Defense Pact’ Against Israel

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Photo Credit: YouTube / Screenshot

Photo Credit: YouTube / Screenshot

By Joshua Levitt.

Iran’s semi-official state news agency Fars on Tuesday cited Commander of Iran’s Basij Force, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, as calling on the “resistance groups in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon to sign a defense treaty to help and support each other” against Israel.

“We ask the resistance forces in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon to endorse a defense pact so that an attack on any of them will be an attack on all of them and if the Zionist regime makes an aggression against any of them, all of them will grow united to confront it,” Naqdi said in Tehran on Monday night.

Fars’s brazen headline, ‘Iran Urges Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese Resistance Groups to Ink Defense Pact,’ was further confirmation of accusations made by U.S. Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, that Tehran’s foreign policy is “subversive, sectarian, and set on goals that would come at the expense of U.S. interests in the region.”

Pundits have long accused Iran of working through its proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, but Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza has brought what had been said in private out into the open, with Iranian leaders proudly announcing that they have been supplying Hamas with missiles and drones, even as Iranian diplomats try to convince the world they are peaceful nation deserving of a nuclear program.

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Photo Credit: twitter / Benjamin Netanyahu

Photo Credit: twitter / Benjamin Netanyahu

Watch: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Just Issued A Powerful Warning About Terrorism To The World

By Justin Koski.

On Tuesday, a U.N. delegation led by secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Israel’s leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the visit, Netanyahu showed the Secretary evidence of the Hamas rockets that have been raining down from Gaza for the past few weeks.

The Prime Minister also showed detailed photos of the locations in Gaza where Hamas had dug tunnels inside a kindergarten and near a school.

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Kerry, Aides Undergo Metal Detector Screening Before Meeting With Egyptian President

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Photo Credit: ABBAS MOMANI / AFP / Getty

Photo Credit: ABBAS MOMANI / AFP / Getty

Secretary of State John Kerry defied a Federal Aviation Administration ban and flew into Israel’s main airport Wednesday in a sign of sheer will to achieve a cease-fire agreement in the warring Gaza Strip despite little evidence of progress in ongoing negotiations aimed at halting fighting that’s left at least 31 Israelis and 650 Palestinians dead.

Kerry’s arrival in Israel came as Israeli troops battled Hamas militants near a southern Gaza Strip town as dozens of Palestinian families trapped by the fighting scrambled to flee the area.

It also came as Israel closed the border crossing into Gaza at Erez “until further notice,” citing the heavy fighting.

Kerry planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during what appeared to be a crucial day in the flailing talks.

Kerry reported some progress, reports the Reuters news agency, which quotes him as saying soon after he got to Jerusalem for a meeting with Ban,”We have certainly made some steps forward. There is still work to be done.”

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Report: Terror Group Behind Benghazi Attacks Moved In Nearby U.S. Consulate and ‘Nothing Was Done’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

By Justen Charters.

New information has come to light surrounding the September 11th terror attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

From Fox News:

Fox News’ Adam Housley reported that within three weeks of the U.S. renting the compound, a group aligned with Ansar al-Sharia – the terror organization believed to be behind the attack – moved in nearby.

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Photo Credit: Government

Photo Credit: Government

‘Is This How The Benghazi Talking Points Were Developed?’ Govt Watchdogs Blast Kerry Aide’s Use Of Gmail Account

By Brendan Bordelon.

Two top government watchdogs in Washington D.C. slammed a key aide to Secretary of State John Kerry for using a private Gmail account to conduct official government business, calling it “the worst possible practice in trying to maintain transparency” and speculating whether this was “how the Benghazi talking points were developed.”

The Daily Caller reported on Monday that Glen Johnson, a strategic communications advisor to Kerry, fabricated a claim about the number of times Kerry appeared on “Fox News Sunday” while attempting to force TheDC to change a report which said that the secretary had “shut out” Fox News reporter Chris Wallace from interviews.

Johnson used his personal Gmail account to contact TheDC, though he did also forward the initial email to his government address. As deputy assistant secretary of public affairs, corresponding with journalists counts as Johnson’s official government business. Johnson also signed the first email with his official title.

The State Department official did not appear to carbon copy his government address in a subsequent email to TheDC apologizing for the claims in his original message.

Tom Fitton, president of the conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch, insists that it’s important for federal employees to use official communication channels — especially if they’re high-ranking or in positions of public interest.

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Insolvent US Giving Away $47M To Gaza Strip

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Photo Credit: AP / Adel Hana

Photo Credit: AP / Adel Hana

The U.S. is sending $47 million in humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip to help tens of thousands of Palestinians there who have been forced from their homes since war broke out two weeks ago.

A State Department breakdown of the aid that was released Monday said nearly a third of the money — $15 million — will go to the United Nations’ refugee mission in Gaza.

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French Minister Slams 'Anti-Semitic' Gaza Protests

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Photo Credit: AFP / Pierre Andrieu

Photo Credit: AFP / Pierre Andrieu

France’s interior minister on Monday slammed “intolerable” acts of anti-Semitism after a rally against Israel’s Gaza offensive descended into violence pitting an angry pro-Palestinian crowd against local Jewish businesses.

Sunday’s demonstration in the north Paris suburb of Sarcelles was the third to deteriorate in a week, as shops were looted and riot police lobbed tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd.

The rally had been banned amid concern the Jewish community would be targeted after protesters last weekend tried to storm two synagogues in Paris.

“When you head for the synagogue, when you burn a corner shop because it is Jewish-owned, you are committing an anti-Semitic act,” Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters outside the Sarcelles synagogue.

In the Paris suburb sometimes nicknamed “little Jerusalem” for its large community of Sephardic Jews, the rally descended into chaos when dozens of youth — some masked — set fire to bins and lit firecrackers and smoke bombs.

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