Syria’s Christians Face New Threat – ‘Convert, Submit to Islam or Face Sword’

Followers in Raqqa face threat familiar to Christians in the Muslim world.

(From Foxnews.com) – “Convert. Submit to Islam. Or face the sword.” In recent days, the besieged Christian community in Raqqa, a city in northern Syria, has faced those three stark alternatives. The terrorist group known as ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) made their demands after seizing control of the region. They required […]

Morning Star News’ Top 10 Persecution Stories of 2013

In Nigeria, terrorists weren’t the only ones terrorizing Christians.

(Morning Star News) – Last year Egypt saw its greatest level of attacks on Christians; more Christians were killed in Syria’s civil war than anywhere else; and an Islamist rebel take-over in the Central African Republic brought new atrocities to the historically unstable country. But where political instability and civil war were not contributing factors, […]

Nuri Kino: Tax Money for Massacres in Syria?

Human rights journalist addresses conference on persecution in the Middle East.

(Morning Star News) – Remarks today by award-winning Swedish-Assyrian journalist Nuri Kino at a conference on persecution of Christians in the Middle East in Brussels, sponsored by the Middle East Christian Committee, as reported by the Assyrian International News Agency: My name is Nuri Kino; I’m a researcher, an author, a filmmaker, a human rights […]

Christians in Syria Feel Forgotten as Mass Graves Found in Sadad

Archbishop calls Islamist rebel attack the war's largest massacre.

(Morning Star News) – Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh called it “the most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two years and a half.” The Oct. 21 Islamist rebel siege of Sadad, a small town of 15,000 mostly Syriac Orthodox Christians 160 kilometers (95 miles) north of Damascus, left 45 […]

Syrian Government Forces Retake Village from Jihadi Rebels

Jabhat al-Nusra militants have history of beheadings and destruction of churches.

LOS ANGELES (Morning Star News) – Syrian government soldiers have retaken the ancient Christian town of Sadad from Jihadi rebels, accoding to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reports JNS.org. Residents from Sadad reported that rebels from the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization have retreated from the town after heavy fighting with the Syrian army. The Associated Press […]

Missing Clergymen Reflect Dangers for Christians in Syria

Regardless of who’s in power, Christians expected to suffer amid chaos.

ISTANBUL (Morning Star News) – The disappearance last week of an Italian Jesuit priest in Syria following the kidnapping of two other clergymen in April reflects the dangers Christians face in the war-torn country. The Rev. Paolo Dall’Oglio, who spent three decades in Syria before the Syrian government deported him last year for helping victims of […]

Christians in Syria Targeted for Kidnapping

Criminal gangs collude with Islamic extremist mercenaries, refugees say.

ISTANBUL (Morning Star News) – In a poor gypsy neighborhood of Istanbul, a Syrian Orthodox refugee from Syria says he worked as a dentist in Aleppo as long as he could after fighting broke out in 2011; he finally fled when lack of food, electricity, water, and constant fear of sniper-fire and kidnapping of Christians made […]

Will We Be Their Voice?

Bill would create special envoy for religious minorities in the Middle East/South Central Asia.

(Morning Star News) – Christians worldwide just celebrated the birth of Jesus. For many in the West this was a festive season marked by worship services, gift-giving and time with family and friends. But for the church in the Middle East, fear of persecution cast a long, dark shadow over the Christmas holiday.   Oppression […]

Religious ‘Cleansing’ in the Middle East a Growing Threat

Christian communities under attack in the region.

(Morning Star News) When Iran’s holocaust-denying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaims, “Israel must be wiped off the map,” the United States rightly takes the threat of genocide seriously. President Obama, like his predecessor, is committed to preventing the eradication of the people of Israel. Conservative U.S. Christian leadership, as reflected by Christians United for Israel, has […]