Update: Youcef Nadarkhani was released on Jan. 7. See https://morningstarnews.org/other-press/ ISTANBUL (Morning Star News) – An Iranian pastor freed from prison in September after nearly three years of detainment was re-arrested on Christmas Day in a move that human rights groups consider intentional harassment for rejecting Islam. Youcef Nadarkhani, 35, had faced the death penalty […]
Iran Re-Arrests Pastor Nadarkhani on Christmas Day
Move termed a deliberate message of hostility toward Christians.
January 1, 2013 By -
Religious ‘Cleansing’ in the Middle East a Growing Threat
Christian communities under attack in the region.
January 1, 2013 By -
(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 […]
Saudi Textbooks Retain Hateful Refrains
Schoolchildren primed with pre-persecution slurs against ‘infidels.’
December 10, 2012 By -
I have researched and written about the toxic content of school textbooks published by the Saudi Ministry of Education for almost a decade and have found that little has changed in them over this period. Last year, I had the opportunity as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to travel to […]
Iran Said to be Killing Imprisoned Pastor by Neglect
Denial of medical aid aimed at Behnam Irani succumbing to violence-related illness, sources say.
December 7, 2012 By -
ISTANBUL (Morning Star News) – The condition of an Iranian pastor languishing in prison on charges of “actions against the Islamic state” is deteriorating as authorities intend to kill him by denying him medical treatment, according to sources close to the prisoner. The sources say the health of pastor Behnam Irani, a married father of […]
Female Christians in Cairo, Egypt Fearful of Riding Subway
After assaults by covered women, is it better to risk harassment on mixed-gender cars?
November 26, 2012 By -
CAIRO, Egypt (Morning Star News) – Coptic girls and women are wary about boarding Cairo subway cars – or are too fearful to enter them at all – after a series of attacks on female Christians on the transit system. In three separate incidents in the past month, women wearing the niqab – a […]
Christians in Egypt’s Sinai Fearful after Attack
Coptic families flee Rafah following threats, machine-gun fire.
October 3, 2012 By -
JERUSALEM (Morning Star News) – Egyptian Christians in North Sinai feel unprotected and in danger following threats and a machine-gun attack that has driven several families from the border town of Rafah. “The situation of Christians in Sinai is very dangerous,” said Yusuf Zaki, spokesman for the Egypt Coptic Alliance. “They feel that they are not […]