LIBYA, AFRICA: Libya arrests 4 foreigners suspected of trying to spread Christianity in Muslim nation

 

TRIPOLI, Libya — Four foreigners were arrested in Libya on suspicion of distributing books about Christianity and proselytizing, a Libyan police spokesman said on Saturday.

Police spokesman Hussein bin Hamid said the suspects were from South Africa, Egypt and South Korea, and one held both Swedish and U.S. nationality. The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed that a dual national Swedish-American citizen was arrested while traveling on a U.S. passport. The U.S. Embassy in Libya declined comment.

The four were arrested in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday and are under investigation for printing and distributing books that proselytize Christianity. Police said they found 45,000 books in their possession and that another 25,000 have already been distributed. Spreading Christianity is a crime in the predominantly Muslim North African county.

LEBANON: The Orthodox law is a crime against Lebanon

 

In a TV interview with Marcel Ghanem Thursday evening which was broadcasted live from Paris on LBC’s “Kalam Ennass” program , former Lebanese Prime minister and the leader of the largest parliamentary bloc Saad Hariri rejected the proposed Orthodox electoral law ” because it divides the Christians and Muslims and this is a crime against Lebanon”

Hariri proposed a four-point political initiative aimed at preserving coexistence in Lebanon between The Christians and Muslims.

His proposal calls for:

1- Organizing the elections on time according to an electoral law that is based on smalle electoral districts
2- Establishing a senate that represents all sects as defined by the Taef Accord
3- Adopting administrative decentralization
4- Including the Baabda declaration in the preamble of the Constitution.

Asked why he is against the Orthodox gathering proposal, he said because his dream for Lebanon is for the Christians and Muslims to be together as one:

“I want to be honest and clear. I am “the son” of March 14. I was born politically in 2005 when Rafic Hariri was killed. I saw a nun makingthe sign of the cross and praying at his grave, while others next to her where reciting verses of the Koran. Every person who took to the street on March 14, 2005 was carrying the Lebanese flag. In that historical moment, Gerbran Tueni said that we will remain together,Muslims and Christians, forever. I saw Pierre Gemayel and Samir Kassir, in this square, with all the Lebanese, Muslims and Christians. So how can I give up on all this? My dream for Lebanon is for the Christians and Muslims to be together as one. We cannot forget what our ancestors did since 1920, when the State of Greater Lebanon was established. Shall we, in 2013 burry everything our ancestors did?”

He added: “As politicians, we have responsibilities, and both Christians and Muslims have concerns. The 2000 law was crafted against Rafic Hariri, and he was killed in 2005. In 2009 the elections were held, and we won. What happened after?

Hariri stressed that the concerns should be dealt with rationaly rather than with sectarianism.

Hariri said that he accepts the electoral law proposal put forward by the March 14 MPs , based on the the 50 constituencies for electing the Parliament and the Senate will be elected on the basis of the so called Orthodox Gathering draft electoral law.

Commenting on the possibility that his initiative might not be examined by the Parliament committee, Hariri said: “We want to solve a problem; the first person to oppose the Orthodox law was the President of the republic. Isn’t he a Christian? He is the First Christian. He looks for the Lebanese interest, not mine or that of March 8 or 14.We agree with him on this”.

Hariri stressed : “The orthodox law divides the Lebanese, I cannot accept it for electing the parliament”.

Asked why he rejects the proportional representation, Hariri said that the reason is that there will be competition in some regions, but there cannot be any competition in other regions, because of the presence of weapons in them.

He is referring to the 2009 election in the areas dominated by the Hezbollah. According to the reports that surfaced back then Hezbollah gunmen prevented their rivals from voting and the results of the election showed it. On the other hand in the March 14 dominated areas several Hezbollah backed candidates won the election that was based on winner take all . In a proportional representation system Hezbollah will be able to gain more seats in the March 14 dominated areas but will not lose any seats in its dominated areas as long as it is allowed to keep its arms and use them internally for political gain .

Hariri added that if March 8 had won the last elections, they wouldn’t have wanted to change the law now, noting that “the Orthodox draft law was put on the table for political outbidding. The orthodox law wants to tear the Lebanese apart, but we want to preserve coexistence”.

Hariri stressed the importance of establishing a senate as agreed in the Taef accord, because it will guarantee the rights of all sects.

Asked about Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s efforts Hariri said:” Speaker Berri is working on unifying the efforts to reach an electoral law that could be adopted for the 2013 elections. He is trying his best to bring the views closer. ”

Asked why Hezbollah should accept an electoral law in which their rivals would control the country, while Future Movement will not accept an electoral law that would lead to Hezbollah’s control on the country, Hariri said: “We won a parliamentary majority in 2009 and we extended our hand to form a national unity government, but when they took over they formed their own government. And now you see for yourself what happened to the economic and security situation in the country after they governed .”

He added: ” We are ready to discuss any electoral law that everybody agrees on, and at the same time we are not seeking power, but we want to preserve coexistence and have real democracy and freedom, ” adding:” In the 2009 elections, we could have nominated candidates from the Future movement in all Lebanese regions, but I didn’t do so because I believe that there are other independent voices with new ideas that should be heard .”

Hariri added: “March 14 Forces have national principles. Samir Geagea, Amine Gemayel or the independent figures didn’t change theirpositions regarding these national principles on which we agreed on March 14. Both Geagea and Gemayel said that there is no futurewithout the Future ( Movement) and I say that there is no future without the participation of all March 14 Forces.”
”
Commenting on reports that the Orthodox Gathering draft electoral law is supported by about 70 MPs, Hariri said :
Regardless of this such law will be faced by the veto of President Michel Suleiman, the Future Movement, the independents, and MP Walid Jumblatt and if the Constitutional Council rejected the law, what would we do? Do we remain where we are or do we return to the small constituencies? The Orthodox Gathering draft electoral law is rejected by the President because it divides the Christians and Muslims and this is a crime against Lebanon. ”

Asked what type of government March 14 forces would form if they win the elections, Hariri said: “We will extend our hand, but no one should dream this time of having veto power like before. We will not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Asked what he would do if he wins the elections, he said: “We will do the opposite of what this government is doing, on the level of electricity, communication, roads, everything. Because Lebanon today is not the Lebanon we know. This government talks a lot but did nothing. They criticize what Rafic Hariri or Fouad Siniora did. Rafic Hariri built an aiport, a sport city, Solidere. He built Lebanon and we want to pursue this path. We accomplished Paris-I and II and III ( donor conferences ). What have they accomplished?”.

Asked about the calls for national dialogue he said :

“The dialogue table has only one issue to be discussed which is the weapons, and this subject should be dealt with in a calm way because it obviously represents a great burden on the Lebanese people and on Lebanon. ”

Asked if he will return to Beirut before the elections, he said that he will ” return for sure to Lebanon before the elections and will decide the exact moment”.

Asked if he wants this February 14th to visit the his father’s grave , which now also includes the remains of former Intelligence chief Wissam el-Hassan who was assassinated last october he said: “Two roses, Wissam and Rafic el-Hariri. I hope to be there, but every day in my life is a February 14th. This date did not plant hatred in my heart but determination, because the dream of Rafic Hariri has to succeed, and it will succeed”.

At the end of the interview, Marcel Ghanem told Hariri that almost one million people voted on the question asked by Kalam ennass (Are you with or against the return of Saad Hariri as Prime Minister?), and that the result was: 73.3 % with. Hariri responded by saying: I thank the people for their trust, I will not disappoint you and I don’t want to stay away from you. There are good things awaiting Lebanon.”

Jumblatt/ Gemayel visit

Asked about the purpose of his meetings with his allies in Paris he said:

“Communication with the allies is very important. President Amine Gemayel came to Paris to meet with French President Francois Hollande, so we met and discussed what is happening in Lebanon. We discussed the electoral law and the concerns of my allies and I gave my point of view on the orthodox law.”

Regarding MP Walid Jumblatt, Hariri described him as “a friend, who will remain a friend, and who stood by us after the assassination of Rafic Hariri”.

Syria

Asked about the situation in Syria , Hariri said :
The Syrian regime is murderous and corrupt, and won’t last very long”, adding” the Syrian people will win in the end”

Hariri went on to explain that what is happening in Syria is a revolution. “There is no doubt that this regime is a killer. It is the same regime that killed the Lebanese and today it is killing and slaughtering its own people. When we demanded to have an international tribunal, we didn’t know that there will be an Arab spring. We insisted on the tribunal because we wanted justice. We see that the Syrian people revolted against the regime because they want freedom, democracy , justice and sovereignty. We are are sure that this regime which oppressed Lebanon too for many years will fall.”

He said that the Syrian regime is involved in the assassination of Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and this will be revealed in court , expressing his belief that the same killers assassinated both Rafic Hariri and Wissam al-Hassan.

Asked about the attitude of Hezbollah if the Syrian regime falls:

“I don’t know”, but we will call them for dialogue … will be happy if the regime falls, but will not behave the way Syria’s allies behaved towards us when this regime was there. He pointed out that “Syria’s allies, during the last 8 years, preferred that regime over their partners in Lebanon”.
Hariri added: “We should use this as an opportunity to unite all the Lebanese and rebuild Lebanon together “.

Asked if he would meet with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah if someone mediates between them, Hariri said: “ if the purpose of such a meeting is just to talk, it is meaningless, if it can be useful then yes”.

Hariri denied his group is sending fighters to Syria and stressed that what Future Movement MP Okab Sakr is doing is standing by the Syrian people and the leaders of the opposition :He added: “I am also in contact with the Syrian opposition and I have met with their leaders Moaz el-Khatib and Burhan Ghalioun”.

Civil Marriage:

Commenting on the hot civil marriage issue , Hariri blasted the fatwa taken by Lebanon’s top Sunni Muslim cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani:

“The fatwa of the Grand Mufti which considers those who accept civil marriage to be apostates- is unacceptable.” He pointed out that “more than 700 million Muslims in countries like Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia and other countries all conclude civil marriage. Can the Grand mufti call them all apostates? Is Erdogan an apostate?”

He added that the issue of civil marriage is a controversial one in Lebanon and needs a real dialogue.

SYRIA - Human Rights Watch: Christians in crosshairs

Multiple reports of attacks on minority religious sites have surfaced in Syria as the armed conflict to out Syrian President Bashar Assad has killed more than 60,000 people and driven over 650,000 out of the country, according to UN estimates. 

The 22-month-old rebellion has taken on increasingly sectarian dimensions, as primarily Sunni Muslim rebels have battled pro-government Alawites – an offshoot of Shiite Islam – and many Christians who link their survival to that of the Assad government.

Christians have increasingly viewed the current government as a guarantor of their religious freedoms. Religious persecution faced by Egyptian and Iraqi Christians in the wake of regime change has only increased fears that religiously tolerant Syria will be transformed by Islamist elements of the opposition.

Such sentiments have put them in the crosshairs of rebel fighters.

In August, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported a massacre in nearby Jandar village which left 16 civilians, mostly Alawites and Christians, dead.

In June, at least 9,000 Christians from the western Syrian city of Qusayr neighboring Homs were reportedly forced to seek refuge after an ultimatum from a local military chief of the armed opposition. In March, sources inside the Syrian Orthodox Church have claimed the systematic “ethnic cleansing of Christians" by the Free Syrian Army was taking place in Homs. A letter sent to Agenzia Fides – the Vatican’s press agency – by Orthodox sources in Syria said that “Militant armed Islamists…have managed to expel 90 per cent of Christians in Homs and confiscated their homes by force.”

Agnes Mariam, a local Christian leader in Syria, told RT in September that the persecution of Christians was a reflection of how their faith had excluded them from Islamist elements within the opposition. “The Christians have been discriminated against not because they are Christians, but because by being Christians they couldn’t participate in Islamist demonstrations. Sometimes, this led to severe violence against them. You know, we had more than 200,000 Christians that had to flee out [of Syria] because of this ambiguous position.”

Jordanian Orthodox Christian Procession - VIDEO (Western media does not show you this!)

Jordanian Christians in a procession, highlighting the part that Christianity has to play in the history of the Middle East even to this day, with His Beatitude, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theofilos the Third.

Orthodox Christianity has as much of a role in Middle Eastern history, society, and culture, as Islam does.

ISRAEL: 50 Muslim's Attack Rachael's Tomb With IED's and Rocks

 

About 50 Arabs mounted an assault on Rachel's Tomb, just outside Bethlehem, Wednesday evening. They threw pipe bombs, fire bombs and rocks at the security forces guarding the compound, injuring one soldier lightly.

The soldier, who was hit by a rock, received medical treatment on the spot and did not require hospitalization.

The IDF Spokesman said that the Arabs threw nine pipe bombs and 18 fire bombs. One of the pipe bombs caused some damage to the security wall surrounding the complex. 

Rachel and Jacob - Rachel is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 29 when Jacob happens upon her as she is watering her lamb.

The IDF Spokesman said that the soldiers are using riot dispersal gear against the attackers.

In past years, any large scale attack with explosives and fire bombs would in all probability have been repelled with live fire. However, the IDF is shackled by a Military Attorney's Office and State Attorney's Office that often prosecute soldiers for opening fire against attackers unless they can prove a clear and present danger to their lives.

Rachel Tomb ( Inside ) - "And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." — Genesis 35:19-20

The Christian-majority, Boko Haram and the corrupt Nigerian state

The political institutions of Africa’s biggest country are incapable of dealing with even the smallest challenge. Indeed, they often make matters worse. Consider, for example, the way that the Nigerian government has dealt with the Islamist terrorists of Boko Haram.

Boko Haram

Or rather, how it has failed to deal with them. Boko Haram (the phrase means ‘Western education is sinful’) began as a loony but not very dangerous group in the northern state of Bornu who rejected everything that they perceived as “Western” science.  In a BBC interview in 2009 its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, claimed that the concept of a spherical Earth is against Islamic teaching. He also denied that rain came from water evaporated by the sun.

Bornu is a very poor state, however, and his preaching gave him enough of a following among the poor and ignorant to make him a political threat to the established order. So hundreds of his followers were killed in a massive military and police attack on the movement in 2009, and Mohammed Yusuf himself was murdered while in police custody. That was what triggered Boko Haram’s terrorist campaign.

Its attacks grew rapidly: by early 2012 Boko Haram had killed 700 people in dozens of attacks against military, police, government and media organisations and against the Christian minorities living in northern Nigeria. So last March Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, promised that the security forces would end the insurgency by June. But the death toll just kept climbing.

In September, a senior official told The Guardian newspaper that “There is no sense that the government has a real grip. The situation is not remotely under control.” Last week alone saw six people dead in an attack on a church on Christmas Day, seven killed in Maiduguri, the capital of Bornu state, on 27 December, and the abduction and murder of fifteen Christians, mostly by slitting their throats, in a town near Maiduguri on the 28th.

President Jonathan’s response was to visit a Christian church on Sunday and congratulate the security forces on preventing many more attacks during Christmas week: “Although we still recorded some incidents, the extent of attacks which (Boko Haram) planned was not allowed to be executed.” If this is what success looks like, Nigeria is in very deep trouble.

Part of the reason is the “security forces”, which are corrupt, incompetent, and brutal. In the murderous rampages that are their common response to Boko Haram’s attacks, they have probably killed more innocent people than the terrorists themselves, and have certainly stolen more property. Right across the country’s mainly Muslim north, they are Boko Haram’s best recruiting sergeants.

But it is the government that raises, trains and pays these security forces, and even in a continent where many countries have problems with the professionalism of the army and police, Nigeria’s are in a class by themselves. That is ultimately because its politicians are also in a class by themselves. There are some honest and serious men and women among them, but as a group they are spectacularly cynical and self-serving.

One reason is Nigeria’s oil: 100 million Nigerians, two-thirds of the population, live on less than a dollar a day, but there is a lot of oil money around to steal, and politics is the best way to steal it. Another is the country’s tribal, regional and religious divisions, which are extreme even by African standards. In the mainly Muslim north, 70 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line; in the mostly Christian south, only half do.

Now add a ruthless Islamist terrorist group to the mix, and stir. Boko Haram’s support does not just come from a tiny minority of religious fanatics and from grieving and angry people turned against the government by the brutality of the security forces. It also comes from a huge pool of unemployed and demoralised young men who have no hope of ever doing anything meaningful with their lives.

Democracy has not transformed politics dramatically for the better anywhere in Nigeria, but the deficit is worst in the north, where the traditional rulers protected their power by making alliances with politicians who appealed to the population’s Islamic sentiments. That’s why all the northern states introduced sharia law around the turn of the century: to stave off popular demands for more far-reaching reforms.

But that solution is now failing, for the cynical politicians who became Islamist merely for tactical reasons are being outflanked by genuine fanatics who reject not only science and religious freedom but democracy itself.

Nigeria only has an Islamist terrorist problem at the moment, mostly centred in the north and with sporadic attacks in the Christian-majority parts of the country. But it may be heading down the road recently taken by Mali, in which Islamist extremists actually seize control of the north of the country and divide it in two. And frankly, lots of people in the south wouldn’t mind a bit: just seal the new border, and forget about the north.

An interview with a Muslim follower of Isa - Worshiping Jesus in the Mosque

Can people from other religious traditions genuinely follow Jesus without becoming "Christians"? 

The following is the synthesis of two interviews:

 

Describe your conversion to Christ?

One night the only food my wife and I had was a small portion of macaroni. My wife prepared it very nicely. Then one of her friends knocked on the door. I told myself, The macaroni is not sufficient for even the two of us, so how will it be enough for three of us?But because we have no other custom, we opened the door, and she came in to eat with us.

While we were eating, the macaroni started to multiply; it became full in the bowl. I suspected that something was wrong with my eyes, so I started rubbing them. I thought maybe my wife hid some macaroni under the small table, so I checked, but there was nothing. My wife and I looked at each other, but because the guest was there we said nothing.

Afterward I lay down on the bed, and as I slept, Isa came to me and asked me, "Do you know who multiplied the macaroni?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "I am Isa al Masih. If you follow me, not only the macaroni but your life will be multiplied."

He didn't tell me that he was God; he didn't tell me that he died on behalf of me; he didn't say, "I am the Son of God." He didn't talk to me about any complicated theological issues. He only told me that if I followed him, he would multiply my life. At that time, I was very happy if he only multiplied the macaroni like he did that day. I didn't understand what he meant when he said that my life would be multiplied. Now I understand what that means. But at that time, I accepted him simply as the "lord of macaroni."

Much like the crowds in the Gospels who accepted him as "lord of bread."

Yes, I just accepted him as one who satisfied my needs. That day I understood that because Allah loved me, Isa came to my home.

When I think back now, the kingdom of God came to my home. Jesus said, "[I]f I cast out demons … the kingdom … has come upon you" (Luke 11:20, NASB). Any miracle that takes place by Isa al Masih speaks of the kingdom of God. It was not because I was poor that Isa came to my home; there are many poor. It is not because he wanted to multiply my macaroni. Maybe there might be other people who can multiply macaroni, like magic. So what is the purpose? Isa al Masih came to my home with the kingdom of God. He didn't completely explain theological issues, he only said, "If you will follow."

But what about Muhammad?

Before [they believe in Isa], Muslims acknowledge Muhammad as the final prophet of God. Then we tell them about Isa al Masih. They already know that Isa al Masih was a prophet that raised people from the dead. They know that Isa al Masih did miracles and that he will come as the sign of the Day of Judgment.

Even though they know all this, they are not intentionally thinking about Isa; they are thinking about Muhammad. But when we tell them the gospel, they begin to think about Isa intentionally as the one who will save them from the Day of Judgment, from Satan, from antichrist, from death.

At that point, they mix Muhammad with Isa al Masih. Before, Isa was not the issue. Muhammad was the issue. But when they hear about Isa, they start to bring Isa up to the level of Muhammad. Before, Muhammad was the one who controlled their life.But when they hear the Good News of the kingdom of God, they start to think about Isa. Now syncretism has started; before there was no syncretism. If missionaries don't ever want problems with syncretism, then just leave them with Muhammad [grins].

But syncretism did not start with us. It started even in Paul's time. That was the reason Paul wrote the Epistle to the Galatians. It is not [an] issue because we are Muslims; syncretism starts because people normally start with their own religious background. When people start to think about Isa intentionally, the Holy Spirit has room to lead them into all truth, even if they first mix Isa and Muhammad. The Holy Spirit through time will glorify Isa al Masih in their lives.

EGYPT: Muslim preacher says Christian women should wear veils unless "they want to get raped on the streets"

Hesham el-Ashry

Many Egyptian viewers were horrified when preacher Hesham el-Ashry recently popped up on primetime television to say women must cover up for their own protection and advocated the introduction of religious police.

That an obscure preacher could get publicity for such views was seen as another example of the confused political scene in Egypt since the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak gave birth to a cacophony of feuding voices.

"I was once asked: If I came to power, would I let Christian women remain unveiled? And I said: If they want to get raped on the streets, then they can," Ashry told Nahar TV last week.

Introducing a Saudi-style anti-vice police force to enforce Islamic law was "not a bad thing", he said, and added: "In order for Egypt to become fully Islamic, alcohol must be banned and all women must be covered."

Few take Ashry, who admits he flew to the United States dreaming of a Western lifestyle and romance but instead found truth in preaching, seriously. But his views have stirred emotions.

With the economic downturn and rising food prices putting pressure on the government, moderate Muslims, Christians and others worry their new-found political freedom is at risk of being exploited by hardline Islamists bent on imposing their values on a society that has been traditionally moderate.

AFRICA: 22 killed in three attacks in Nigeria

At least 22 people have been killed in three separate attacks in northeastern Nigeria since Friday, including 15 Christians shot Sunday inside a church, according to officials.

The violence began early Friday when unidentified gunmen raided a village in Musari, in Borno state, killing five people, said Joint Task Force Lt. Col. Sagir Musa. JTF troops responded, and a gun battle ensued. Three of the attackers were killed, and troops recovered weapons and ammunition. Musa declined to provide further details of the attack. Also Friday, gunmen with suspected ties to the Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed two

Belgium King Albert II Christmas speech sparks controversy

The Belgian king has provoked a sharp response to a Christmas message in which he drew parallels with the rise of fascism in the 1930s.

Albert II warned against the dangers of populists seeking scapegoats for current economic difficulties.

Flemish separatist leader Bart De Wever assumed the remarks were aimed at him and said he had overstepped his role.

Belgian political experts and commentators argued that the broadcast had intervened in political debate.

In his broadcast, the king said that "in these troubled times we live in, we should remain vigilant and see through populist arguments".

Populists were, he said, "trying to find scapegoats for the crisis, whether foreigners or compatriots from another part of the country".

Such thinking persisted in Belgium as much as in other European countries and "the crisis of the 1930s and the populist reactions of that time must not be forgotten", the king said.

Belgium has a deepening divide between its Flemish (Dutch-speaking) north and French-speaking south, and there has been speculation that the country could ultimately break up.

'Hiding behind the throne'

Mr De Wever, whose New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party made big gains in elections in October and is now the biggest political force in Flemish-speaking Flanders, accused the king of "implicitly" referring to the N-VA in his speech.

On Belgian radio he accused Belgium's French-speaking PM, Elio Di Rupo, of "hiding behind the throne", arguing that he must have seen an advance copy of the speech and given it the green light.In a newspaper article in De Standaard, he accused the king of choosing "the path of a royalty of division", adding in a later broadcast interview that he could no longer see the monarch as playing the constitutional role of referee.

"[Di Rupo] won't say I'm a fascist but apparently believes it and lets the king say it," Mr De Wever said.

The separatist leader also took a swipe at a predecessor of Albert's, Belgium's wartime King Leopold III (then a prisoner of war), who met Adolf Hitler "for coffee" at Berchtesgaden in Bavaria in 1940 and took Belgium "to the brink of civil war".

'Bridge too far'

Mr De Wever's angry remarks followed a series of objections from political commentators and academics.

Prof Carl Devos of Ghent University said that the passage of the speech should have been dropped, while monarchy expert Prof Mark Van den Wijngaert said a comparison with the 30s was "a bridge too far".

But another Flemish political leader, socialist Bruno Tobback, said the monarch was merely expressing what other European heads of state had said in their Christmas messages.

Sociologist Benoit Scheuer told La Libre Belgique that it was fine for the king to warn of the dangers of populism, although he believed the major democratic parties should speak out as well.

King Albert has taken a strong position before on Belgium's political difficulties and the monarch does traditionally play a role in attempting to resolve constitutional problems.

In July 2011, Albert gave an emotional televised address, appealing to political leaders to display "modern citizenship" to bring an end to a drawn-out crisis, which left the country without an elected government for a world-record one-and-a-half years.

In an apparent foretaste of his controversial Christmas message, the king warned viewers at the time that if their political impasse remained unresolved, they risked the emergence of a form of "poujadism", referring to a right-wing populist movement in 1950s France.

France: Muslims Burn About 1,200 cars on New Year’s Eve

Notice the Arabic Graffiti painted on
one of the burned cars.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday that 1,193 vehicles were burned overnight around the country.  Clashes between police and offenders in the New Year’s Eve took place in the Muslim majority districts in the city of Strasbourg and Mulhouse.  About seven police officers were attacked New Years eve night.

Around 1,200 cars were burned by rioting Muslims on the New Year’s Eve in France, where the mass burning cars in the national holidays are kind of tradition among Muslim residents of the disadvantaged suburbs of immigrants.

In recent years, the celebration of the New Year and the Bastille Day (July 14) in France is often marked by mass burning cars as well. On the night of January 1, 2010, there were 1,137 thousand cars burned on the night of January 1, 2009 – 1,147 thousand were burned.

In the summer of 2010, the Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux made the decision to stop the practice of  counting  the demonstrators, as they claimed it only encourages the Muslim youths to commit such crimes .  The current Minister of the Interior said that “the French people should know the truth.”

Two Muslim candidates win seats in Belgium local elections

 

Two candidates from Islam Party have won their way to the local councils in two major districts of the Belgian capital Brussels.

The local elections were held in Anderlecht and Molenbeek on Sunday. 

The party reportedly plans to field candidates for the regional and parliamentary elections and also intends to fight for seats in the European Parliament. 

The results have been hailed as a new era for the Muslim community in Belgium.

On April 26, The London-based human rights group Amnesty International criticized politicians for failing to act against the growth of Islamophobia in Europe in a report entitled "Choice and Prejudice," focusing on the rise of political movements that target Muslims or Muslim practices in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. 

A 2008 estimation showed that 6 percent of the Belgian population, about 628,751, is Muslim. Muslims construct 25.5% of the population of Brussels, 4.0% of Wallonia and 3.9% of Flanders. 

ISRAEL: Christian Community Continues to Grow

On the eve of Christmas celebrations in the Holy Land —Dec 25 for Catholics and Protestants and Jan. 7 for Orthodox Christians—the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released new data on the Christian community in Israel, Ynetreported.

 

According to the CBS, there are 158,000 Christians living in Israel, constituting 2 percent of the population. This is up slightly from 154,500 last year.

Of the Christian population, 80.6 percent are Arab, primarily residing in northern Israel. Nazareth—the childhood home of Jesus—is the largest Arab-Christian town.

Most of the non-Arab Christians are immigrants from the former Soviet Union who came to Israel with their Jewish families under the Law of Return.

The CBS noted that Arab Christians fared best in terms of education in comparison to all other ethnic groups in Israel. For example, some 56 percent of Arab Christians, compared with 50 percent of Jewish students, 36 percent of Druze students and 34 percent of Muslims, received a high school diploma that met the basic demands of Israeli universities.

Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East that has seen its Christian community grow. An estimate 100,000 Christians have fled the civil war in Syria, while in Egypt, Christians are fearful of the rise of Muslim Brotherhood. Even in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Bethlehem—the birthplace of Jesus—the Christian population has shrunk to a third of the town’s residents, down from 75 percent only a few decades ago.

source

TURKEY: Christianity no longer a religion, says Turkish minister

Christianity has ceased to be a religion but has become a culture of its own, Turkish Environment and Urbanism Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar said at a recent conference hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) Women's Group. 

 

"The biggest three countries in the world are not Muslim countries. China, India – only the U.S. believes in a single God. Spirituality and religious feelings are weakening," Bayraktar said.

 

"There are 2.5 billion Christians in the world," Bayraktar said. "Christianity is no longer a religion. It's a culture now. But that is not what a religion is like. A religion teaches; it is a form of life that gives one peace and happiness. That is what they want to turn [Islam] into as well."

source

UK: Christians have no right to refuse to work on Sundays, rules judge

Celestina Mba, who lost an appeal against her former employers earlier this month

A new ruling by a High Court judge - the first on the issue in nearly a decade - says that Christians have no right to decline working on Sunday as it is not a “core component” of their beliefs.

The judgment - which upholds an earlier decision - means that individual Christians do not have any protection from being fired for not working on Sundays.

Campaigners said the decision puts Christians at a disadvantage to other religions and means the judiciary are deciding what the core beliefs of Christians can be, which they say is an interference in the right to practise religion.

The judgment was issued by Mr Justice Langstaff as he ruled on an appeal brought by a Christian woman who was sacked after she refused to work on Sundays at a care home.

Celestina Mba claimed the council she worked for pressured her to work on Sundays and threatened her with disciplinary measures - even though other workers were willing to take the shifts. The 57 year-old, from Streatham Vale, south London, worships every Sunday at her Baptist church, where she is also part of the ministry team offering pastoral care and support to the congregation.

She said that when she took the position in 2007 providing respite care for children with severe learning difficulties at the Brightwell children’s home in Morden, south-west London managers initially agreed to accommodate the requirements of her faith.

But within a few months of starting the job, Miss Mba said managers began pressuring her to work on Sundays.

She found herself repeatedly allocated Sunday shifts and threatened with disciplinary measures unless she agreed to compromise her church commitments, meaning she had no alternative but to resign from the job she loved, she said.

The care worker launched an unsuccessful legal claim in February this year and this month lost her appeal in the High Court.

Her constructive dismissal case was funded by the Christian Legal Centre which instructed Paul Diamond, a leading religious rights barrister.

Mr Justice Langstaff, who as president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal is the most senior judge in England and Wales in this type of case, upheld the lower tribunal’s ruling which said it was relevant that other Christians did not ask for Sundays off.

The fact that some Christians were prepared to work on Sundays meant it was not protected, the court said.

The senior judge said that a rule imposed by an employer which affected nearly every Christian would have a greater discriminatory impact than one which only affected a few.

There was evidence that many Christians work on Sundays and this was relevant in “weighing” the impact of the employers’ rule, and the earlier decision did not involve an error of law, he added.

Campaigners said the ruling showed that Christians are being treated less favourably than people from other religions, such as Muslims, Jews and Sikhs. They pointed to cases where the courts offered protection to other religions even when only a minority of adherents were affected.

In 2008 Sarika Watkins-Singh, then 14, successfully claimed she was a victim of unlawful discrimination because she had been excluded from school in Aberdare, south Wales, for breaking a jewellery ban by refusing to remove a “kara” bangle which she said was central to her faith.

But in her case the court did not examine how many Sikhs wanted to wear similar items of jewellery.

The judgment in Miss Mba’s case will fuel concerns that judges are promoting secularism. A report from the cross-party Christians in Parliament group warned earlier this year that there was a lack of religious literacy among judges, politicians and officials.

Andrea Williams, director of Christian Concern, said of the latest ruling: “The court in this case created an unrealistic test which means that people like Celestina who wish to respect the Sabbath will be forced out of the workplace.

“The court seems to be requiring a significant number of adherents of the Christian faith to observe a particular practice before the court is willing to accept and protect the practice.

“In the past year we have seen mandatory tests of faith in relation to the wearing of crosses by Christians, belief about marriage between a man and a woman and now observing the Sabbath when in all cases reasonable accommodation could have been made.

“Such tests do not appear to be similarly applied to Muslims who are permitted to wear the hijab and observe prayers and Sikhs with the kara bracelet.”

In 1994, when Sunday trading in England was liberalised shopworkers were given a guarantee that working would be strictly voluntary, but the guarantee did not apply to people in other sectors.

The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, published in 2003, say employers must justify Sunday working as a “legitimate business need” and does not give a blanket right to Christians not to work.

If employers fail to treat staff fairly and proportionately, the employee may be able to claim discrimination, the rules add.

The last ruling by judges was when a quarry worker claimed his Christian beliefs had been treated with “contempt” by employers who tried to force him to work on Sundays in 2003.

Stephen Copsey lost his case at the Court of Appeal in 2005, with judges ruling his employer had “compelling economic reasons” for insisting that he worked on Sundays.

Yvette Stanley of Merton council, Miss Mba’s former employers, said it did its best to allow religious practice but also had a duty to meet the needs of the disabled children for whom it cares and added: “We are pleased with the outcome of this second tribunal. Staff recruited in the respite care service are advised that it is by its nature a weekend service.”