Obama Administration Discriminates Against Syrians -- If They're Christians

Hundreds of Assyrian families, some of them recently arrived from Islamic State controlled areas of Syria, attend Easter Sunday service at St. Georges Assyrian Church of The East in Sed El Baouchrieh, a working class suburb of Beirut.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Non-Muslim Syrian refugees have been virtually locked out by the Obama administration, according to current data from the State Department.

According to the Refugee Processing Center, of the 6,877 Syrian refugees that have arrived in 2016 through July 31st, 6,834 of those are identified as Sunni, Shia, or generic Muslim. Only 43 (0.7 percent of total) refugees admitted have been non-Muslim.

That 0.7 percent of refugees arriving this year represents a statistically insignificant fraction of the more than 2.6 million Catholic, Syriac, Assyrian, and Greek Orthodox Christians, as well as Yazidis, other religions, and atheists living in Syria.

Yet all of these groups are being targeted by Islamic extremists -- indeed, Secretary of State John Kerry himself has claimed these groups are facing a genocide.

Just yesterday, House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that he is opposed to any religious test for entering the United States "A religious test for entering our country is not reflective of America's fundamental values. I reject it."

Despite Ryan's rejection, the State Department's own numbers reveal active discrimination targeting non-Muslim Syrian refugees.

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Obama Administration Discriminates Against Syrians -- If They're Christians

74 children executed by ISIS for 'crimes' that include refusal to fast, report says | Fox News

The following excerpts are from FoxNews.com:

The blood-soaked executioners of ISIS have spared neither women nor children since the jihadist army established its caliphate a year ago, putting an estimated 74 kids and even more women to death for such offenses as practicing “magic” and refusing to fast during Ramadan.

A total of 3,027 people have been executed by ISIS since it declared itself a state under strict Islamic law in Syria and Iraq last June, according to a new report by the UK-based group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Many of the charges against those executed are recorded as blasphemy and spying, but others include sorcery, sodomy, practicing as a Shia Muslim," the report states.

Just this week, two children whose ages were not known were crucified in the Mayadin, Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria after ISIS accused them of not properly fasting during Ramadan. The children’s bodies, put on public display on crossbars, each bore a sign explaining their violation during the holy month for Muslims that runs June 17 to July 17. With each execution justified by ISIS' medieval interpretation of the Koran, the group is attempting to portray itself as the true practitioners of Islam, say experts.

“Underlying all these executions is the apocalypse ideology of the final battle between the believers and the unbelievers,” said Jasmine Opperman, the director of Southern Africa Operations at the Terrorism, Research & Analysis Consortium. “ISIS is using executions to show its followers -- and would-be followers -- that the group is the only true representative of believers, not only in word, but action, which is why executions are featured so prominently.”

Other children died fighting for their lives.

“The violent Islamist group appears to demonstrate a particular interest in children, releasing videos of children fighting in cages and undertaking military training,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said. “The report also details moves undertaken by the group to entice children to join, which include setting up offices called "cubs of the caliphate" that recruit children to fight for ISIS.”

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child released a report in February, documenting the many horrors ISIS has imposed on children who are Kurdish, Yazidi, Christian and even Muslim. Children – even those who are mentally challenged – are being tortured, crucified, buried alive, used as suicide bombers and sold as sex slaves, the report said.

“ISIS is hoping to spur current supporters around the world who are dormant, of which there are millions, into joining their caliphate by advertising acts like these, of which there are millions,” said Ryan Mauro, national security analyst for the Clarion Project, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the threat of Islamic extremism. “They know that they can greatly increase their numbers by appealing to current radicals rather than the broader masses.”

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74 children executed by ISIS for 'crimes' that include refusal to fast, report says | Fox News

The Assyrian Genocide As Part of the Christian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire

Of this photo, the United States ambassador wrote, "Scenes like this were common all over the Armenian provinces, in the spring and summer months of 1915. Death in its several forms—massacre, starvation, exhaustion—destroyed the larger part of the refugees. The Turkish policy was that of extermination under the guise of deportation" -- from Morgenthau, Henry (1918). "Ambassador Morgenthau's Story" . Garden City, New York: Doubleday.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire is in both historiography and public memory almost solely associated with the murder of the Armenians. Although the Turkish government still denies that the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire fell victim to systematic murder, the extermination of the Armenians is far from being a "forgotten genocide." No book on the history of genocide can omit the case of the Armenians. Unfortunately, achieving the global remembrance of the genocide against the Armenians seems to have downplayed the fate of all other Christian minority groups in the Ottoman Empire such as Assyrians that suffered from ethnic cleansing and mass murder at the hands of the Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Young Turks. Henry Morgenthau, who served as US ambassador in Constantinople until 1916 stated in his memoirs: "The Armenians are not the only subject people in Turkey which have suffered from this policy of making Turkey exclusively the country of the Turks. The story which I have told about the Armenians I could also tell with certain modi about the Greeks and the Syrians...

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The Assyrian Genocide As Part of the Christian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire

Concerning Other Little-known Religious Genocides on the Edge of the News

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Pope Francis infuriated the government of Turkey by using the word "genocide" leading up to April 24, the 100th anniversary of the start of the mass murder of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in what was then the Ottoman Empire. That atrocity, amid the chaos and rivalries of World War One, is often regarded as the forerunner and inspiration for Nazi efforts to exterminate the Jews of Europe.

In the April 15 issue of The Christian Century, Baylor University historian Philip Jenkins reports on another 2015 centennial that major media have ignored -- the "Sayfo" ("sword" year) memorialized by Christian Assyrians. Among other events, historians will examine this at the Free University of Berlin June 24-28. During that dying era of the empire with its historic Muslim Caliphate, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Greeks were also killed during the "Pontic" ethnic cleansing.

The hatred toward all three Christian groups a century ago finds unnerving echoes in current attacks by Muslim fanatics in the Mideast and Africa, most recently the video beheadings of Ethiopian Christians in Libya. Assyrians are also victimized once again, now by ISIS under its purported restoration of the Caliphate in Syria and Iraq. The Assyrians' story is part of the over-all emptying out of Christianity across the Mideast.

Assyrians have three sectors that differ doctrinally on the divine and human natures of Jesus Christ. The "uniate" Chaldean Catholics loyal to the Pope follow the definition from the A.D. 451 Council of Chalcedon. Two groups do not, the "Nestorians" in the Church of the East, and the monophysite "Oriental Orthodox" (distinct from Eastern Orthodoxy, which adheres to Chalcedon).

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Concerning Other Little-known Religious Genocides on the Edge of the News

Bill to legalize euthanasia in Peru draws criticism :: EWTN News

The following excerpts are from EWTN News:

A bill introduced in Peru to legalize euthanasia has met with harsh criticism from a cancer doctor who said that it fails to respect human life and dignity.

Dr. Luis Raez, director of the Memorial Cancer Institute (MCI) in Broward County, Florida, told EWTN News that although “de-penalizing euthanasia does not sound so bad,” what is really being sought is the legalization of murder.

“This attempt to legalize euthanasia will cause terrible harm to those who are ill,” warned Raez, who also serves as an associate professor at Florida International University.

The legislative proposal was entered for processing in the Peruvian Congress March 4, with the title “Law that de-penalizes mercy killing and that declares that the implementation of euthanasia is a need of the public and in the national interest.”

The document was signed by parliament members Roberto Angulo, Juan Pari, Eulogio Romero, Sergio Tejada, Esther Saavedra, Claudia Coari and Jorge Rimarachin.

Congresswomen Coari and Tejada have in the past voiced support for legalizing abortion as well.

The euthanasia bill is in the hands of the Constitution and Rules Committee and the Justice and Human Rights Committee for debate and a vote. If it passes this stage, it will be examined by the full Peruvian Congress.

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Bill to legalize euthanasia in Peru draws criticism :: EWTN News

Iraq Foreign Minister Backs Syria Fight Against 'Terror'

A picture released on March 24, 2015 by the official Syrian Arab News Agency shows President Bashar al-Assad (R) meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in Damascus (AFP Photo).

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Damascus (AFP) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari met President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday in the first visit by a senior Baghdad official since Syria's conflict began in 2011.

Speaking after meeting Assad and his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem, Jaafari urged regional support for Damascus as it battles "terrorism".

"Arab countries should support Syria in its fight against terrorism," Jaafari said, calling on "neighbouring countries to stand with Iraq and Syria".

He said extremism "would reach all the countries if there is no cooperation".

Jaafari expressed the hope that his visit would "increase the level of cooperation between Syria and Iraq to counter the dangers threatening our brotherly nations".

In June 2014, Damascus announced its readiness to coordinate with Baghdad in order to face the threat posed by the Islamic State group, which has a strong presence in both countries.

Muallem emphasised the joint threat, saying that both countries were "in the same trench (fighting) against terrorism".

"We have great confidence... in the Iraqi leaders who will not spare any effort to support Syria and break the embargo imposed on it," Muallem said.

The Syrian minister also called for increased cooperation with Egypt, saying: "Syria, Egypt, and Iraq can change the way events are unfolding in the region."

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Iraq Foreign Minister Backs Syria Fight Against 'Terror'

Assyrian Bishop to the Jihadists: Our Church Does Not Identify Itself With Any Armed Group

The following excerpts are from Fides News Agency:

Hasaka, Syria -- The Assyrian Church of the East -- to which hundreds of Christians in the Khabur valley taken hostage by jihadists of the Islamic State (Is) belong -- has chosen not to identify itself with any of the warring parties in the Syrian conflict and insists that Christians are "unrelated to the culture of weapons" and clearly states that no faction or paramilitary militia operating in Syria can present themselves as a military wing connected to the Assyrian Christian communities.

These are the contents of the letter that Assyrian Bishop Afram Athnil addressed to the leaders of Is to highlight the distances from all armed groups operating in the field - including self-defense militias formed by the Assyrians - and to demand the release of hundreds of Christian hostages still in the hands of jihadists. "In his letter - confirms to Agenzia Fides Syrian Catholic Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo - Bishop Afram has denied the existence of an alliance with Kurdish soldiers linked to the PKK, and hinted that the militias known by the acronym of 'Sotoro', also described in the international press as Assyrian Christian militias, have never had any mandate and approval by the Church".

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Assyrian Bishop to the Jihadists: Our Church Does Not Identify Itself With Any Armed Group

Report Says Nearly 650,000 Besieged in Syria

Assyrian Christians fleeing advancing Islamic State jihadists in the Syrian province of Hasakeh
(Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Nearly 650,000 Syrians are living in besieged communities in the country's civil war, more than three times the UN estimate, according to a new report that gives a graphic account of hundreds of deaths in areas the world has struggled for years to reach.

The report says Syria's government is responsible for the siege tactics that have led to deaths by starvation, dehydration and the lack of medical care. The document does not look at what it calls the short-term siege tactics used by Islamic State, which has beheaded and massacred its opponents in the area straddling the Syria-Iraq border currently under its control.

The "Slow Death" report, obtained in advance by Associated Press, is by the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports medical workers in besieged areas. The organisation presented its findings on Thursday to UN officials and to a closed-door meeting sponsored by the United States, Britain, France and other states and organised by Qatar.

The UN estimates that 212,000 Syrians live in besieged areas beyond the reach of humanitarian aid. But the new report, to be released next week, says the UN is too narrowly defining "besieged" and is inadvertently underplaying the crisis. It says more than 640,200 people are besieged. It also echoes claims by an increasing number of aid groups that the international response to the overall conflict, particularly by the deeply divided UN Security Council, has failed.

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Report Says Nearly 650,000 Besieged in Syria

A Letter to Obama From an Assyrian American Student

Assyrians in Chicago rally in support of Assyrians in Syria and Iraq.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- Assyrians held a rally in Chicago yesterday to call attention to the plight of Assyrians in Syria and Iraq. In Iraq ISIS destroyed a third Assyrian archaeological site, the city of Khorsabad, more than 2700 years old. This comes on the heels of ISIS destroying the city of Nimrud, the Museum of Mosul, and the walls of the city of Nineveh.

In Syria, ISIS is still holding over 300 Assyrians who were captured in the first attacks on the Assyrian villages on February 23, which drove 3,000 Assyrians away, never to return. 6 months before that ISIS drove 200,000 Assyrians out of their homes in the Nineveh Plain in north Iraq, and they still have not returned, and most likely never will.

As they were being released, ISIS told the Assyrians from Syria to never return to their villages, else they would be killed. They are in Hasaka with only the clothes on their backs, all of their possessions lost forever, unreachable in their ISIS occupied village.

But the destruction of ancient Assyrian cities and artifacts in Iraq and Syria is the most devastating -- because of its symbolism. In destroying Assyrian archaeological and historical sites, ISIS is striking at the very root of Assyrian civilization, erasing all traces of their heritage and extirpating them from their lands.

Reine Hanna, an Assyrian college student in Chicago, penned the following letter to President Obama:

Dear Mr. President:

I woke this morning to find that your appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was trending on every major social media platform. I watched the clip of the "Mean Tweets" segment - something I have seen previously featuring the likes of Snooki, Lil Wayne, and Justin Bieber. My initial reaction to the clip was in distaste, simply because I find it odd that the President of the United States would level himself with such celebrities. But I get it, I do: Mr. Kimmel even prefaced the clip by reminding us you are human, after all. With this in mind, I don't see any issues with you as our President golfing, submitting an NCAA bracket, or visiting late-night TV shows. I can also see why many Americans may have found your appearance last night so funny.

But you should know, Mr. President, that there are Americans that haven't laughed in weeks. Not since the attacks launched on the Assyrian towns in Syria on February 23, 2015. Actually, we haven't really had the heart to laugh since ISIL invaded the Nineveh Plain in the summer of 2014. After all, how can we? How can we laugh without knowing the fate of the nearly three-hundred innocent Assyrian men, women, and children that were taken hostage? After watching our ancient reliefs reduced to dust? How can we laugh after seeing that terrible image released just yesterday of a woman hanging dead from a log, dangling alongside her two young sons?

Mr. Kimmel is right, Mr. President - you are human. But as a human, how can you laugh, sir? While girls as young as your beautiful daughters are taken captive and sold as slaves? As a husband and a father, how can you allow such atrocities to occur to innocent women and children knowing you have the power to stop them?

During your interview, the recent events in Ferguson were addressed, at which point you stated, "What had been happening in Ferguson was oppressive and objectionable and was worthy of protest..." As an American of Assyrian background, I - like many others - feel that what has been happening to Assyrians in Iraq and Syria is beyond oppressive, undoubtedly objectionable, and most certainly worthy of protest. Even so, you have yet to make a direct statement related to the ongoing plight of Assyrians in the Middle East, and instead, have chosen to mask it, which consequently belittles our suffering. Please understand why we would be insulted by your inaction, capped with your appearance on Mr. Kimmel's show last night.

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A Letter to Obama From an Assyrian American Student

The Assyrian Christians Who Are Defying ISIS

A church in the Assyrian village of Abu Tina, Syria,
recently captured by Islamic State fighters, February 25, 2015.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

The persecution of Christians in the Middle East is a "once-in-a-thousand-year-crisis", but they are refusing to back down in the face of Islamic State, US author Johnnie Moore has said.

In an exclusive interview with Christian Today, Moore -- whose book 'Defying ISIS', published this weekend, is based on exhaustive research -- said that though ISIS militants have systematically targeted numerous religious minorities, including Shiite Muslims, "it is absolutely true that they [ISIS] have a particular interest in eliminating the Christian communities. It's overt, it's not hidden and it's not an exaggerated crisis."

The front page of the October edition of ISIS' online propaganda magazine Dabiq featured the Islamic State flag depicted as flying from the obelisk in St Peter's Square. In an accompanying article, the group renewed its threat to "conquer" Rome, and urged Muslims to kill "every crusader possible...wherever they can be found".

Just two weeks ago, militants targeted Assyrian Christians in the Khabour region, taking more than 200 hostage and killing at least 30. Jihadists then bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, a site of such historical significance that an expert likened it to the Egyptian pyramids, and later also destroyed the city of Hatra -- another World Heritage Site considered to be one of the most important in the world.

The Assyrians have been targeted "solely because they are Christians", Moore said. "And it's sort of akin to what the Nazis did -- they've squeezed them out...The atrocities against women and children are incomprehensible."

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The Assyrian Christians Who Are Defying ISIS

Assyrians Face Genocide in Iraq

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

For ethnic Assyrians, who are being attacked by genocidal forces in the Middle East, these are surely the worst of times.

But it was not always so. Long ago, Assyria was a mighty kingdom based in Mesopotamia. And the story of Assyria, recounted in the Bible, is a colourful thread in the tapestry of world history.

The Assyrian empire, like all empires, crumbled and disappeared into the mists of time. But the descendants of the empire have cleaved to their ethnic identity and somehow managed to survive multiple attempts to wipe them out.

Many Assyrians have fled persecution in the Middle East, finding safe haven in North America and Europe. However, the hearts of many Assyrians remain in the Middle East. And Iraq holds particular meaning for most.

Although Iraq is a Muslim-majority country, it is the ancestral home of the Assyrian nation, which existed long before Islam was established. The vast majority of Iraqi Christians are of Assyrian ethnicity.

The Assyrians were among the first people to embrace Christianity, and they continue to speak a form of Aramaic, one of the languages likely spoken by Jesus Christ.

Many ethnic Assyrians identify themselves by religious denomination, Chaldean Catholic. According to CNEWA-Canada, a Catholic nongovernmental organization (NGO), approximately 66% of Assyrian Christians belong to the Chaldean Catholic Church. The rest of the Assyrian community belong to other denominations.

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Assyrians Face Genocide in Iraq

ISIS attempts to kidnap young Christian girl but she instead KILLS FIVE terrorists with a machine gun!! » The Right Scoop -

Read the accompanying article by clicking the link below, after watching this video. (note: there was an error in the translation “Widad killed have of them” should read “Widad killed five of them”)



ISIS attempts to kidnap young Christian girl but she instead KILLS FIVE terrorists with a machine gun!! » The Right Scoop -

19 Assyrians Released By ISIS But Hundreds Remain Captured

Mariana Mirza, 6, is still being held by ISIS (AINA photo).

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Hasaka, Syria (AINA) -- 19 Assyrians that were captured from the village of Tel Goran have been released by ISIS and have arrived safely at St. Mary's Church in Hasaka, Syria. Negotiations for their release had been ongoing for three days and were mediated by local Arab tribal leaders.

Of the 19 that were released, 17 were men and 2 were women. But not all who were captured from Tel Goran were released. One of the hostages, an elderly woman, said that ISIS did not release her son and 2 other men who were guarding the village.

ISIS also refused to release a 6 year old girl named Mariana Mirza. According to reports from the released hostages, Mariana's mother is pregnant and had to leave her daughter behind, but Bobo, the aunt of Mariana's father, volunteered to stay behind with the girl even though she had been released. The father of Mariana, Abdo Mirza, was given a letter of safe passage by ISIS and instructed to bring money to pay for the release of his daughter.

The hostages looked tired and disheveled but were otherwise unharmed.

The number of Assyrians captured by ISIS is between 262 and 373. With the release of this group of 19, the number still being held by ISIS remains in the hundreds...

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19 Assyrians Released By ISIS But Hundreds Remain Captured

Assyrian Christians Demand Arms, Support to Fight Isis As Hundreds Kidnapped

Assyrian fighters in Syria.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

People in the Islamic State's (ISIS/ISIL) way in the Middle East are desperate to fight against the terrorist group as the jihadists expand their caliphate. Syria's Assyrian Christian population has increasingly expressed frustration over the lack of international funding and arms for their militias, while ISIS continues to kill and abduct hundreds.

Nino Youkhana left Syria for Lebanon two years ago to escape the civil war. He called his uncle when he heard the Islamic State entered villages around the Khabour River. An Islamic State member answered the phone and did not allow Youkhana to speak with his family. After a few tries, the jihadists allowed the two to speak, but only if "they spoke in Arabic and not in their Assyrian dialect." That was the last time they spoke.

"All of my relatives have been kidnapped, and their houses and the churches in the area burnt," he said. "Apart from the first day's brief phone call, we haven't been able to speak to them, and we know nothing. All we want is some news on them, on what is going on. This is all we're asking for."

The Islamic State kidnapped 220 Assyrian Christians in northeast Syria on February 23, as they attacked twelve villages. The victims include men, women, and children. Osama Edward, founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, told CNN the Islamic State kidnapped more than 262 people on February 23. The network is based in Sweden, but team members on the ground in Syria supply Edward with information. On Sunday, the terrorists released 16 men and three women in exchange for money. However, those released were over 50 years old, which makes officials believe "age might be a factor" in future negotiations.

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Assyrian Christians Demand Arms, Support to Fight Isis As Hundreds Kidnapped

As many of you already know, I was fired from my previous job back in January, as I told you in a previous post here. At the time, I did not want to go into the details of the reason I was given for being fired, so I will now. My former employer had told me, and the young lady that I worked with, that he was going to have to cut hours... Read more by clicking here.

Assyrian American Bishops Send Letter to Kerry Regarding ISIS Attacks on Assyrians

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- The Synod of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East has sent a letter to John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, regarding the ISIS attacks on Assyrian villages and the capture of 150 Assyrians (AINA 2015-02-23).

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Secretary Kerry:

The atrocities very recently committed against the Assyrian Christians of the Khabur region in northeast Syria prompt us to write to your good offices in order to bring to your attention the urgency of the present situation. As the diocesan bishops of the Assyrian Church of the East in the United States, we would like to bring to the attention of the Obama Administration the sufferings and plight of our Assyrian Christians, which we have all witnessed taking place in broad daylight, early Monday morning. In our very own day, another holocaust is taking place in history, but this time against the Christian population of Syria by ISIL....

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Assyrian American Bishops Send Letter to Kerry Regarding ISIS Attacks on Assyrians

Why is Egypt Doing More to Protect Middle Eastern Christians Than Obama? | FrontPage Magazine

The following excerpts are from Frontoage Mag:

Obama’s illegal Libyan regime change war allowed Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood and its assorted terrorist allies, including ISIS, to take over major parts of the country.

The brutal murders of Christians stemmed from Obama’s war.

Now Egypt has responded to the ISIS beheading of Coptic Christians by bombing ISIS targets in Libya. Meanwhile Obama, who caused this whole mess, put out the usual statement claiming that the Islamist murder of Christians had nothing to do with Islam.

Egyptian warplanes struck hard at ISIS militants in neighboring Libya a day after a sickening video surfaced showing the terror army’s black-clad militants beheading 21 Coptic Christians, footage that prompted Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to vow revenge in an address to the world’s most populous Arab nation.

“Let those far and near know that Egyptians have a shield that protects them,” it said.

Egypt’s record on the treatment of Christians has been rather poor even under Mubarak and they are nowhere near to equal citizens, but nonetheless Egypt is doing more to protect Middle Eastern Christians than the United States.

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Why is Egypt Doing More to Protect Middle Eastern Christians Than Obama? | FrontPage Magazine

Starnes: Moral Cowardice: WH Won't Call Latest Victims of Islamic Radicals 'Christians' - Fox Nation

The following excerpts are from FoxNews.com:

It was another weekend of bloodletting by the radical followers of Mohammed. By now you've seen the images - 21 Coptic Christians - slaughtered on a Libyan beach by radical Islamic extremists.

The White House denounced what they called the "murder of Egyptian Citizens" -- not Christians -- citizens. The president could not even summon the moral courage to speak the truth.

They're called Christians, sir.

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Starnes: Moral Cowardice: WH Won't Call Latest Victims of Islamic Radicals 'Christians' - Fox Nation

Pope denounces slayings of Egyptian Copts by Islamic State: 'assassinated for being Christian' | Fox News

The following excerpts are from FoxNews.com:

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has denounced the slaying by the Islamic State of Egyptian Copts in Libya, saying they were "assassinated just for being Christian."

Francis spoke off-the-cuff Monday during an audience with a Scottish ecumenical delegation. He said: "They only said 'Jesus help me ...' The blood of our Christian brothers is testimony that cries out. Be they Catholic, Orthodox, Copts, Lutherans, it doesn't matter: They're Christian!"

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Pope denounces slayings of Egyptian Copts by Islamic State: 'assassinated for being Christian' | Fox News

UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, right, visits Coptic Pope Tawadros II, center, during Christmas Eve
Mass at St. Mark's Cathedral, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015 (Photo: AP)

The following excerpts are from ahramonline:

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has attended the Coptic Christmas mass to mark the first attendance ever made by an Egyptian president to the religious occasion.

El-Sisi arrived at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo's Abbasiya district during the mass and gave a brief speech before leaving instantly.

He said that both of Egypt's Muslims and Christians are celebrating this occasion, asserting that they are "one entity" in the world's eyes.

He added that he had to come to congratulate the Coptic community and then apologised for interrupting the mass.

Video footage broadcast by State TV – covering the full mass – showed crowds cheering as El-Sisi entered the Cathedral with churchmen and saluted Pope Tawadros II.

Former Egyptian heads of state have visited the Cathedral including Gamal Abd El-Nasser and interim President Adly Mansour, but this is the first time for a president to attend the mass.

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UPDATED: Sisi first Egyptian President to attend Coptic Christmas mass - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

Chaldean Patriarch Calls on Muslims to Denounce Violence Against Christians

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

"We Iraqi Christians are a genuine and essential component in Iraq; we would like to stay with you as partners and work together as a team for the progress of our country and the good of our people," Patriarch Louis Sako said in a message to Muslims for Eid al-Adha.

The Islamic State "has displaced us of our towns and even in Baghdad the pressures are exerted on us, but we tell you that we love you because Jesus Christ commanded us to love everyone," he continued. "We believe that all Muslims do not approve the actions of ISIS and there are some of Muslims who are good and considered as a blessing like Dr. Mohammed Al-Asali, who was killed in defense of Christians in Mosul."

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Chaldean Patriarch Calls on Muslims to Denounce Violence Against Christians