From "Conservative Review": "Regime-friendly NY Times makes big money selling Iran tours"

The following is from an article at “Conservative Review” by Jordan Schachtel:

Regime-friendly NY Times makes big money selling Iran tours

Conflict of interest?

The recent protests in Iran have raised many red flags and questions as to whether the Times is reporting the news objectively. As videos continue to surface on social media, showing masses of people calling for an end to the regime (and even “death  to the Islamic Republic”), the New York Times has downplayed the protests as merely  economic disputes. Moreover, the paper’s Tehran-based reporter was conveniently “on vacation” as the most consequential, anti-regime protests in years spread through Iran like wildfire.

It turns out that The New York Times has a special financial relationship with the Iranian regime, likely unknown to many of its readers. As one of the few U.S.-based Iran tour providers, The Grey Lady delivers unprecedented access to the theocratic nation for a price.

Based on publicly available data  on the New York Times travel website, Conservative Review has analyzed that the organization’s “Iran: Tales from Persia” trip, which is hosted by New York Times journalists and opinion writers, is a cash cow that has reaped millions of dollars in revenue for the publication.

The Times’ travel website lists nine publicly available trips to Iran in 2018, with an average group size of 20 people. The Iran tour costs $7,895 per person (based on double occupancy. Single travelers pay an additional $1,500), plus $425 for internal airfare. The price does not include international airfare.

Read more at “Conservative Review” by clicking here.

A Future for Minorities in the Middle East?

The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on an Assyrian home in Mosul.

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- Consider this imaginary situation. Hundreds of British citizens are kidnapped while travelling in the Middle East by a Muslim jihadi militia. The kidnappers hold the victims in an unknown and lawless location in a failed state and demand a ransom of one million dollars per person for their release. When no ransom is forthcoming, the kidnappers take three males, dress them in orange jumpsuits, make them kneel and, after they say their names, they are shot in the back of the head while being filmed. The kidnappers then threaten to similarly execute the remaining captives if the ransom is not paid.

Consider another imaginary scenario. Some 5000 American women and girls are kidnapped by the same Muslim jihadi militia. They are turned into sex slaves, servicing the jihadi soldiers who consider the whole process to be an act of worship of their God. The women are sold for a few dollars in open markets and are subjected to an ongoing nightmare of exploitation, humiliation and terror.

If both of the above imaginary situations came to pass, it is highly likely that the British and American governments would bring the full force of their military power to bear on the perpetrators of such mediaeval barbarism. And they would be right to act in the interests of their citizens in this way, providing the protection that governments should provide to their own.

The subtext in the above scenarios is that in fact the situations described are going on as we speak. The hundreds of citizens who have been put up for ransom, with some being killed on camera, are not British but rather Assyrians, kidnapped in February from dozens of predominantly Christian towns and villages in the Khabur river valley in northern Syria. The exorbitant ransom demanded is far beyond the financial capacity of the local Assyrian community.

The thousands of women and girls, some pre-pubescent, serving as sex slaves are not Americans but mostly non-Muslim Yazidis, kidnapped in Sinjar in northern Iraq late last year. Some Christian women are also being held in the same manner. The perpetrators are, of course, the soldiers and leaders of the Islamic State, who have established rules of trade that include allowing an individual jihadi to purchase up to three female concubines. The captured woman are reportedly considered by their captors to have become Muslim if they are raped by ten ISIS fighters.

The significant difference between the above imaginary situations and the reality is that neither Assyrians nor Yazidis are citizens of powerful nations. Those currently held in captivity cannot hope for their armed compatriots to come to their rescue. In such a context, their nightmare must be even darker and full of greater despair, enveloped within a sense of absolute hopelessness. It is little wonder that a number of the Yazidi women are committing suicide, according to reports provided by some lucky women who have escaped their captors.

And as these appalling situations continue day after day, leaders of the powerful nations do express concern and meet to confer about ways of gradually "degrading" the capacity of the Islamic State. A group of nine nations led by the USA have been conducting bombing raids from the air on Islamic State targets since August 2014, with mixed results. But while the discussions and the bombing raids take place, days become months and months become years, and the Assyrian and Yazidi hostages remain in their situations of terror, with little hope of rescue.

Two thoughts come to mind. Firstly, the great nations of the world that are mulling over ways of dealing with the Islamic State in a step-by-step fashion would do well to act as if the kidnapped hostages are indeed British and American. Images of British citizens being executed on mass and American women being sold at sex-slave markets may well succeed in breaking the paralysis that has beset Western action over the problem of the Islamic State.

Second, the tragic situation raises the issue of the future viability of religious minorities in the Middle East. The best solution would probably be for Assyrians and Yazidis to migrate to the West. Many will do this, but many will remain in their ancestral homelands.

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A Future for Minorities in the Middle East?

64 soldiers killed in ISIS attack on Egyptian Army's Sinai checkpoints | Fox News

The following excerpts are from FoxNews.com:

Islamic militants on Wednesday unleashed a wave of simultaneous attacks on Egyptian Army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 64 soldiers, country officials said.

The coordinated assaults, which included up to 70 militants, came a day after Egypt's president pledged to step up the battle against Islamic militants and two days after the country's state prosecutor was assassinated in the capital, Cairo. The BBC reported that the clashes are ongoing, with militants reportedly overtaking a main police station.

The officials said scores of militants were besieging Sheikh Zuweid's main police station, shelling it with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and exchanging fire with dozens of policemen inside. Reuters reported that militants planted bombs along a road between the police station and an army camp to deter reenforcements.

"We are under siege, the militants didn't storm inside it so far, or else I wouldn't be speaking to you right now," Col. Mohamed Soliman told Daily News Egypt from inside the police station

Al Jazeera, citing a local news, reported that ambulances had trouble reaching those injured due to the crossfire.

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64 soldiers killed in ISIS attack on Egyptian Army's Sinai checkpoints | Fox News

Will a Catholic School Fire a Theology Teacher for "Anti-Gay" Remarks? - Aleteia

The following excerpts are from Aleteia.org:

The future of a high school theology teacher suspended for public comments about gays and traditional marriage is in doubt. An online petition for Patricia Jannuzzi has sought donations for her family’s bills while her bishop released a statement that addressed only her previous and present job status.

An online petition on YouCaring.com said it represented Jannuzzi's family. According to the petition, Januzzi's lawyer told the teacher that her contract will not be renewed for the 2015-16 school year. The update followed a message in which Jannuzzi’s children said the teacher needs health benefits because she had breast cancer.

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Will a Catholic School Fire a Theology Teacher for "Anti-Gay" Remarks? - Aleteia

Brick By Brick, Person By Person, ISIS is Erasing Assyrians From Their Homelands

The ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, which was destroyed by ISIS on March 5

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- Yesterday ISIS destroyed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, a city dating back to 1400 B.C. and was one of the capitals of Assyria. A week before that ISIS destroyed the Museum of Mosul, which contained priceless Assyrian artifacts. A week before that ISIS attacked 35 Assyrian villages in Khabur Syria, driving 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.

The ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, which was destroyed by ISIS on March 5

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.

Renya Benjamin, an Assyrian woman from Hamilton, Canada, visited Nimrud in 2012. Upon hearing about the destruction of this irreplaceable world cultural heritage site, the city of her ancestors, she said:

Nimrud, Assyria. My favourite place in the world was destroyed by ISIS today. I will forever be thankful to the Assyrians of Baghdede [Qaraqosh] for taking me to visit this majestic place in 2012. And I will forever be devastated in knowing that my children will never experience the same pride I felt walking on the cuneiform etched tiled floor and touching the majestic Lamassu that my king once touched, 3000 years ago.

The ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, which was destroyed by ISIS on March 5

According to Renya, during her visit one of the local Arab tribal men who was a guard told her how happy he was that she came, as these were her ancestral artifacts. The men from the same tribe protected the site during the fall of Saddam when looters tried to access it.

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Brick By Brick, Person By Person, ISIS is Erasing Assyrians From Their Homelands

Due to my unplanned job change, I am still struggling to get by. Your help and assistance will be greatly appreciated! Donate securely with PayPal. Thank you, and God bless you!

Iraqi PM: Iraq 'Must Take Charge' on ISIS

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Iraq's prime minister on Sunday said his nation must lead the charge against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"We have to take charge of what we are doing as these are Iraqi lives at stake," Haider al-Abadi told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week." "We have to stop ISIS for our own safety. The world has to stop them for their own safety."

Iraq has struggled to reclaim territory it has lost to ISIS. It is currently waging a second offensive to regain the city of Tikrit after a failed attempt in June and July 2014. The latest campaign lacks valuable U.S. air support.

Abadi said his government expects a tough battle against ISIS in the months ahead. The foreign dignitary hopes to retake Tikrit before tackling Mosul, another major city.

"This is a very, very dangerous opponent if they're allowed to continue," Abadi said of ISIS.

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Iraqi PM: Iraq 'Must Take Charge' on ISIS

Kurdish, Assyrian Forces Battle ISIS As Fate of 150 Reported Hostages Unclear

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

Kurdish and Christian militiamen battled Islamic State militants Wednesday in northeastern Syria, where the extremist group abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages, according to activists.

Hassakeh province, which borders Turkey and Iraq, has become the latest battleground for the fight against the terror group Islamic State, also known as ISIS. It is predominantly Kurdish, but also has populations of Arabs and predominantly Assyrian Christians and Armenians.

A Syrian Christian group representing several NGOs inside and outside Syria told Reuters it had confirmed at least 150 people missing -- including women and the elderly -- after the villages were overrun by ISIS.

"We have verified at least 150 people who have been abducted from sources on the ground," said Bassam Ishak, President of the Syriac National Council of Syria.

ISIS has not confirmed the kidnappings, but online, supporters have posted pictures of the group's fighters looking at maps and firing machine guns. The photos were purportedly taken in Tel Tamr, a town near where the abductions occurred, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In pre-dawn attacks Monday, Islamic State militants raided communities nestled along the Khabur River. Thousands of others fled to safer areas.

The fate of those kidnapped, almost all of them Assyrian Christians, remained unclear on Wednesday -- two days after they were seized. The abduction added to fears among religious minorities in both Syria and Iraq, who have been repeatedly targeted by ISIS. During the group's bloody campaign in both countries, where it has declared a self-styled caliphate, minorities have been repeatedly targeted and killed, driven from their homes, had their women enslaved and places of worship destroyed.

The Assyrians are indigenous Christian people who trace their roots back to the ancient Mesopotamians.

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Kurdish, Assyrian Forces Battle ISIS As Fate of 150 Reported Hostages Unclear

Iraqi Kurds Call for Foreign Ground Troops in Anti-Islamic State Fight

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AP) -- A senior Iraqi Kurdish official on Wednesday called for greater support in the battle against the Islamic State group, including with foreign troops, saying the Kurds are "alone" in the fight.

Fouad Hussein, chief of staff to Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, said the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes are helpful but "to finish ISIS... you need to finish it on the ground. And on the ground, we are most of the time alone. So we need partners."

"It means advisers, it means special forces, it means a collective fight against ISIS, it means equipment, it means munitions," Hussein said.

Though IS fighters have been forced to retreat from Kobani, the strategic town on Syria's border with Turkey, the battlefield picture suggests they are far from beaten in northern Iraq, where harsh winter weather and thick mud underfoot hampers military moves.

The Kurdish peshmerga fighters have struggled for months to inch ahead, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, which began in northern Iraq.

Several coalition countries have provided arms to the Kurdish forces but many of those weapons have not yet been delivered to soldiers because most require additional training.

Read more by clicking below:

Iraqi Kurds Call for Foreign Ground Troops in Anti-Islamic State Fight

Patriarch blasts Iraqi government, international community for failure to help persecuted Christians : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

Catholic World News - September 04, 2014

The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has renewed his criticism of the Iraqi government and the international community for their failure to address the persecution of Iraq’s Christians.

“The curtains have been drawn on the painful events, and 120,000 Christians are uprooted from their historical homeland because the political Islam does not want them there, and the world is silent, standing still, either because it approves or because it is incapable of acting,” said Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako.

“The suffering of the displaced Christians and other minorities is mounting: their needs are escalating and their fears of an unknown future of their shocked children, seized towns, and looted houses keep them sleepless,” he added.

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Patriarch blasts Iraqi government, international community for failure to help persecuted Christians : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Wake Up America

This is my opinion, and to those who don't agree with me or don't like it...too bad.

In my 59 years, I have seen a lot of politicians come and go. Some were good people who placed their country or their constituents before themselves. Others were only out for themselves and made it apparent.

In Barack Obama, we now have as President a man who is the most egotistical and incompetent excuse for a leader I have ever seen. If he is not incompetent, then he most surely is evil.

His administration is more corrupt, dirty, and underhanded than any I have seen. They make the Watergate burglars look like a bunch of choir boys. They don't even do a good job of hiding their corruption, and with a compliant media, they don't even have to try to hide their underhanded actions in the dark. They do them in broad daylight without fear of opposition from a media that is as corrupt as they themselves.

I am tired of his tendency to golf while America burns. I am tired of his turning his back on our allies, and embracing our enemies. I am tired of his unlawfully imposing his will on America's religious organizations, institutions... our corporations and companies as well as individual Americans. I am tired of his ignoring and placing no value on the men and women heroes of this country who have served faithfully to protect and defend America. I am tired of his ignoring the sovereignty of our nation by allowing thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants and "undocumented workers"to mount an invasion of this nation. I am tired of his ignoring the plight of Christians and other minorities from the Islamic barbarians around the world.

We as a people can not allow this brazen undermining of our country to continue. The Obama administration and his party's majority in the Senate must be stopped and held to account at all costs. I urge each and every person who can vote to get up off your duff, and vote to send a message to Barack Obama and his cohorts in the Senate and the media. It is time to show them that the American people are mad as he**, and we aren't going to take it any more!

UN Officials Voice Concern About Iraq Humanitarian Situation, Abuse of Women, Girls

[Steve says: Why are all you feminists who scream about the non-existent "War On Women" in the United States, so deafeningly silent over real violence against women in Iraq? Just doesn't fit your agenda, does it?]

An Iraqi woman from Mosul holds her daughter in one hand and empty water containers in the other. Two other children follow her in search of water near the Garmava temporary camp in central Iraq (photo: UNHCR/S. Baldwin).

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

• Amid reports of deliberate targeting of women and girls in Iraq, senior United Nations officials today voiced deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian and security situations in the country, where more than 1.2 million people have fled their homes in fear for their lives.
• "As the security situation continues to worsen, I am extremely worried about the families urgently in need of water, food, shelter, healthcare, sanitation and protection from violence," said Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
• That includes targeting of women and children, who have reportedly been kidnapped, raped and forcibly married to militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) and other armed groups.
• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, expressed deep concern yesterday following the reported suicides of some women who had been raped, and of men who had been forced to watch the rape of their wives and daughters.
• "UN Women strongly condemns sexual and gender-based violence, and calls on all parties to address such reports and protect the rights of Iraqi women and girls," she said.

Read more by clicking below:
UN Officials Voice Concern About Iraq Humanitarian Situation, Abuse of Women, Girls

Knesset honors St. John XXIII for saving Jews during World War II : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from CWN:

• Israel’s parliament held a special session on May 13 to pay tribute to Pope St. John XXIII.
• “There has not been an event like today’s in the history of the Knesset, an event which is so important to our relations with the Christian and Catholic world,” said Yair Tzeven, a former government minister, according to The Jerusalem Post.
• During World War II, “he did everything to save Jews,” added Isaac Herzog, a cabinet minister from 2005-11 and current opposition leader.

Read more by clicking below:
Knesset honors St. John XXIII for saving Jews during World War II : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Supreme Court hears Hobby Lobby case, hints sympathy for plaintiffs : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Several US Supreme Court justices expressed sympathy for plaintiffs challenging the federally mandated coverage of contraceptives, during oral arguments on March 25.
• Based on the justices' questions, several leading journalists reported that the Court appeared likely to uphold the legal challenge mounted by the Hobby Lobby against the contraceptive mandate.

Read more by clicking below:
Supreme Court hears Hobby Lobby case, hints sympathy for plaintiffs : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Selfishness leads to death, Pope warns on day dedicated to Gospel of Life : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• “Whenever we want to assert ourselves, when we become wrapped up in our own selfishness and put ourselves in the place of God, we end up spawning death,” Pope Francis said as he celebrated Mass for “Evangelium Vitae Day” at the Vatican on June 17.
• Thousands of pro-life activists gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the morning Mass, as the Vatican called attention to the pro-life cause in an observance organized for the Year of Faith. In his homily the Pope reflected on the day’s Scripture readings, relating them to the cause of life.

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Selfishness leads to death, Pope warns on day dedicated to Gospel of Life : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

From The Dignitatis Humanae Institute: West responds with indifference as rioters murder Egyptian Christians in their own Cathedral

Note: The following is a press release from The Dignitatis Humanae Institute

Rome, 12 April 2013

Following the deadliest sectarian violence seen in months, the Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, has publically decried the record of President Morsi and his Egyptian government for failing to safeguard Christian communities from repeated hate attacks.

Tawadros II comments came after two incidents in Cairo saw at least five Christians murdered and up to a hundred injured. Funeral mourners at St Mark's Coptic Cathedral were set upon as they tried to leave the Church grounds, attacked with weapons ranging from stones to molotov cocktails and automatic firearms. It took security forces five hours to arrive on the scene, and only after the bloodshed had occurred.

The public rebuke from Tawadros II, the first directly attacking President Morsi, demonstrates the despair with the lack of political will, domestic and international, to recognise the gravity of these repeated persecutions and to take the necessary steps to safeguard Christian communities. Instead, the ruling Muslim Brotherhood has demonstrated a casual indifference towards the plight of the 8 million citizens that make up the Christian community of Egypt.

Christians have long been a persecuted minority in Egypt, yet what little protections that existed under the previous regime have now been swept aside by mob rule and unchecked spates of violence. Such a drift has been seen across the Mena region, with the initial optimism of the Arab Spring now giving way to a Christian Winter. Instead of emerging democracies, the domestic upheaval has led to a resurgence of Salafist fundamentalism. Increasingly, Christian people in predominantly Muslim nations are being harassed and terrorised to the point of seeking emigration.

In support of Tawadros II remarks, Lord Alton, Honorary President of the British Coptic Association and Chairman of the Cross-Party Working Group on Human Dignity, stated:

"When Mohamed Morsi was first elected, after 29 years of Mubarak's dictatorial rule, he was entrusted with a unique and brief opportunity to overturn a history of religious discrimination in Egypt; and indeed he pledged to do so.

As Pope Tawadros II has stated today, the negligence of the Egyptian government demands actions not more words. Any further financial aid to Egypt should be contingent on a notable increase in the state protection afforded to the Christian minority. The international community cannot continue bankrolling President Morsi whilst remaining indifferent to the failings of his government in its primary purpose, to protect its people from harm."    

The Dignitatis Humanae Institute aims to uphold human dignity based on the anthropological truth that man is born in the image and likeness of God and therefore has an innate human dignity of infinite worth to be upheld. The Institute promotes this understanding by supporting Christians in public life, assisting them to present effective and coherent responses to increasing efforts to silence the Christian voice in the public square.