LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 30/2012

Bible Quotation for today/The Search for Justice/God Is Aware of What We Say
Wisdom 01/01-11: "Love justice, you rulers of the world. Set your minds sincerely on the Lord, and look for him with all honesty. Those who do not try to test him will find him; he will show himself to those who trust him. Dishonest thoughts separate people from God, and if we are foolish enough to test him, his power will put us to shame. Wisdom will never be at home with anyone who is deceitful or a slave of sin. Everyone who is holy has learned to stay away from deceitful people. He will not stay around when foolish thoughts are being expressed; he will not feel comfortable when injustice is done. Wisdom is a spirit that is friendly to people, but she will not forgive anyone who speaks against God, for God knows our feelings and thoughts, and hears our every word. Since the Lord's spirit fills the entire world, and holds everything in it together, she knows every word that people say. No one who speaks wickedly will escape notice; sooner or later he will receive just punishment. The intentions of ungodly people will be closely examined; their words will be reported to the Lord, and then they will get the punishment that their wickedness deserves. God will tolerate no challenge, and since he hears everything, you cannot hide your complaining from him. So be sure that you do not go around complaining—it does no good—and don't engage in bitter talk. The most secret things you say will have their consequences, and lying will destroy your soul.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Muslim Persecution of Christians/by Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/April 29/12
Libya: Assessing Berber Prospects/by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi/PJ Media/April 29/12
Al-Qaeda is still alive/By Mshari Al-Zaydi/Asharq Alawsat/April 29/12

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 29/12
Around 20 Killed in Attack on Church Services in Northern Nigeria
1 Killed in Grenade Attack in Nairobi Church
Iran hopes nuclear dispute will be settled at Baghdad meeting
Iran Hopes for 'Success' in Next Nuclear Talks
Iran says it has identified source of reported cyber attack on oil industry
Syria derides UN chief as peace plan in crisis
Russia Says 'Syria Terrorists Need Decisive Rebuff'
U.N. Urges Respect for Syria Truce as Observers Visit Homs Neighborhood
Israeli, Egyptian officials in secret talks on gas deal crisis
Former Shin Bet chief strikes at Netanyahu's weakest link
Head of U.N. mission in Syria urges halt to violence
Netanyahu: Israel soon to require national service for Israeli Arabs
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - April 29, 2012/Daily Star
A dark cloud over Beirut
Lebanon's March 8 and 14 Take Anew Dispute on Spending to Parliament
Judicial Sources: No Lebanese Involved in Ship Allegedly Carrying Arms to Syria
Miqati, Lebanon' PM: Assistance to Syrian Refugees Can’t Come at Expense of Lebanon’s Security
Mikati, Lebanon's PM vows timely polls, payment of public sector wages
Suleiman Lashes Out at Aoun for Refusing New Consensus President
ISF Detain 19 Egyptian Workers Demonstrating against ‘Sponsorship System’
Lebanon Mourns Head of Druze Spiritual Community at Age 96
Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Denies Money Smuggling from Syria
Saniora, Lebanon's Former PM, Visits Geagea in Maarab for 1st Time after Assassination Attempt
Alain Aoun, The Aounist MP: Geagea would be better president than ‘unbiased’ one
Mashnouq, The 14th Of March MP, says opposition to topple Cabinet through peaceful means
Bank Employee Federation in Lebanon slams Cabinet, supports disaffected public sectors

Around 20 Killed in Attack on Church Services in Northern Nigeria
Naharnet/29 April 2012/Attackers armed with bombs and guns opened fire at outdoor church services at a Nigerian university Sunday, killing around 20 people as worshippers tried to flee, witnesses and officials said. A powerful explosion and gunfire rocked Bayero University in the northern city of Kano, with witnesses reporting that two church services were targeted as they were being held outdoors on the campus. Officials were unable to confirm casualty figures, but an Agence France Presse correspondent counted six bullet-riddled bodies near one of the two sites. At least another dozen bodies could be seen on a roadside by the university, but the exact number was unclear. Musical instruments and half-eaten meals could be seen at the site of one of the services.
An army spokesman confirmed the attack but could not provide a casualty toll. Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told AFP that it appeared the attackers used bombs and gunfire in the assault.
Witnesses said the attackers arrived in a car and two motorcycles, opening fire and throwing homemade bombs, causing a stampede. They said worshippers were gunned down as they sought to flee.
"They first attacked the open-air service outside the faculty of medicine," one witness said. "They threw in explosives and fired shots, causing a stampede among worshippers. They now pursued them, shooting them with guns. ... They also attacked another service at the sporting complex." There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the attack was similar to others carried out by the Islamist group Boko Haram. Boko Haram claimed January 20 attacks in Kano, the largest city in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, when coordinated bombings and shootings left at least 185 dead in the extremists' deadliest attack yet. On Thursday, bomb attacks at the offices of the ThisDay newspaper in the capital Abuja and the northern city of Kaduna left at least nine people dead.
The group has previously targeted churches, including on Christmas day when at least 44 people were killed in a bombing at a church outside Abuja. A bombing on Easter Sunday in Kaduna near a church that killed at least 41 people was a stark reminder of the Christmas attacks, but Boko Haram is not known to have claimed it. Boko Haram's increasingly bloody insurgency has claimed more than 1,000 lives since mid-2009. Police and soldiers have often been the victims of such attacks, although Christians have been targeted as well. It also claimed responsibility for an August suicide attack at U.N. headquarters in Abuja which killed at least 25 people.
SourceAgence France Presse.

March 8 and 14 Take Anew Dispute on Spending to Parliament
Naharnet/29 April 2012/A proposal by three March 8 lawmakers to probe alleged spending violations made between 1993 and 2011 is aimed at taking the dispute with the March 14 opposition to new levels, highly informed parliamentary sources said Sunday. The proposal was made on Saturday by Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad, Development and Liberation bloc lawmaker Yassine Jaber and Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan to form a parliamentary investigative committee to “probe the violations of spending made since the beginning of 1993 until the end of 2011.”
The sources told An Nahar daily that this step is aimed at escalating the row that was sparked by the counter-accusations launched between the two sides during the latest three-day parliamentary session that assessed the performance of the March 8-led cabinet of Premier Najib Miqati. During that session two March 14 MPs - George Adwan from the Lebanese Forces bloc and Phalange party’s Samer Saadeh – made requests to form parliamentary committees to investigate the issue of leasing of power-generating vessels and the general spending since 1990.
But the sources said that the Hizbullah, Amal and Change and Reform trio sought on Saturday to prevent the opposition from taking a unilateral action in accusing the March 8 forces of committing violations on the eve of the 2013 polls and to revive the growing financial dispute after the cabinet suffered from internal divisions on the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending bill of 2011.
The cabinet members argued during a session held on Wednesday whether President Michel Suleiman should sign the $5.9 billion bill after the parliament failed to approve it over conditions set by the opposition that it would vote for the bill only if the March 8 forces agree to settle the extra-budgetary spending made by the governments of ex-Premiers Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri between 2006 and 2010. The ministers loyal to Hizbullah, Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement exerted pressure on the president to use his constitutional authorities by resorting to article 58 of the constitution which allows him to issue a bill deemed urgent by the government after the failure of the legislature to approve it. But Suleiman and ministers loyal to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat insisted that carrying out such an act is illegal and would be subjected to a challenge because the bill includes violations. MP Jaber refuted the accusations of the parliamentary sources in remarks to An Nahar, saying his request to form the investigative committee stems from his statement to parliament during the three-day session. So did Fayyad and Kanaan, he said. Jaber stressed that the request does not aim at creating committees to counter the opposition. Instead it means there is consensus on the necessity to form this committee to inspect the spending violations made in previous years.

A dark cloud over Beirut
Shane Farrell, April 29, 2012 /Now Lebanon
Less than a hundred meters west of the Bourj Hammoud garbage mountain lay the charred remains of hundreds of tires, metal objects of various descriptions and semi-melted plastics among the layers of ash and blackened vegetation. They are the solid remnants of a fire started Friday afternoon that pumped thick, black smoke into the Beirut sky and was brought under control by firefighters in the evening.
George Chamoun, a firefighter on the scene, suspected no foul play, telling NOW that fires are prone to breaking out naturally when the weather heats up and asking rhetorically, “Besides, why would anyone want to start a fire here, what is to gain?”
Apparently a lot, if MTV reports and people at the scene are to be believed. According to the news channel, the fire was ignited by individuals who “want to financially benefit from the copper [contained in tires], whose prices have soared lately.” An NGO worker who spoke to NOW on condition of anonymity corroborated MTV’s story. “A civil defense employee and a local resident told me that tire burning in the area is an event that occurs frequently,” he said. “But this time it seems to have gotten out of hand, most likely because the grass is very dry, causing the fire to spread quickly.”
The large, dark cloud, which blew southward from its source, carrying with it a noxious smell, has raised questions about its health implications for nearby residents.
According to a report produced by US environmental organization Energy Justice System on the dangers of burning tires, the “fumes emitted are packed with […] many toxic chemicals,” and tire burning creates dioxins, which “cause serious health problems, including infertility, learning disabilities, endometriosis, sexual reproductive disorders, birth defects, damage to the immune system and cancer.” Although several environmental experts were contacted, attempts to determine the extent of air pollution by this particular fire were unsuccessful.
Greenpeace campaigner Rayan Makarem, however, did stress that the environmental impact was not limited to air pollution, but that soil and water were also damaged. “The water used to put out the fire inevitably percolates down through the soil, carrying toxins with it. These toxins are then transported into the sea,” he said.
Makarem believes that such a fire highlights the need for a recycling factory in Lebanon that could burn tires in a manner that minimizes environmental damage. This is just one aspect of the “zero-waste system” that Greenpeace is pushing for in Lebanon, he added.
The dumping of tires in the area is illegal, according to Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury, who spoke to NOW Lebanon by phone. “Apparently it has been going on for many months,” he said, adding that there is a clear need to improve coordination between local authorities and the relevant individuals in the government in order to prevent incidents such as this latest fire and the Beirut River inexplicably turning a bright red color in February. To this end, Khoury told NOW Lebanon that he plans to begin discussions on Monday with relevant individuals in order to establish an emergency committee, but stressed that their approval would be necessary before such a committee is formed.

Alain Aoun: Geagea would be better president than ‘unbiased’ one
April 29, 2012 /Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun said on Sunday that his bloc was against President Michel Sleiman assuming the presidency again. “We are against [electing] a president devoid of his powers… even [Lebanese Forces leader Samir] Geagea - if he was consensual - [would make] a better president than an unbiased president,” Aoun told LBC television. Aoun also responded to Sleiman’s statement that “a consensual president does not beg for the presidency,” in which he implied that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun was begging for the office. “Sleiman was not asked to become president, he strived for the presidency,” Aoun said.-NOW Lebanon

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - April 29, 2012/Daily Star
The Daily Star
Al-Mustaqbal
Juppe congratulates Geagea on his [assassination] escape, says the interests of the Middle East's Christians [can only be] guaranteed by democracies
Sleiman responds to Aoun: He begs for the presidency
The Lebanese bid farewell to the Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Abu Mohammad Jawad Walieddine Friday in Baaqlin, with condolences paid from across the political spectrum.
The communications office of the Lebanese Forces party announced that it received a letter from French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe congratulating Geagea for escaping an assassination attempt.
They said that in his letter Juppe said that developments in the Arab world were a “golden opportunity” for the Christian communities, and do not constitute the beginning of their decline. Juppe also reportedly said that the basic freedoms provided by democracy would guarantee the rights of Christians.
At a festival in Beirut organized by the Future Movement, the party’s secretary general Ahmad Hariri accused the government of distancing itself from crucial issues.
Meanwhile, Michel Sleiman defended over the weekend his election as head of state, slamming Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for wanting the post. On Twitter and Facebook, he wrote that at least a consensual president does not beg for his post. This came just hours after Aoun, over Facebook, said that the future head of state should head a parliamentary bloc rather than beg at the doors of ministers.
An-Nahar
Race to the financial file committee intensifies
Confiscation of a huge load of weapons from "Lutfallah II"
Fate seemed open this week to a new chapter on different government files, including finance, as the March 8 and March 14 coalitions met in consultation.
In the first session, Ali Fayyad of Hezbollah, Ibrahim Kanaan of the Change and Reform bloc and Yassine Jaber of the Development and Liberation bloc submitted a proposal to set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry into what they described as the excesses that have marred public spending since the beginning of 1993 until the end of 2011. Their proposal reportedly allows for the necessary investigations into public spending over the specified period.
In other news, the Lebanese military got involved in the confiscation of the ship Lutfallah II, seized off the country’s north coast, where authorities emptied three containers holding large quantities of heavy and light weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles. The vessel’s 10 crew members as well as a customs official were arrested. The ship was reportedly carrying weapons from Libya and heading to northern Lebanon, with the weapons to then be transported overland to Syria.
Al-Hayat
Dispute over legislation on spending [now part of] war between parliamentary committees
Various parties have entered into a dispute over legislation to raise the ceiling of expenditure for 2011 valued at LL 8.9 billion to the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati as well as what was spent under the government of former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora between 2006 and 2009 worth $11 billion.
The Future Movement has asked the investigations committee to look into expenditures dating back to 1988, when Michel Aoun was prime minister of a transitional government due to a vacancy in the presidency at the time.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan made a formal request to form a parliamentary committee to look into the question of the electricity barges, which Energy Minister Gebran Bassil has been advocating, but which has been met with skepticism due to the high cost.
Asharq Alawsat
The Lebanese Army announces the confiscation of a shipment of weapons 'for the Syrian opposition'
Kurdy says: It’s the opposition’s right to be armed
The Lebanese Army announced the confiscation of three cargo containers of arms and ammunition on board the Sierra Leonean-flagged commercial vessel Luftallah II coming from Libya.
Lebanese authorities say they arrested 11 people involved in the shipment, who are now under investigation.
While the army’s statement did not mention the intended recipients of the shipment, Agence France Press quoted a security source as saying that the materials were bound for the Syrian opposition.
Meanwhile, deputy head of the Free Syrian Army Malek Kurdy told Asharq Alawsat that it is the right of the opposition to be armed, arguing that the international community is ignoring the crimes of the Syrian government.

U.N. Urges Respect for Syria Truce as Observers Visit Homs Neighborhood
Naharnet/April 2012/U.N. observers said on Sunday that it was "extremely important" that all sides respect a promised ceasefire in Syria as a veteran peacekeeper flew in to take command.
A mission spokesman said that an advance party of truce observers had already set up base in the major trouble spots in the 13-month conflict. He said it was a "matter of the utmost urgency" for the world body to expand the fledgling mission to the full 300 personnel authorized by the Security Council. "It is extremely important in the context of our mandate that there is full cessation of violence in all its forms by all the parties," said mission spokesman Neeraj Singh. "That is the necessary first imperative and that is what we are here to monitor and support."Singh said that even though the U.N. mission still only had a small advance team deployed, it was already on the ground in major protest centers that have been at the center of bloodshed the United Nations estimates has killed more than 9,000 people since March last year. "Even from the advance team that was here until now, as you see, apart from Damascus, we have permanently based observers in Homs, Hama, Daraa and Idlib," he said.
"I think things have been moving as fast as possible. This is a matter of utmost urgency for the U.N. All efforts are in place to make sure that we get the people on the ground as quickly as possible."
Syria's state news agency said the U.N. observers are touring an embattled neighborhood in the central city of Homs. SANA said the observers were visiting Khaldiyeh, an area that has seen heavy government shelling and clashes between Syrian forces and rebels. Veteran Norwegian peacekeeper Major General Robert Mood was expected in Damascus during the afternoon to take charge of the U.N. force. Mood, 54, knows the Syrian capital well and negotiated with the authorities the conditions of deployment for the advance team. The general "brings to his new position extensive command experience and knowledge of peacekeeping attained through service at the national and international levels," U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said in announcing the appointment.
Mood was head of the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization, which monitors Middle East truces, from 2009 until 2011. The general has not spoken publicly since he was nominated on Friday, but highlighted the "abyss of suspicion and violence between the Syrian regime and the opposition" in a recent interview with Norwegian media. Mood said that when he was asked to lead the advanced team, "it was an easy choice to say yes." "It's worth making the effort," he added about the mission and the peace plan that Annan clinched with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. "The Syrian people deserve to have an opportunity." SourceAgence France PresseAssociated Press.

Judicial Sources: No Lebanese Involved in Ship Allegedly Carrying Arms to Syria
Naharnet/29 April 2012/Investigations into the Lebanese navy’s interception of weapons reportedly destined for Syrian rebels showed that no Lebanese national was involved in the case, judicial sources said Sunday. The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that investigators are trying to find out the exact destination of the arms that were stashed in three containers aboard the Sierra Leone-flagged Lutfallah II ship.  Lutfallah II was stopped by the navy off the northern coast on Friday and towed to the port of Selaata and then to the navy base in Beirut. The eleven-member crew – eight Syrians, two Egyptians and an Indian - and the ship’s agent were arrested. Reports said the vessel had left Libya and was heading to the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli to unload the arms that would be later transferred to Syria on land. It sailed first to Turkey and then to the Egyptian port of Alexandria before heading for Tripoli. According to al-Hayat, the three containers weighed around 150 tons and included Kalashnikov rifles, Rocket Propelled Grenades in addition to goggles and military wear.But the judicial sources denied that the containers included anti-armor rockets. A Lebanese army communiqué issued on Saturday did not specify the type of the seized arms, only saying that the containers included a large number of light, medium and heavy weapons and ammunition. The Syrian regime has repeatedly said that weapons are being smuggled from Lebanon to arm the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Miqati: Assistance to Syrian Refugees Can’t Come at Expense of Lebanon’s Security
Naharnet/ 29 April 2012/Premier Najib Miqati has stressed that Lebanon’s sovereignty and security are priorities and cannot be sidestepped for the purpose of helping all Syrian refugees escaping the violence in their country. Miqati told reporters who accompanied him to Brussels that Belgian and European Union officials asked him to provide assistance not only to the displaced Syrians in northern Lebanon but also to those in the eastern Bekaa valley. “But we told the officials whom we’ve met that the issue of refugees should be settled through organized relations once calm returns to Syria,” he said in remarks that were released by his press office on Sunday. “We can’t continue to deal with the issue at the expense of the security of Lebanon under the slogan of human rights,” he stressed. “The security and sovereignty of Lebanon are priorities that we can’t give up.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday an estimated 24,000 Syrians have been registered as refugees. Miqati appeased fears that state employees might not receive their salaries if a $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending bill was not approved, saying the cabinet tasked Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi to pay all the wages of civil servants.Asked about the parliamentary elections in 2013, the premier said the polls would be held on time. On the electoral law, he said: “The issue is currently a source of contention in Lebanese politics.”“The government will carry out its duties in this regard through committing itself to the policy statement and sending the draft-law to parliament” which would later “take the appropriate decision,” he told reporters. Lebanese politicians are bickering on what type of electoral law to adopt. While Hizbullah, Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement have voiced support for proportional representation, Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat have rejected it. The prime minister returned from his three-day visit to Brussels on Friday.

Al-Qaeda is still alive!
By Mshari Al-Zaydi/Asharq Alawsat
The "Arab Spring" has transformed into al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, Christ the Redeemer and the Land of Dreams all in one for those who devoutly worship its shrine.
For those who have come to rely on the magical solution of the Arab Spring, everything that was said about problems before the collapse of the regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, has become a pack of lies propagated by the media of those regimes.
I remember having a discussion with an Arab television anchor who was singing the praises of the magical Arab Spring in Egypt. He argued that once Mubarak fell or was overthrown, the celebrations and festivities would set in. I countered by arguing that despite the bloated and corrupt nature of the Mubarak regime, particularly over the last five years; this does not mean that the diagnosis made of Egypt’s problems during Mubarak's rule was incorrect. For example, the issue of overpopulation existed well before Mubarak's departure and shall remain to be a problem in the future. It may even be further aggravated by the unstable situation in Egypt is now experiencing. The same can be said for shortages in bread and fuel supplies, the overwhelming lack of security… and religious extremism.
With regards to religious extremism, do you remember the arguments put forward by multiple Arab and non-Arab writers and politicians, stressing that the Arab Spring was proof that the “fundamentalist scarecrow” was a lie, and that the Arab Spring was a sign marking the end of an era for al-Qaeda and those like it, and that Arab rulers previously exaggerated the problem to extort their people and remain in power? Right now I do not know how to explain the eruption of al-Qaeda activity in Yemen. Recently, the organization has abducted a Saudi diplomat and is currently trying to negotiate with the Saudi state to release him in return for some of its demands. Prior to this al-Qaeda displayed a clear show of strength in the governorate of Abyan, where it killed many Yemeni security officers and declared the establishment of an "Islamic Emirate" there.
Largely due to the state of disorder and pressures caused by the Arab Spring in particular, al-Qaeda has also displayed several shows of force in the African Sahel.
Here I am trying to point out that the automatic link between the agenda of armed extremist currents and the Arab Spring does not make sense.
What do the young men and theorists of al-Qaeda have to do with the Arab Spring?
Why would the Arab Spring be a reason for the decline of these groups?
I can't understand this arbitrary link.
Al-Qaeda and all those representing its ideology have other inclinations and dreams which have nothing to do with freedom and democracy. Al-Qaeda is still proceeding with its plan and course and will try and exploit all existing variables in its favor. With this in mid, there is nothing better than when a regime – any regime – loses its grip on power.
Does this mean that it would have been better if those bygone regimes had survived?
Of course not, but it means that the problem of al-Qaeda, just like the problems of poverty, unemployment and overpopulation, are problems which exist on their own and have their own survival engines. The solution to such problems comes through a cultural, social, economic and political confrontation, and more importantly, a critical one through our minds.
We are yet to come into direct confrontation with all the aforementioned issues. The overthrow of Mubarak, the fleeing of Ben Ali, the murder of Gaddafi and the elimination of Saleh will not directly solve these problems. The claim that al-Qaeda has disappeared by virtue of the Arab Spring is nothing more than a fanciful wish and a dream.

Muslim Persecution of Christians: March, 2012
by Raymond Ibrahim
Gatestone Institute
April 25, 2012
http://www.meforum.org/3222/muslim-persecution-of-christians-march-2012
The war on Christianity and its adherents rages on in the Muslim world. In March alone, Saudi Arabia's highest Islamic law authority decreed that churches in the region must be destroyed; jihadis in Nigeria said they "are going to put into action new efforts to strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women"; American teachers in the Middle East were murdered for talking about Christianity; churches were banned or bombed, and nuns terrorized by knife-wielding Muslim mobs. Christians continue to be attacked, arrested, imprisoned, and killed for allegedly "blaspheming" Islam's prophet Muhammad; former Muslims continue to be attacked, arrested, imprisoned, and killed for converting to Christianity.
To understand why all this persecution is virtually unknown in the West, consider the mainstream media's well-documented biases: also in March alone, the New York Times ran a virulently anti-Catholic ad, but refused to publish a near identical ad directed at Islam; the BBC admitted it will mock Jesus but never Muhammad; and U.S. sitcoms were exposed for bashing Christianity, but never Islam.
Is it any wonder, then, that this same mainstream media ignores or at best whitewashes the nonstop persecution of Christians under Islam? Exposing such ugly truths would undermine their narrative of Islam as the "religion of peace."
Categorized by theme, March's batch of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed in alphabetical order by country, not severity:
Apostasy, Blasphemy, and Proselytism: Death and Prison
Egypt: A Christian man accused of insulting Islam's prophet Muhammad was sentenced to six years in prison. Though "defamation of religion" is a misdemeanor under Egyptian law, punishable by a prison sentence of one month to three years, the judge doubled the sentence to appease Muslims, including an angry 2,500-strong mob that terrorized the courtroom, demanding death for the Christian. Likewise, an "anti-Christianization course" by an organization that is "specializing in the resistance to Christianity"—so Muslims are not "throw[n] under the feet of the Cross"—was initiated; according to an instructor, "Reoccurring attempts at the university in Aswan to convert Muslims to Christianity or provoke them with misleading information was the drive behind the course."
India: A young woman was attacked and kicked out of her home "for daring to give thanks for healing in Christ's name" in a predominantly Muslim village; "her parents helped Islamic extremists to beat her nearly unconscious." In a village where "hard-line Muslims have threatened to kill the 25 families who initially showed interest in Christ, leaving only five frightened Christian families," the woman was attacked when returning from church, called "pagan, among other verbal abuse." The mob also harassed and threatened the Christian woman who "lured" her to convert to Christianity.
Iran: In a rare crackdown on a concentrated area, authorities arrested 12 more converts to Christianity living in Isfahan, the country's third largest city, in what is seen as a tactic to discourage Muslims from attending official churches. Among the latest known Christian converts detained in the Isfahan area is a man who was reportedly taken into custody on March 2 while returning home from his work: "Security authorities raided his home and seized him without explanation."
Iraq: An American teacher was shot to death by an 18-year-old student at a private Christian academy. He "was a devout Christian who frequently praised Christianity and prayed in the classroom, and his friends in Washington said his evangelism is what motivated him to teach in Iraq." According to students, "Mr. Jeremiah's hands were still folded in prayer when he fell"; others say a day before the shooting "a heated discussion" broke out "during which the pupil threatened to kill the teacher because of conflicting religious views." In an interview, the father of the pupil condemned Christian evangelists, portraying them as "more dangerous than al-Qaeda."
Malaysia: After religious police raided a Methodist church event due to "fears that Muslims were being converted," Muslim officials created a seminar called "Strengthening the faith, the dangers of liberalism and pluralism and the threat of Christianity towards Muslims." Due to criticism of the title, a lawmaker said the reference to Christianity would be removed, but the seminar's content would remain unchanged: "The seminar is part of the right of Muslims to defend the faith of its practitioners from any action which may lead to apostasy. It is our responsibility."
Pakistan: A Muslim mob attacked a 60-year-old Christian woman who had converted to Islam, only to reconvert back to Christianity six months later: she "was tortured—her head shaved—and paraded through the streets, garlanded with shoes." Soon after, she received more threats of "dire consequences" from Islamic clerics, fleeing the region with her family. Likewise, a 26-year-old Christian woman, mother to a five-month-old girl, was falsely accused of "blaspheming" Muhammad and arrested. A few days prior, some of her relatives who converted to Islam pressured her also to do likewise: "She refused, telling them that she was satisfied with Christianity and did not want to convert," and was arrested of blasphemy soon thereafter.
Yemen: Al-Qaeda gunmen fatally shot an American teacher. The terror network's affiliate in Yemen issued a message saying, "This operation comes as a response to the campaign of Christian proselytizing that the West has launched against Muslims," calling the teacher "one of the biggest American proselytizers." He was shot eight times on a Sunday.
Church Attacks
Bethlehem: One week after the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority told an audience of Evangelicals that his government respected the rights of its Christian minorities, the PA declared a Baptist Church illegal, adding that birth, wedding, and death certificates from the church are no longer valid. A pastor notes that "animosity towards the Christian minority in areas controlled by the PA continues to get increasingly worse. People are always telling [Christians], 'Convert to Islam. Convert to Islam. It's the true and right religion.'"
Egypt: Some 1500 Muslims—several armed with swords and knives and shouting Islamic slogans—terrorized the Notre Dame Language School in Upper Egypt, in response to calls from local mosques falsely claiming the private school was building a church: "Two nuns were besieged in the school's guesthouse for some eight hours by a murderous mob threatening to burn them alive"; one nun suffered a "major nervous breakdown requiring hospitalization… The entire property was ransacked and looted. The next day the Muslims returned and terrorized the children. Consequently, school attendance has dropped by at least one third."
Iran: The Armenian Evangelical Church in Tehran is the latest church to be ordered to cease holding Persian service on Fridays. The officers serving the notice threatened church officials, saying that "if the order is ignored, the church building will be bombed 'as happens in Iraq every day.'" As another report summarizes, "Christians and Churches in the Islamic Republic of Iran are now banned from preaching the Gospel to non-Christians, holding Persian language services, teaching and distributing the Bible, or holding Christian classes."
Iraq: Though Kirkuk's church was recently restored after an earlier bomb attack that killed a 13-year-old Christian boy, the "reopening celebration was but a brief respite in the ongoing suffering of Iraq's Christian community, signaled by two further attacks": Another church in Baghdad was bombed, killing two guards and wounding five, and the body of a Christian was "found riddled with bullets in Mosul. He had been shot nine times at close range. The freelance photographer had been kidnapped four days earlier. Iraqi Christians are often targeted by kidnappers for ransom."
Kenya: A band of Muslims launched a grenade attack on a crowd of 150 Christians attending an outdoor church meeting, killing two and wounding more than 30. "Human-rights groups say that the Muslim attackers were hyped into action by a militant Muslim preacher holding an alternate rally only 900 feet from the Christian gathering. Further reports say that the Muslim preachers were slandering Christianity and that members of the Christian group could hear the Muslim speakers."
Nigeria: A Boko Haram suicide car bomber attacked a Catholic church, killing at least 10 people. The bomb detonated as worshippers attended Mass at St. Finbar's Catholic Church in Jos, a city where thousands of Christians have died in the last decade as a result of Boko Haram's jihad, and where another church was attacked, killing three, less than two weeks earlier.
Saudi Arabia: the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, one of the Islamic world's highest religious authorities, declared that it is "necessary to destroy all the churches of the region." He made his assertion in response to a question posed by a delegation from Kuwait, where a parliament member recently called for the "removal" of all churches: the delegation wanted to confirm Sharia's position on churches with the Grand Mufti, who "stressed that Kuwait was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, and therefore it is necessary to destroy all churches in it," basing his verdict on a saying (or hadith) of Muhammad.
Sudan: Sudanese aerial strikes were aimed at church buildings in various regions. Churches in the Nuba Mountains are holding worship services very early in the morning and late in the evening to avoid aerial bombardments intentionally targeting their churches. The Khartoum regime is "doing everything possible to make sure they get rid of Christianity from the Nuba Mountains—churches and church schools are the targets of both the Sudanese Armed Forces and its militias," said an aid worker.
Dhimmitude
[General Abuse, Debasement, and Suppression of non-Muslims as "Tolerated" Citizens]
Denmark: In a Muslim ghetto in Copenhagen, a refugee from Africa had his door kicked-in several times and was threatened by a group of "youths" who accused him of being "both black and Christian," and tried to extort money from him. Police said they could not guarantee his safety, and he was eventually found in tears living in the streets.
Egypt: In Minya province, Christian families are "living in terror" since Salafis threatened to kidnap any Christian girl not wearing the hijab; parents are keeping their daughters indoors, missing school. Likewise, a Christian boy was abducted, his kidnappers demanding a large ransom from his family. And a court in Edfu sentenced the pastor of a church that was torched by Muslims to six months in prison for violating the height of the church building, further ordering the removal of the excess height. The church had received a license and was still under construction when it was torched by a Muslim mob in September.
Iran: After complaints about the display of Christmas trees and Santa Clauses in the streets of Tehran during the Christmas season, an official warned that the municipality will begin to seize such symbols: "Building facades in Tehran should be controlled by the municipality and the display of such symbols should not be allowed."
Iraq: Christians are running out of havens as rising security concerns and economic hardship cause them to leave the places of refuge they had found in the country's Kurdish north. The sort of attacks that initiated a mass exodus of Christians from Baghdad and Mosul are increasingly occurring in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, which once "welcomed Christians and was relatively safe." A Christian who fled there from Mosul seven years ago after retrieving his son from kidnappers said it is like history "repeating itself."
Nigeria: The Islamist organization Boko Haram declared "war" on Christians, saying it aims to "annihilate the entire Christian community living in the northern parts of the country." According to a spokesman, "We will create so much effort to end the Christian presence in our push to have a proper Islamic state that the Christians won't be able to stay." Along with constant church bombings—most recently on Easter, killing nearly 50—one of the groups new strategies is "to strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women."
Pakistan: Two Christian hospital employees were abducted by "Islamic extremists": "Such cases are on the rise, as banned Islamist groups and other criminal gangs are turning to kidnappings for ransom in order to survive and procure weapons and ammunition," said a senior investigator, adding that most Islamist groups believe that Christian NGOs are involved in evangelizing "under the guise of charity," giving more incentive to abuse them.
Sudan: Over half a million people, mostly Christian and originally from South Sudan, have been stripped of citizenship in response to the South's secession, and forced to relocate: "Sudanese Christians who have barely a month to leave the north or risk being treated as foreigners are starting to move, but Christian leaders are concerned that the 8 April deadline set by Islamic-majority Sudan is unrealistic. 'We are very concerned. Moving is not easy ... people have children in school. They have homes ... It is almost impossible,' said a Catholic bishop."
Syria: The nation where many Iraqi Christians fled to as a haven is slowly becoming like Iraq, as thousands of Syrian Christians continue to flee to nearby Lebanon. "Al-Faruq Battalion, which is affiliated with the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA), is imposing jizya (an extra tax imposed on non-Muslims living under Muslim rule) on Christians in Homs Governorate" and "armed men … threaten to kidnap or kill them or members of their families if they refuse to "pay Islamic taxes"—precisely what has been taking place in next door Iraq.
Turkey: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom named Turkey—formerly hailed for its freedoms—as "one of the world's worst violators of religious freedom," due to its treatment of Christian and other minority groups. The report said that restrictions on non-Muslim communities, such as limiting their right to train clergy and own places of worship, "have led to their decline, and in some cases, their virtual disappearance," further noting "an increased number of attacks, ranging from harassment and vandalism to death threats, against Protestant churches and individuals in 2011 compared to 2010."
About this Series
Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching epidemic proportions, "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:
Intrinsically, to document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
Instrumentally, to show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.
Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (tribute); overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed "dhimmis" (barely tolerated citizens); and simple violence and murder. Oftentimes it is a combination thereof.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the west, to India in the east, and throughout the West, wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.
*Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Libya: Assessing Berber Prospects
by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
PJ Media/April 28, 2012
http://www.meforum.org/3223/libya-berbers
One reason the term "Arab Spring" is a misnomer is because of the participation of non-Arabs, including Kurds in Iraq and Syria as well as Berbers in Morocco and Libya. While both of these non-Arab groups are Muslims, they tend to oppose Islamism both because they see it as tantamount to Arabization and because their observance of religion is often more flexible due to their own customs and history.
Berbers, who often prefer to call themselves Amazigh, constitute between 5% and 10% of Libya's population. But they are more important politically than those numbers imply. They are highly concentrated in the country's northwest, and provided a relatively important proportion of the fighters in the war that overthrew the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Six months since the revolt succeeded, the Berbers are largely disappointed with the result. Despite playing a key role in fighting in the western Nafusa Mountains during the Libyan civil war, no ministerial posts in the interim government were allocated to Berbers. This provoked protests from Berber activists that were simply ignored by the National Transitional Council (NTC).
It is also clear that significant tensions exist with neighboring Arab tribes in Libya's northwest. Earlier this month, heavy fighting emerged between Berber militiamen from the coastal town of Zuwarah and Arab militiamen from the nearby town of Ragdalein.
The latter was traditionally supportive of Gaddafi's regime, and apparently provoked the clashes with the capture of 34 men from Zuwarah's local militia in response to "abuses." The abuses likely entailed reprisal attacks against Ragdalein on account of its long-standing pro-Gaddafi stance. Dozens were killed in the fighting that followed, and a truce declared by NTC authorities did not even last 12 hours.
That said, it would be wrong to think there have been no positive changes in Libya for the Berbers. Back in November 2011, for example, the predominantly Berber town of Kabaw saw unhindered celebrations of Berber culture, with many expressing delight at the free opportunity to speak Tamazight and to fly the Amazigh flag.
Indeed, as the first article of the interim constitution states:
The State shall guarantee the cultural rights for all components of the Libyan society and its languages shall be deemed national ones.
While some Amazigh activists appear to be keen to portray Berbers as more liberal and anti-Islamist than their Libyan Arab counterparts (a picture eagerly promoted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed), it is far from certain that this portrait corresponds to reality. One report in The Atlantic in December last year illustrated a case-in-point:
Miloud is convinced that there is something distinctly feminist in Amazigh culture … but admits that her experience has not always lived up to her vision of Amazigh equality. When she approached the local council to ask for funding for the center to teach women basic working skills and literacy, she says they dismissed her offhand.
It follows from all this that there is nothing to suggest that Berbers are likely to be targeted collectively by Islamists, although there is the ongoing risk of further clashes with Arab militias.
One of the key problems facing Amazigh activists in the country is that the community as a whole does not have a unified and coherent conception of its own identity. As Ayoub Sufyan puts it: "We don't know who we are. Am I a Libyan or Amazigh or Muslim?"
The situation is analogous to Christians in the Middle East, where one finds a range of conflicting conceptions of identity from Arabism (common among Melkites and Antiochian Greek Orthodox) to Aramaean nationalism (e.g., the Syriac Orthodox) to Assyrian nationalism (mainly the Assyrian Church of the East). This has partly been responsible for preventing the formation of a viable Christian polity in the region.
Interestingly, some Berber activists are keen to launch an effort to convince the rest of the Libyan population that they are in fact all Berbers.
Ultimately, this enterprise is unlikely to gain much ground. While it is true that Berbers inhabited North Africa prior to the Arab conquests, and that strictly speaking the Libyan Arabs are mostly just an Arabized population, the fact is that Arabization (especially in tandem with Islamization) has become a key foundation of Arab identity. In Egypt, an Arabist conception of identity has prevailed among the Muslim population over the Pharaonism promoted by the liberal intellectual Taha Husayn.
In any case, how far back in history would these Berber activists like to go, if the argument focuses on genetics? After all, North Africa has seen a degree of mixing of ethnic groups, including the East Germanic tribe known as the Vandals, who established a kingdom around Carthage in the Fifth Century as the Western Roman Empire declined.
To round off, it is worth noting the recent announcement by the NTC banning parties based on religion, tribe, and ethnicity. This prohibition is unlikely to apply to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties at least on the ground level given the NTC's dalliances with Islamism, but it will almost certainly apply to any parties claiming to stand for Berber interests, since the Amazigh have already been excluded from interim ministerial posts.
In short, this confirms that the emerging picture appears to be one of political rather than cultural marginalization for Libya's Berbers.
*Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and an adjunct fellow at the Middle East Forum.