BBC Avoids Mention of Violence against Christians

[Teddy Bear]

Judging by the way the BBC are running stories on the revolt throughout the Middle East, uprisings are good except where those in power look likely to remain there - in which case revolution there is 'rightfully' quashed, regardless of what the real consequences of what is going on in these respective regimes might mean to our society. They have certainly diminished the extremist Islamic threat that might end up dominating these countries, as happened in Iran, preferring instead to portray everything as 'sweetness and light'.
Examples would be

• Gaddafi troops' 'gains' disputedFour Libyan towns which forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi claimed to have retaken remain under rebel control, witnesses say.
  
• Saudi Arabia imposes protest ban
  Saudi Arabia bans all protests and marches in the country and warns police will use measures to prevent disruption
  
• Egyptians raid secret police HQ
  Protesters march on the headquarters of the country's secret police in Cairo demanding the organisation be dismantled.
  
• Tunisia president calls election
  Tunisia's interim president Fouad Mebazaa says elections for an assembly to rewrite the constitution will take place by 24 July.
  
• Egypt's prime minister steps down
  
• Egyptian security agency stormed
  

To enforce this view they even run a story less than a month ago to show that Egyptian Muslims and Christians 'joined hands' in protest of the existing regime. Is there any doubt that what lies ahead can only be good if you believe the BBC spin?

Which would explain why the BBC prefers not to mention any story that might fly in the face of their desired view of the situation. Like for example 4000 Muslims in Egypt using the opportunity to attack Christian Copts there and raze their church to the ground.

Or this one Ethiopia: Muslims shouting "Allahu akbar" burn five churches

Here's the story on Egypt from Jihad Watch, and as you'll see, it doesn't sound like Muslims and Christians are holding hands much at the moment.

Is there any doubt about which society the BBC is supporting around the world? It certainly isn't ours, and they don't care how many of OURS will die to further their agenda.

Egypt: 4000 Muslims chanting "Allahu akbar" torch church, attack Christian homes

"The father of the Muslim woman was killed by his cousin because he did not kill his daughter to preserve the family's honor, which led the woman's brother to avenge the death of his father by killing the cousin. The village Muslims blamed the Christians."

Just think about that paragraph, in all its various parts, for awhile.

"Nearly 4000 Muslims Attack Christian Homes in Egypt, Torch Church," by Mary Abdelmassih for AINA, March 5 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

(AINA) -- A mob of nearly four thousand Muslims has attacked Coptic homes this evening in the village of Soul, Atfif in Helwan Governorate, 30 kilometers from Cairo, and torched the Church of St. Mina and St. George. There are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of the Church pastor Father Yosha and three deacons who were at church; some say they died in the fire and some say they are being held captive by the Muslims inside the church.

Witnesses report the mob prevented the fire brigade from entering the village. The army, which has been stationed for the last two days in the village of Bromil, 7 kilometers from Soul, initially refused to go into Soul, according to the officer in charge. When the army finally sent three tanks to the village, Muslim elders sent them away, saying that everything was "in order now."

A curfew has been imposed on the 12,000 Christians in the village.

This incident was triggered by a relationship between 40-year-old Copt Ashraf Iskander and a Muslim woman. Yesterday a "reconciliation" meeting was arranged between the relevant Coptic and Muslim families and together with the Muslim elders it was decided that Ashraf Iskander would have to leave the village because Muslims torched his house.

The father of the Muslim woman was killed by his cousin because he did not kill his daughter to preserve the family's honor, which led the woman's brother to avenge the death of his father by killing the cousin. The village Muslims blamed the Christians.

The Muslim mob attacked the church, exploding 5-6 gas cylinders inside the church, pulled down the cross and the domes and burnt everything inside. Activist Ramy Kamel of Katibatibia Coptic advocacy called US-based Coptic Hope Sat TV and sent an SOS on behalf of the Copts in Soul village, as they are presently being attacked by the mob. He also said that no one is able to contact the priest and the deacons inside the burning church and there is no answer from their mobile phones.

Coptic activist Wagih Yacoub reported the mob has broken into Coptic homes and has called on Copts to leave the village. "Terrorized Copts have fled and some hid in homes of Muslim neighbors," he added.

Witnesses said the mob chanted "Allahu Akbar" and vowed to conduct their morning prayers on the church plot after razing it.

Not that there's any Islamic tradition of conducting prayers on the cherished sites of conquered peoples, or anything like that.

[djfearross]

As you well know, it's all cultural and nothing to do with Islam, especially the bit where they burnt the church and shouted 'Allah Akbar', then promising to turn it into a mosque... it all cultural and nothing to do with Islam.... what is these days?

[Teddy Bear]

Anybody reading this who thinks that the BBC is doing their best to present news events in a manner that fairly represents what is going on in the world should answer for themselves these questions.

• Did the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in the USA, and subsequently 7/7 here in the UK show that there is an extremist Muslim agenda intent on taking over the world?
  
  
• Are you surprised at how many Muslims worldwide openly support this movement, as well as the overall 'backward' mentality that they portray, vis a vis their murderous intolerance to other religions, faiths, sexual orientation or freedoms, and dominance based on gender?
  
  
• Seeing what has transpired in the world over the last 10 years, and what is going on throughout the Middle East at the moment, do you think that the threat they present is far greater than might have been originally perceived or 'desired to have been perceived', by our society, at least by the majority?
  
  
• Do you have any doubt that there is a real threat to our society by these Islamists and that they are using EVERY means at their disposal to implement their strategy?
  
  
• Does the manner of BBC reportage make us better informed to deal with this threat, or on the contrary, do they do their best to dismiss or minimise it?
  

As you might easily surmise, I am certainly of the latter view in the final question, which means to me that the BBC, acting like a fifth column, is doing it's best to facilitate this threat.
Whether it is out of greed, and receiving huge backhanders from the many oil-rich regimes that comprise these Islamists;
or out of fear of reprisal from these same Islamists;
or doing it's best to ingratiate itself in that part of the world that these Islamists inhabit
or, as is most probable in my opinion, a combination of all of of these.

As you can see from all the examples we've highlighted in this forum that relate in any way to religion and Islamists, the BBC prefer to avoid highlighting the negative aspects of these Muslims, even at the cost to those much closer to OUR home and OUR individual values.

Just to see how an alternative look at current events appears you can see this web-cast of Glenn Beck from Fox News on the subject. What the BBC calls 'balance' is this interview by Jeremy Paxman of Noam Chomsky. I urge everybody to watch both of them to really see how the BBC is neutering what is really going on in the world on this subject.

On this particular topic story, with further incidents going on against the Copts in Egypt, even though the BBC still hasn't covered the story above that we highlighted, other than to mention it's happening in this one, they were finally forced to report something. However they have done their best to portray the Copts as responsible for the violence perpetrated against them, and not the sick pig-ignorant mentality of those committing it.

See for yourself in the article below, and compare it to the same news as reported here by Jihad Watch - Egypt: Copts' protests ignored by rest of world as governor refuses to rebuild destroyed church where it stood

Ten dead after Copt-Muslim clash in Cairo

The clashes began after the Copts blocked a highway, angering Muslims, witnesses say

At least 13 people died and 140 were injured in clashes between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Cairo on Tuesday.

Both Coptic Christians and Muslims were killed in the violence, which began during a protest by Copts against last week's burning of a church.

Egypt's Sunni authority has urged Muslims to help rebuild the church, calling its destruction un-Islamic.

The clashes come two months after a suicide bomber killed 23 people at a Coptic church in Alexandria.

In January, an Egyptian man was sentenced to death for shooting dead six Copts and a Muslim policeman in Naga Hamady, southern Egypt.

Tensions flare
The violence erupted when Coptic protesters blocked a highway in the Egyptian capital, protesting against the burning of the church in the province of Hilwan.

The rally angered Muslims who wanted to pass through. Witnesses said both sides threw stones, and the army fired into the air to disperse the crowds.

The Grand Imam of al-Azhar issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the attack on the church in Atfih, Hilwan governorate, as "a distortion of Islam".

Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyib called on Muslim residents of the town to help start rebuilding the church and to refrain from sectarian violence, Egypt's official news agency, Mena, reported.

Meanwhile, thousands of Coptic protesters continued their sit-in outside the state television building. They are calling for the rebuilding of the church, better protection for Christians, and a full investigation into last week's attack.

Copts - who make up about 10% of Egypt's population - have often complained of harassment and discrimination, and argue that attacks on them go unpunished or result in light sentences.

The government in the predominantly Muslim country denies discriminating against Copts.

[Teddy Bear]

When a team of 3 BBC journalists are rounded up by Gaddafi's troops and subjected to a 21 hour ordeal including a beating before being released and allowed to return to their normal lives, this is BIG NEWS for the BBC and hits the main pages on at least 4 of their area Web-pages - Home, Africa, Middle-East, and UK.
I also have to say that for the 'horrific' beating these journalists relate they received, I can see no evidence on their faces in the subsequent video release they made.

I noted in the first post of this topic that the BBC had made no mention of Muslims destroying 5 churches in Ethiopia. This violence has now escalated, the count is now up to "55 churches, 30 Christian homes, a Bible school, a Christian orphanage, and a church office," with 3000 Christians displaced, one dead, and several beaten. Besides the dead and beaten Christians, 3000 more will not be returning to any kind of 'normal' lives any time soon. Yet the BBC have not run ANY article ANYWHERE on their website about it. If you think their Africa main-page has too much other important events going on to sideline this piece, I can tell you that they found room on it to include this piece of world shaking news Mandela prison number fashion label announced.

Here's what Jihad Watch tells us about events in Ethiopia. Can you imagine if it was Christians destroying lives of Muslims there that the BBC wouldn't make this their main headline, never mind about ignoring it altogether, as they've done when it's the other way round.

Note this appeal by the Regional Manager of International Christian Concern "Islamic radicals are fighting to establish an Islamic state in Christian majority Ethiopia. Unfortunately, the Christians have borne the brunt of the Islamic attacks. Christians will continue to be killed unless the government of Ethiopia starts taking serious measures to stop Islamists from carrying out similar attacks. We urge all the concerned to put pressure on Ethiopia to protect its citizens," Aren't you proud of how our national media organisation responds to this appeal?

Ethiopia deploys troops to stop wave of Muslim violence against Christians

An update on last week's story, which reported that five churches were burned following a rumor that Christians desecrated a Qur'an. The count is now up to "55 churches, 30 Christian homes, a Bible school, a Christian orphanage, and a church office," with 3000 Christians displaced, one dead, and several beaten.

This was a rampage waiting for an excuse. Someone evidently got tired of waiting and made one up. "Ethiopia Sends Military to Stop Muslim Violence Against Christians," from International Christian Concern, March 9:

Washington -- International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that the Ethiopian government has sent military forces to put down the anti-Christian violence perpetrated by Muslims in Asendabo and the surrounding areas. Government officials have arrested several Muslims suspected of attacking Christians in the area.

When the attacks began on March 2, Muslims killed one Christian, wounded several others, burned down 55 churches, 30 Christian homes, a Bible school, a Christian orphanage, and a church office. More than 3,000 Christians are now displaced because of the violence.

The violence started after Muslims falsely accused Christians of desecrating the Qur'an. The local police and government officials did nothing to stop the attackers. Federal government officials have now stepped in and removed the local Muslim administrator for his failure to protect Christians.

A Christian leader told ICC that the attacks were organized by members of Kwarej, a radical Islamic group that fights to establish an Islamic state in Ethiopia. The Muslim attackers came from different parts of Ethiopia, including the Somali region.

"It's very sad that a radical Muslim group destabilizes the unity of Ethiopian Christians and Muslims. We are devastated by the attacks and we urge all concerned people to help us. We call upon Ethiopian officials to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future," the church leader added.

Asendabo is a town located in Jimma Zone, Western Ethiopia. Western Ethiopia was the scene of violent attacks against Christians in 2006 when Muslims killed more than a dozen Christians and burned down several churches. Thousands of Christians have been forced to leave their homes as a result of these attacks.

"Islamic radicals are fighting to establish an Islamic state in Christian majority Ethiopia. Unfortunately, the Christians have borne the brunt of the Islamic attacks. Christians will continue to be killed unless the government of Ethiopia starts taking serious measures to stop Islamists from carrying out similar attacks. We urge all the concerned to put pressure on Ethiopia to protect its citizens," said Jonathan Racho, ICC's Regional Manager for Africa.

[thehighlandrebel]

With the results of the Nigerian general election all but completed news of the killing of Pastors, killing of Christians and the torching and burning to the ground of Christian churches by Muslims in the Islamic north who are not happy with the outcome are filtering through.

Maybe I've missed something but I havn't seen President Obama on the lawns of the White House telling the World of his outrage. The same outrage he expressed when someone threatened to burn a few pages of a book.

I havn't seen Christians marching down the streets in this country calling for death and violence against Muslims and Islam.

I havn't heard of any Muslim aid workers having their throats slit and heads severed in other countries by Christians expressing their outrage.

I havn't seen any news headlines from the BBC condemning these actions and blaming Islam like they broadcasted around the globe blaming Pastor Jones for all the violence and terror in the World today.

This is typical of the sick society we live in when the powers that be show more concern over a few bits of paper than they do over the sanctity of human life.

Our politicans also should hang their heads in shame.
How many of them jumped on the blame Pastor Jones bandwagon and how many of them will be prepared to condemn the latest bout of Islamic terrorism?

Don't hold your breath.

[Teddy Bear]

I covered this BBC omission on this story here, but felt it worthy of inclusion in its own right. Clearly this is not the view that the BBC wants to portray, preferring instead to tell you that the Palestinians have got hold of a Picasso for a month, and that this justifies their getting statehood.

Current stories that the BBC have omitted mention of completely ANYWHERE on their website concern more atrocities committed on Christians, mostly by Muslims, like -

Ethiopia: Court Imprisons more than 500 Muslims for Mass Church Burnings
An Ethiopian court sentenced 579 Muslims from three to 18 months in prison for a week of violence against Christians that left one dead and 69 churches destroyed by fire.
High Price To Pay For Being A Christian in Uzbekistan
Being a Christian in Uzbekistan can be costly. Just ask Galina Shemetova who was ordered to pay a fine of 2,486,750 som, 50 times the minimum monthly pay for giving a colleague a children's Bible. This amounts to $60,320US, four times the yearly pre-tax salary of a 40 hour-a-week minimum wage earner. Miss Shemetova not only had to pay the fine, but she was also beaten physically by police, a fact known by the Tashkent Court of Appeals.
China Detains House Church Members in Beijing
Police detained 16 more members of Beijing's Shouwang House Church and placed others under house arrest: two were held in protective custody while the rest were sent to 10 different police stations; most were released by Sunday morning.
Sudanese Military, Militants Kill Christians and Attack Churches
Sudanese Military agents killed one Christian and Islamic militants another last week after attacking churches in Sudan's embattled South Kordofan state.
Uzbekistan: Police beatings, axe death threat, and more
Uzbekistan continues to persecute Christians exercising their religious rights. Recently a Christian in eastern Uzbekistan was beaten by police, another was threatened with death by an axe while a Baptist congregation was promised prison for failure to co-operate in a pre-trial investigation of their pastor.
Middle East Christians facing 'extremist atrocities'
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, warned that the vacuum left by failed autocratic regimes was being filled by extremists who have turned the Arab Spring into a "very anxious time" for Christians.

[Teddy Bear]

I punched in the words 'awlad khalaf' into the search engine of the BBC website and received notification that Sorry, there are no results for 'awlad khalaf' in the category 'News'. It does give a 'Elsewhere on the Web' link to another news media company carrying a story with these words Christians and Muslims clash in southern Egypt over construction of church; 4 injured
Washington Post / 26 Jun 2011
Egypt over the construction of a church. A local security chief, Assem Hamza, says Muslim residents of the Awlad Khalaf village rallied Saturday…

Meanwhile the main stories carried by the BBC for Mid East events include this one, already a few days old Israel pair admit Auschwitz theft - 1 day ago
An Israeli couple have been given suspended prison sentences in Poland for the theft of artefacts from the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, officials say.

Why is this an important story for the BBC? Because it brings Israel, in this case Israelis, into bad light, and the BBC won't miss an opportunity to do that. Why does the BBC ignore the violence by Muslims against Christians, and be sure they are aware of it? Because it brings Muslims into bad light, and the BBC will always 'miss' the opportunity to do that.

Here's how Jihad Watch cover the story.

Egypt: Muslims torch eight Christian homes on rumor of church construction

All it takes is a rumor to spark a rampage against non-Muslims. The police, for their part, got around to responding three hours after the burning and looting ended. "Egyptian Muslims Torch 8 Christian Homes on Rumor of Church Construction," by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News Agency, June 26:

(AINA) -- A mob of nearly 200 Muslims torched eight Christian homes on Saturday morning in the Upper Egyptian village of Awlad Khalaf. The attack was initiated by a rumor that a house which is being built by Wahib Halim Attia will be turned into a church. Two Christians and one Muslim were injured, no fatalities were reported.

Wahib Halim Attia obtained a license to build a house in the village on a 95 square meter plot. The house grew to an area of 350 square meters but was still on agricultural land that he owns. This gave rise to the rumor that he intended to build a church instead.

Father Weesa Azmy, the priest at St. George Church in the neighboring village of Negou Madam East, said that someone went to the City Council in Dar es Salam and told them about the irregularities in the house construction, and Wahib was ordered to remove the excess by June 24. "Instead Wahib carried on with the construction, which angered the Muslims, who decided to play God and take the law into their own hands; they attacked the construction site and other Christian homes."

According to Father Weesa, Muslims broke into the home of Ihab Tamer, who defended himself with a rifle. A Muslim who was there to help Ihab was injured by a bullet in his leg from Tamer's rifle. The matter was explained and resolved with the family of that Muslim.

According to eyewitnesses the Muslims, mostly Salafists and some youngsters, looted and torched eight homes belonging to Wahib Halim Attia and his two brothers, his three cousins and two other Copts, including Ihab Tamer.

The police arrived three hours after the looting and torching had ended.

Father Weesa said Ihab Tamer, who was in hiding after the shooting incident, contacted him and he advised him to give himself up to the police as he was acting in self-defense. "If someone sees people breaking into his home, surely he has to defend his family and himself."

The police told father Weesa, who did not witness the incident himself, that most of the attackers were teenagers between the ages of 10 and 14 years old. This was refuted by eyewitnesses. However, he said "if it is true that there were children and teens, then definitely someone else has sent them." He added he will not attend any reconciliation meetings and the rule of law must be upheld, on the Copt if found guilty and the attackers. Most of the teens and children were arrested by the police but no adults were arrested.

Police and security are now present in Awlad Khalaf village and the 30 Christian homes are being guarded, the Security Chief said tonight on the Egyptian State TV.

[Teddy Bear]

Regardless of individual faith or belief, I think most would agree that this is a country based on Christian values. While the BBC likes to pretend it possesses these values, the hypocrisy can be easily seen. First, it only extends to where any of those values pushed don't have to cost them anything personally. Second, it doesn't affect their main agenda, of which we're all here aware. Third, they are only applied to groups that the BBC deem worthwhile to appease, but not extended to those regarded as less important - like its public who are merely forced to pay for them.

Which is why it's reprehensible, with the resources at its disposal, for the BBC to fail to show how so many of the Islamic nations are treating other Christians resident there. Why do we have to rely on the internet media and bloggers to get the news that should be making the front pages? Instead of the subsequent pressure to counter it that should be applied, it is swept under the carpet and allowed to continue?

Muslim Persecution of Christians: October, 2011
by Raymond Ibrahim
HudsonNew York

[Teddy Bear]

It's good to see at least one of the mainstream media, in this case The Telegraph, taking note of the lack of concern exhibited by this country for the plight of Christians throughout the Muslim world. Seems the Foreign Office has no fear though when it comes to demonizing or speaking out against Israel, it's just the 'Religion of Peace' that seems to tie its tongue.

I like this paragraph Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, said his parents were once victims of the same evil that now confronts Christians. He quoted Martin Luther King: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”

I'm sure the Christians involved in the continuing violence against them will not forget the silence of the Christian countries like Britain.

How can we remain silent while Christians are being persecuted?
A new evil is sweeping the Middle East and the Foreign Office is failing to confront it.

By Fraser Nelson

Father Immanuel Dabaghian, one of Baghdad’s last surviving priests, is expecting a quiet Christmas. To join him in the Church of the Virgin Mary means two hours of security checks and a body search at the door, and even then there’s no guarantee of survival. Islamist gunmen massacred 58 people in a nearby church last year, and fresh graffiti warns remaining worshippers that they could be next.

The Americans have gone now, and Iraq’s Christian communities – some of the world’s oldest – are undergoing an exodus on a biblical scale.

Of the country’s 1.4 million Christians, about two thirds have now fled. Although the British Government is reluctant to recognise it, a new evil is sweeping the Middle East: religious cleansing. The attacks, which peak at Christmas, have already spread to Egypt, where Coptic Christians have seen their churches firebombed by Islamic fundamentalists. In Tunisia, priests are being murdered. Maronite Christians in Lebanon have, for the first time, become targets of bombing campaigns. Christians in Syria, who have suffered as much as anyone from the Assad regime, now pray for its survival. If it falls, and the Islamists triumph, persecution may begin in earnest.

The idea of Christianity as a kind of contagion that is foreign to the Arab world is bizarre: it is, of course, a Middle Eastern religion successfully exported to the pagan West. Those feet, in ancient times, came nowhere near England’s mountains green. The Nativity is a Middle Eastern story about a child born to a Jewish mother, whose first visitors were three wise Iranians and who was then swept off to Egypt to escape Roman persecution.

His Apostles later scattered to Libya, Turkey and Iraq, to establish the Christian communities that are now under threat. For most of history, they have coexisted happily with Muslims: dressing the same way, even celebrating each other’s festivals. The rise of the veil, and other cultural dividing lines, is a relatively modern phenomenon.

These dividing lines are now being made into battle lines by hardline Salafists, who are emerging as victors of the Arab Spring. They belong to the same mutant strain of Sunni Islam which inspired al-Qaeda. Their agenda is sectarian warfare, and they loathe Shia Islam as much as they do Christians and Jews. Their enemy lies not over a border, but in a church, synagogue or Shia mosque. The Salafists may be detested by the Muslim mainstream. But as they are finding out, you don’t need to be popular to seize power in a post-dictatorship Arab world – you just need to be the best organised. The West is so obsessed with government structure that it doesn’t notice when power lies elsewhere, and Islamist death squads are executing barbers and unveiled women in places like Basra.

Two years ago, the idea of such bloody sectarianism would have sounded like a macabre fantasy in a country as civilised as Egypt. After al-Qaeda bombed a church on New Year’s Day, Muslim elders sat in the front pews forming a human shield and defying the terrorists. But moderate Egyptians are now losing this power struggle. The killing has started, with another 25 Copts murdered in October. Tens of thousands of Egypt’s Christians have already joined their Iraqi counterparts in exile: as Iraq proved, one death can lead to a thousand emigrations. The Salafists are finding it staggeringly easy to realise their fantasy of a “purer” Egypt.

The Arab Spring was always going to mean danger for religious minorities, unleashing the Islamic extremists who previously were kept at bay. For all their evil, the old secular tyrants abused their victims equally, whether they wore the cross, hijab or skullcap. This year’s revolutions are marked by the utter absence of any leaders-in-waiting. History has repeatedly shown how, under such circumstances, regime change can be followed by a descent into sectarian chaos. Extremists can easily start fights along religious or ethnic lines by assassinating a leader, or blowing up a shrine. The result can be civil war (as with Bosnia and Rwanda), even leading to partition (as with India and Cyprus).

The Foreign Office has been typically slow to recognise the gathering threat, despite repeated warnings. The biggest one of all came a fortnight ago, when the Archbishop of Canterbury opened a gripping debate in the Lords about the widening persecutions, and what the Government ought to do. Lord Patten, the former education secretary, revealed that he spent a year failing to persuade the Foreign Office to help a group of Anglicans in the Anatolian peninsula, who are banned from worshipping in any public place. “'The answer was no,’ he said. 'They would not approach the Turkish government to ask, 'Please can you ease up a bit?’” But when German Catholics were having trouble in the same place, Angela Merkel’s government intervened immediately, working with the Turks to send a Catholic priest to hold public worship.

So why the British reticence? It might be that the Foreign Office sees this as part of a soppy equalities agenda, unworthy of diplomatic attention. Those who have raised the issue directly with William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, say he is unenthusiastic. When Mr Hague visited Algeria recently, he did not raise its ban on any Christian activity outside state-licensed buildings.

When challenged, ministers deplore persecution in general – but, seemingly, not so much that they’d do something like pick up the phone to Ankara. Yet there is plenty Britain can do. Countries could be denied aid until Christians (or Jews, or Sunnis) are allowed to worship freely. British diplomats could be empowered, even instructed, to advocate freedom of religion. When a peer of the realm alerts the Foreign Office to some persecuted Anglicans, a red alert ought to sound. Mr Hague might even publish an annual audit of religious freedom in various countries, making clear its importance to Britain. It might make its own estimate about the scale of the flood of refugees.

The Foreign Office did not realise the full evil of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans until it was too late: it did not take civil tensions seriously enough. It can do better now, making clear that it regards religious cleansing as an emerging evil that ought to be confronted wherever it is being incubated. Article 18 of the UN Charter of Human Rights guarantees freedom of religion – and yet outright religious oppression is quietly ignored, from Saudi Arabia to the Maldives. For ages, Iran has been able to persecute Baha’is with a minimum of fuss kicked up in the West. The ayatollahs are now turning the screw on Christians, with 300 arrested in the past year.

Speaking in that House of Lords debate were men to whom the idea of religious cleansing is anything but abstract. Lord (Dolar) Popat fled Uganda when Idi Amin turned on the Indians in 1971. Hindus, he said, are taught that it is a sin to be prejudiced against anyone. But it is “an even greater sin to witness persecution, then sit back and do nothing to stop it”. Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, said his parents were once victims of the same evil that now confronts Christians. He quoted Martin Luther King: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”

Our friends in the Middle East are all waiting to hear from HM Government. Perhaps, in the new year, it might have something to say.

[Teddy Bear]

We are continually showing examples of where the BBC are avoiding or downplaying the violence committed by fundamentalist Muslims against Christians in numerous Islamic regimes.

In the following article by Raymond Ibrahim he talks of the likely repercussions as a result of this kind of 'turning the other eye' to a known evil. While he is referring specifically to the US president as guilty of this very thing, one can just substitute the BBC, who from our side of the Atlantic perform the same cowardly disservice.

Many links are given in the article to back up the incidents mentioned. Anybody who wants to pursue it in more detail should go the webpage itself.

Why the President Should Speak Out Against Religious Persecution
By
Raymond Ibrahim

On January 24, during his State of the Union Address, the president of the United States has a chance to expose the plight of religious minorities living in Muslim majority nations. Doing so would not merely shed light on one of the most ignored humanitarian crises of the 21st century; it would help alleviate it.

Why should the president speak up on the oppression of religious minorities? For starters, because it is the right thing to do, and reflects American values and principles.

He should speak up because religious cleansing is currently underway in nations like Nigeria, where Boko Haram—“Western Education is Forbidden”—and other Islamic groups have declared jihad on the Christian minorities of the north, killing and displacing thousands, burning and bombing hundreds of churches, most notoriously this last Christmas, where over forty people were killed while celebrating Christmas mass. Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, about half of Iraq’s one million Christians have been forced by targeted violence to flee their homeland.

He should speak up because churches are constantly being attacked, burned, or forced into closure, not just in Nigeria and Iraq, but in Afghanistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia (click on country-links for the most recent examples). In Egypt alone, after several churches were burned, thousands of Christian Copts gathered to demonstrate—only to be slaughtered by the military, including by being run-over by armored vehicles.

He should speak up because Muslim converts to Christianity are regularly ostracized, beaten, killed, or imprisoned—recent examples coming from Algeria, Eritrea, Kashmir, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, and even Western nations. Iran’s Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, whose plight actually made it to the mainstream media, is but one of many people imprisoned and tortured for simply following their conscience and converting to Christianity. Uganda offers a typical example: there, a Muslim father locked up his 14-year-old daughter for several months without food or water, simply because she embraced Christianity. She weighed 44 pounds when rescued.

He should speak up because Christian girls are being abducted, raped, and forced to convert to Islam—recent examples coming from Egypt, India, Pakistan, and Sudan. In Pakistan alone, “a 12 year-old Christian [was] gang raped for eight months, forcibly converted and then ‘married’ to her Muslim attacker.” Now that she has escaped, instead of seeing justice done, “the Christian family is in hiding from the rapists and the police.” Earlier in Pakistan, a 2-year-old Christian girl was savagely raped and damaged for life because her father refused to convert to Islam.

The U.S. president should speak up because such persecution is not merely performed at the hands of “outraged Muslim mobs,” but is institutionalized in many Muslim governments, including those deemed “U.S. friends and allies”—such as Afghanistan, where the last church was recently razed; Egypt, where Islamists, supported by the U.S., openly speak of returning Copts into second-class dhimmi status; and Saudi Arabia, where churches are not permitted, and Bibles and crucifixes are confiscated and destroyed.

He should speak up because there is a pattern, one that is becoming increasingly harder to ignore—one that demonstrates great continuity over the centuries. Past and present, from Morocco in the west, to Pakistan in the east—in countries that do not share race, ethnicity, or language, only a culture permeated with the spirit of Islamic supremacism—non-Muslims suffer.

He should speak out because calling out bullies and cutting out their financial aid is the most effective way to curb their bullying, even as giving in to bullies—or worse, pretending they are not bullies and forcing others to go along—is a sure way to guarantee they continue bullying their minorities.

Perhaps most importantly, the president of the United States should speak out because we live in a day and age where the reality of religious persecution under Islam is so well documented—unlike in the days of former U.S. presidents who may be excused—that to continue ignoring it is tantamount to abetting it. Just as history has recorded the great sufferings of non-Muslims under Islam, so too will it record the complacency or complicity of those who are in a great position to end the persecution, but refuse to do so.

[thehighlandrebel]

Yeah, true to form, b-bbc R4 making out Boko Haran as a cuddly oppressed minority protesting against unemployment and government corruption much the same way as they portray Hamas and Al Qaeda as cuddly, loveable freedom fighters standing up to the great enemy of Christianity, democracy, Israel and western civilisation.
Also worrying is the churches views that Boko Haran are for some reason justified in slaughtering Christians and that these acts of terrorism are the Christians own fault.

When are the b-bbc, the churches, the politicians and the media finally going to admit that these acts of terrorism we see every day of the week around the world down to one thing and one thing only -

Islam.

[Teddy Bear]

As you say THR, our 'fearless' Church leaders are anxious to avoid pointing fingers at Islamists trying to oust Christians as the REAL problem, but seem to think unemployment is the real issue. Of course the BBC is happy to advance this line rather than imply that religion, at least where Islam is concerned, could possibly be the problem. So what if many more Christians die as far as they are concerned, so long as these bastards live and prosper.

One really couldn't make it up - nor would any sane person want to.

Here's a snapshot of this offering by the BBC today on the subject. You can listen to the pod-cast from this cowardly insidious Bishop by clicking on the picture.

[cherenkov]

I am not a Christian or any kind of 'believer'. However do think, for obvious reasons, that while in Europe Christianity has become less medieval, in the Middle East Islam has been conspicuously travelling in the opposite direction taking it's indoctrinated masses back into the dark ages where, for instance, women are subordinate chattels like livestock, and homosexuals must be killed. Islam says these fundamentalists are not representative of the greater Islamic community but yet as I look around at what's happening in the world it appears that that is exactly that they are.

Whether the BBC censors some of these anti-Christian Islamist atrocities from it's main bulletins out of some perceived proprietorial obligation not to inflame inter-religious hatred and violence here in the UK I have no idea.

The motto of the BBC is apparently, 'Nation shall speak peace unto nation' (self-evidently at the expense of the truth).

I begin to suspect that some in the corporation take this naive, idealistic statement to be a licence to allow them to withhold the truth from the UK masses that depend on the BBC to keep them informed, on the basis that such information is not conducive to peace.

If so it is horribly wrong, and highly lightly to backfire when the lid finally comes off.

[Teddy Bear]

Whether the BBC censors some of these anti-Christian Islamist atrocities from it's main bulletins out of some perceived proprietorial obligation not to inflame inter-religious hatred and violence here in the UK I have no idea.


I think the BBC want anybody who might perceive their bias on these issues and ascribe it that they are only doing so for some altruistic or idealistic motive, as you infer above. The real motive I feel is far different and is borne out of fear for themselves, balanced with the excuse that they want to expand coverage in the world and can only do this by going along with the Muslim mindset.

Just look at the way the BBC covers issues like Israel to see whether they are really concerned about inter-religious hatred and violence against a minority. Thing is, Jews don't launch jihads, so they're a soft target.

[cherenkov]

If that's their reason then they should know that such cowardice will not be respected by the enemies of Reason. It might put them a bit further down the queue but come the day they'll be annihilated just the same.

[Teddy Bear]

I don't think for a moment that the 'enemies of reason', as you put it, are unaware of the hypocrisy of the BBC shown towards them. Those that use terror and fear as a strategy are well aware of its effects, and for just how long they can rely on cowardly appeasement before stepping on it like a bug.

I agree with you, the writings on the wall for the Beeb - what goes around; comes around.

[Teddy Bear]

Raymond Ibrahim identifies a few of the tactics used by the media to blur the reality on how Muslims are persecuting Christians. We can see similar tactics on all areas of bias identified as being part of the BBC agenda. I've highlighted the specific mention to the BBC he's given here, but it's well worth reading the whole article.

How the Media Whitewashes Muslim Persecution of Christians

by Raymond Ibrahim
April 13, 2012

When it comes to Muslim persecution of Christians, the mainstream media (MSM) has a long paper trail of obfuscating; while they eventually do state the bare-bone facts—if they ever report on the story in the first place, which is rare—they do so after creating and sustaining an aura of moral relativism that minimizes the Muslim role.

Boko Haram seeks to enforce Sharia law; here, members stand in front of a distinctly Islamic banner. Yet the MSM claims the group's goals are "unclear."

False Moral Equivalency

As previously discussed, one of the most obvious ways is to evoke "sectarian strife" between Muslims and Christians, a phrase that conjures images of two equally matched—equally abused, and abusive—adversaries fighting. This hardly suffices to describe reality: Muslim majorities persecuting largely passive Christian minorities.

Most recently, for instance, in the context of the well-documented suffering of Christians in Egypt, an NPR report declared "In Egypt, growing tensions between Muslims and Christians have led to sporadic violence [initiated by whom?]. Many Egyptians blame the interreligious strife on hooligans [who?] taking advantage of absent or weak security forces. Others believe it's because of a deep-seated mistrust between Muslims and the minority Christian community [ how did the "mistrust" originate?]." Though the report does highlight cases where Christians are victimized, the tone throughout suggests that examples of Muslims victimized by Christians could just as easily have been found (not true). Even the title of the report is "In Egypt, Christian-Muslim Tension is on the Rise"; the accompanying photo is of a group of angry Christians, one militantly holding a cross aloft—not Muslims destroying crosses, which is what prompts the former to such displays of religious solidarity.

Two more strategies that fall under the MSM's umbrella of obfuscating and minimizing Islam's role—strategies that the reader should become acquainted with—appeared in recent reports dealing with the jihadi group Boko Haram and its ongoing genocide of Nigeria's Christians.

First, some context: Boko Haram, whose full name in Arabic is "Sunnis for Da'wa [Islamization] and Jihad," is a terrorist organization dedicated to the overthrow of the secular government and establishment of Sharia law (sound familiar?). It has been slaughtering Christians for years, with an uptick since last December's Christmas day church bombing, which left 40 Christians dead, followed by its New Year ultimatum that all Christians must evacuate northern regions or die—an ultimatum Boko Haram has been living up to, as hardly a day goes by without a terrorist attack on Christians or churches, most recently, last Sunday's Easter day church attack that killed nearly 50.

Blurring the Line between Persecutor and Victim

Now consider some MSM strategies. The first one is to frame the conflict between Muslims and Christians in a way that blurs the line between persecutor and victim, for example, this recent BBC report on one of Boko Haram's many church attacks that left three Christians dead, including a toddler. After stating the bare-bone facts, the report goes on to describe how "the bombing sparked a riot by Christian youths, with reports that at least two Muslims were killed in the violence. The two men were dragged off their bikes after being stopped at a roadblock set up by the rioters, police said. A row of Muslim-owned shops was also burned…" The report goes on and on, with a special section about "very angry" Christians, till one all but confuses victims with persecutors, forgetting what the Christians are "very angry" about in the first place: unprovoked and nonstop terror attacks on their churches, and the murder of their women and children.

This is reminiscent of the Egyptian New Year's Eve church bombing that left over 20 Christians dead: the MSM reported it, but under headlines like "Christians clash with police in Egypt after attack on churchgoers kills 21"(Washington Post) and "Clashes grow as Egyptians remain angry after attack"(New York Times)—again, as if frustrated Christians lashing out against wholesale slaughter is as newsworthy as the slaughter itself; as if their angry reaction "evens" everything up.

Dissembling the Perpetrators' Motivation

The second MSM strategy involves dissembling over the jihadis' motivation. An AFP report describing a different Boko Haram church attack—which also killed three Christians during Sunday service—does a fair job reporting the facts. But then it concludes with the following sentence: "Violence blamed on Boko Haram, whose goals remain largely unclear, has since 2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year, according to figures tallied by AFP and rights groups."

Although Boko Haram has been howling its straightforward goals for a decade—enforcing Sharia law and, in conjunction, subjugating if not eliminating Nigeria's Christians—here is the MSM claiming ignorance about these goals (earlier the New York Times described Boko Haram's goals as "senseless"—even as the group continues justifying them on doctrinal grounds). One would have thought that a decade after the jihadi attacks of 9/11—in light of all the subsequent images of Muslims in militant attire shouting distinctly Islamic slogans such as "Allahu Akbar!" and calling for Sharia law and the subjugation of "infidels"—reporters would by now know what their motivation and goals are.

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Of course, the media's obfuscation serves a purpose: it leaves the way open for the politically correct, MSM-approved motivations for Muslim violence: "political oppression," "poverty," "frustration," and so forth. From here, one can see why politicians like former U.S. president Bill Clinton cite "poverty" as "what's fueling all this stuff" (a reference to Boko Haram's slaughter of Christians), or the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs insistence that "religion is not driving extremist violence" in Nigeria, which he said in response to last Sunday's Easter day church bombing.

In short, while the MSM may report the most frugal facts concerning Christian persecution, they utilize their entire arsenal of semantic games, key phrases, and convenient omissions that uphold the traditional narrative—that Muslim violence is anything but a byproduct of the Islamic indoctrination of intolerance.