The Oklahoma Beheading: Leftist Media Insisting It Was "Workplace Violence"

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com




The left-wing media is rushing to ensure the public that the beheading murder of a woman in Moore, Oklahoma this week was simply workplace violence and had nothing to do with terrorism. Watch MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeffrey-meyer/2014/09/28/msnbcs-perry-muslim-beheading-oklahoma-was-workplace-violence

And she is a professor at Wake Forest University!! On second thought, strike those exclamation marks.

Part of the "logic" being used here is that the accused killer Alton Nolan has no known connection to Al Qaeda, ISIS, or any other known terrorist organization. In addition, he was angry because he had just been fired. Aside from the two women who were stabbed by Alton, nobody in Moore has any reason to fear anything.

This is why they are wrong.

Nolen, who has a criminal record, had recently converted to Islam and was reportedly trying to convert people in his workplace to Islam. Apparently, he was unsuccessful in converting any of the "unbelievers". That alone may not mean much, but when you discover his Facebook writings that include this, it gets interesting.

"The station said the Facebook page has several photos of Usama bin Laden and a screen shot from the 9/11 terror attacks. It also shows a man with a quote   : "I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smile ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips off them."

Smiting unbelievers above the necks is precisely what ISIS is doing to them in Syria and Iraq as we speak. The expression means cutting their heads off. Here is where Nolen (not to mention ISIS) got that idea.

Koran: Sura 8 verse 12. Here is the reading from my English language Koran given to me at the Islamic Center of  Orange County. It is published by the Book of Signs Foundation. 

"(Remember when) verily your Lord revealed (the Message) to the angels; 'Verily, I am with you: Give strength to the believers; I will bring about terror into the hearts of the disbelievers. So you strike above their necks and hit hard all over their finger-tips and toes."

You should also note that Sura 8 was recorded during the Medina period of the life of the Prophet Mohammad, when he had become a warrior and was spreading Islam through war. (Islamic defenders say that this verse concerned a certain Battle of Sadr, which pitted Muslims against non-Muslims.) In addition, Sura 9, which was the final sura, is full of condemnation for the unbelievers, but also states that they should be spared if they repent (accept Islam or accept dhimmi status-paying taxes and feeling subdued, etc). Sura 9 verse 5 is the one most often quoted.

9:5] Once the Sacred Months are past, (and they refuse to make peace) you may kill the idol worshipers when you encounter them, punish them, and resist every move they make. If they repent and observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), you shall let them go. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

(Source: Tucson Masjid)

http://www.masjidtucson.org/quran/noframes/ch9.html

So here is my theory: We know that Al Qaeda and ISIS have called for Muslims in the US to conduct strikes within the US. Certainly the vast majority of American Muslims have no intention of following those directives. But we do have a fear that there are some who will listen. We also have a concern about returning ISIS fighters since thousands of those fighters are carrying Western passports. It is my opinion that Nolen followed the events in Syria and Iraq, listened to the directives, and decided to act on them. He had tried to convince the "unbelievers" but had failed. His firing was merely the trigger. It was time to follow Sura 8 verse 12, and who better to attack than those who not only had fired him but rebuffed his attempts to be converted.  It was the perfect storm. Alton Nolen is the classic lone wolf attacker, such as we have already seen in Britain. The fact that he decapitated a woman makes it pretty clear that his religious beliefs played a major role in this murder.

Again I caution: We should not make a leap into believing that the vast majority of Muslims in the US are contemplating anything like what Nolen did. They are not and I assume the vast majority of American Muslims are repulsed at the murder. I constantly hope that nobody gets it in their head to carry out acts of "retaliation" against innocent Muslims.

Having said all that, we cannot ignore the danger and continue to tell the public that these horrific incidents are something else like workplace violence. I am afraid that we are going to see more murders of this type not only in the US, but in the West in general. The public needs to be informed for their own safety.

L'Shana Tova Tikatevu

The Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashana, starts at sundown.  While most New Year celebrations celebrate the turning of a calendar, Rosh Hashana celebrates the creation of mankind:

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, commemorates the creation of mankind. God gave Adam a soul, distinguishing him from all other living beings, in his ability to make moral choices and to build a relationship with the Creator. On Rosh Hashana, each person's allotment of life and livelihood is subject to renewal. The Talmud says that on Rosh Hashana, the prayers of the barren women -- Sarah, Rachel and Chana -- were answered; on this day they became pregnant with Isaac, Joseph and the prophet Samuel, respectively. (Sarah's story is the Torah reading on the first day of Rosh Hashana, and Chana's story is the Haftarah.)

May the New Year bring you Health, Wealth and Happiness!

L'Shana Tova Tikatevu!

Wednesday's Hero

Spc 4 Donald Sloat
20 years old from Coweta, Oklahoma
3rd Platoon, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division
February 1949 - January 17, 1970



On September 15, Spc. 4 Donald Sloat was posthumously awarded the Medal Of Honor for his actions in 1970 in Vietnam:

Specialist Four Donald P. Sloat distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as a machine gunner with 3rd Platoon, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy in the Republic of Vietnam, Jan. 17, 1970. D Company operated out of Fire Support Base Hawk Hill in an area of I Corps. They were located south and southwest of Danang providing security for local villages and conducting regular searches for NVA units. The territory they patrolled stretched from the coastal lowlands to the mountains and jungle. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong activity was common in the area, and D Company suffered regular casualties from snipers and booby traps. On the morning of Jan. 17, 1970, Sloat's squad was conducting a patrol, serving as a blocking element in support of tanks and armored personnel carriers from F Troop in the Que Son valley. As the squad moved through dense up a small hill in file formation, the lead Soldier tripped a wire attached to a hand grenade booby-trap set up by enemy forces. When the grenade rolled down the hill toward Sloat, he had a choice. He could hit the ground and seek cover, or pick up the grenade and throw it away from his fellow Soldiers. After initially attempting to throw the grenade, Sloat realized that detonation was imminent, and that two or three men near him would be killed or seriously injured if he couldn't shield them from the blast. In an instant, Sloat chose to draw the grenade to his body, shielding his squad members from the blast, and saving their lives. Sloat's actions define the ultimate sacrifice of laying down his own life in order to save the lives of his comrades. Specialist Four Donald P. Sloat's extraordinary heroism and selflessness are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Laughing At The New Inquisition

The latest from Pat Condell


Click here if the video fails to load.

The stench of hypocrisy from the “progressive” high moral ground.

“Anything but the truth” could be a “progressive” motto.

In this video, “The truth is incorrect”, I try to explain the difference between a “progressive” and a genuine liberal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwK7V...

Why Are We Funding Propaganda in Our Universities?

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Algemeiner

My friends at the AMCHA Initiative have just come out with the results of a 3-year-study of the UCLA Center for Near East Studies, which shows a clear bias against Israel-a bias that often spills into anti-Semitism.

http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/09/17/3-year-study-charges-ucla-department-with-anti-semitic-activity-and-anti-israel-bias-video/

Just this week, AMCHA's Professor Tammi Rossman-Benjamin of UC Santa Cruz and Leila Beckwith, Professor Emeritus at UCLA, presented these findings at the UC Regents meeting. It should also be noted that in the past year both UC President Janet Napolitano and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block have issued statements in criticism of the activities of Students for Justice in Palestine (UCLA) for their anti-Semitic acts on campus, which included trying to keep pro-Israel Jewish students out of student government and to stop a pro-Israel Jewish student from being appointed as student regent (notwithstanding the fact that an anti-Israel Muslim student has been serving as student regent).

The bias that permeates most-if not all- university Middle East studies departments is obvious for all to see. They are bastions of anti-Israel, anti-US, and anti-West propaganda being spewed forth in most cases by leftists and people who came here from hell-hole countries dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state. This is not even close to scholarship; rather it is more akin to the rabid partisanship to be found at an Oakland Raiders football game. Clearly our students deserve better.

That these departments receive government funding (to go along with their funding from Saudi Arabia) is an outrage.

Wednesday's Hero

A quick note about this weeks post. Below is all the information that could be found about Airman Second Class Gordon Thayer. Not everyone who has served goes into the history books. The majority simply return home and live their lives.

Airman Second Class Gordon Thayer



From Airman Second Class Thayer's Silver Star citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 8, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Airman Second Class Gordon C. Thayer, United States Air Force, for gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force near Phouc Vinh, Republic of Vietnam on 25 August 1966. On that date, Airman Thayer was a Pararescueman aboard a Rescue Helicopter, which was shot down and forced to crash-land while attempting to evacuate wounded Army personnel. Shaking off the effects of shock of the extremely hard landing and with complete disregard for personal safety, Airman Thayer tended to the Army wounded while subjecting himself to intense hostile fire. By his gallantry and devotion to duty, Airman Thayer has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

From Airman Second Class Thayer's Distinguished Flying Cross citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Airman Gordon C. Thayer, United States Air Force, for heroism involving aerial flight as para-rescueman on an unarmed and unarmored CH-3C helicopter over North Vietnam on 27 July 1965. On that date, Airman Thayer's aircraft penetrated the surface-to-air missile envelope surrounding Hanoi, North Vietnam, to successfully recover a pilot who had abandoned his crippled aircraft in that area. This recovery operation involved flight in excess of 300 miles over hostile territory under marginal weather conditions and without navigational aids. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty demonstrated by Airman Thayer reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Jewish Leadership in Seattle and Los Angeles-and the New Israel Fund

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip The Mike Report and Paul Schnee


Much like Orange County, with the feckless Jewish Federation, Hillel, and Anti-Defamation League, Los Angeles and Seattle have big time problems with many of their leaders and organizations, many of whom are anti-Israel.

Paul Schnee, who I had the pleasure of meeting at a recent pro-Israel rally in Los Angeles, has sent me an article in the Jewish Journal on one of the leading figures in Los Angeles, Jonathan Jacoby, who is leaving his position at the LA Jewish Federation to return to the New Israel Fund, of which he is a founding member.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/jewish_federation_executive_jonathan_jacoby_moves_to_new_israel_fund

So who is this organization known as the New Israel Fund? It seems they are big financial supporters of several groups dedicated to Israel's destruction.  Here are some links provided to me by Mr. Schnee.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/14898#.VBZPZvmwJcR

http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/new_israel_fund

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=89

http://www.israpundit.org/archives/63596166

I think we may assume that the New Israel Fund is hardly pro-Israel.

Meanwhile, the Seattle-based blog, The Mike Report, has a troubling sketch of one of Seattle's leading Jewish activists, Ben Murane and the organization he represents, the aforementioned New Israel Fund.

http://mikereport.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/seattles-new-jewish-leadership-where-are-they-taking-us/#comment-191

One of the biggest stereotypes of the US Jewish community is that it is monolithic and united in its support of Israel. That is not true.  While each individual American Jew has the right to form his or her own opinion of Israel, it would be nice if the Jewish community was fully aware of which organizations and so-called leaders are for or against Israel. It is fundamentally dishonest for certain Jewish organizations to portray themselves as pro-Israel while they fund and assist other organizations devoted to Israel's destruction.

Sohail Daulatzai's Latest Ravings

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Tip of the shoe to Dr David J Leonard blog.


Sohail Daulatzai is a professor of film at UC Irvine. From that soapbox, his real profession is damning his adopted country, the USA, which he considers a racist, colonial evil empire. (He was born in Pakistan). Best I can figure, Daulatzai is a frustrated Malcolm X wanna-be who fancies himself as a historian of the African-American experience. In previous writings, this angry guy has implied that Malcolm was really murdered as a result of a white conspiracy. I corrected him on this point a while back when he spoke at UCI. Below is a glowing review of Daulatzai's latest book, a diatribe against America.


http://drdavidjleonard.com/2014/04/22/the-transnational-black-imagination-the-muslim-international-and-sohail-daulatzais-black-star-and-crescent-moon/#comment-5959

As you can see, Daulatzai tries to make a link between African-Americans and Muslims. The obvious omission or error in his thinking is that the "War on Terror" was initiated-especially after 9-11- to save American lives. But what would that matter to "academics" like Daulatzai?

This is what is teaching our youth in our universities, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is what passes for scholarship in our institutions of higher learning.

Remember!

Never Forget!

Never Forgive!

Wednesday's Hero

This Post Was Suggested By Mike



Maj. Kurt Chew-Een Lee
88 years old from Arlington, Virginia
Machine-Gun Platoon of Baker Company, 1st Battalion 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division
January 21, 1926 - March 3, 2014

  Maj. Kurt Chew-Een Lee was the first U.S. Marine Corps officer of Chinese descent. At the time of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Chew-Een Lee was a high school student going by the nickname "Kurt", associated with the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. In 1944 when he was an 18-year-old student of mining engineering, Lee joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He retired from the Marines in 1968.

You can read more about Maj. Kurt Chew-Een Lee here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Next Stop Europe

From Dry Bones

The Real Enemy Within

The latest rant from Pat Condell


Click here if the video fails to load.

The Instamob: How to Create Your Own Raging Mob in Seconds

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com





Have you ever watched those videos of raging mobs in other parts of the world and wished you could do the same right here at home? You can. It's easy. Introducing the Instamob. Now you can create your own screaming, raging mobs right here in your own neighborhood.

Here's all you need.

1 One Israeli flag.

2 A t-shirt that shows you are Jewish

3 And finally, the secret password:

"Long live Israel"

Here are our lovely models, Steve and Michelle, demonstrating the Instamob on August 2 in Los Angeles:



As you can see, in mere seconds, you will be making lots of new friends who will sing your praises and invite you to embark on exciting vacations to exotic places like Poland.



Amazing.

Now no more long trips to the other side of the world. No more long airport lines going through security (caused by those raging mobs). Plus you don't have to worry about being kidnapped by those raging mobs.

So what are you waiting for? Operators are standing by.


Order your Instamob, and you will be creating your own raging mob yourself. Don't sit at home watching those raging mobs around the world. Create your own mob right here in the USA now with the Instamob.

But wait!

If you call in the next 30 minutes, we will include a second Instamob set absolutely free. Two Instamobs-two raging mobs!



Call now.

Raped And Slaughtered: Muslim Persecution Of Christians, April, 2014

From one end of the Islamic world to the other, the abduction and rape of Christian girls at the hands of Muslims—both terrorists and laymen—was a dominant theme in April.
On Easter Sunday morning, for instance, four Muslim men raped a 7-year-old Christian girl named Sara in a Pakistani village. Last reported, the child was in an intensive care unit in "critical" condition. According to Asia News, "the police, instead of arresting the culprits, helped the local clan to kidnap the girl's father; Iqbal Masih was taken and hidden in a secret place to 'force the family not to report the story, to reach an agreement with the criminals and to avoid a dispute of a religious background.'"

According to a human rights lawyer involved in the case, "Such cases are frequent: abuse against women and girls by Muslim men are examples of how the minorities in Pakistan live under constant fear of persecution. We believe that many cases of violence go unreported." A new report appearing in April by the Solidarity and Peace Movement—a coalition of NGOs, associations and institutions including the "Justice and Peace" Commission of the Pakistani Bishops—confirmed that "an estimated 700 cases per year involve Christian women, 300 Hindu girls…[T]he true extent of the problem is probably much bigger, since many cases are not reported." (Click here for a better understanding of the extent of this tragedy.)

The biggest story, however, came from Nigeria, where the Islamic terrorist organization known as Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 teenage schoolgirls, mostly Christians. The group justified its actions in Islamic terms. Its leader, Abubakar Shekau, declared on video, "I abducted your girls. I will sell them on the market, by Allah. ...There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell."

Some of the Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram. (Image source: Boko Haram video)

The so-called mainstream media, which generally downplays or ignores Boko Haram's terror campaign, actually reported on this particular atrocity, prompting Western authorities—who are much more accustomed to, and comfortable with, pretending these sorts of things do not exist—to respond in awkward, hypocritical and bewildering ways.
Secretary of State John Kerry, after saying the U.S. had been in touch with Nigeria "from day one" of the crisis, then asserted, "I think now the complications that have arisen have convinced everybody that there needs to be a greater effort. And it will begin immediately. I mean, literally, immediately."

It is not clear to whom Kerry was referring when he said, "convinced everybody"—unless he was referring to himself. After all, there might not have been any need for "greater effort," or the need to act "immediately. I mean, literally, immediately," had Kerry only let the Nigerian government do its job a year ago, when it was waging a strong and successful offensive against Boko Haram in the same region in which the schoolgirls were kidnapped.

Back then, in May 2013, soon after Nigerian forces killed 30 Boko Haram members, Reuters reported that "U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a strongly worded statement [to the Nigerian president] saying: "We are … deeply concerned by credible allegations that Nigerian security forces are committing gross human rights violations, which, in turn, only escalate the violence and fuel extremism" from Boko Haram.
As for Kerry's predecessor, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she publicly bemoaned the lot of the kidnapped girls. "[It's] abominable, it's criminal, it's an act of terrorism and it really merits the fullest response possible," she said from a position to help offer "the fullest response possible." But she repeatedly refused to designate Boko Haram a "foreign terrorist organization," despite the countless atrocities it had already committed; despite that under her tenure Boko Haram had boasted that it would "strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women," and despite extensive urging from the CIA, FBI, Justice Department, and several congressmen and senators.

Her logic was once voiced by her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton. In February 2012, he declared that "inequality" and "poverty" are "what's fueling all this stuff"—a reference to Boko Haram's terror—and he warned the Nigerian government, "It is almost impossible to cure a problem based on violence with violence."
The rest of April's roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity.

Muslim Slaughter of Christians

Afghanistan: Three Americans were shot and killed at a Kabul hospital funded by an American Christian charity. The murderer was a policeman employed as a security guard at the hospital. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for similar attacks this year, but issued no comment. Those killed were a doctor and a father and son visiting the hospital. "As they were walking out of the hospital, the security guard opened fire on them, killing three and wounding another one," said a statement from the Interior Ministry. The attack was one of increasing attacks against Christians and Westerners in the country. Three weeks earlier, Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, 48, was killed and reporter Kathy Gannon, 60, wounded while they were sitting in the back of a car in the east of the country. Also in March, a gunman shot dead Swedish journalist Nils Horner, 51, outside a restaurant in Kabul.

Central African Republic: Father Labbe Christ Formane Willbona was slaughtered by Muslim herdsmen believed to be close to the Islamic rebel organization, Seleka. Local security sources reported that the corpse was mutilated before being buried.

Egypt: A Coptic Christian teacher at the Marzouk prep school in Minya province was shot in the head by a student belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. Eyewitnesses said that the student was caught smoking in class and was reprimanded. Apparently he decided to show his "infidel" teacher his place, and therefore shot him in the head while he was returning home. Two more Christian Copts were killed in villages near Asyut, according to Agenzia Fides, during "sectarian clashes" over land disputes between a Coptic family and local Muslims. On the same day as the Coptic funeral, a young Coptic entrepreneur, Mohsen Morris, was also kidnapped near Asyut. The kidnappers extracted a ransom of 250,000 Egyptian pounds [$35,000] from his family.

Libya: Three more Coptic Christians—all cousins—were targeted in post "Arab Spring" Libya. One was slaughtered and brought back to Egypt to be buried in a Coptic cemetery; another, half dead, was carried back home in an ambulance, with a bullet lodged in his skull; another cousin disappeared and is believed to have been killed by Islamic militants. Islamic enmity for Christians has been regularly on display in Libya after the U.S.-supported "Arab Spring": Christians—including Americans—have been tortured and killed (often for refusing to convert) and churches bombed. Earlier, Islamic militants said they would reward any Muslim who finds and kills Christians. Such persecution did not occur under the leadership of the late Colonel Moammar Gaddafi.

Pakistan: A Muslim security guard is accused of murdering a Christian worker who refused to convert to Islam. According to Morning Star News,

Sunny Masih, a father of two, was working as a cleaner at a branch of Bank Islami under construction on Nisbat Road in Lahore. On Wednesday morning (April 16), the bank security guard informed police that Masih had shot himself in the forehead with a pump-action shotgun that the guard had left unattended before going to the washroom.
The guard, Omar Farooq, of Khushab District in central Punjab Province, told police that Masih "looked depressed" when he arrived at the bank at 8 a.m. Sub-Inspector Muhammad Iqbal of the Nolakha Police told Morning Star News that Farooq told officers Masih was in the lobby of the bank when Farooq went to the washroom, leaving his weapon unattended.
...
Haider Masih, father of the deceased, told Morning Star News that his son was a lively young man and had shown no signs of depression.
...
On April 15, my son told me that Farooq had mocked his Christian faith and had asked him to 'embrace' Islam. He told my son, 'You are a good-looking boy, and I don't like to see you sweeping floors and cleaning the washrooms. If you embrace Islam, I'll connect you with people who will take good care of you, provide you with a decent job and even get you married into a wealthy Muslim family.'"
Masih said his son told Farooq that he was satisfied with his Christian faith, and that he should stop nagging him.
"My son told me that when he snubbed Farooq, the guard had threatened him that he would have to face the consequences for refusing the Dawaat [an invitation to accept Islam]," the grieving told Morning Star News at the Mayo Hospital mortuary. "I took the matter lightly and told my son not to worry, as being Christians we have to face such people every second day. I told Sunny to avoid discussing religion with Farooq even if he brought up the matter and keep distance from him, and everything would be alright. Little did I know that my son would end up in a mortuary a day later."

According to a Christian activist involved in the case,

Masih was hit on the forehead just above his eyes, and his skull and brain were completely blown away by the impact at point blank range. The doctor said he found it hard to believe that Masih could have shot himself in the head with a big weapon such as a shotgun. This is what we want the police to find out, but instead they are trying to cover up the matter. We believe the police are showing bias in its probe because it involves a 'righteous Muslim' who was trying to convert a Christian.

Syria: Frans van der Lugt—a 76-year-old Jesuit priest from the Netherlands who had established a community center and farm near the city of Homs where he had worked for over forty years for the betterment of people with disabilities and for Christian-Muslim harmony—was shot dead in the garden of the community center. After the Islamist-led siege of Homs, the priest continued to care for the sick and the hungry. In early 2014 he made a number of YouTube videos, asking the international community to help the besieged city. Yet he chose to remain in Homs, struggling with the daily bombings and the lack of food, until he was slain.

Uganda: The teenage daughter of a Muslim man managed to attend one church service after converting to Christianity before her father killed her. Abdul Hakim Ibanda severely beat his 17-year-old daughter and her 19-year-old sister with a blunt instrument after learning that they had attended a church service on April 6. The surviving sister said, "On Sunday morning we arrived at the United Believers Church... After prayers we then went to church, where the pastor introduced us to the church and that we were new members of the church. The church faithful were cheerful to receive us." However, local Muslims who saw them enter the church immediately reported it to the father. He gathered a group of 32 "youths" to attack the church but the mob was eventually dispersed without incident. When the girls returned home, the father, described as "furious," began questioning and eventually beating them with a blunt object, killing the girl. According to the pastor of the majority-Christian nation, where Muslims make some 11.5 percent, "The girl [surviving sister] is still traumatized as a result of the death of her sister and needs prayers and counseling." Said the girl: "I know I cannot go back to my father because I have become a Christian. I am grateful to the church for welcoming me and taking me as their child. I now have a new home."

Muslim Attacks on Christian Churches

Austria: After reportedly listening to Muslim chants, a man, known only as Ibrahim A., went on a church-vandalizing spree, desecrating four churches. According to the Vienna Times, "the attack left Lazaristenkirche with all of its statues and side altars largely destroyed as well as statues damaged at St. Stephen's, the Breitenfeld church in Josefstadt and the Neuottakring church in Ottakring." The Archbishop of Vienna described the attack on churches as "so far the worst act of vandalism in my time as Archbishop…. I am shocked by the devastation in the churches. I hope that the perpetrator or perpetrators did not know what they were doing." Ibrahim A., 37-years-old, was caught in the act of vandalizing St. Stephan's but was released at the time because police did not realize it was one of many attacks that that had been carried out that day. Police have since been unable to find him.

Nigeria: According to AP, "Witnesses and an official say angry Muslim youths set ablaze a Catholic church and tried to destroy an attached school in northern Nigeria over an alleged insult to the Prophet Muhammad. Witness Tukur Musa says soldiers on Monday stopped the mob from setting ablaze the school in Funtua town in Katsina state, but they arrived too late to save St. Rita Catholic Church. He says the town was in an uproar about an examination question last week which they considered an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. They reported the matter to district authorities. When no action was taken, young Muslims attacked. Deputy Police Superintendent Aminu Abubakar Saddiq confirmed the church was burned and school damaged but said no one was injured. Religious strife is common in central and northern Nigeria." Also, during early Easter Sunday morning, unknown gunmen, later attributed to the Islamic terrorist organization Boko Haram, launched an attack on the Christian-majority regions of Taraba State. The Christian Church of Nigeria was burned down, as well as many Christian homes. At least 15 corpses were seen littering on the streets.

Syria: Gregorios III Laham, Greek-Melkite Catholic patriarch of Antioch, visited some of the dozens of Christian churches hit by Islamic rebels, particularly churches in the historic town of Ma'aloula, where the Christian inhabitants still spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus, and where some were executed for refusing to convert to Islam. (Click here for several pictures of the types of desecration that churches undergo if they fall into the hands of the Islamic terrorists. In St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church alone, icons had their faces scratched out, church pews broken, statues of the Virgin Mary and Christ smashed, and Bibles burned.) In the prelate's words: "An apocalyptic spectacle presented itself. Other churches have been destroyed in Syria, but I have never seen anything like this. I cried and I sought in vain a moment of solitude to pray. I am heartbroken. Ma'aloula's four historic churches were hit. Our parish church, dedicated to Saint George, is riddled with bullets. The convent's dome was damaged in two places. The walls were ripped open by cannon fire. Some parts of the convent is in danger of collapsing and must be rebuilt. The icons are scattered on the floor, dirty, or stolen. It is currently completely uninhabitable." The patriarch further described the wanton destruction of churches as a "war crime."

Attacks on Christian Freedom: Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytism

Malaysia: An Islamic organization known as Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia accused a Christian church of trying to evangelize to Muslims, simply because they used Bahasa Malaysia, the national language, for an Easter pageant. The organization's website said that while freedom of religion for non-Muslims was guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, the open use of Bahasa Malaysia to promote the event outside the church compound was an abuse of this liberty. The organization also called on Muslim officials "to closely monitor this Easter Musical." It further declared that "the notion of Easter was against Islam." In Malaysia -- regularly portrayed in the West as an example of a moderate Muslim nation—any attempt to promote religions other than Islam is illegal.

Pakistan: Eight days after a court in Lahore sentenced Sawan Masih, a Christian man, to death for allegedly insulting Islam's prophet, Muhammad, another illiterate Christian couple in Punjab Province was sentenced to death for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages. Along with Asia Bibi, a wife and mother incarcerated since 2010, there are now four Christians on death row in Pakistan for allegedly blaspheming Islam or its founder. Also, a Muslim landlord almost beat to death his Christian tenant and employee, Saleem Masih, for observing Easter. According to Mushtaq Gill, a Christian activist and lawyer, because Saleem took time off to observe Easter, "the landlord became furious and beat him severely. He was eventually rescued and saved by some other villagers, otherwise he could have been beaten to death." Gill added that many other Christian field workers "are forced into bonded labour, denied minimum wages and harassed and implicated in fake cases if they try to resist the oppression of their influential masters." As for Mushtaq Gill, the Christian lawyer representing these Christians, he is facing death threats. In his own words: "On April 2, a stranger came to the Lahore Court and warned me that I might be attacked or involved in some fake criminal cases or even killed." Such threats are not limited to "extremists." Gil received information that he could also be expelled and barred from practicing law. "What am I supposed to do, stop?" said Gil. "Psalm 118 says: 'The Lord is with me, I have no fear of anything. What can man do to me?' My other colleagues and I have been threatened and attacked several times by strangers because of our work for human rights in Pakistan. But we are not afraid. We know that we could be killed because we support the campaign for the abolition of the blasphemy law. But this will not close our mouth and will not stop our work on human rights. The Lord tells us to have courage."

Uganda: Muslim relatives of a convert to Christianity tried to poison him to death. Hassan Muwanguzi converted to Christianity in 2003. Soon thereafter, his wife left him and he was fired from his job as a schoolteacher. Most recently, he was hospitalized after an aunt put insecticide in his tea. According to Hassan: "After eating and taking tea, I started feeling stomachache, then I realized that she was the one responsible for it—and I believe she did not do it alone, since they have been hunting for me directly and indirectly, because when I left them and converted to Christianity it pained them so much. The reason they want to kill me is very clear—it is because of being a convert to Christianity; above all, to them it is like I brought shame by converting…" During the family meeting, when he started to feel ill, he telephoned a local Christian bishop, who advised him that he should leave secretly. "I knew if he were to mention to them that he was getting sick, they would harm him more," said Bishop Kinyewa.

Uzbekistan: Christians are being prevented from burying their dead in the state cemeteries of the Muslim-majority nation. There have been three known cases so far this year. Most recently, the family of Gayrat Buriyev, who died on 9 April, was told by officials, "The cemetery is state property, but is under the management of the local mosque, and if the imam is against the burial then it will not take place." And the local imam said he was "acting in accordance with sharia law," even though Uzbekistan is officially a secular state. The imam also cursed the family for being Christians, calling them "unclean and defiled infidels." Although they took the matter to local authorities, officials refused to intervene, siding with the imam. (According to Islamic teaching, being buried next to an "infidel" could cause the Muslim corpse to suffer the "torments of the grave.")

About this Series

While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians is expanding. "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month.

It documents what the mainstream media often fails to report.

It posits that such persecution is not random but systematic, and takes place in all languages ethnicities and locations.