Jordan may be next for Muslim Brotherhood

Tom Doyle with e3 Partners says Jordan could
 be next on the Muslim Brotherhood hit list.

Jordan (MNN) ― The Muslim Brotherhood has seen incredible growth over the last two years as they've had a hand in government overthrows in Egypt, Syria and Libya. The extremist organization is involved in other nations, as well. Now, Jordan is being threatened.

According to reports, Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood is threatening Jordan's King Abdullah. Reports suggest the king has until October to agree to their demand of transforming that nation into a constitutional monarchy, or face an Arab Spring street pressure.

Middle East expert with e3 Partners Tom Doyle says this is troubling. He says Israel could be surrounded: "Lebanon, which Hezbollah has now. Syria, which is in a civil war, but always ready to go to war against Israel. Then there's Egypt to the south. And, even in southern Israel, Hamas is controlling Gaza. The only missing piece of the puzzle has been Jordan."

Doyle says this is a country at risk, and hard-line Islam is already thriving in Jordan. "One of the tell-tell signs in the Middle East as to how fundamental a Muslim country is: the number of honor killings. Per capita, Jordan is way up on the chart--the leader in that. So that just tells us there are numerous groups taking the Quran literally."

Does Doyle think the possible changes will affect e3's work? "If Jordan goes very fundamental Islamic, it will accelerate the work of the church because more people are going to hate the changes that come to Jordan which has been a relatively free country."

The changes in the Middle East are sobering, especially Iran's saber rattling. Doyle says, "We haven't had  leaders since Adolph Hitler that boasted about wiping out the Jews like [Iran's President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad and the ayatollah are now. So these have extreme prophetic ramifications."

Doyle says as Christians hear the news, we need to make sure we're sharing Christ with Muslims, wherever we are. "Jesus never called us to be Christians: He called us to be disciples --over 250 times. That's what we're looking for."

Doyle continues, "In the midst of this, in the midst of all the bad news you're going to see on CNN and Fox, it is the greatest harvest time for Muslims in 14 centuries." Many of them are coming to Christ through dreams and visions.

Arab Spring Brings the Decline of Secularism in Tunisia

Throughout the Middle East, long-standing dictators just ousted in the Arab Spring are being replaced by more oppressive forms of governance, even in the Arab world’s most liberal country, Tunisia

By Aidan Clay
Special to ASSIST News Service

TUNIS, TUNISIA (ANS) -- Widely seen as the most secular country that recently deposed long-standing leaders, many believed that Tunisia had the greatest opportunity to elect a moderate government concerned with democratic principles and human rights. However, the hopes of secularists, Christians, and other minorities were crippled in October when the Islamist Ennahda party won 41 percent of the votes for a national constitutional assembly, a one-year body charged with writing a constitution.

Uprising in Tunis that ousted President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali

Along with other Islamist movements, Ennahda – at the time called the Movement of the Islamic Tendency – had been outlawed under former President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali. Robin Wright, an American foreign affairs analyst and author of Sacred Rage, described the Islamic Tendency as “the single most threatening opposition force [to Ben Ali’s regime] in Tunis.”

Ennahda’s founder and chairman is Rashid Ghannouchi. He considers himself a pupil of Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini, defended the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, and supported Saddam Hussein’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait in 1990. In a speech given in Khartoum just before the Gulf War erupted, Ghannouchi said, “We must wage unceasing war against the Americans until they leave the land of Islam, or we will burn and destroy all their interests across the entire Islamic world,” The Brussels Journal reported.

Martin Kramer, the renowned Middle East scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, labeled Ghannouchi “the most prominent Islamist in the West” during his 22-year exile in the U.K. At an Islamic Conference on Palestine attended by leaders of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in 1990, Ghannouchi said, “The greatest danger to civilization, religion and world peace is the United States Administration. It is the Great Satan.”

The international community has ignored this extremist rhetoric and extolled Tunisia’s revolutionary motives for ‘greater freedoms.’ However, Ennahda is beginning to show its true colors by attacking freedom of speech and tacitly disregarding violent Islamist movements calling for an Islamic state.

Death of Free Speech

Nabil Karoui, the owner of Tunisian channel Nessma TV, is currently on trial for blasphemy after airing the French-Iranian animated film Persepolis which features a cartoon depiction of God and is considered sacrilege to some Muslims. Nearly 140 lawyers filed lawsuits against Karoui for “violating sacred values” and “disturbing public order,” Tunisia Live reported. Following the release of the film in Tunisia, a Salifist-led mob damaged Karoui’s house with Molotov cocktails on October 14. If convicted, Karoui could face three to five years in prison. His trial has been adjourned until April 19, 2012.

“I am very sad when I see that the people that burned my house are free while I am here because I broadcast a film which was authorized,” Karoui told reporters outside the courtroom. He described the trial as the “death of freedom of expression [in Tunisia],” AP reported.

While Human Rights Watch called the trial “a disturbing turn for the nascent Tunisian democracy,” Ghannouchi, the voice of the Ennahda party, backed the trial, saying, “I support the Tunisians’ right to denounce this attack on their religion,” reported The New York Times.

On February 15, in a second disturbing attack on free speech in Tunisia, a publisher and two editors of Tunisia’s Attounissia newspaper were arrested on charges of violating public morals for publishing a revealing photograph of a German-Tunisian football player with his girlfriend. 

The arrests raised further concerns among secularists that the Islamist-led government will increasingly seek to censor material it deems offensive to Islam.

Mongi Khadraoui, a senior member of the Tunisian journalists’ union, told The Independent that article 121 of Tunisia’s penal code, which was used to detain the three journalists, was introduced to arrest opponents of Ben Ali’s 23-year-old regime, and that, while the publication of the photograph was a mistake, it “should be treated as a professional error rather than a crime.”

“This issue is political and aims to quell the voice of the media and stop it [from] criticizing the government,” Jihen Lagmari, a journalist at Attounissia, told Reuters. Lagmari also said she received telephone calls threatening to burn down the paper’s headquarters.

Islamists vs. Secularists

On February 17, hundreds of Salafis – who follow the strict Wahhabi doctrine of Islam – protested in the streets of Tunis with signs calling for Islamic law and shouting “Allah Akbar” after Friday prayers, AP reported.

Thus, Islamists have used their newly gained freedoms to threaten the very freedoms and values of secularists. If Islamists continue to gain power, violations against the rights of non-Muslims and liberals will inevitably continue. However, some believe the elections – that brought the Islamist Ennahda party to power – do not accurately represent the voice of the population’s majority.

“In October 2011, when Tunisia’s first post-revolutionary national elections took place… the turnout was 80 percent; but not, as was deceptively reported by the Western media, 80 percent of the total Tunisian population, but rather 80 percent of the 50 percent who had bothered to register to vote,” British author and journalist John R. Bradley wrote in his book After the Arab Spring. “In other words: Ennahda won despite the fact that more than 80 percent of all voting-age Tunisians did not actually vote for the party.”

Tunis witnessed the secularists’ response when over 6,000 demonstrators chanted slogans “No to extremism” and “No niqab, no to Salafism” in a march for freedom of expression on January 28, Tunisia Live reported. Protestors also called for the government to stop the rise of an Islamist-based society, which would derail Tunisia’s transition to democracy and threaten the gains made by the revolution.

Mustapha Tlili, the founder of the New York-based Center for Dialogues, views the recent actions taken by Islamists as an indicator that Islamists are hijacking the revolution. “Those that staged the revolution see it being stolen and hijacked,” Tlili told Middle East Online. “The Islamists’ discourse is to withdraw Tunisia from its natural environment and make it adopt Islamist values that are not those of the majority of Tunisians. They reject these values because they are not part of their daily life or vision of Islam.”

“We’ve become the ahl al-dhimma,” Abdelhalim Messaoudi, a journalist at Nessma TV, told The New York Times in reference to the second-class status minorities have historically been subjected to in Muslim states. “It’s like the Middle Ages.”

What’s Next? An Islamic State?

On February 20, Aridha Chaabia, or Popular List, the third-largest party in Tunisia's constituent assembly, proposed drafting a constitution based on Islamic law, Reuters reported. If the proposal wins the support of more than 60 percent of parliamentarians, it could pass without a referendum. Rashid Ghannouchi’s Ennahda party, which will have the strongest voice in the vote, has already alluded to its endorsement of an Islamic-based constitution.

Protestors in Tunis

Hamadi Jebali, the Prime Minister of the Ennahda party, implied in mid-November that he sought a return of the Muslim caliphate. He further stated at a rally near his hometown of Sousse, standing side-by-side with a lawmaker from the Islamic Palestinian movement Hamas, that “the liberation of Tunisia will, God willing, bring about the liberation of Jerusalem,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

“[Ghannouchi’s] only condition for Muslim democracy to flourish is the sharing of the immutable principles of Islam as a shared set of values,” Larbi Sadiki, a senior lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter, wrote in an editorial for Al Jazeera.

Samir Dilou, spokesman for the Ennahdha Party, tried to ease secularists’ concerns in an interview in May: “We do not want a theocracy. We want a democratic state that is characterized by the idea of freedom. The people must decide for themselves how they live…We are not an Islamist party, we are an Islamic party, which gets its direction from the principles of the Quran.”

But, can an Islamic party governed by the principles of the Quran value the freedoms of the country’s secularists, including its religious minorities? Katharine Cornell Gorka, the Executive Director of The Westminster Institute, does not think so.

“Of all the people in the world, Americans first and foremost should recognize the absurdity of [Dilou’s] statement,” Gorka wrote. “All the evidence is there to suggest that Tunisia’s new government will prove antagonistic both to American interests and to the values America is built on. That is not to suggest we should have intervened to create a different outcome. Tunisia’s fate is its own. But neither should we be at the front of the cheering section, applauding what will likely be a long and brutal lesson for Tunisia on what happens when religion is enchained with politics.”

Recent indicators in Tunisia suggest that Islam and democracy are not and cannot be compatible. John R. Bradley, in his book After the Arab Spring, offers an alarming glimpse into Tunisia’s future governance: “[Ghannouchi] is for democracy ‘as a system of government and a method of change’ but – and here comes the conversation stopper – only insofar as it is compatible with Islam. The Quran remains the sole authoritative bases for legislation, whose earthly manifestation are the scholars… who interpret it so that the state’s function is essentially executive in nature. To put it in a nutshell: Islam is the answer to everything, the final authority, and the sole source of legitimacy of government.”

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Aidan Clay is the Middle East Regional Manager for International Christian Concern (ICC), a Washington, DC-based human rights organization that exists to support persecuted Christians worldwide by providing awareness, advocacy, and assistance (www.persecution.org). Aidan is a graduate from Biola University in Southern California. Prior to joining ICC, Aidan worked with Samaritan’s Purse in South Sudan and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa and Europe. He and his wife currently live in Nairobi, Kenya. For more information, contact Aidan Clay at clay@persecution.org 

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Middle Eastern Christians face bleak future

-- a call to pray and stand up for the Middle East‘s imperilled Christians 

By Elizabeth Kendal
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 146
Special to ASSIST News Service

AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- The 'Arab Spring' opened the door for long-repressed Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi forces to rise up and seize power locally and challenge the balance of power regionally. Faced with escalating persecution and decreasing security, Christians are increasingly opting for flight. The alternative is to exist as dhimmis: subjugated second-class citizens forced to live with crippling inequality and profound insecurity under Islamic domination.

In Egypt, Iraq and Syria -- homes to the region's largest and most ancient Christian communities -- the security situation is critical. Furthermore, the conflict in Syria has the potential to inflame sectarian tensions in neighbouring volatile Lebanon, which is also home to several large and ancient Christian communities.

Egypt, which once gave refuge to the Christ-child, is today a tinderbox where anti-Christian hostility is rising to incendiary levels. Not only do those who violently persecute and terrorise Christians do so with absolute impunity, but Islamic ad hoc 'courts' and 'reconciliation sessions' then compound that persecution. The victims are denied compensation, expelled from their homes and dispossessed, or they are charged with offending Islam or threatening social cohesion. In Iraq, where the Assyrian Church of the East -- the world's first Christian denomination -- was established, Christians are today the victims of violent Islamic jihad and ethnic cleansing. Over recent years the Christian population of Iraq has halved. In Syria, where followers of Jesus were first called 'Christians', radical Sunni Arab fundamentalists are fighting for control of Syria and the regional balance of power. Not only is the Syrian Church imperilled, but so too are the Assyrian-Chaldean Christian refugees who fled the genocide in Iraq for refuge in Syria.

Persecution is escalating in Iran. On Wednesday 8 February, plain-clothed security officers raided a house church gathered for prayer and worship in the southern city of Shiraz, arresting all ten believers present. One of those arrested, the convert Mojtaba Hosseini, had been arrested previously in May 2008 when aged only 21. Iranian sources think the authorities have had Mojtaba under surveillance for some time. The whereabouts of these believers are unknown. Several other believers incarcerated over Christmas remain in prison. Regarded as traitors, spies and sources of 'fitna' (anything that could threaten the faith of a Muslim), all Iran's Christian prisoners are subjected to harsh conditions and cruel treatment.

Western powers pursuing economic and geo-strategic gain seem to regard the Christians of the Middle East as inconvenient peoples who may be sacrificed for greater ends such as oil and power. Needless to say, God does not see his imperilled children that way. Indeed, he suffers with them. 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. . . . Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' (From Matthew 25:40,45 ESV) The Church must stand up for the Middle East's imperilled Christians.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL --

• use this catastrophe to draw all Christians closer to him and to each other; as conflict and terror abound, may the LORD deliver to that 'faintly burning wick' -- the besieged Church -- fresh oxygen not only for life, strength and hope, but for revival. (Isaiah 42:3)
  
• intervene on behalf of his precious people (Isaiah 59:14-19) that they might see and know his hand of wise guidance and arm of loving provision and protection. (Isaiah 40:10,11)

PRAY ALSO for the NUBA of SUDAN, half a million of whom will soon be dying en masse as the Government of Sudan's engineered famine explodes as a 'weapon of mass destruction' to effect the genocide of these non-Muslim, non-Arab, predominantly Christian peoples. [See prayer requests in RLPB 145]

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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MIDDLE EASTERN CHRISTIANS FACE BLEAK FUTURE

The so-called 'Arab Spring' opened the door for long-repressed Islamist forces to rise up and seize power locally and challenge the balance of power regionally. In Egypt, Iraq and Syria -- homes to some of the region's largest and most ancient Christian communities -- persecution is escalating and the threat of genocide is real. Furthermore, the conflict in Syria has the potential to inflame sectarian tensions in neighbouring Lebanon, which is also home to several large and ancient Christian communities. Whilst poor socio-economic conditions and escalating discrimination and persecution have been driving Christians to emigrate from the Middle East for decades, the deteriorating security situation is giving rise to effectively a Christian exodus. There is much fear. Please pray for the Church in the Middle East.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. This prayer bulletin was initially written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (AEA RLC). Elizabeth Kendal's blogs: Religious Liberty Monitoring and Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin

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Youth longing for peace in the Arab world

The key role played by young people during the transformations in the Arab world throughout the past year was a recurrent theme for the recent World Council of Churches (WCC) Christian-Muslim consultation on “Christian Presence and Witness in the Arab World”.

The consultation was organised by the WCC programmes for Churches in the Middle East and Inter-religious Dialogue and Cooperation in collaboration with the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) in Antelias, Lebanon.

The consultation took place from 24 to 28 January 2012 and brought together a number of religious leaders, scholars and young activists.

The participants' passion and longing for political and religious freedom, human dignity and rights, and social and economic justice for all people of the Arab world marked the event.

The importance of equal citizenship for all was reiterated frequently. The politics and relationships between the values of citizenship and its links to religious institutions were debated.

Short but vivid sketches highlighted recent events, problems and signs of hope in a wide range of countries. It was acknowledged that in some parts of the Arab world, Christians and Muslims were afraid of the uncertainties that the future might bring.

However, it was also noted that the people of God must not deal in the currency of fear. It was important that the religions themselves were willing to become part of the process of transformation.

As one participant put it, “We need religious leaders who are willing to play a prophetic role, and to be people of vision and wisdom.”

A number of specific proposals and suggestions were put forward in the final communiqué of the meeting.

This consultation was in one of a series of meetings being held in preparation of a major international ecumenical gathering on the Christian presence in the Middle East. This meeting is being planned by the WCC in partnership with the MECC, and is due to take place in December 2012.

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Middle East protest and repression set to continue, says Amnesty

Repression and state violence is likely to continue to plague the Middle East and North Africa in 2012 unless governments in the region and international powers wake up to the scale of the changes being demanded of them, Amnesty International warned today in a new report into the dramatic events of the last year.

In the 80-page Year of Rebellion: State of Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, the organization describes how governments across the region were willing in 2011 to deploy extreme violence in an attempt to resist unprecedented calls for fundamental reform.

But Amnesty International said that the region’s protest movements appeared to show few signs of abandoning their ambitious goals or accepting piecemeal reforms.

“With few exceptions, governments have failed to recognize that everything has changed,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s interim Middle East and North Africa Director. “The protest movements across the region, led in many cases by young people and with women playing central roles, have proved astonishingly resilient in the face of sometimes staggering repression.”

“They have shown that they will not be fooled by reforms that make little difference to the way they are treated by the police and security forces. They want concrete changes to the way they are governed and for those responsible for past crimes to be held to account.”

“But persistent attempts by states to offer cosmetic changes, to push back against gains made by protesters or to simply brutalize their populations into submission betray the fact that for many governments, regime survival remains their aim.”

Despite great optimism in North Africa at the toppling of long-standing rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, Amnesty International said that these gains had not yet been cemented by key institutional reforms to guarantee that the same kinds of abuses would not be repeated.

Egypt's military rulers, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), pledged repeatedly to deliver on the demands of the “January 25 revolution” but Amnesty International found that they had in fact been responsible for a catalogue of abuses that was in some aspects worse than under Hosni Mubarak.

The army and security forces have violently suppressed protests, resulting in at least 84 deaths between October and December 2011. Torture in detention has continued while more civilians have been tried before military courts in one year than under 30 years of Mubarak’s rule. Women appear to have been targeted for humiliating treatment to try to deter them from protesting. In December the offices of a number of Egyptian and international NGOs were raided by security forces in an apparent attempt to silence critics of the authorities.

Amnesty International said it feared that 2012 could see further attempts by the military council to restrict the ability of Egyptians to protest and freely express their views.

The uprising in Tunisia brought significant improvements in human rights, but one year on many consider that the pace of change has been too slow, with families of the victims of the uprising still awaiting justice.

Following elections in October a new coalition government was formed. Moncef Marzouki, a human rights activist and former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, is the country’s interim president.

Amnesty International said that that in 2012 it was critical that Tunisians seized the opportunity of drafting a new constitution to ensure that it guaranteed protection of human rights and equality under the law.

In Libya, there were significant questions about the ability of the new authorities to control the armed brigades that had helped oust the pro-Gaddafi forces and prevent them from replicating the patterns of abuse learnt under the old system.

Despite the National Transitional Council calling on its supporters to avoid revenge attacks, serious abuses by anti-Gaddafi forces have rarely been condemned. In November the UN stated that an estimated 7,000 detainees were being held in makeshift centres under the control of revolutionary brigades, with no prospect of a proper judicial process.

Elsewhere, Amnesty International said that governments remained grimly determined to cling onto power, in some cases at almost any cost in human lives and dignity.

The Syrian armed forces and intelligence services have been responsible for a pattern of killings and torture amounting to crimes against humanity, in a vain attempt to terrify protesters and opponents into silence and submission. By the end of the year there were over 200 cases of reported deaths in custody, over 40 times the recent average annual figure for Syria.

In Yemen the standoff over the Presidency caused further suffering for ordinary Yemenis. More than 200 people were killed in connection with protests while hundreds more died in armed clashes. Tens of thousands were displaced by the violence, causing a humanitarian crisis.

There were hopes in Bahrain that the November publication of an independent report by international experts on protest-related abuses might mark a fresh start for the country. At the end of the year the strength of the government’s commitment to implementing the commission's wide-ranging recommendations remained to be seen.

The Saudi Arabian government announced major spending packages in 2011, in what seemed to be an attempt to prevent protests spreading to the Kingdom. Despite that – and the drafting of a repressive anti-terror law – protests continued at the end of the year, in particular in the country’s eastern region.

In Iran, whose domestic policies remained largely out of the spotlight during 2011, the government continued to stifle dissent, tightening restrictions on freedom of information and specifically targeting journalists, bloggers, independent trade unionists and political activists.

Amnesty International said the response of international powers and regional bodies such as the African Union, Arab League and EU to developments in 2011 had been inconsistent, and had failed to grasp the depth of the challenge to entrenched repressive rule in the region.

Human rights were espoused as a reason in favour of a military intervention in Libya, but the Security Council, stymied by Russia and China in particular, had by the end of the year only issued a weak statement condemning the violence in Syria.

And while the Arab League acted quickly to suspend Libya from membership in February and later suspended Syria and sent a team of observers, it remained quiet when Saudi Arabian troops, acting under a Gulf Cooperation Council banner, backed the Bahraini government’s efforts to crush protests.

“Support from world powers for ordinary people in the region has been typically patchy,” said Philip Luther.

“But what has been striking about the last year has been that – with some exceptions – change has largely been achieved through the efforts of local people coming onto the streets, not the influence and involvement of foreign powers.”

“The refusal of ordinary people across the region to be deterred from their struggle for dignity and justice is what gives us hope for 2012.”

* Read the full report here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE01/001/2012/en

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Arab Spring not bringing revolution or freedom for Christians

(Photos by Maggie Osama)

Egypt (MNN/ODM) ― 11 months ago, the spark of revolution ignited in Tunisia. Within weeks,  the first regime tumbled. 

What followed in the next few months was the toppling of other repressive governments. The season of protest was soon dubbed "Arab Spring." The movement changed the landscape of the Middle East and North Africa and sent shockwaves around the world.

However, not everyone has been benefitting from the uprisings. Carl Moeller is President and CEO of Open Doors USA, a ministry advocating on the behalf of the persecuted church. He says, "The reality for Christians in Northern Africa, Middle Eastern region, that have experienced an 'Arab Spring' is that the situation is far more complex and dangerous for Christians in that region than it was a year ago. The political dimension of almost every one of the revolutions has become the contours of an Islamic government."

Christians were already a minority population in countries like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, and for them the future is all but clear. Did they get any benefit from the democracy movement? It depends on who you ask. Many hailed the movement as a victory for democracy. However, the reality doesn't resemble democracy as Americans recognize it. Moeller says, "That didn't dim the optimism that many of our Christian brothers in Egypt had during that time frame, because they were throwing off a regime that was oppressive. One of the challenges now is to reconcile those great hopes with the unmistakable reality that there is still a very strong possibility that persecution is going to increase."

Will 2012 bring more persecution and marginalization for Christians, or greater liberty to worship?Moeller says, "In places like Egypt, we are going to see a lot more turmoil before the day is out. There's one thing you can say about this movement: it is still defining itself." It's not totally set in stone, Moeller points out. "There are still two more election rounds to go, and we know that in those election rounds, other things can happen to form the final form of the government."

Moeller adds that the current situation in Egypt in which the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood is holding an estimated 40% of the seats in the parliamentary elections so far is a reality check for Coptic and evangelical Christians, who comprise 10% of the population. Hardline Salafists are also doing well in the on-going election.

Soon, Egyptian believers may be joining the ranks of Iraqi believers on the move. "We think that Christians will emigrate more; we think there will be an upswing in persecution and restrictions. But we're still hopeful and prayerful that the church will continue to grow, nonetheless."

The up-side of this story is that it means the Gospel is taking root. "Where the Gospel is penetrating more, there's more persecution. Where there's more persecution, it seems that there's a greater opportunity for the Gospel to be shared and for the church to actually grow."

It's a paradox of note: "They become more committed to their faith as their faith that they're committed to costs them more."  The single most requested help coming from believers in the region is prayer.  Moeller says, "Pray for the Christians in Egypt to be strong amid the uncertainty and the increasing pressure. Pray for the political process that it will produce a government in many of these countries that will respect the rights of Christians."

A Christian in Egypt made the following request to the Open Doors team while saying goodbye: "Thank you for coming. It was a great encouragement, and it really meant something for us. Please remember us in your prayers and ask believers in the West to pray for us. We need your prayers. We need to be one in Christ in this challenging chapter of our history. My wife and I want to stay here, but we know it will not be easy. Please, do not forget us and leave us alone."

Arab Spring 1 Year Later: Outlook Gloomy for Suffering Christians

SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 13, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Almost a year ago a wave of revolutions started in the Middle East, with Tunisia the central country where the first regime tumbled. 

Called the "Arab Spring," repressive governments crumpled like dominoes, changing the landscape of the Middle East and North Africa forever and sending shockwaves around the world.

Unfortunately for the already minority Christian population in Muslim-dominated countries like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, the future is all but clear. Will 2012 bring more persecution and marginalization for Christians or greater liberty to worship?

So far, the signs are not encouraging, according to Open Doors USA President/CEO Dr. Carl Moeller.

"Many hail this movement of popular discontent that has toppled dictators as victory for democracy," Moeller says. "But within Arab Spring are troubling incidents against Christians, even those in countries yet unreached by the revolutionary wave. For Westerners, the notion of democracy is majority and minority groups working together, each having a voice at the table.

"But the model unfolding in these lands is far from Jeffersonian. A possible result is the law of mob rule, where Islamists are likely to control governments, exclude minority faiths even from police protection, and Christians live in constant terror from the clear message: There is no place here for Christians."

Moeller adds that the current situation in Egypt where the Islamists' Muslim Brotherhood is holding an estimated 40 percent of the seats in the parliamentary elections so far is a reality check for Coptic and evangelical Christians, who comprise 10 percent of the population. Hardline Salafists are also doing well in the on-going election.

Moeller adds: "There have been significant reports of increased violence against Christians. We know Christians whose churches have been burned, and thousands who have been affected by extremist groups.

"Hopefully a new government will produce more protections for the Christians, but that's not necessarily something that people are expecting. Many are fearing that there will be a decrease in the capacity of Christians to freely exercise their faith, as well as further restrictions on their public activity."

Likewise, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has repeatedly spoken out regarding the plight of Egypt's largest minority.

"For hundreds of years, Jews have known persecution, both political and religious," says Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. "We know the particular virulence of the latter, and we therefore fear for Egypt's Copts. They have suffered discrimination for decades as a vulnerable minority. What they face from a resurgence of Islamist fervor is something we would like not to think about, but moral outrage leaves us no choice.

"The Simon Wiesenthal Center has asked Egypt's interim government to demonstrate its commitment to her Christians by a visible and demonstrable security presence to protect her communities and institutions. It has tried to persuade the world community to measure the success of Egypt's experiment with democracy -- as well as those of other countries that have thrown off the yoke of dictatorship -- first and foremost by how well she guarantees religious liberties. Egypt is not Syria. It will respond to wall-to-wall pressure from the West. It is the job of all with a conscience to ensure that this pressure is applied."

A Coptic Christian recently told a visiting team from Open Doors that "we have lived side by side with Muslims for many decades without problems, but a lot of these extremists hold very radical views and are not afraid of using violence. It feels we are going backwards -- moving in the wrong direction."

Some Christians have already left Egypt and others are preparing to leave. According to Moeller, a mass exodus of Christians from Egypt would be disastrous.

"Thousands of Christians have either left Iraq or fled to the northern part of the country due to the violence against them by Muslim extremists," he states. "There were almost 1 million Christians in Iraq in the early 1990s but now only an estimated 345,000," he states. "Pray that does not happen in Egypt....that there is not another religicide."

Another Christian in Egypt made the following request to the Open Doors team while saying goodbye:

"Thank you for coming. It was a great encouragement and it really meant something for us. Please remember us in your prayers and ask believers in the West to pray for us. We need your prayers. We need to be one in Christ in this challenging chapter of our history. My wife and I want to stay here, but we know it will not be easy. Please, do not forget us and leave us alone."

An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors USA, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (888-524-2535) or go to our Website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.

Egypt: Christians Vote and Hope for a Democratic Future

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- The high turnout of Egyptians voting on their parliamentary future has prompted SAT-7 to continue with its unique current affairs series, Salt & Light*, until the Eastern Christmas, January 7, 2012.

Ballot boxes being collected from a polling station near Tahrir Square in Cairo on Tuesday after a second day of voting in Egypt’s parliamentary elections (Photo: Andersen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Broadcast live on Wednesday evenings, each episode helps raise awareness about issues that will impact the country’s Christian community and other minorities, and their potential future status– encouraging everyone to participate in the political process rather than passively awaiting an outcome determined by others.

The show invites both Muslim and Christian politicians to answer tough questions and provides a platform for Christian leaders to bring a biblical perspective on key issues.

SAT-7’s Egypt Bureau Director, Farid Samir, explained, “It’s a new initiative to have Muslim guests on such programs. We started inviting them last month because SAT-7 wants to bring all voices to this public debate while at the same time avoiding any political position. In fact, this definitely is not a political program, but one intended to help raise awareness about important issues, encourage appropriate participation and, above all, bring people hope.”

“The slogan for Salt & Light is ‘changing the news to Good News,’” Samir added.

According to a SAT-7 news release, this week’s edition will provide analysis of this first round of elections–including a look at any violations by some of the parties and individuals–and encourage all Egyptians, especially Christians, to continue their involvement in the coming weeks of voting.

“Islamists will only have a majority in the new parliament if moderate Muslims and Christians do not go out and vote for candidates that they think are best for the country--no matter what their background,” added SAT-7 CEO, Terry Ascott.

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Samir says that another reason to continue the program is that it provides a valuable and uniquely Christian perspective for those in other countries who will also be facing critical elections in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings.

After casting his vote on Monday, Samir, said, “I feel so encouraged by the good atmosphere on the street and at the polling stations–especially after the violence of the past week which left 40 demonstrators dead and more than 2,000 wounded. Overall, the elections have been peaceful and people have organized themselves well with the cooperation of the army.”

Many Christians feel the Church needs to be the “salt of the earth” and play a practical role in the community–not just praying in church. This has been exemplified by the use of Kasr El Doubara Evangelical church as the main field hospital for anyone needing treatment in Tahrir Square.

With a Muslim Brotherhood doctor overseeing all the medicines and supplies, and working alongside Christians, there were a lot of raised eyebrows. This resulted in secular TV channels visiting and interviewing Christian and Muslim volunteers, which in turn attracted a number of political figures and other journalists, wanting to see for themselves how the two communities could work side-by-side.

Speaking on Salt & Light, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Evangelical Church (and The Vice Chair of SAT-7’s International Council), Rev. Dr. Safwat El Baiady said, “This is true worship! I cannot be praying while my brothers are injured and in need of help...before I go to pray, I must help those in need and stand with those who fight injustice.”

*Transmission: Wednesdays 8pm Cairo, 9pm Cyprus & Beirut

Note: Launched in 1996, with US headquarters in Easton, MD, USA, SAT-7 provides a spiritual solution and hope to the region using Christian programming created by and for the people of the Middle East and North Africa. SAT-7’s five channels include: SAT-7 ARABIC, SAT-7 PARS (Farsi), SAT-7 TÜRK (Turkish), SAT-7 KIDS (Arabic) and SAT-7 PLUS (Arabic). SAT-7 has an estimated 15-17 million viewers (Intermedia research, 2009) and broadcasts in three languages: Arabic, Farsi and Turkish. SAT-7 can be viewed via satellite in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, much of Central Asia and worldwide at sat7.org. For more information about SAT-7 go to: www.sat7usa.org.

For interviews with SAT-7 USA president Rex Rogers regarding this press release, perspectives on current Middle East developments, or SAT-7’s distinctive work, contact the SAT-7 USA office, 410-770-9804.

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Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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Yemen power transition tainted by ‘immunity’ deal

A power-transfer agreement reportedly granting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and others immunity from prosecution in exchange for leaving office, deals a serious blow to victims of human rights violations, critics say.

While only part of the agreement, which was signed at the end of last week, has been made public, it is widely believed to offer the President and some of those serving under him immunity from facing criminal investigations and prosecutions for a string of serious abuses.

It is based on a deal originally brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and comes after negotiations facilitated by a UN envoy.

“Granting immunity as part of the transition agreement would deliver a hammer blow to accountability for human rights violations by blocking the investigation or prosecution of high-ranking officials,” commented Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Acting Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Immunity leads to impunity. It denies justice and deprives victims of the truth and full reparations,” he added.

Under international law, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Yemen is obliged to investigate and, where there is sufficient admissible evidence, to prosecute anyone suspected of such crimes.

President Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, has hinted at stepping down several times in the past months, only to change course later.

Under the GCC transition deal, Ali Abdullah Saleh will retain the title of president until elections take place within 90 days, but will hand over some presidential powers to Vice-President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, enabling him to implement the agreement. A member of the opposition will head a government of national reconciliation, with ministerial posts divided up among political parties. The new government would remain in power for an interim period of two years.

The deal was welcomed by international governments, but sparked protest from some Yemenis who oppose it, calling for Saleh and other officials to stand trial for their role in abuses.

Armed Saleh supporters opened fire on a group of unarmed protesters marching against the decision from the protest camp known as Change Square in Sana’a on 24 November 2011.

At least five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, neck and chest, and dozens more were wounded. Security forces were reported to have been spotted but did not attempt to intervene to stop the attacks.

Over the past 10 months, more than 200 people have been killed and thousands injured as security forces and armed Saleh supporters attempted to quell mostly peaceful pro-reform protests in Sana’a and elsewhere.

Amnesty International and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have called for an independent, international investigation into Yemen’s ongoing human rights violations.

Despite a fact-finding mission to Yemen by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in July finding evidence of serious crimes under international law, the UN Security Council last month issued a resolution calling for the signature and implementation of an agreement. The resolution was based on the GCC’s proposed transition deal, which was believed to contain an immunity provision.

The Security Council resolution also underlined the need for a comprehensive, independent and impartial investigation consistent with international standards into alleged human rights abuses and violations, with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring full accountability.

“By lending their support to the transition deal, it appears that UN officials have allowed wiggle room for serious human rights violators to go unpunished in Yemen and violated the UN Secretary General’s directive that prohibits brokering peace agreements which contain immunity clauses,” said Amnesty's Philip Luther.

“The only way to ensure accountability is to carry out an independent, international investigation into the allegations of serious crimes under international law, regardless of the rank or affiliation of those responsible.

“Any such investigation should have the ability to refer cases to Yemeni prosecuting authorities so that suspects can face trial wherever there is sufficient admissible evidence,” he concluded.

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Egyptian protesters reoccupy Tahir Square as repression continues

Thousands of Egyptian protesters have re-occupied Tahrir Square in Cairo following violent attempts by the authorities to remove them.

The move follows growing local and international concern about repression and manipulation under the aegis of the country's interim military council.

The demonstrators returned to the site of protest that helped remove dictator Hosni Mubarak less than an hour after the assault by troops and police.

Protesters had fled earlier as the Egyptian security forces used tear gas on them and beat people with rods and truncheons.

Reports from the BBC and other agencies say that there have been similar clashes in other cities, including Alexandria, Suez and Aswan. Some thirteen people have died over the weekend and many more have been injured.

Protesters and human rights groups believe that Egypt's supposedly temporary military rulers are trying to maintain their hold on power ahead of forthcoming elections next week.

Health officials say that up to 900 have been injured in recent clashes, the vast majority of them civilians.

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Jordan’s king calls on Syria’s President Assad to step down

King Abdullah’s comments came in an exclusive BBC interview

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

BEIRUT, LEBANON (ANS) -- Jordan's King Abdullah II has become the first Arab leader to openly say Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should stand down in the interest of his country.

King Abdullah of Jordan addresses the general debate at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York on September 21, 2011. (Photo credit: Jason Szenes / EPA via msnbc website).

King Abdullah told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that if he were in Assad's position, he would make sure "whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo."

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, King Abdullah urged President Assad to begin talks on an orderly transition of power.

The BBC reports that many Arab leaders have condemned the crackdown on months of protests in Syria. Dozens of deaths are reported in the latest unrest on Monday.

The BBC said both the Saudi and Qatari ambassadors left Damascus in protest at the repression. The Arab League voted on Saturday to suspend Syria's membership.

However, King Abdullah went further than other Arab leaders in his exclusive interview with BBC World News television.

"If Bashar has the interest of his country [at heart] he would step down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life," he said.

"That's the only way I would see it work and I don't think people are asking that question," he added.

King Abdullah warned there would be "more of the same" if whoever replaced President Assad did not change the status quo.

The BBC says Jordan, which borders Syria, has been increasingly critical of the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The BBC stated that many Western powers have urged President Assad to stand down. Both the European Union (EU) and the US have said he has lost legitimacy but have ruled out military intervention.

The EU on Monday tightened sanctions on Syria, the BBC said, reporting that EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels added 18 Syrian officials to a list of people affected by a travel ban and asset freeze.

The BBC said the ministers also approved moves to prevent Syria getting funds from the European Investment Bank.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he hoped the UN would finally impose its own sanctions on Syria. Russia and China last month vetoed a Western-sponsored resolution condemning Damascus. The BBC also reported that earlier on Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem reacted defiantly to the Arab League's suspension. He said the decision was illegal, and vowed to overcome "conspiracies" against Damascus.

The Arab League is set to hold another meeting to discuss Syria on Wednesday.

The BBC said Russia on Monday condemned the suspension. "Someone really does not want the Syrians to agree among themselves," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow.

In the latest Syrian violence, the Local Co-ordination Committees -- a network of opponents to President Assad's rule -- said 40 people had been killed on Monday, including 20 in the restive southern province of Deraa.

There are also reports that about 20 members of the security forces were killed in a clash with defectors from the Syrian army, the BBC said.

The BBC reported that such claims are impossible to verify as the Syrian government has severely restricted access for foreign journalists.

The BBC also explained that the UN says more than 3,500 people have died since the start of the protests in March while the Syrian authorities blame the violence on terrorists.

Key Quotes from King Abdullah’s BBC Interview

On Assad stepping down:

"If I were in his shoes, I would step down. If it was me, I would step down and make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing. Again, I don't think the system allows for that, so if Bashar has the interests of his country, he would step down but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life."

On a successor:

"This is the first time where I think most leaders in the Middle East don't have a clear answer on Syria. If Bashar was to step down, he needs to step down with changing the way the system deals with its people, so if he was to say 'I'm going to step down but let's have new elections, let's reach out to the people, let's get this as a national dialogue', then it would work. But if you're just going to remove one person and put another person in, I think that you'll continue to see more of the same."

On who's in charge:

"If you understand Syrian politics, he's in front, and the image of Syria is President Bashar. Having said that, both his brother and brother-in-law are very active on military side. So at the end of the day, like all leaders in Middle East, we're in the driving seat, we have to shoulder the responsibility for what happens in that country. But I don't think it is a one-man show, I think there is a team there, and again there is a system that has expectations of whoever is in the driver seat unfortunately."

On violence:

"Whenever you exert violence on your own people it is never going to end well, and so as far as I am concerned, yes there will be an expiration date, but again it is almost impossible for anybody to predict if it would be six weeks, six months or six years."

On reform:

"I honestly believe that he has reform in his blood. The vision that he had for Syria the times that I met him was very encouraging. I think the challenge is does the system allow for reform? So even, as you said, if Bashar was not on the scene, if the regime brings in someone else, does that person get it and realise the world has changed? And that is where I have my doubts."

On attempts at dialogue:

"Well I have spoken to him [Bashar al-Assad] twice earlier this year expressing our frustration and concerns about what was going on in Syria... I even sent the chief of the Royal Court in the late spring to see him again to see if we can't work together in bringing the violence down in Syria. And it became very clear to me that they were not interested in dialogue with Jordan or a lot of other countries unfortunately."

On Middle East politics:

"If Syria is kept in isolation, you are going to continue to see what is going on pretty much the same. However there are other forces at play, there is still the Arab peace proposal between the Israelis and the Palestinians. You have the Arab Spring in general. Recently we have maybe some hype moved on the Iranian portfolio because of the nuclear issue. The Turks are taking more aggressive stands in the north. What's going to happen in Lebanon? As you well know the Middle East is a mosaic of things and I think the problems that are challenging leaders in the Middle East is if there is life after Bashar what is that? And I think a lot of people are concerned because the unknown is scaring them more than the known."

In analysis of the Syrian conflict on the BBC website, Lyse Doucet of BBC News says that King Abdullah's remarks, coupled with the Arab League's decision to suspend Damascus, mark a turning point in the Arab world's approach to Syria.

Doucet writes: “But Jordan's monarch was emphatic that President Assad stepping down was not enough. His call to the Syrian leader was about changing a ‘system.’ He admitted that no-one was clear how to do that, and the Syrian regime still believed it was ‘in a fairly comfortable position.’

"King Abdullah, like many others, also emphasized there was great concern about ‘life after Bashar.’ He warned that any outside intervention in Syria would open ‘Pandora's box.’

“The relationship between two Arab leaders, seen as a new generation when they took over from their fathers, has been under growing strain.

"But King Abdullah said he still believed the Syrian leader had ‘reform in his blood.’ He had reached out to him earlier this year, even if, as he admitted, Jordan was not ‘by any means... a perfect story.’"

Timeline of Growing Foreign Pressure on Syria:

June 10: Turkish PM condemns the "savagery" of the response to the unrest

July 19: Qatar closes its embassy in Damascus after an attack by Assad loyalists

August 8: Saudi Arabia condemns crackdown and recalls its envoy in Damascus

August 10: US imposes new sanctions on Syrian telecom companies and banks

August 18: US, UK, Germany and France call on President Assad to step down; US imposes full ban on oil imports

November 12: Arab League suspends Syria from the organization

November 14: Jordanian king openly urges Assad to go; EU tightens sanctions

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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Will The Arab Spring Spread?

Africa (MNN) ― "Arab Spring" is a term used to describe a wave of revolution across the Arab world that began in Tunisia in December 2010.

By July 2011, revolution included Egypt and Libya. Civil uprisings spread to Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, and protests captured Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco and Oman. There were reports of unrest in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and parts of Sudan.

The big question now is: Will the "Arab Spring" turn into an "African Summer?" There have been protests in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi and South Africa, too.

Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs thinks a season of revolution is unlikely, noting that the root causes for the unrest between the Middle East and North Africa and what's going on in the Sub-Saharan part of the continent are a little different.

However, their teams can't rule out the possibility of similar-looking events. "I think it's a ‘domino effect' in that you look at the countries around you at what the people there have accomplished, or what they want to accomplish, and I think there's more of an inspiration than a ‘cause and effect.'"

Reports on the waves of protests and strikes in the Sub-Saharan region are readily available online. The global community is smaller than ever before. Nettleton says that means "they're happening where people see them. Obviously, one of the things that happens is that people are inspired to take action in their own country when they see those taking action in another country, bringing about what's perceived to be positive change."

Rising food prices, inflation, and unemployment have combined to threaten governments across the continent, adding to the instability of newly-formed administrations (Nigeria, Sudan, Guinea). Often, believers find themselves as scapegoats when such times arise. Nettleton says that while persecution CAN happen during transition, it's really not a secure time for anyone. "When there's chaos, that's bad for everybody. It's bad for believers, it's bad for non-believers. That's one effect. The other thing that can happen is that you can move to a government that is less open to religious freedom."

However, believers in the persecuted church have long handled difficult times as opportunities for Kingdom building. "As there is unrest, as there [are] people who are in the state of upheaval, there are some spiritual questions that get asked. That can really be a time where the church grows."

Even if the Sub-Saharan region dissolves into a frenzy of "African Summer," there is a church body that is supported by groups like Voice of the Martyrs. Nettleton urges prayer for protection, wisdom and boldness. "We can pray for them in their outreach efforts, and pray that they will represent Christ well, whatever is going on around them."