world news
Iraqi Christians Create Syriac TV Channel
Iraq —After years of persecution and destruction, the Christian in community in Iraq takes a step forward as they start a new television channel conducted entirely in Syriac, the traditional language of Christians in the area.
The public TV channel may indicate a step forward in the wider acceptance of Christians across Iraq.
Syriac is an ancient language derived from the language of Aramaic which is most known as the language that Jesus spoke while He was here on Earth. Historically, Syriac has been used by Christians in schools and in church services.
Twenty years ago, there were 1.5 million Christians in the country. According to the United States’ yearly report on International Religious Freedom, this number is down to just 150,000 Christians in 2023 due to multiple wars and unrest. Many people sought to find safer places to reside, leaving the remaining Iraqi Christians secluded in the Northern portion of the country.
The creation of a Syriac television channel may be helpful to more than just Christians in Iraq. As many countries in the Middle East continue to be ravaged by persecution and violence, the creation of a Christian-specific television channel may encourage other neighboring countries to allow for similar avenues of accepting religious diversity.
The conditions for Christians in Iraq have improved in the last few years. The historic visit from the Pope and his meeting with Iraq’s former Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, established the National Day of Tolerance and Coexistence in Iraq. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) quoted one Iraqi resident experiencing this occasion as saying, “I can’t describe my happiness, it’s a historic event that won’t be repeated.”
After the visit from the Pope in 2021, NPR quoted a 59-year-old Iraqi schoolteacher saying, “It will attract people to the country. They will hear about it in Italy and France and elsewhere, that a senior cleric went to Iraq, and was protected, and came to no harm.”
As Iraq continues to demonstrate its acceptance of other religions, there is an increase in hope for the centuries-old Christan population to return to their home country – the home of Abraham, the home of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sources:persecution
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ബഞ്ചമിന് നെതന്യാഹു രാജ്യത്ത് പ്രവേശിച്ചാല് അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്ത് കോടതിക്ക് കൈമാറുമെന്ന് വിവിധ രാജ്യങ്ങള്
ആംസ്റ്റര്ഡാം: ഇസ്രായേല് പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി ബഞ്ചമിന് നെതന്യാഹുവിനും മുന് പ്രതിരോധ മന്ത്രി യോവ് ഗാലന്റിനും ഹമാസ് നേതാവ് മുഹമ്മദ് ദൈഫിനും എതിരെ അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര ക്രിമിനല് കോടതി അറസ്റ്റ് വാറന്റ് പുറപ്പെടുവിച്ചതോടെ ഇസ്രായേല് പ്രതിസന്ധിയിലായി. തങ്ങളുടെ നാട്ടില് പ്രവേശിച്ചാല് ഇവരെ അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്ത് കോടതിക്ക് കൈമാറുമെന്ന് വിവിധ രാജ്യങ്ങള് പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചു. ഐസിസി സ്ഥാപിച്ച റോം ചട്ടത്തില് 6 ഭൂഖണ്ഡങ്ങളിലായി 124 രാജ്യങ്ങളാണുള്ളത്. ഈ രാജ്യങ്ങള് അറസ്റ്റ് വാറന്റ് നടപ്പാക്കാന് ബാധ്യസ്ഥരാണെന്ന് അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര മനുഷ്യാവകാശ അഭിഭാഷകന് ജോനാഥന് കട്ടബ് പറഞ്ഞു.
മനുഷ്യത്വത്തിനെതിരായ കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങളും ഗസ്സയിലെ യുദ്ധകുറ്റങ്ങളും ആരോപിച്ചാണ് നെതന്യാഹുവിനും ഗാലന്റിനുമെതിരായ ഐസിസിയുടെ നടപടി. ഇസ്രായേലും അമേരിക്കയും കോടതിയുടെ ഭാഗമല്ല. എന്നാല് ഇസ്രായേലിന്റെ പല സഖ്യകക്ഷികളും, പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് യൂറോപ്യന് യൂണിയനടക്കം അറസ്റ്റ് വാറന്റ് നടപ്പാക്കാന് ബാധ്യസ്ഥരാണെന്ന് അറിയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.അതിനാല് തന്നെ നേരത്തേത് പോലെ സ്വതന്ത്രമായി യാത്ര ചെയ്യാന് ഇനി നെതന്യാഹുവിന് സാധ്യമാകില്ലെന്നാണ് വിദഗ്ധര് ചൂണ്ടിക്കാണിക്കുന്നു.
സ്വന്തമായി പോലീസില്ലാത്തതിനാല് ഐസിസിക്ക് നേരിട്ട് ഇവരെ അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യാനാകില്ല. എന്നതാണ് മറ്റൊരു കാര്യം. 2023 ല് യുക്രെയ്ന് അധിനിവേശത്തിന്റെ പേരില് റഷ്യന് പ്രസിഡന്റ് വ്ളാദിമിര് പുടിന് നേരെയും കോടതി അറസ്റ്റ് വാറന്റ് പുറപ്പെടുവിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. എന്നാല് പുടിനെ ഇതുവരെ അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യാന് സാധിച്ചിട്ടില്ല.
world news
‘ Israeli, US Leaders Blast ICC Arrest Warrants Against Netanyahu, Gallant
Israel – Two of Israel’s most famous and respected leaders now face arrest if they go to almost any nation in the world. That’s after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged “war crimes.”
The prime minister swiftly defended Israel’s military actions in Gaza, declaring, “No war is more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza after Hamas attacked us, unprovoked.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote that the ICC’s decision “has turned universal justice into a universal laughingstock.”
The ICC claims that Netanyahu and Gallant are guilty of “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
“We are accused of deliberately harming civilians, while we are doing everything to prevent harm to civilians – and this is against an enemy who is hiding behind civilians and using them as human shields. We are accused of starving a population while we are bringing in hundreds of thousands of tons of food to feed the population, and this is while Hamas is looting this food and it is starving the residents of Gaza,” Netanyahu proclaimed.
The ICC’s charges came amid evidence of another international organization’s bias against Israel. A new report from the group U.N. Watch stated that a former United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) commissioner-general held a secret meeting in 2017 with terrorist groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. At the meeting, the UNRWA chief reportedly told them “We are one” and “No one can separate us.”
As for the ICC arrest warrants, Netanyahu and Gallant could be arrested if they go to certain countries that have accepted the court’s authority. Nations such as the Netherlands and Ireland agreed immediately to make the arrests if given the chance.
Josep Borrell, the European Union foreign policy chief, said, “All members of the European Union are bound to implement this court decision.”
Nomi Bar-Yaacov, an international attorney with Chatham House noted, “And to those countries, Netanyahu won’t be able to travel. And that’s a very, very big thing.”
She added, “And they include the European countries and it includes the UK, it includes France, Germany. So that’s very, very serious.”
That doesn’t bother some anti-Netanyahu Israelis, such as Tel Aviv resident Annette Shimoni, who stated, “I don’t care if they arrest Bibi Netanyahu. As far as I’m concerned, he can sit in jail for the rest of his life.”
But other Israelis say far-away judges can’t understand what it’s like to be Jews in a region where they are always surrounded by terrorists plotting to exterminate them.
“This ICC’s purely antisemitic and it doesn’t see what’s going on around Israel,” said Tel Aviv resident Ron Ackerman. “Maybe they should come and live here for two or three months, and they will understand everything.”
Netanyahu is hoping for a tough backlash against the court.
“This decision will have severe consequences for the ICC and those who cooperate with its decision, Netanyahu warned.
President-elect Donald Trump’s presumptive National Security Advisor, Congressman Mike Waltz, promised, “You can expect a strong response to the anti-Semitic bias of the ICC and the U.N., come January.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says the United States should go after the ICC because that court is targeting the wrong people. He suggested they should pursue the Islamic terrorists who are forcing the Israelis to fight them.
Graham said on the Senate floor, “This is not a Bibi problem. This is a problem where there are Islamic terrorists – Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran – that want to kill all the Jews; not just Bibi. Now, why do they want to do that? They’re religious Nazis.”
Graham and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul want Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring up a bill for a vote that the House has already passed.
The measure is called The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (Senate Bill 224). It would impose sanctions on ICC employees or associates who aid the effort to prosecute Israeli leaders.
Graham posted on X, “The court is a dangerous joke. It’s now time for the Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body.”
Sources:CBN News http://theendtimeradio.com
world news
Malaysian Politician Calls for Reintroduction of Bible Studies in Schools
Malaysia — John Ilus, the Bukit Semuja member of Parliament for the Legislative Assembly of the Malaysian State of Sarawak, Borneo, recently advocated for the Bible to be reintroduced into local primary schools.
Ilus stressed on Nov. 14 that Christian missionaries had played a critical role in the Sarawak society and its educational system and that the Bible studies these Christians implemented strengthened the moral and spiritual development of generations of Sarawakians.
British Anglican missionaries first arrived at Sarawak in 1848. Ilus said that young Sarawakians should be able to have Bible studies and learn about the Christian faith just as they can learn about other religions through the current curriculum.
Ilus made this formal request to the Ministry of Education during the recent Legislative Assembly meeting. Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn, the state Minister of Education, Innovation, and Talent Development, acknowledged Ilus’ formal request and said his ministry would consider it.
Census figures indicate that about two-thirds of Malaysia’s more than 3 million Christians live in Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah states). More than 50% of the population of Sarawak itself, the largest state in Malaysia, are Christians, again showing the strong and rich Christian heritage and presence in east Malaysia.
Sources:persecution
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