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Israel President Reuven Rivlin visits Jerusalem Christian leaders
The State of Israel, as guardian of this city, is deeply committed to the religious rights of worship and activity of all communities of faith in Jerusalem and Israel,” President Reuven Rivlin said in an Ascension Day event at the Franciscan Church in Jerusalem on Monday.
“Christians, Muslims and Jews will always be free to worship here,” Rivlin added at the event marking the Ascension Day holiday and 800 years of the Franciscan Order in the Holy Land.
Ascension Day, also known as the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, commerates Jesus’s ascension to heaven, according to News Agency.
“Israeli sovereignty will never compromise religious freedom,” added Rivlin. “These are difficult and painful times for Christians in the Middle East. I am proud that Israel is the only country in our region where the Christian community is not shrinking, but in fact is growing.”
Rivlin also congratulated the heads of the churches for reaching an agreement on the restoration and preservation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, saying “it gives me great joy that you have agreed on the next stage to restore and protect the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, making sure that this most holy place for Christianity will be secured for future generations.”
The agreement was signed between the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic churches, which have been the building’s primary custodians since the Ottoman era.
The multi-million dollar project will be funded by the various Christian groups and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
“Unfortunately, even recently, we have seen violence exploding in an inhuman and brutal way against faithful who were praying,” said the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton.
“This violence has struck the Jewish community in the United States, the Muslim community in New Zealand, as well as the Christian community in Sri Lanka. As religious leaders, we refuse condemn and deplore all kinds of exploitation of religion, and especially the religious justification of acts of violence.”
“When Pope John Paul II came to Jerusalem in March 2000, he reminded us that the role of religious leaders is, above all, that of ‘promoting peace and reciprocal understanding,’” added the Custos.
The Custos added that “we are, however, afraid that in this season in which the great religious leaders are condemning the exploitation of religion and acts of violence committed in the name of religion, some forms of religion are being undertaken by certain political leaders who are not far sighted; they are able to support all that permits them to obtain an immediate political consensus but they are short-sighted in their ability to build a strategy of peace for the common good of all citizens, in such a way that they become truly equal in being subjects of rights and duties, independently of their religious faith.”
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‘ 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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Christian girl rescued from forced marriage to elderly Muslim man
Pakistan — Javed Masih heaved a sigh of relief last week when he saw his 18-year-old daughter for the first time since she went missing for five months in Pakistan and was forcibly converted and married to an elderly Muslim man.
Sana Javed, 18, the youngest of seven children, had gone to a nearby shop in Lahore, Punjab Province on June 9 but never returned home.
“Our frantic search for her ended in mid-October, when I received a phone call from a Christian in Balochistan Province who informed me about her whereabouts,” said Masih, a Catholic truck driver. He would not see her again until Nov. 14.
Masih said that a Muslim woman identified only as Hafsa had befriended his daughter on WhatsApp a few days before she disappeared.
“Sana told us that the girl emotionally blackmailed and forced her to meet in person without her family’s knowledge,” Masih told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “She even sent her money and directed her to board a bus to Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. From there, Sana boarded another bus to cross into a remote village in Balochistan Province.”
When Sana Javed reached Hafsa’s house, she was immediately deprived of her phone and held hostage, he said.
A cleric was called, and Sana was forced to recite the Kalima [proclamation of conversion to Islam] and marry an elderly Muslim man under threats of violence,” he said. “She later found out that he was a maternal uncle of Hafsa.”
Three days after filing a report with police the same day of her disappearance, the family discovered officers had misplaced it, he said. Masih filed a new report and police registered a First Information Report (FIR), but officers made no effort to find her, he said.
“He would instead ask us to provide leads for the investigation, when in fact we neither had the information nor the resources,” Masih said.
Putting their trust in God, family members began asking others to pray along with them for her return, he said. They began visiting various pastors and churches for prayer support, and finally their prayers were answered when Masih received a call from a Christian schoolteacher in Balochistan Province identified only as Waseem. The teacher told him his daughter was in his village, and that a local politician had contacted him to help find her family.
The Muslim politician had received information from a female family member about her, Waseem told Masih.
“I do not know the man’s name, but God used him to rescue our daughter from captivity,” Masih said of the Muslim politician. “When I informed the police about my daughter’s location and sought their help, they told me that they would need official permission and resources to travel to another province. I contacted a Christian paralegal group for help, and I’m grateful that they provided us with legal and financial support to help bring Sana back to Lahore.”
A legal team from Christians’ True Spirit (CTS) accompanied police and the family to the village in Balochistan, where they recovered Sana Javed on Nov. 14, he said.
“I cannot express my gratitude for the Baloch political leader and Waseem, the schoolteacher, who not only helped us in rescuing Sana but also forced her ‘husband’ to sign an affidavit of divorce,” Masih told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “The Muslim [political] leader also used his influence to ensure the security of the visiting team who otherwise could have faced resistance from the hostile villagers.”
Sana Javed said she hoped others would learn from her ordeal to be cautious about befriending others on social media.
“I’m unable to explain how she managed to influence me to make this huge mistake of leaving my home,” Sana Javed told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “I was forced to convert to Islam and put my thumb impression on the marriage certificate. They said they would kill me if I did not obey their order.”
Prayers kept her hope of returning home alive, she said, adding that despite her circumstances, she found solace in hymns and some biblical verses that she had memorized in church.
“There were times when I would slip into depression, but then I would recite Psalms and verses, and it helped in uplifting my spirit,” she said.
The U.N.’s Human Rights Committee on Nov. 7 expressed concern about persistent reports of abduction and forced marriages of girls from minority religions, regardless of their age and prevailing law. Forced to convert to Islam under threat of violence, they suffer rape, trafficking and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence.
The U.N. body expressed concern about reports of the widespread impunity surrounding these cases.
“Victims are usually not returned to their families during investigations but forced to stay with their abductors, including members of organized criminal groups, or placed in unnecessary and inappropriate alternative care facilities, with no or limited regard for child protection standards, exposing victims to further risk of exploitation, abuse and harmful practices,” the committee stated in its concluding observations on Pakistan’s second periodic review of human rights situation earlier this month.
It urged Pakistan to intensify efforts to eradicate forced conversions and marriages, including strengthening its legal framework and enforcement mechanisms.
“The state party should also ensure that all allegations of forced conversions and forced marriages of girls are promptly, impartially and effectively investigated, that those responsible are brought to justice, and that all victims have access to effective remedies and support services such as adequate shelters, legal aid, psychological counselling and rehabilitation programs,” it stated.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
Sources:Christian Post
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