Steel On Steel Persecution Update September 7, 2010 Top Stories: 1. Alleged Bomber of Christian Boy in Israel to Stand Trial 3. Pakistani Taliban Kills Three Foreign Christian Aid Workers 4. Muslims Resume Building on Christian Graveyard in Pakistan ISTANBUL, September 3 (Compass Direct News) – An Israeli man accused of planting a homemade bomb that almost killed the son of a Messianic Jewish pastor in Ariel, Israel has been declared competent to stand trial. Jack Teitel, 37, who in November was indicted on two charges of pre-meditated murder, three charges of attempted murder and numerous weapons charges, is expected to enter a plea on Sunday (Sept. 5). David and Leah Ortiz, parents of the teenage victim, said that the 10 months since the indictment have been difficult but their stance toward Teitel remains the same; they have forgiven him for the attack but want him to face justice before a judge and seek salvation from God. If nothing else, they said, they want him incarcerated to keep other Messianic Jews from being attacked either by Teitel or those following his lead. Sunday’s plea will open the way for a trial expected to start within weeks and last for more than six months. Officials at a hearing to be held this week, possibly the same day as the scheduled plea, will decide whether or not Teitel will be moved from the mental hospital where he has been held for most of his detainment. It is possible Teitel will enter no plea at all on Sunday. He has publically stated that he doesn’t “recognize the jurisdiction” of Jerusalem District Court. On March 20, 2008, Ami Ortiz, then 15, opened a gift basket that someone had left anonymously at his family’s home in Ariel; the ensuing explosion destroyed much of the Ortiz home and shattered Ami’s body. His father is well known in Israel, both for his activities in the Jewish community and for his efforts to expose Palestinians to the gospel. “He said the reason why he wanted to kill me was that I was the most radical in evangelism, so I had to be first,” said David Ortiz, who has seen transcripts of Teitel’s confessions. Muslims said to use mistaken identity to stop activities of Christian who refused to recant. By Aenon Shalom DHAKA, Bangladesh, August 27 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian convert from Islam was falsely arrested for cattle theft last weekend in a bid by influential Muslims to stop his Christian activities, area villagers said. Day laborer Abul Hossen, 41, was arrested on Saturday (Aug. 21) for alleged cattle theft in Dubachari village in Nilphamari district, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of the capital, Dhaka. Christian villagers told Compass that Hossen was the victim of “dirty tricks” by influential Muslims. “There is another Abul Hossen in the village who might be the thief, but his father-in-law is very powerful,” said Gonesh Roy. “To save his son-in-law, he imputed all the blame to a different Abul Hossen who is a completely good man.” Hossen, who converted to Christianity from Islam in 2007, is very active in the community, and Muslims are harassing him with the charge so his ministry will be discredited and villagers will denounce his faith, Roy said. Some 150 villagers, about 20 percent of them Christian, went to the police station to plea for his freedom, he and other villagers said. Sanjoy Roy, a lay pastor with Christian Life Bangladesh, told Compass that Hossen was a fervent Christian and that some Muslims have been trying to harass him since his conversion. “They are hoping that if he is embarrassed by this kind of humiliation, he might not witness to Christ anymore, and it will be easy to take other converted Christians back to Islam,” Sanjoy Roy said. “He is a victim of dirty tricks by some local people.” A former union council chairman who is Muslim, Aminur Rahman, also told Compass that Hossen was a scapegoat. “There are two or three people named Abul Hossen in the village,” Rahman said. “Anyone of them might have stolen the cattle, but I can vouch for the arrested Abul Hossen that he did not do this crime.” Kidnapped relief workers had come to provide aid to victims of massive flooding. By John Little ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, August 27 (Compass Direct News) – Authorities on Wednesday (Aug. 25) recovered the bodies of three Christian relief workers who had been kidnapped and killed by members of the Pakistani Taliban in the flood-ravaged country, area officials said. Swat District Coordination Officer Atif-ur-Rehman told Compass that the Pakistan Army recovered the bodies of the three foreign flood-relief workers at about 7 a.m. on Wednesday. An official at the international humanitarian organization that employed the workers withheld their names and requested that the agency remain unnamed for security reasons. Military sources who withheld news of the deaths from electronic and print media to avoid panicking other relief workers granted permission to Compass to publish it in limited form. “The foreigner aid workers have been working in Mingora and the surrounding areas,” Rehman said. “On Aug. 23 they were returning to their base at around 5:35 p.m. when a group of Taliban attacked their vehicle. They injured around five-six people and kidnapped three foreign humanitarian workers.” Pakistan has been hit by its worst flooding in decades, with the United Nations now estimating more than 21.8 million people have been affected. An army Inter-Services Public Relations source said rangers have been deployed in Swat and other potential target areas to help provide security for relief workers. “The Taliban had warned about attacks on foreigner aid workers and Christian organizations,” the ISPR source said. Advocacy organizations have complained of alleged discrimination against minorities in distribution of humanitarian aid in Punjab Province. “It is discouraging to see that the Christian organizations are wholeheartedly supporting the victims regardless of the religion or race, but in most of the areas the Christians are totally ignored and not even allowed to stay,” said Kashif Mazhar, vice president of advocacy organization Life for All. Al Shabaab insurgents allegedly seek to train young ones as Islamist soldiers. By Simba Tian NAIROBI, Kenya, September 7 (Compass Direct News) – Another member of an underground Christian movement in Somalia has been murdered by Muslim militants in a continuing campaign to eliminate converts from Islam. Area sources said al Shabaab militants entered the house of Osman Abdullah Fataho in Afgoi, 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Mogadishu in Shibis district, at 10:30 the night of July 21 and shot him dead in front of his wife and children. Fataho was a long-time Christian deeply involved in the activities of the small, secret Christian community, sources said. Area Christians said they suspected someone had informed the militants of Fataho’s faith. The assailants abducted his wife and children, later releasing her on the condition that she surrender the little ones to be trained as soldiers, sources said. “We know they have taken the children to brain-wash them, to change their way of life from Christian to Muslim and to teach them the Quran,” said one source. Abducted were 5-year-old Ali Daud Fataho, 7-year-old Fatuma Safia Fataho, 10-year-old Sharif Ahmed Fataho and Nur Said Fataho, 15. A Christian leader who attended Fataho’s funeral on July 22 said that one of the slain man’s relatives noted that the militants had targeted him because he had left Islam. The incident has spread fear among the faithful in the lawless country, much of which lies in the grip of ruthless insurgents intent on rooting out any person professing Christianity. Leaders of the Christian underground movement have been forced to flee their homes to avoid being killed by the insurgents, said one leader who along with seven others has temporarily moved to an undisclosed area.
Edited by: Donald McElvaney, www.missionbarnabas.org
2. Christian Convert in Bangladesh Falsely Accused of Theft
5. Somali Christian Killed, Four Children Kidnapped
6. Buddhists in India Assault Christian Aid Worker, Friend
1. Alleged Bomber of Christian Boy in Israel to Stand Trial
Hearing could determine whether Jack Teitel is transferred from mental hospital.
By Wayne King
2. Christian Convert in Bangladesh Falsely Accused of Theft
3. Pakistani Taliban Kills Three Foreign Christian Aid Workers
4. Muslims Resume Building on Christian Graveyard in Pakistan
Hard-line cleric defies local officials’ order to stop construction.
By Walter Smith
SARGODHA, Pakistan, September 1 (Compass Direct News) – Muslims led by a hard-line cleric on Friday (Aug. 27) resumed building on a Christian cemetery in Mandi Bhawaldin, desecrating more graves in spite of a local government order to halt construction, according to the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA). Radical Muslim cleric Mirza Abdul Ghani had built a mosque on the Christian graveyard off New Rasool Road in Mandi Bhawaldin after allegedly occupying the land 16 years ago, when area Christians were too intimidated to object, said Salamat Zia of APMA. The cleric’s alleged desecration of more of the graveyard land around the Masjid Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat mosque began three months ago, Zia said, with a basement and what appear to be shops completed. On Aug. 6 Zia led a seven-member Christian delegation to meet with area officials, and after inspecting the site, local administrative officers issued directives to stop the illegal encroachments. For a few days construction stopped, Zia said, but last week it began anew. Khalid Gill, chief organizer of APMA in Punjab Province, said that Muslim leaders threatened Christians who objected to the construction. “They threatened that in case Christians protested against the reconstruction they would also carry out a protest rally against Christians, and Muslim clerics said Christians would be responsible for the consequences,” Gill said.
5. Somali Christian Killed, Four Children Kidnapped
6. Buddhists in India Assault Christian Aid Worker, Friend
Assailants, still at large, abduct and threaten blind volunteer, associate and pregnant wife.
By Vishal Arora
NEW DELHI, September 6 (Compass Direct News) – A visually impaired Christian and his friend accused drunken Buddhists of abducting and assaulting them last week after the blind volunteer distributed relief material in a Buddhist-majority town in a region of India devastated by recent floods. The attackers are still at large after the assault on Wednesday (Sept .1) in the town of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir state’s Ladakh region, where flooding and landslides destroyed hundreds of houses and killed around 200 people on Aug. 6. The attackers, identified as members of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), abducted Ram Kumar Thapa, Stanzin Chosphel and his pregnant wife Putali Sherpa because of their Christian faith and beat the men, the victims said. According to the victims’ complaints to the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission, LBA members were upset that Thapa was preaching Christianity to displaced residents. The assailants took Thapa to the LBA office at Soma Monastery, where a Buddhist monk was also present, and beat him again, he stated. He was then moved to a room where he could hear the voice of his friend, Chosphel, with his pregnant wife. The attackers showed Thapa’s bruised and bleeding face to Chosphel to warn him against continuing as a Christian, Thapa said. Chosphel confirmed that he and his wife were taken to the LBA office at the monastery. “They dragged me into a room and gagged my mouth so I could not cry out as they beat me with rubber pipes and rods and fists continuously,” Chosphel said. “All along they kept telling me to leave my wife and also renounce my faith in Christianity and return to Buddhism.” The men released the couple at around 12:30 a.m. after giving them two days to leave Leh or convert to Buddhism, Chosphel stated, “or else they will chop my wife into pieces and kill me and also kill my family ... who are still practicing Buddhists.”
For more information concerning the persecution of Christians around the world, please contact:
Compass Direct at www.compassdirect.org
Open Doors at www.opendoorsusa.org
Frontline Fellowship at www.frontlinefellowship.net
The Voice of the Martyrs at www.persecution.com
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
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