Palestinian Authority creates new social media blasphemy law

Barnabas Fund 27/07/2017

President Abbas of Palestine has enacted a new Cyber Crime Law on his own initiative with penalties harsher than those for thieves and sex offenders.  Why?  The answer is almost certainly that it is part of an attempt to introduce a global Islamic blasphemy law for social media posts.

In 2016, Barnabas Fund reported concerns that Facebook were already censoring posts critical of Islam, particularly by those who had left Islam. Then on 31 May last year an agreement was signed between the EU and major social media sites.  It committed IT websites to remove, within 24 hours, content deemed “offensive” by “civil society organisations.”  The National Secular Society warned that “far from tackling online ‘cyber jihad,’ the agreement risks entrapping any critical discussion of religion under vague ‘hate speech’ rules.”

The Pakistan government called a meeting of 27 Muslim ambassadors, including that of the Palestinian Authority, at the end of March to try to create a global Islamic blasphemy law for social media.   Pakistan’s interior minister has subsequently met with Facebook’s Vice President to discuss the way forward on this.

CHINA – Communist Party officials to be punished if they do not give up faith

Barnabas Fund 27/07/2017

The Central Committee of China’s Communist party has stated that all party members – around 89 million Chinese citizens – should not hold religious beliefs and that any officials who do will be “persuaded” to give them up or face punishment.

Although official estimates, based on the congregations of state-recognised churches, put the number of the Christians in China at around 22 million, there may be as many as 100 million believers in the world’s most populous country. Most high-level jobs require membership of the Communist Party.

Egypt – new frontline in religious cleansing of Christians

Barnabas Fund 13/07/2017

It is now becoming clear that jihadists are beginning attempts to religiously cleanse Egypt of non-Muslims.

Islamic State in Sinai in March told 200 Christian families to leave Al Arish or be killed.  Jihadists are also targeting Christians elsewhere in Egypt.

In fact, Islamic State (IS) now has two separate groups, one in Sinai and one in the rest of Egypt. The group’s leader indicated that attacking Christians and churches was a specific part of their strategy, asserting that it is permissible to shed even the blood of Christian women and children.

This is exactly what we saw earlier in Iraq beginning in 2004, and in Northern Nigeria since 2006.

One small ray of hope is that IS has admitted that attacks on Christians is failing to persuade Egyptian Muslims to adopt jihadi ideology. IS has complained that many Egyptians offer Christians “condolences” rather than kill them if they won’t submit to the humiliating conditions of sharia law.

Persecution of Christians debated in Westminster

Christian Institute 07/07/2017

MPs recently called on the Government to oppose religious persecution abroad, highlighting the global persecution of Christians and the need to protect religious freedom.

 Jim Shannon MP particularly spoke about Christian persecution in Iraq and Syria.  “In those areas, Christians are often given the ultimatum: convert to Islam or die.”

Shannon reminded the Government of the Conservatives’ manifesto pledge to combat “violence against people because of their faith”, and Christian MP Fiona Bruce pointed out that many of the countries with the worst religious freedom receive UK aid.

David Simpson MP said, “Those who believe in the biblical truth of the gospel have always been persecuted,” adding that even in the UK, “street preachers and others are told to remove themselves from the streets.”

Pastor in Punjab State, India Shot Dead

HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) July 17, 2017 

Pastor Sultan Masih in northern India’s Punjab state was shot dead in front of his church premises on Saturday evening (July 15) two months after Hindu extremists took offence at a gospel event celebrating his church’s 25th anniversary.  He was 50.

 Masih was talking by phone outside the church building when assailants on a motorbike shot him.  Family members believe it was a premeditated attack, with the assailants calling him and telling him to go outside.

Pastor Vishnu Dev, a close friend of Pastor Masih, said the slain clergyman was facing growing opposition.  “Four days before he was shot, he told me, “Please pray for us, many enemies are standing up against us.”

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, the hostile tone of his government against non-Hindus has emboldened Hindu extremists to attack Christians.