Over one hundred people attended the session that focused on the dislocation and violence by Muslims targeting Christians in the Middle East – a long-running phenomena that has increased since the Arab Spring.
The symposium exposed the predicament of Christian minorities in Iraq, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Pakistan, Lebanon and other countries in the area and the implications for the State of Israel.
Raymond Ibrahim, a U.S.-based expert in Islam and the Middle East of Egyptian-Coptic descent and author of “The al-Qaida Reader”, said that Christians are suffering unprecedented persecution in the Middle East. Ibrahim spoke of the harassment in Egypt against the Coptic Church which predates Islam, including forced conversions. He noted that in Iraq, for example, there is widespread dislocation based on religious identification against the Christian minority. He referred to the State of Israel as “the one Dhimmi that got away.”
Juliana Taimoorazy – an Assyrian Christian and Founder and President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council – noted that the gruesome attacks taking place against Christian minorities in Iraq and others countries in the Middle East must be brought to world attention. The U.S. government should press the Iraqi regime to prevent attacks against the Christian minority and to protect it, she said, and called on Jews and Christians to strengthen their ties in the face of this danger.
Dr. Mordechai Kedar from Bar Ilan University, an expert on Islam, noted that Moslem hatred towards Jews and Christians has grown in the light of the success of the West.
In an opening statement, B’nai B’rith World Center director Alan Schneider said that human rights organizations must not remain silent in the face of these reports of gross human rights violations against Christian communities in the Arab and Moslem world and should ensure that they reach the attention of the international community and world public opinion. Ecumenical Fraternity Director Rev. Dr. Petra Heldt also spoke at the event which was chaired by Dr. Mordechai Nisan of Hebrew University.
B’nai B’rith World Center, Nov. 30, 2012