Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Mosul becomes focal point of Sunni Wahabi extremists
Insurgency
(AsiaNews) -- Mosul, north west Iraq, has now become "the principal focal point of Sunni wahabi extremism in Iraq", which aims to create an Islamic state at all costs in the zone and to re-establish the caliphate. This project is being supported by "outside countries". The alarm arrives from AsiaNews sources in Iraq, who warn: these fundamentalists believe to posses the only truth and this is why they aim to eliminate anyone who refuses to recognise this.
First among those are the Christians, but also Shiite Muslims. For the moment they content themselves with extorting money from their opponents, through kidnappings or the jizya -- the "compensation" tax demanded by the Koran from non-Muslim subjects -- but in time they will also begin to force them from their homes.
The violence which plagues Mosul's Christian community reached its' climax with the brutal murder of the Chaldean Priest Fr. Ragheed Gani and his three sub deacons June 3rd last following mass. But the violence persists. A married Chaldean has been in captivity for over a week; his family has already paid his ransom twice over, but have yet to receive news of his release.
The violence which plagues Mosul's Christian community reached its' climax with the brutal murder of the Chaldean Priest Fr. Ragheed Gani and his three sub deacons June 3rd last following mass. But the violence persists. A married Chaldean has been in captivity for over a week; his family has already paid his ransom twice over, but have yet to receive news of his release.
On August 3rd a command group of terrorists erupted into the home of Christian, Tamir Azoz, in the central Al-Hadba'a district, they wanted to take him away; eye witnesses tell that the well built man resisted, saying he would not leave his family alone abandoned to an unknown destiny and that in the end he was killed. "The small flock of Christians -- says a local diocesan priest -- is once again in the grips of fear and panic, they feel isolated".
Labels: Fr. Ragheed Gani, Iraqi Christians, jizya, Mosul, Wahabis
Monday, March 19, 2007
Assyrians forced to pay 'protection tax'
Security
(AINA) - Muslims in the Dora neighborhood of Iraq are forcing Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) to pay the jizya, the poll tax demanded by the Koran which all Christians and Jews must pay in exchange for being allowed to live and practice their faith as well as being entitled to 'Muslim protection' from outside aggression.
At least two cases have been reported to a government employee -- who wishes to remain anonymous -- in which the Christian Assyrian wives were instructed to go to a certain mosque and pay, which they did out of fear. The stated reason for the payment was "we do the fighting and you pay to support." The jizya has been collected since the arrival of Islam in 630 A.D. The last systematic collection was by the Ottomans (Turks), which came to an end only in 1918, when the Ottoman empire was defeated and partitioned in World War One.
At least two cases have been reported to a government employee -- who wishes to remain anonymous -- in which the Christian Assyrian wives were instructed to go to a certain mosque and pay, which they did out of fear. The stated reason for the payment was "we do the fighting and you pay to support." The jizya has been collected since the arrival of Islam in 630 A.D. The last systematic collection was by the Ottomans (Turks), which came to an end only in 1918, when the Ottoman empire was defeated and partitioned in World War One.
Labels: Assyrians, Dora, jizya
