'It's Genocide,' Europe Says of Christian Slaughter by ISIS - George Thomas CBN NEWS

'It's Genocide,' Europe Says of Christian Slaughter by ISIS

02-06-2016

  CBN NEWS George Thomas

The European Parliament has declared the wanton slaughter of Christians and other religious minorities by ISIS is tantamount to genocide.

In a historic move, members of Parliament passed a resolution this week calling the atrocities by the Islamic terror group "crimes against humanity" and calling for an investigation of their human rights abuses.

Members of the European Parliament say that what the Islamic terror group ISIS is doing to Christians and other religious minorities in Syria and Iraq amounts to "war crimes" and "genocide."

"It is very important to call it genocide, it's important because it is the truth," Nina Shea, with Freedom House, said. Freedom House has been documenting ISIS atrocities.

Click below to watch the entire interview with Shea.

"In the ISIS controlled territory, there is no evidence right now of any Christian life, all the Christians have either been killed or driven out. The Yazidis, thousands of them, their women are now sex slaves," Shea said.

The resolution by the European Parliament says those who intentionally commit atrocities for religious or ethnic reasons must be charged with crimes against humanity.

"If we take the solemn vow of 'never again' as we have since the Jewish Holocaust under the Nazis, we have to call it as such for the Christians," Shea said.

Former Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who has for decades given voice to persecuted Christians around the world, welcomed the unanimous vote, saying it finally recognizes the pain and suffering of those living under constant ISIS threat.

"To call it 'genocide' would honor those who've been subject to genocide so we remember," Wolf said.

The plight of Middle East Christians is sobering. In Syria, the number of believers has plummeted from 1.2 million to less than 500,000.

In neighboring Iraq, roughly two-thirds of that country's 1.5 million Christians have either been killed or have been forced to flee ISIS.

Shea is now calling on the White House to follow the European Parliament's example and label what's happening to Christians in the Middle East as "genocide."

"There's a reluctance on the part of the administration to call it genocide against Christians," she said. "They have told us privately that they will call it genocide against Yazidis but not Christians."

On the other hand, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has already said that ISIS is committing genocide. 

During a New Hampshire town hall in later December, Clinton said she was initially reluctant to use the word since it requires countries to take specific action to stop the genocide. Now, she's convinced otherwise.

"I'm sure now we have enough evidence that what is happening is genocide, deliberately aimed at destroying, not only the lives but wiping out the existence of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities in the Middle East in territory controlled by ISIS," she said.

The European Parliament resolution calls on the International Criminal Court to begin investigating violations by ISIS against Christians, Yazidis, and religious minorities.

Watch here: Genocide in the Middle East

Nagmeh Abedini: 'I'm Thankful for the Millions Who Prayed' - George Thomas CBN News

Nagmeh Abedini: 'I'm Thankful for the Millions Who Prayed'

01-18-2016

George Thomas

CBN News

Pastor Saeed Abedini and two other Americans are making their way home Monday, just one step closer to reuniting with their families.

Iran agreed to release the men in exchange for several Iranians being held in the U.S.
       
The prisoner swap happened the same day as U.S. and EU countries lifted decades-long sanctions against the Islamic regime.

"I've been a single mom for three and half years, and the kids reuniting with him will be a precious moment," Naghmeh Abedini, wife of Saeed Abedini, said.

Pastor Saeed was arrested nearly four years ago for his work among Iran's house churches.

In an exclusive interview just hours after her husband's release, Naghmeh Abedini described to CBN News the moment when she told her two children, Rebekka and Jacob, that their father was coming home.

"They were jumping up and down and rejoicing! It was very loud, very joyful and I could see a heavy weight lifted off their little shoulders," she said.

For the Abedini family, it has been three and half grueling years of advocacy and lots of prayer.

"Outside my faith in Jesus Christ, I'm so thankful for the millions who prayed, who trusted God with me, who did not give up, who sent me messages and letters saying 'we are not giving up; we have not forgotten him,'" Naghmeh said.

The American Center for Law Justice worked for Pastor Saeed's freedom. ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow called his release a "God moment."

"Even though our lawyers worked really hard and teams around the globe worked really hard, there were millions of people praying," Sekulow told CBN News. "Probably as many languages as they are people groups and those prayers were answered."

"God supernaturally intervened and we have the release of the Americans," Sekulow said.

The dramatic events happened over the weekend when Iran agreed to free five American hostages in exchange for several Iranians accused or convicted of violating U.S. sanctions.

"In a reciprocal, humanitarian gesture, six Iranian Americans and one Iranian - serving sentences or awaiting trial in the United States - are being granted clemency," President Barack Obama announced Sunday.

While nearly all Americans rejoiced at the news, some did so with caution.  Former U.S. United Nations Ambassador John Bolton called the action "wonderful for the families" but said it was a "diplomatic debacle" for the United States.

"The Americans weren't prisoners in Iran, they were hostages," Bolton told Fox News.

"They had been taken by a state terrorist decision and were being held as bargaining chips," he said. "To say that victims of terrorism are the equivalent of criminals or alleged criminals gives Iran an enormous victory."

Bolton said he believes the exchange "incentivizes" Iran and other terrorist entities to take more hostages and to raise the price.

Within hours of the prisoner swap, Iran joined the global economy for the first time in decades after the U.S. and EU agreed to lift sanctions following confirmation that the regime had kept its part of a nuclear deal signed last year.

While the president did impose some new sanctions because of Iran's recent missile tests, he praised the prisoner exchange.

"The freed Americans include Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S Marine Amir Hekmati, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari and Matthew Trevithick," he said.

"These individuals were not charged with terrorism or any violent offenses," he noted. "They're civilians, and their release is a one-time gesture to Iran given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play." 

"It reflects our willingness to engage with Iran to advance our mutual interests, even as we ensure the national security of the United States," the president continued.

"And perhaps most important of all, we've achieved this historic progress through diplomacy, without resorting to another war in the Middle East," he said.

Amelia Newcomb, mother of Mathew Trevithick, was "overjoyed" that her son was finally freed.

"We are just enormously grateful to everybody in the government," she said.

Not among those coming home is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007.

"We are happy for the other families. But once again, Bob Levinson has been left behind. We are devastated," his family said in a statement on Facebook.

Abedini, Rezaian, and Hekmati are now at a U.S military hospital in Germany undergoing medical checkups before making the final journey home.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Plot Thickens as Russia Expands Syria Presence

By George Thomas

CBN News Sr. Reporter

Friday, September 25, 2015

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Russia is on the move in Syria, saying it wants to help the war-torn nation fight Islamic terrorists. But the United States believes Moscow has ulterior motives.

Political activist and blogger Ruslan Leviev says he knew something was brewing in Syria when families of Russian soldiers started contacting him in early August.

"That's when we first started getting messages that our Russian military contractors are being sent to Syria," he said.

Leviev says Russia has moved a small but significant military force into Syria in recent weeks.

"After our first investigation we published the number of military equipment we thought was there," he said. "Based on the images of soldiers being brought to Syria on military ships, we thought that there was no less than 1,000 of them."

According to the New York Times, satellite images from the Syrian port city of Latakia show Russia has also moved about half a "dozen T-90 tanks, 15 howitzers, 35 armored personnel carriers, 200 marines and housing for as many as 1,500 personnel."

"All this shows is that Russia has made a qualitative shift in its behavior," Russian political analyst Vyacheslav Matuzov said.

Moscow has denied that it is building up its military presence, saying that it instead wants to help Syria's President Bashar al-Assad fight the Islamic State terror group.

"I would like to say that we are supporting the government of Syria in the fight against a terrorist aggression and are offering and will continue to offer it necessary military-technical assistance," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

And Assad needs the help. He's been losing territory to ISIS a lot faster this year than when the war started four years ago. Troop morale is also down significantly.

But Pentagon officials say Moscow's sudden military moves into Syria aren't just about fighting ISIS. They believe Russia is ultimately trying to protect Assad, a longtime Russian ally.

Putin agrees. He told CBS's "60 Minutes" that Assad must remain in power to avoid another Libya. 

However, the U.S has repeatedly called for the Syrian dictator to step down.  And the U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter says Russia's moves to defend Assad will only encourage the radical Islamic views of ISIS.

"To pursue the defeat of ISIL without at the same time pursuing a political transition is to fuel the very kind of extremism that underlies ISIL. And if that's the Russian view that's a logical contradiction," Carter said.

Russia's intervention has forced a meeting between Putin and Obama in New York next week. The two haven't met in 15 months and the U.S wants to know what Russia's long-term military intentions are in Syria.

Muslims Burn 69 Churches; Christians Forgive

Burning Christian churches

Muslims Burn 69 Churches; Christians Forgive

By George Thomas

CBN News Sr. Reporter

Monday, April 20, 2015

NIAMEY, Niger-- It took only a few hours, but it was enough time for hundreds of radical Muslims in Niger, West Africa, to destroy dozens of churches and several Christian homes. Ten people lost their lives and hundreds were injured when Muslim mobs went on the deadly rampage in early January.

Now, three months later, Christians living there are moving forward, determined to still preach the Gospel despite the dangers.

CBN News has obtained exclusive, never-seen-before video of dozens of these angry Muslims attacking, then burning Pastor Musa Issa's church.
 
"They took pews, Bibles, chairs and sound equipment then set them on fire," Issa, pastor of Bethel Horizon Church in Niamey the capital city, said. "They did this while chanting, 'Allahu Akbar!' I felt so sad. I started to cry."
 
Wrestling Against Principalities

The cell phone video also shows the crowd beating a member of Issa's church.
 
"I feel horrible when I watch the video. I ask myself 'Why'? Why did they do this to us? What did we do to deserve this?'" Issa said.
 
It happened January 17, just 10 days after two Muslim terrorists stormed the offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, executing 12 people for publishing satirical images of the Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
 
About 3,600 miles away in Niger, Muslims, angered by the cartoons, attacked the country's Christians in revenge.
 
"We spent years building the church," Issa told CBN News while standing in the ruins of his church. "Within minutes it was all gone!"
 
And it wasn't just Pastor Issa's church. Mobs also destroyed Boureima Kimso's church.
 
"Sixty-nine churches and 11 homes were destroyed. That's a total of 80 Christian buildings within a few hours," Kimso said.
 
Kimso, head of the Alliance of the Evangelical Churches in Niger, says the viciousness of the attacks shocked the Christian community.

 
 
In Zinder, Niger's second largest city, attackers burned all but one church to the ground. And in the capital city Niamey, 45 churches were destroyed, including Pastor Kimso's.
 
"Absolutely, it was premeditated," Kimso said. "It was organized. It was shocking because systematically in a few hours churches were targeted and houses attacked, so it means that someone organized and executed this plan."

Three months later, the government of Niger has still not arrested anyone in connection with the attacks.
 
"I tell our brothers and sisters that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities," said Kimso. "We have to encourage ourselves because persecution is part of the life of the Church. There is no church that existed without persecution."
 
In addition to destroying several churches, the rioters also targeted Christian schools.

CBN News visited one such school on the outskirts of Niger's capital city. The school was home to some 240 students, the majority of whom were Muslim.

As the Muslim mob ransacked each classroom, they left behind this message on each blackboard: "There is no God but God and the Prophet Mohammed is his messenger."

 
'Religion of Peace'

One of the teachers, David Bye, now helps oversee rebuilding efforts. 
 
"I think this message on the blackboard they are trying to tell us (Christians) that we really don't belong here. This is a Muslim area and they want to keep it pure for them. They don't want any Christians here," Bye said.
 
It's an accusation Muslim leaders flatly deny.
 
"Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace," Boubacar Seydou, of the Islamic Association of Niger, said. "In Islam, we are not familiar with such acts of violence!"
 
Seydou is also key leader at Niger's largest mosque. He allowed CBN News to attend and document Friday prayers.

In his first television interview since the attacks, Seydou denied that Muslims were involved in the attacks.
 
"Muslims did not take part in these attacks. Sure, there were many Muslims protesting the cartoons, but no one pushed them to attack churches. I'm sure if we arrested some of those involved in the church burnings you'd discover that in fact Christians were among those taking part in the violence!" Seydou said.
 
Pastor Zakaria Jadi, whose church and home were among those destroyed, says it is ludicrous to claim Christians were involved.
 
"The mob kept chanting over and over in Arabic 'God is great!' God is great' as they robbed and burned my home. I've lived with Muslims all my life. I know a Muslim when he stands in front of me!" Jadi said.
 
The Nigerien government is in negotiations with members of the Christian community to try and figure out how on earth they are going to rebuild all these churches. In the meantime, with so many churches still destroyed, many Christians are gathering in the shadows of their burned out churches.

Forgiveness
 
Pastor Jadi's wife Ruth, holding her burned Bible, has forgiven the men who committed this atrocity.

"My prayer is that they would come to know Jesus and that the Lord would touch them even in a dream. I want God to do to them what He did to Paul the Apostle when he persecuted Christians. God touched him on his way to Damascus. I want those men to experience the same touch from God!"
 
That is Pastor Issa's prayer, too. Today he spends time developing closer friendships with several of his Muslim neighbors who actually fought back as the mob destroyed the church and his home.
 
"When the first and second wave of rioters came, some of my Muslim neighbors stood in front of the church. But as more rioters attacked with deadlier weapons, it become too dangerous - so I told them to let them in," Issa said.

 
Pastor Jadi says the threats have not subsided, but he's alright with that. He believes God is preparing Christians in Niger for great times of revival.
 
"The Lord is training us; He's building us. There cannot be increase without hardships. If you want to go to the next level you have to go through hardship," Jadi said.

Watch Video: Muslims Burn Churches

Ukraine's Christians Standing in the Gap for Peace

Victoria Semenikhina

Ukraine's Christians 

Standing in the Gap for Peace

George Thomas, Senior Reporter, CBN News

March 14, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov, a man of deep faith and prayer, is in the center of the storm in Ukraine, but he's not alone.

Oleksandr Turchynov

Turchynov is seeking an increase in the country's armed services as he has called on parliament to turn Ukraine's interior ministry troops into a national guard to defend the nation against aggression.

He's also called for the mobilization of military reservists and volunteers into the armed forces.

Pastor Wolodymyr Kunets couldn't be prouder of his country's new leader.

"He is a born again Christian and loves God!" Pastor Wolodymyr Kunets, with Word of Life, told CBN News.

For several years, Turchynov has attended Kunets's church in Kiev and serves as deacon.

"It is very rare, not just for Ukraine, but the entire region, for a Baptist Christian to run the country," Kunets said.

Turchynov recently told a Christian magazine that God is working in his country despite the political chaos. He's asking believers worldwide to pray.

"I'm so glad he's been given such a position, but from another perspective it is very scary because we are experiencing very difficult times," Kunets said. "We are bankrupt as a nation and there are many enemies who don't want to see Ukraine do well."

When protests started last November, Ukrainian Christians found themselves playing the role of peacemaker. Ostap Kryvdyk is a leader of the anti-government demonstrators.

"During the gun fights there was a priest who was standing there and who gave his last words and last service to dying people," Kryvdyk, with Maidan Self Defense unit, said. "And he personally told me that 20 people died in his arms."

Men like Father Theodosiy Ivashko, with the Greek Catholic Church, literally risked their lives to stand in the gap.

Father Theodosiy Ivashko, with the Greek Catholic Church

"It happened just a few feet from here: Hundreds of Ukrainian police stood on one side and anti-government demonstrators on the other, and we took our place in the middle calling for calm," Ivashko said.

Victoria Semenikhina traveled to Maidan, ground zero of the mass demonstrations, to pray for families that lost loved ones. She also gives thanks for men like Father Ivashko.

"I saw Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and other Christians who were helping those for and against the government," Semenikhina, who is from Kharkav, said. "These men and women are also heroes, as much as those who gave their lives for freedom."

For months here on Maidan, the Ukrainian church, across denominations, played the role of peacemaker. Today it is preaching a message of reconciliation.

"We are preaching this message in almost every service and encouraging people to demonstrate in practical ways how we can help heal our nation," Kunets said.

Parliament member and well-known Christian Alexandr Dubovoy said his country has a small window of opportunity to get things right or else.

"People are clearly not happy, but we cannot overcome evil with evil. We have to be more forgiving," Dubovoy said.

Days after the massacre that killed more than a hundred and injured some 600 others, Larissa Litvin's church erected a tent for counseling.

"So many people have come for prayer. Entire families with children are coming and asking how they can help move our country forward after all the violence and bloodshed," she said. "This is a critical moment for us."

One that Litvin and believers here say must be covered in prayer and forgiveness.

Watch video here: CBN News - Ukraine's Christians

Ukraine's Christians Standing in the Gap for Peace - CBN News

George Thomas, CBN News Sr. Reporter
March 11, 2014


KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov, a man of deep faith and prayer, is in the center of the storm in Ukraine, but he's not alone.

Turchynov is seeking an increase in the country's armed services as he has called on parliament to turn Ukraine's interior ministry troops into a national guard to defend the nation against aggression.

He's also called for the mobilization of military reservists and volunteers into the armed forces.

Pastor Wolodymyr Kunets couldn't be prouder of his country's new leader.

"He is a born again Christian and loves God!" Pastor Wolodymyr Kunets, with Word of Life, told CBN News.

For several years, Turchynov has attended Kunets's church in Kiev and serves as deacon.

"It is very rare, not just for Ukraine, but the entire region, for a Baptist Christian to run the country," Kunets said.

Turchynov recently told a Christian magazine that God is working in his country despite the political chaos. He's asking believers worldwide to pray.

"I'm so glad he's been given such a position, but from another perspective it is very scary because we are experiencing very difficult times," Kunets said. "We are bankrupt as a nation and there are many enemies who don't want to see Ukraine do well."

When protests started last November, Ukrainian Christians found themselves playing the role of peacemaker. Ostap Kryvdyk is a leader of the anti-government demonstrators.

"During the gun fights there was a priest who was standing there and who gave his last words and last service to dying people," Kryvdyk, with Maidan Self Defense unit, said. "And he personally told me that 20 people died in his arms."

Men like Father Theodosiy Ivashko, with the Greek Catholic Church, literally risked their lives to stand in the gap.

"It happened just a few feet from here: Hundreds of Ukrainian police stood on one side and anti-government demonstrators on the other, and we took our place in the middle calling for calm," Ivashko said.

Victoria Semenikhina traveled to Maidan, ground zero of the mass demonstrations, to pray for families that lost loved ones. She also gives thanks for men like Father Ivashko.

"I saw Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and other Christians who were helping those for and against the government," Semenikhina, who is from Kharkav, said. "These men and women are also heroes, as much as those who gave their lives for freedom."

For months here on Maidan, the Ukrainian church, across denominations, played the role of peacemaker. Today it is preaching a message of reconciliation.

"We are preaching this message in almost every service and encouraging people to demonstrate in practical ways how we can help heal our nation," Kunets said.

Parliament member and well-known Christian Alexandr Dubovoy said his country has a small window of opportunity to get things right or else.

"People are clearly not happy, but we cannot overcome evil with evil. We have to be more forgiving," Dubovoy said.

Days after the massacre that killed more than a hundred and injured some 600 others, Larissa Litvin's church erected a tent for counseling.

"So many people have come for prayer. Entire families with children are coming and asking how they can help move our country forward after all the violence and bloodshed," she said. "This is a critical moment for us."

One that Litvin and believers here say must be covered in prayer and forgiveness.

CBN News - video

What Sinai Attack Means for Israel's Security - CBN News

What Sinai Attack Means for Israel's Security

By George Thomas and Tzippe Barrow

CBN News

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Love For His People Editor's note: You didn't hear on the national news that this bus was full of Christian tourists from South Korea. That won't stop us from going.) Steve Martin

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Islamists targeted a tour bus of South Koreans as it neared the Taba border crossing between Egypt and Israel on Sunday. Four people -- the Egyptian bus driver and three South Korean passengers -- were killed, and at least 13 others injured.

An terrorist calling itself Champions of Jerusalem claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place just 50 meters (yards) from the crossing.

"There was an explosion and then came the fire truck and the ambulance, but they couldn't do anything," Saber Al-Sayed Hassan, an eyewitness, recalled.

Members of the terror posted a statement on al Qaeda-affiliated websites, calling Sunday's bombing part of an "economic war" against the army-backed government.

***The Sinai desert, which borders Egypt and Israel, has become more lawless in recent years. What risk does that pose to the Jewish state's security? CBN News Mideast Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell addresses that question and more on CBN Newswatch, Feb. 17.

The busload of 31 pilgrims -- all members of Jincheon Jungang Presbyterian Church out of Seoul -- had visited St. Catherine's Monastery in central Sinai. They were on a 12-day tour to Turkey, Egypt and Israel.

Late Monday evening, church members, some of them sobbing, gathered in front of the church. One family member of a bus victim can be heard saying, "She's dead. She's dead. My sister is dead."

Several on board were taken to nearby hospitals suffering serious injuries. It was the first such attack targeting foreign tourists in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood released an English-language statement condemning the attack, but tweeted in Arabic that "Zionists" were among the casualties, the Jerusalem Post reported.

South Korea's foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the attack, saying they were "shocked and enraged at the terrorist bombing on the bus."

"We believe that terrorism can never be justified under any circumstances and such inhumane and unethical acts should be weeded out by all means," the statement read.

South Korea's Egyptian Ambassador Kim Young-So said an Egyptian suicide bomber blew the bus up.

"An Egyptian man in his 20s suddenly boarded the bus and detonated the bomb," Young-So told Seoul-based MBN television. "It appears to be a suicide bombing by a terrorist."

In an emergency meeting, South Korean officials vowed to help the Egyptian government find out who carried out the attack.

"The Egyptian foreign minister has acknowledged the seriousness of this incident, and has expressed his intent to pour all efforts into handling this situation," Lee Jung-kwan, with the South Korean Foreign Ministry, said.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said he hoped Sunday's attack would be "an isolated incident," promising that "all the rest of the country is safe and secure and what happened can happen anywhere in the world."

Egypt's interim government is trying to emerge from the instability that's pervaded the country since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. The government hopes to revive the nation's once-flourishing tourism industry, while dealing with Islamist violence in Cairo and other cities. It's also addressed burgeoning terrorism in the Sinai Peninsula, which grew exponentially during Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi's short tenure.

Since Morsi's ouster, the Brotherhood has continued demanding his reinstatement in anti-government protests.

Presidential elections are planned for mid-April, with acting Defense Minister Gen. Fattah Abdel El-Sisi the leading contender. The majority of Egyptians opposed the Brotherhood's takeover of the government.

Watch the video here: CBN News South Korean bus bombing