Christian Leaders Pushing Obama to Tell the Truth About ISIS - CBN

A member of the peshmerga forces inspects a tunnel used by Islamic State militants in the town of Sinjar, Iraq. (Reuters)

Christian Leaders Pushing Obama to Tell the Truth About ISIS

12/10/2015 CBN

A member of the peshmerga forces inspects a tunnel used by Islamic State militants in the town of Sinjar, Iraq. (Reuters)

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Christian leaders are pushing the Obama administration to declare that ISIS is committing genocide against Christians, Politico reports.

The term "genocide" has specific legal and political implications.

Under international treaties, the United States may have a legal obligation to act if the State Department declares that Christians are victims of genocide.

That declaration would pressure the White House to provide protection to Iraqi and Syrian Christians.

Many in Congress would likely support the idea.

This week, lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill to talk about Christian persecution in the Middle East.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who chairs the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, says the Obama administration should label the enslavement, torture and execution of Christians by Islamic State as genocide.

"The world is experiencing a crisis of religious freedom that poses a direct challenge to U.S. interests in the Middle East, Central and East Asia, Russia, China and sub-Saharan Africa," Smith wrote in an op-ed posted on The Hill.

"Diplomacy by itself will not stop terrorism, but coordinated with military and economic development efforts, it can help undermine the conditions that nurture groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram as well as extremist Hinduism or radical Buddhism," he wrote.

Groups assisting refuges say Christians who flee ISIS often face persecution and religious violence in U.N. refugee camps.

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Jewish Leader: US-Israel Row Inciting Anti-Semitism

CBNNews.com

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The latest tensions between the Obama administration and Israel are contributing to a rise in global anti-Semitism, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder warned Tuesday.

In remarks before the House subcommittee overseeing global human rights issues, Lauder said when people around the world see "the best friend of Israel is having problems with them," it provokes negative attitudes toward Jews.

Lauder also warned that unless the United States acts decisively to defeat Islamic terrorism in the Middle East and Africa, "the flame of radical Islam could stretch across all of Europe as well."

"European leaders have stepped up and strongly condemned these attacks on Jews and the rise of anti-Semitism," Lauder said. "The United States must lead."

Lauder also criticized the absence of U.S. leaders at the anti-terror march in Paris following the attacks on the offices of the Charlie Hebdomagazine and a kosher supermarket in the city's suburbs last January.

"Many of the leaders in Europe linked arms in solidarity in the very front row, but there was not one U.S. representative with them in the front row," Lauder said. "I believe that sent a very negative message around the world."

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who chairs the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, told participants, "For the first time since the Holocaust, the physical security of Jewish communities in Europe has become a top-level concern. This is the horrifying state of affairs."