In Stark Contrast

- 2 October 2003

In Stark Contrast

- Mary Elizabeth Hansen

Recent news about dhimmis, the world over, has not been good. As always, these horrific stories rarely appear in mainstream media outlets. If noted, the stories are usually brief and the perpetrators of crimes against dhimmis are labeled as "terrorists," or "extremists," thus carefully avoiding accurate descriptions and the true motives of the guilty.

Despite the lack of correct labeling and broad coverage, Islamists can and do make news in many parts of the world as they continue to expand their attacks on dhimmis. In their attacks, they are multi-cultural, that is to say, that they can and do attack any country, culture or faith, except of course, Islam. They are also gender-neutral in their attacks. Men, women, children and even small babies are legitimate targets for their violence.

In a remote area of Bangladesh, Chittagong Hill Tracts, 10 villages recently suffered attacks, 360 homes burned, 10 women raped, with numerous injuries and several villagers killed. The inhabitants of the villages, predominately Buddhists, also lost several temples and shrines to Buddha. As to the identity of the perpetrators, the villagers blame Muslim extremists.

Terror continues in Israel. Last week, a member of the Islamic Jihad penetrated an Israeli settlement, killing two people, including a baby girl. No target is ever too small or too defenseless while in the business of conducting a holy war.

In Egypt police forces staged an attack on St. George's Coptic Orthodox Church in the Upper Egypt town of Assiut. The official reason given by the local authorities for the assault involved a bogus charge that hashish had been illegally cultivated on church property. Last week in Cairo, a newly-married Christian, Bolis Rezek-Allah, was pulled off a plane and taken into custody by Egyptian secret police. His crime? He had recently married a Muslim convert to Christianity. His wife is still in hiding. They had planned to begin a new life together in Canada. Instead, they could both be facing long, harsh prison sentences, possibly death. Converts can easily join Islam.yet, it is a religion without exit visas.

In Pakistan, another young Christian convert from Islam waits in hiding for a plane to take him to a country in the West. He has been betrayed by his family and most of his friends. He has also endured several trips to the local police station for his "crime of apostasy." Courtesy of local law enforcement officers, he has suffered severe beatings and electric shock treatments. His family believes that he is receiving just what he deserves for the gravest sin of all, leaving Islam.

Iraq's Assyrian Christians are being forced out of their homes and off their lands by their Kurdish neighbors, the same neighbors who have enjoyed an enclave of physical safety and economic security for the past twelve years, thanks to a no-fly zone provided by Coalition forces. Throughout Iraq, Assyrian Christians have also been the recipients of threatening letters from an Islamist group calling itself, "Al-Bader." The group demands that Assyrians act as good Muslims, including veiling their women. If these demands are not met, "Al-Bader" promises to kill, kidnap and burn the homes of uncooperative Assyrians. "Al-Bader" members seem determined to win over their neighbors by any means possible, at gunpoint, under the blade of a sharp knife, or with a large can of kerosene and a box of matches.

The Mandaeans, another minority faith in Iraq, are also struggling under the burden of their not-so-nice Muslim neighbors. Recently, a Mandaean shop owner died after being shot 14 times, most certainly by Islamists. In addition to murdering the shop owner, the Muslims also stripped his shop of its' inventory, making sure that his family was left with nothing, no husband, no father, nor a livelihood. The Mandaean Archbishop has recently arrived in Sweden, after barely escaping with his life from Iraq.

Life isn't so bad, however, for the 600 plus Al-Queda and Taliban prisoners currently at Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba. Their religious fanaticism, not nationalism, sent all of these men on a path that eventually landed them in Gitmo. Incredibly, instead of minimizing their religious zeal, the U.S. military immediately began to cater to the prisoners' every Islamic requirement. What the captives should have received were mandatory reading materials on anger management. Instead, what they received were all the religious comforts of home, skull caps, prayer books, prayer beads, arrows pointing to Mecca in each cell, carefully prepared meals with detailed attention paid to Islamic dietary requirements, and calls to prayer. In addition, they enjoyed the sympathetic and treasonous support of at least three U.S. service personnel. All indications are that these men, "the most dangerous and hardened" fighters scooped up in Afghanistan, will continue to enjoy their Islamic lifestyle, courtesy of the American government.

In stark contrast, across the world, dhimmis continue to suffer for their beliefs. For them, the warm fuzziness at Guantanamo Bay must seem unimaginable.