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Switch to Forum Live View Gaza Christians protest 'forcible conversions: Human Rights Violations By & Against Palestinians
11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 5:03PM #1
rocketjsquirell
rocketjsquirell
Posts: 12,011

And here I thought this could not happen . . .


Please note the Muslim officials say that the people converted of their won free will. The people involved are being held "for their own protection." convenient, huh?

Gaza Christians protest 'forcible conversions'

By DIAA HADID, Associated Press – 23 hours ago

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dozens of Gaza Christians staged a rare public protest Monday, claiming two congregants were forcibly converted to Islam and were being held against their will.

The small but noisy demonstration showed the increasingly desperate situation facing the tiny minority.

Protesters banged on a church bell and chanted, "With our spirit, with our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Jesus."
. . .
On Monday, groups of men and women stood in groups in the square of the ancient Church of Saint Porphyrius, angrily chanting, "Bring back Ramez!" One man angrily hit the church bell.

"People are locking up their sons and daughters, worried about the ideas people put in their head," said Al-Amash's mother, Huda.

full article:

www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALe...
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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 5:43PM #2
rocketjsquirell
rocketjsquirell
Posts: 12,011

more about the forced conversion - unless you think it wasn't (in which case you are only fooling yourself)  

Gaza Church claims Christians kidnapped, forced to convert

Tiny Christian community in Strip protests over what they say was 'kidnapping' of five Christians to force them to convert; Hamas denies allegations, says a family fight caused police to intervene, and the boy had already converted to Islam voluntarily

. . .
In a statement, the church said that "the dangerous Islamist movement is trying to convince Christian men and women to convert to Islam, destroying Christian families and the Christian presence in the Gaza Strip."
. . .
The head of the Gaza church claimed that one of the Christians was abducted on Saturday after he had been heavily pressured to convert to Islam and had been prevented from seeing his family. According to the leader, the young man's parents filed a police complaint, but the police did nothing after learning that the person behind the alleged kidnappers was a senior cleric identified with Hamas.
. . .
"If things go on this way, there won't be any Christians left in the Gaza Strip," the mother of the youth who converted said. "Today, it's him. Who will be next?"

full artilce
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-42569...
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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 5:44PM #3
Miraj
Miraj
Posts: 5,023

Sounds like they converted of their own free will, but have an angry Christian mob to contend with.


Gaza police say the two are staying with a Muslim religious official at their request, because they fear retribution from their families converting to Islam. Two mediators said the two — a 25-year-old man and a woman with three children — appeared to have embraced Islam of their free will. Forced conversions have been unheard of in Gaza before.


. . . 


Changing faith is a deeply traumatic affair in the Arab world, where religion is strongly interwoven with people's identities and tribal membership.
To convert often means to be ostracized by the community.





www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/gaza-ch...

Disclaimer: The opinions of this member are not primarily informed by western ethnocentric paradigms, stereotypes rooted in anti-Muslim/Islam hysteria, "Israel can do no wrong" intransigence, or the perceived need to protect the Judeo-Christian world from invading foreign religions and legal concepts.  By expressing such views, no inherent attempt is being made to derail or hijack threads, but that may be the result.  The result is not the responsibility of this member.


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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 5:47PM #4
rocketjsquirell
rocketjsquirell
Posts: 12,011

Sounds like they were forcibly converted and/or brainwashed and are now being held prisoner. Not all that unusual. There are thousands of examples just like it.  
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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 5:56PM #5
Miraj
Miraj
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Jul 17, 2012 -- 5:47PM, rocketjsquirell wrote:


Sounds like they were forcibly converted and/or brainwashed and are now being held prisoner. Not all that unusual. There are thousands of examples just like it.  




You're making a mountain out of a mole hill, but, what else is new?

Disclaimer: The opinions of this member are not primarily informed by western ethnocentric paradigms, stereotypes rooted in anti-Muslim/Islam hysteria, "Israel can do no wrong" intransigence, or the perceived need to protect the Judeo-Christian world from invading foreign religions and legal concepts.  By expressing such views, no inherent attempt is being made to derail or hijack threads, but that may be the result.  The result is not the responsibility of this member.


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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 6:05PM #6
Shusha
Shusha
Posts: 2,539

Of course, we can't know for certain whether the supposed conversion was voluntary, coerced or influenced by the strongly dominant prevailing culture. 


However, it does seem more likely in a one-sided, militant, biased society where the balance of power strongly favours one group over the another and where protest against the status quo carries a likelihood of imprisonment or death and where a powerful figure of the dominant culture has taken a personal interest in the situation -- that the Christians are likely the victims of the dominant group, rather than victims of the minority.
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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 6:08PM #7
rocketjsquirell
rocketjsquirell
Posts: 12,011

You are denying the mountain exists. You can say it is not there, but that doesn't mean it is not. Every person stolen from their faith and family is a big deal. If only one person is stolen from their faith and family it is a big deal. 


Please explain 1. why there would be a demonstration of this type in an area where demonstrations against the authorities is a dangerous thing if there was nothing to the story? 2. why there are thousands of stories like this one? 3. why Christian women in Arab countries are racing off to be 2nd and 3rd wives of older Arab gentlemen they do not know?  4. Why the two people in question are being held by religious authorities. certainly they could at least let the press in to see them and verify the "voluntariness" of the conversion. Inquiring minds want to know.  

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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 6:16PM #8
Miraj
Miraj
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Boo hoo.

Disclaimer: The opinions of this member are not primarily informed by western ethnocentric paradigms, stereotypes rooted in anti-Muslim/Islam hysteria, "Israel can do no wrong" intransigence, or the perceived need to protect the Judeo-Christian world from invading foreign religions and legal concepts.  By expressing such views, no inherent attempt is being made to derail or hijack threads, but that may be the result.  The result is not the responsibility of this member.


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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 6:20PM #9
browbeaten
browbeaten
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Jul 17, 2012 -- 6:16PM, Miraj wrote:


Boo hoo.




Does this translate to "Why are you complaining, they are better off?"
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11 months ago  ::  Jul 17, 2012 - 6:23PM #10
Shusha
Shusha
Posts: 2,539

Really, Miraj?  That is your answer to this?  Boo hoo?  How are we meant to interpret that? 
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