RAPID LOBBYING NETWORK

ACTION 12 - 3 November 2004

IRAQI CHRISTIANS FACE ESCALATING VIOLENCE: URGENT APPEAL FOR SUPPORT

DETAILS

The Christian community in northern Iraq is facing ever mounting intimidation and violence. Since the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan (15th October) the situation has escalated, with the apparent aim of forcing the Christians out of their homeland. Churches have been bombed, church leaders threatened, Christian women attacked for failing to wear the hijab, money has been extorted from Christian families and death threats made against them. The situation has reached an extreme and desperate level.

URGENT ACTION

1. Please send a letter or fax to your MP or other local political representative.

Then if you have time please also write to:

2. The President of the US and the British Prime Minister (as the leaders of the two main nations in the coalition in Iraq)
3. The US and UK embassies in your country (if you live outside of the
US or UK)
4. Your MEP (if you live within the European Union)

POINTS TO MAKE IN YOUR LETTER

General Points in All Letters

1. Christians in Iraq are facing a marked increase in intimidation and
violence at the hands of Islamic militants. Use some of the examples from the Background section below to show what you mean. (You can even
enclose the whole Background section on a separate piece of paper if
you like.)
2. The US, UK and Iraqi security forces and authorities in Iraq should
be fully briefed on this situation and should redouble their efforts to do all they can to ensure the full protection of the Christian community, to bring to an end these threats and attacks and uphold their human rights.
3. Urge the recipient of your letter to do all they can to call for this and to work to end the suffering of Iraqi Christians as a matter of urgency (see Specific Points below).

Specific Points for Some Letters

1. Ask your MP (or other local political representative) to raise the
suffering of Christians in Iraq as a matter of utmost urgency with the
Foreign Secretary (or equivalent in your country) and call for their immediate intervention to protect Iraqi Christians.
2. In writing to the President of the US, the British Prime Minister or the US and UK embassies argue that they as the two main nations in the coalition in Iraq have a special responsibility to ensure the protection of Iraqi Christians.
3. Ask your MEP to urge the European Commission to look into the suffering of Christians in Iraq urgently and do all it can through diplomatic and political channels to urge the coalition nations to pay special attention to the persecution of Christians and to ensure their protection.

POINTS TO REMEMBER IN LETTER WRITING

* Be polite and calm: facts and reasoned argument will be more effective than emotive phrases and pleas
* Be clear and keep it simple: firstly identify what the problem is, secondly tell the recipient of your letter what you would like them to do about it (adapt the above points)
* Be concise: your letter should certainly be no longer than one side at the very maximum.

Please write a letter using your own words. A personal letter from you will be much, much more effective than a standard one, which are often ignored.

CONTACT DETAILS

MPs for British Supporters

Your MP
House of Commons
Westminster
LONDON
SW1A 0AA

Find out name of MP by calling
House of Commons Information Line
Tel: 020 7219 4272

Send fax or e-mail via
http://www.faxyourmp.org

President of the US and the British Prime Minister

President George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500 USA

The Rt Hon Tony Blair MP
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA UK

US Embassies

Australia:

J. Thomas Schieffer
Ambassador
American Embassy
Moonah Place
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Fax: 02 6214 5970

Canada:

Paul Celluci
Ambassador
American Embassy
490 Sussex Drive
Ottawa
Ontario K1N 1G8
mailto:ottawacomments@state.gov

Germany:

Daniel R Coats
Ambassador
American Embassy
Neustaedtische Kirchstr.4-5
10117 Berlin
Fax: 030 8305 1215

Ireland:

James C. Kenny
Ambassador
American Embassy
42 Elgin Road
Ballsbridge
Dublin 4
Fax: +353 1 668 9946

New Zealand:

Charles J. Swindells
Ambassador
American Embassy
POBox 1190
Wellington
Fax: +644 499 0490

UK:

David T. Johnson
Charg, d'Affairs
Ambassador
American Embassy
24 Grosvenor Square
LONDON
W1A 1AE

UK Embassies

Australia:

Sir Alastair Goodlad
High Commissioner
British High Commission
Commonwealth Avenue
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Fax: 02 6273 3236

Canada:

David Reddaway
High Commissioner
British High Commission
80 Elgin Street
Ottawa
Ontario K1P 5K7
Fax: 1 613 237 7980

Germany:

Sir Peter Torry
Ambassador
British Embassy
Wilhelmstr.70-71
10117 Berlin
mailto:info@britischebotschaft.de

Ireland:

Stewart Eldon
Ambassador
British Embassy
29 Merion Road
Dublin 4

New Zealand:

Richard Fell
High Commissioner
British High Commission
POBox 1812
Wellington
Fax: 04 473 4982

USA:

The British Ambassador
3100 Massachusetts Ave
Washington DC
20008

MEPs

Your MEP
Phone the UK Office of the European Parliament on 020 7227 4300 or check out http://www.europarl.org.uk/uk_meps/MembersMain.htm for the
address of your local MEPs.
Supporters from other EU countries please go to the European
Parliament homepage at
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

BACKGROUND

The Christian community in northern Iraq is facing ever mounting intimidation and violence. Since the beginning of the Muslim fasting
month of Ramadan (15th October) the situation has escalated, with the
apparent aim of forcing the Christians out of their homeland.

International media reported the first incident, when explosions
occurred at five churches in Baghdad just after 4.00 a.m. on Saturday
16th October (2nd Ramadan). But the other threats and attacks on
Christians go largely unreported. Photographs of three senior bishops
in Mosul are being circulated around, with the message that they are
agents of the USA, infidels, and action must be taken against them.
The church leaders serving the Christian community of Karakush, Mosul
have received two letters from the Islamic militants. The first ordered them to allow Christian women to marry Muslim men (which in Muslim eyes means the women effectively convert to Islam). This, said the letter, would enable the women to be "blessed" and "purified" by their marriages.

The second letter to church leaders, received yesterday 2nd November,
announced the militants' intention of killing one person in every Christian family, as a punishment for the women not covering their heads and not going to university. This follows up pressure and threats from Islamic extremists against all women in Mosul, requiring them to cover their head with the hijab (Islamic headscarf).

A Christian woman was killed around 26th October for having her head
uncovered. Two other Christian women who were seen bareheaded in a
market had nitric acid squirted in their faces. Specific threats about
the clothing of female students at Mosul University have so frightened
the Christians that an estimated 1,500 Christian women have stopped
attending their classes.

Islamic militants are knocking on the doors of Christian homes in
Mosul, demanding money. They argue that since the Christians do not
contribute weapons and do not fight, they must make a financial donation instead. This follows exactly the model of classical Islam, whereby Christians and Jews were excluded from fighting for the Islamic state but instead required to pay a special tax - jizya - to cover the costs of their protection.

Leaflets are being distributed with the message: "Christians go; leave Iraq." Word is being passed around in the mosques, telling Muslims not to buy anything from the Christians. Not only are they infidels, it is said, but also they will soon be leaving, so the Muslims will be able to take their homes and property for free.

PRAY

In this grave situation, the Christians in Iraq beg for the prayers of
their Christian brothers and sisters elsewhere.

* Pray that Iraqi Christians (especially women) will have a special sense of the Lord's presence near them at this time. Ask that they will receive an abundance of faith, courage, strength and enduring love from the Lord to enable them to continue on with their faith in these dark days.

* Pray for the protection of Iraqi Christians. That no further attacks or violent incidents will occur.

* Pray for the US, British and new national authorities in Iraq. Ask that through your letters and the other reports they receive, their hearts will be moved to a special concern for Iraqi Christians. Pray that in the midst of many other serious problems the authorities will take seriously their responsibility to also protect the Christian community and do everything that is in their power to achieve this.

* Pray for the Islamic militants who are currently targeting Christians in Iraq. Pray that God will soften hard hearts and that they will be convicted with the horror of what they have done and turn to the Lord in repentance. Pray that they will come to faith in Christ, and in years to come (like Paul of Tarsus) will turn from persecutors to great champions of the Gospel.

BARNABAS FUND RAPID LOBBYING NETWORK
Barnabas Fund's Rapid Lobbying Network provides our supporters with urgent requests for intervention by prayer and lobbying, where this may help ease the suffering of Christians around the world.

Please do share these requests with your Christian friends and churches. All lobbying requests are available on our website in a more colourful user-friendly presentation format which you can access, print and pass on.

If you are not already receiving these lobbying requests directly from Barnabas Fund and would like to, please contact us with your name, postal and e-mail addresses, and details of the church you attend.

The Barnabas Fund, The Old Rectory, River Street, PEWSEY,
Wiltshire, SN9 5DB, UK, Tel 01672 564938, Fax 01672 565030,
E-mail info@barnabasfund.org Web www.barnabasfund.org