ISIS
What makes killing Christians appealing?
By Ayman S. Ibrahim — May 26, 2017
(RNS) While today’s world calls for tolerance and coexistence between faiths, militants rely on verses that offer a direct command to attack Christians and Jews.
Christian genocide: Blame Israel?
By Raheel Raza — May 22, 2017
(RNS) In attacking the powerful new documentary film 'Faithkeepers,' James Zogby joins a long line of condescending Westerners who infantilize Islamists by claiming that they didn’t mean what they said.
Pope Francis tells Muslim leaders in Egypt to fight violence in God’s name
By Christopher Lamb — April 28, 2017
CAIRO (RNS) "'No!' to every form of violence, vengeance, and hatred carried out in the name of God,” the pontiff told top Sunni authorities at the start of a momentous two-day trip.
Iraqi Christians return to ransacked town with fear and hope
By Reuters — April 14, 2017
QARAQOSH, Iraq (Reuters) With the Islamic State group expelled, Iraqi Christians are trickling back to the ransacked town of Qaraqosh, beset by anxiety for their security and yet hopeful they can live in friendship with Muslims of all persuasions.
ISIS’s intriguing silence about Donald Trump’s approach to Muslims
By Tom Heneghan — March 17, 2017
PARIS (RNS) With his anti-Muslim rhetoric and planned travel bans, you’d think President Trump would be a favorite target for Islamic State’s propaganda. Well, think again.
Last letters : From Mosul schoolboys to Islamic State ‘martyrs’
By Stephen Kalin — March 3, 2017
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) "My dear family, please forgive me," reads the handwritten letter discarded in the dusty halls of an Islamic State training compound. They were schoolboy Alaa Abd al-Akeedi's parting words before he set off to end his life in a suicide bomb attack.
Can the swastika ever be redeemed?
By Kimberly Winston — February 9, 2017
(RNS) How did the swastika travel from prehistorical India to a New York City subway last week? Can it its original meaning as a sign of fertility, good fortune and hope be restored?
Trump is right: It’s moral and legal to prioritize persecuted Christians
By Johnnie Moore — February 7, 2017
(RNS) For far too long, our country has not done enough to help religious minorities in the Middle East via safe zones or refugee resettlement.
New video of kidnapped priest raises hopes, concerns
By David Gibson — January 4, 2017
(RNS) Looking thin and wearing a beard, the Rev. Tom Uzhunnalil — kidnapped by Islamic extremists last March — speaks in a weak, almost robotic voice.
ISIS issues hit list of U.S. churches for holiday attacks
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 23, 2016
(USA Today) The Islamic State is urging its followers to attack U.S. churches and has published names and addresses of thousands of prospective targets, according to a report in the news website Vocativ.
Suspect in Christmas market massacre was meant to be deported
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 21, 2016
BERLIN (USA Today) — A massive manhunt is underway Wednesday for the driver of a truck that was intentionally crashed into a Berlin Christmas market, leaving 12 people dead and 48 injured.
New International Religious Freedom Act a first for atheists
By Kimberly Winston — December 19, 2016
(RNS) The freshly signed Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act is being heralded by both atheists and Christians as a milestone.
Ransacked homes and little hope for returning Iraqi Christians
By RNS staff — November 29, 2016
(Reuters) Qaraqosh was Iraq's biggest Christian settlement before militants took over in 2014 and issued an ultimatum to residents: pay a tax, convert to Islam, or die.
Yazidis risk all to flee Islamic State
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 27, 2016
DUHOK, Iraq (Reuters) - Mass Yazidi graves have been found since Kurdish forces retook areas north of Sinjar in December 2014, and the town itself in November 2015, but Islamic State had already transferred many Yazidis to other areas, including Tal Afar.
White house condemns attack on Iranian Shiite pilgrims in Iraq
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 25, 2016
WASHINGTON - The target of the attack appears to have been a bus carrying Iranians returning from southern Iraq after participating in Arbaeen, a Shiite pilgrimage that is even larger than the Haj.
