Global protests Monday to halt slaughter of Iraqi Christians - please spread the word!

[Liberty Belle]

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/4724

(Moderators - I am the author of this piece and own the copyright, so posted slightly more than 4 paragraphs)

Folks - This has received hardly any press that I've seen. Did you know that Muslim extremists who bombed a church in Baghdad Oct. 31 have threatened violence against ALL Christians throughout the Middle East? Are we on the verge of a Holy War? What can be done to help the Assyrian Christians in Iraq? Please help get the word out far and wide about the plight of these poor people. I was the only media at the funeral mass tonight in the San Diego area for the 58 who died and 77 injured in the Iraq church bombing Oct. 31; I interviewed relatives of survivors and as usual the mainstream media was nowhere to be seen.


MONDAY PROTEST DOWNTOWN JOINS GLOBAL EFFORT TO HALT GENOCIDE OF CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ AMID ESCALATING VIOLENCE

East County Magazine

“We will keep our church open ‘til our last drop of blood is shed.” – Father Waseem Petrus, shortly before he was beheaded on the altar of his church in Baghdad on Oct. 31

“Enough bloodshed by the Christians. Our rights have been violated. This is not ony for the Christians in Iraq; this should be the concern of every Christian in the world.” –Vivian Haisha Shabilla, president, San Diego Chapter of the Assyrian Aid SocietyMourners filled Santa Sophia's church in Spring Valley


November 7, 2010 (Spring Valley) - Hundreds of mourners filled Santa Sophia’s Catholic church in Spring Valley tonight, where a mass was held in memory of at least 58 Assyrian Christians who died and 75 who were wounded in the October 31st attack by terrorists at an Assyrian church in Iraq. Many here lost family members or friends; their photos stood in front of the church altar, each with a single red rose—a little boy, a woman, men young and old. Draped across the altar a banner bore images of two slain priests: Fathers Thamir Abdal, 32, and Waseem Petrus, 27.

<snip>

A campaign on Facebook to organize worldwide demonstrations Monday to demand protections for Assyrians and other Christians in the Middle East has drawn over 45,000 signatures. The page is titled The March Against the Ethnic Cleansing of Iraq’s Indigenous Christians. According to the website www.ChristiansforIraq.com, Assyriains of Iraq have suffered genocide since June 25, 2004, date of the first church bombing. Since then, 66 churches have been bombed and thousands have been murdered.

<snip>

On Monday, November 8, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., a demonstration will be held outside the federal building at 880 Front Street (corner of Front and Broadway) in downtown San Diego. Other demonstrations are planned in major cities in the U.S. and worldwide, including London, Cairo, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Jose, Modesto, Detroit, Windsor, Chicago, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Hartford, Toronto, and locations TBA in in Holland, Germany and Sweden. Organizers are asking that a United Nations or Iraqi commission be established to investigate the church massacre and recommend actions to protect Assyrians. They also call for the U.S. Congress and State Department to address Assyrian safety issues and for creation of an autonomous Assyrian state with its own police force to protect Assyrians.




full story: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/4724