Tag: ISIS
“If ISIS is allowed to define the terms of this engagement then they’ve pretty much won the battle. We have to understand them and meet them where they’re coming from but not capitulate, not really surrender to the terror they’re trying to spread, because that’s the victory they are looking for,” says Rabbi Jack Moline, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance. More
“We have managed through our fund to help 72,000 Christians get through the harsh Syrian winter. Imagine surviving persecution and the threats of death, only to freeze to death.” More
“We have not seen these kinds of attacks on Christians all over the world in a long time,” according to Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ, a member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. “We have to focus the attention of the world on the crisis that Christians face, and we need governments to recognize this is an issue they have to deal with.” More
Radical Islamic groups are using high-quality videos to recruit young Muslims in the US and Europe to join their fight. Now, a Somali Muslim immigrant in Minnesota is fighting back with his own videos—an animated series called “Average Mohamed” that counters extremist ideas about Islam. More
“I put myself into their place. I would be in the same situation. I would be the one who escaped from the war, from this conflict, and they came here and you know Turkish hospitality,” says Savas Metin, general secretary of the Turkish nongovernmental aid organization called Kimse Yok Mu. “They came to our country, and it is our duty to help them.” More
Young recruits to radical Islam “don’t have the knowledge base to fend off manipulation of the religion that these groups are doing to convince them this is the way they can be the best Muslims they can be,” says security studies professor Mia Bloom. More
American Muslims are not going to let their faith be defined by ISIS, says Hoda Elshishtawy, national policy analyst for the Muslim Public Affairs Council. “Islam is about life, human rights, dignity, justice. Muslims are taking back that narrative.” More
“There’s a sense of fear in the American Muslim community that they’re being singled out,” says Haris Tarin, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Washington office. He also said President Obama’s remarks at the summit helped alleviate some of those concerns. “He talked about the fact that Islam is not the problem. It’s terrorism that’s a human problem.” More
Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees depend on hospitality in Turkey; artists picture Mary the mother of Jesus; a church invites the community to a Messiah sing-along. More
A delegation of top Yazidi spiritual leaders is seeking help for their ancient religious minority in Iraq, which has been particularly targeted by ISIS. “We became victims of one of the largest…atrocities of the modern world,” says Yazidi human rights advocate Murad Ismael. More