Silence amid slaughter of Arab Christians

#957 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 7 Sep 2014.

The President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, has drawn attention to what he calls global “indifference” to the mass execution of Arab Christians by Islamic State militants, the “half a million Christian Arabs [that] have been driven out of Syria” during the past three years, and the killing of many Nigerian Christians by the Islamist terrorist organisation Boko Haram.

“Why is the world silent,” he asks, “while Christians are being slaughtered in the Middle East and Africa?”

It’s a good question.  One answer is that many people are surprised to learn there are Arabs who identify as Christian.  On the other hand, the Arab Christian population is relatively small, and religious persecution against them rarely rates a mention in news bulletins.

But as Lauder said, “The Jewish people understand all too well what can happen when the world is silent. This campaign of death must be stopped.”

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.