Middle East

By BosNewsLife Chief International Correspondent Stefan J. Bos with additional reporting by BosNewsLife Chief Middle East Correspondent George Whitten in Israel JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY (BosNewsLife)-- More than half of the United States' Lutheran bishops were on their way to Israel Monday, January 5, amid international concerns that an Israeli offensive against the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip would lead to more suffering of civilians, including the territory's Christian minority.

(ADDS COMMENTS DEFENSE MINISTER, IDF, MORE DETAILS) By BosNewsLife Chief Middle East Correspondent George Whitten reporting from Israel and Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent at BosNewsLife News Center

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with BosNewsLife sources and reporting from the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem GAZA CITY/JERUSALEM (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in the Gaza Strip have mourned dozens of people who were killed when an Israeli air strike damaged a Baptist church while hitting a nearby police station, as part of Israel's military campaign against the Islamic militant group Hamas, BosNewsLife established Friday, January 2.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemned on Monday, December 29, ongoing Israeli airstrikes against the militant Islamist group Hamas and its infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, which reportedly killed over 300 Palestinians, injured up to 1,000, and put the territory's Christian minority in the crossfire.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting from the region BETHLEHEM/JERUSALEM (BosNewsLife)-- Minority Christians in Gaza and the West Bank faced a dark night Saturday, December 27, as Israeli air strikes against suspected Hamas militants killed hunderds of Palestinians, and Christmas lights were shut off around Bethlehem, which Christians consider Jesus' birthplace, to protest Israel's actions.

By BosNewsLife News Center BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Central and Eastern Europe's first Christian news agency on the Internet, BosNewsLife, has launched a new website (bosnewslife.com) and a strategic partnership with Worthy Ministries, an organization specialized in Christian news "and spreading the Gospel around the world," its founder confirmed Friday, December 5.

CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- A tense calm returned Tuesday, November 25, to a suburb of Cairo after Coptic Pope Shenuda III banned Egyptian Christians from praying in a church-owned building there following clashes with Muslims, the latest in a series of sectarian clashes.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Iraqi Christians who returned to their ancient city after a wave of violence and intimidation were in shock Friday, November 14, after discovering that two sisters were stabbed to death when attackers broke into their home, several Christian sources said.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BosNewsLife)-- Authorities in northern Iraq have released a 16-year-old Christian girl who was serving a 3 1/2 years jail sentence for killing her uncle after he attacked her, observers of the case confirmed Wednesday, November 12.

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)-- The son of executed Christian pastor Hossein Soodmand was still awaiting his trial in Iran for "promoting anti-government propaganda" Wednesday, November 12, some three weeks after being released on bail. Ramtin Soodmand, pastor of the Evangelical Church of Iran in the city of Mashhad, was freed October 22 after his family reportedly managed to raise about $22,000 bail money, ending two months of imprisonment. Soodmand was detained by Iranian security forces on August 21, originally on charges of "proselytizing," Christians with close knowledge about the procedures said. The charges were later changed to anti-government activities. His defense team has strongly denied the accusations, but concerns remain that he could still face years of imprisonment and even the death penalty. “The real reason for his arrest is the fact that he is a Muslim convert who is involved in Christian ministry,� said the well-informed Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN). The release of Soodmand came shortly after Shroder Ashur, an Assyrian Christian minister, was released after being charged with the "propagation of Christianity," said FCNN, which has close contacts with prosecuted Christians in Iran. Ashur was freed in the city of Urumieh on October 5, according to FCNN investigators. CONCERNS REMAINYet, Christians said they remain concerned over the plight over these and other Christians. Recently the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was reportedly overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.Ramtin Soodmand's sister told British media she was "terribly anxious" about him. "Even though my brother is not an apostate, because he has never been a Muslim – my father raised us all as Christians – I don't think he is Rashin Soodmansafe," said 29-year-old Rashin Soodman, who now lives in London. "They assume that if you are Iranian, you must be Muslim," she told The Telegraph newspaper. Her brother's situation has ominous echoes of her father's fate. Rashin was 14 when her father, who was pastor of the Assemblies of God Church of Mashhad, was arrested. "He was held in prison for one month," she said. "Then the religious police released him without explanation and without apology. We were overjoyed. We thought his ordeal was over."CHRISTIAN FAITHBut six months later, the police came back and took Hossein Soodmand away again, she said. This time, they offered her father a choice: he could denounce his Christian faith, and the church in which he was a pastor – or he would be killed. "Of course, my father refused to give up his faith," Rashid recalled. "He could not renounce his God. His belief in Christ was his life – it was his deepest conviction." Two weeks later, he was taken by guards to the prison gallows and hanged.His death has been linked to attempts by Iran's rulers to use the 1979 revolution to turn Iran into an Islamic state, and to abolish the secular laws of the Shah. In the 18 years since Hossein Soodmand's execution, there have been no reports of judicially sanctioned killings of apostates in Iran, although there have been many reports of disappearances and even murders, Christian groups said.Rashin Soodmand eventually managed to leave Iran and, living in London, is now married to a fellow Christian from Iran who successfully applied for asylum in Germany. But she fears for her brother's future. "We just don't know what will happen to him. We only know that if they want to kill him, they will," she said. END (With reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos).