In this mailing:
- Raymond Ibrahim: 'Killed Civilians, Raped Girls and Looted Homes': The Persecution of Christians, January 2024
- Amir Taheri: Ukraine: Putin's Mixed Messages
- Lawrence Kadish: Tribute to Samuel Clemens, Pen Name Mark Twain
by Raymond Ibrahim • February 25, 2024 at 5:00 am
"[T]he cause of her death remains uncertain," says the report by the British Asian Christian Association. This tragedy is not new to Pakistan.... many Christian girls and boys have been abducted in a similar manner and later found raped and murdered. — January 9, 2024, Pakistan. "Islamic extremists or extremists within the Rapid Support Forces may be behind the incident.... These incidents create additional tension for the Christians in this area and bring back painful memories of the persecution they have faced for 30 years under former President Omar Al-Bashir." — Open Doors, January 24, 2024, Sudan.
On Sunday, January 28, two masked gunmen entered the Church of Santa Maria in Istanbul (pictured) and opened fire — turning an otherwise peaceful Catholic mass into a scene of horror. One man was killed and another wounded. (Photo by Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)
The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of January 2024. The Slaughter of Christians Nigeria: A few January headlines from the ongoing jihadist-genocide of Christians in the African nation follow:
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by Amir Taheri • February 25, 2024 at 4:30 am
If Russia wins, which means defeating NATO, it would be elevated to the position of top dog not only in Europe but on the global stage. The message that takes shape is that notwithstanding his braggadocios, Putin is looking for a face-saving way out of a war that he must know he cannot win in conventional terms. In this war, Ukraine, or NATO, cannot surrender and Russia cannot throw in the towel without a cataclysmic change in its domestic politics.
What if the war is no longer about Ukraine, but what place Russia could and should have in the still chaotic process of reshaping a world order that no longer works? Pictured: Russia's President Vladimir Putin gives an interview to US talk show host Tucker Carlson at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 6, 2024. (Photo by Gavriil Grigorov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Two years already! And how much longer? This is what comes to mind as the war in Ukraine enters its third year with no prospect of an end in sight. Because war is a matter of here-and-now, one shouldn't expect those who fight it to think of its aftermath. Belligerents who do so often end up losing the war. In the current war, the stakes are so high that imagining an end of it in terms of winner-and-loser is mind-boggling. If Russia wins, which means defeating NATO, it would be elevated to the position of top dog not only in Europe but on the global stage. On the other hand, if Russia loses, the defeat could unleash a process that could end up dismantling the rump version of the Tsarist Empire which Vladimir Lenin called "prison of nations." So, what to do? I believe that President Vladimir Putin is already thinking of a way out provided as, he has been saying on a number of occasions recently, his NATO adversaries accept a face-saving compromise.
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by Lawrence Kadish • February 25, 2024 at 4:00 am
Mark Twain, circa 1905. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)
Even before the Hamas atrocities of October 7, anti-Semitism was on the rise on college campuses across the United States. Jew-haters did not need Israel's military response to heap venom on Jews. It has always been there, taking many forms throughout history. Yet there have always been strong, courageous voices outside the Jewish community that have pushed back against the bigotry. Consider the essay of Mark Twain who, in 1899 wrote an essay in the publication Harper's that is relevant today as it was at the turn of that century. An excerpt reveals his insight: "If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. "Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of.
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