and finally some good news out of Iran and Nigeria

No images? Click here [link removed]

This Week's Dispatch: Explore the Latest

In this week's Unbelief Brief, we learn more about the perpetrator of the attack in Madgeburg, Germany, and hear some surprisingly positive updates from Iran and Nigeria.

Unbelief Brief

By now, you have probably heard about the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, Germany, which claimed the lives of five people and injured hundreds of others. You will likely have also heard that the perpetrator, a doctor from Saudi Arabia who immigrated to Germany in 2006, was an ex-Muslim and a supporter of far-right political causes. EXMNA has condemned the attack [[link removed]] and reiterated its opposition to the ideology the attacker subscribed to—to the extent that there is one. Germany’s Central Council of Ex-Muslims also issued a statement, recalling [[link removed]] that the suspect had harassed their organization for years and “that he assumed that even organizations critical of Islamism were part of the Islamist conspiracy.” In recent years, the attacker made a number of increasingly violent threats [[link removed]] on social media, vowing to bring “justice” to an Islamizing Germany. At the moment, however, all that remains is to wait for more information from authorities—as well as to tune out the noise of dishonest figures who wish to bury or deny [[link removed]] the attacker’s sympathies with far-right organizations like the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party.

Over in Iran, some small victories: the new “Hijab and Chastity Law,” which would have significantly intensified penalties and enforcement for women who refuse to abide by the code of modesty culture, has been “ paused [[link removed]]” in its implementation. Shortly after authorities announced this, they also said that the current bans on WhatsApp and Google Play would be lifted [[link removed]]. These attempts to appease a populace at odds with the regime and its principles shows that the Iranian government is slowly but surely beginning to bend to internal and external pressure.

Finally, in Nigeria, a Christian woman who was accused of blasphemy and spent five years in a legal ordeal has been acquitted of her charges [[link removed]] and moved to an undisclosed safe location. Rhoda Jatau, a mother of five, was initially accused and charged after she spoke against the lynching of Deborah Yakubu, a woman who was also accused of blasphemy. The charges should never have been brought in the first place and EXMNA welcomes the news that Jatau has received a small measure of justice, if much too delayed.

Persecution Tracker Updates

Read more about the case of Rhoda Jatau, the Nigerian Christian recently acquitted of blasphemy, from its beginning on our Persecution Tracker here [[link removed]].

Until next week,

The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America

P.S. We’d love to hear from you! Share your feedback at [email protected].

make a contribution [[link removed]]

Whether it’s giving $5 or $500, help us fight for a future where all are free to follow their conscience.

get to know more about our mission [[link removed]]

[[link removed]] Share [link removed] Tweet [link removed] Share [[link removed]] Forward [link removed]

© 2024 Ex-Muslims of North America. All rights reserved.

Read EXMNA's Privacy Policy [[link removed]] here

You're receiving this because you've subscribed to EXMNA for regular updates and insights. If you no longer wish to receive our emails, you can unsubscribe below.

Preferences [link removed] | Unsubscribe [link removed]