From Gatestone Institute <[email protected]>
Subject 'There Is No Security for You Except by Islam or Jizya [Protection Tax]': Extremist Persecution of Christians, February 2026
Date June 28, 2026 9:30 AM
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In this mailing:
* Raymond Ibrahim: 'There Is No Security for You Except by Islam or Jizya [Protection Tax]': Extremist Persecution of Christians, February 2026
* Amir Taheri: Trump's Golden Mirage for Iran


** 'There Is No Security for You Except by Islam or Jizya [Protection Tax]': Extremist Persecution of Christians, February 2026 ([link removed])
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by Raymond Ibrahim • June 28, 2026 at 5:00 am
* [A]rmed groups have repeatedly raided villages, killing residents, burning homes, churches, and crops, and forcing survivors to flee into the surrounding areas. Entire communities have been obliterated. Many displaced families are unable to return: attackers reportedly seized farmland and target those who try to come back. — International Christian Concern, February 13, 2026, Nigeria.
* Pakistan's Federal Constitutional Court granted custody of 13-year-old Christian girl, Maria Shahbaz, to a 30-year-old Muslim man accused of kidnapping, forcibly converting, and marrying her. The court rejected her official birth certificate and ignored prior findings that the marriage was illegal, instead accepting her statement that she converted and married voluntarily—despite claims from her family and lawyer that it was made under coercion. Rights advocates and the girl's family criticized the ruling, pointing to evidence that the marriage certificate was fake and raising concerns about police inaction and possible collusion. They argue the girl had been in the suspect's custody for months, making any statement unreliable. — Morning Star News, February 1, 2026, Pakistan.
* [A] blind Christian man, Nadeem Masih, was denied bail by the Lahore High Court after being charged under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which carry the death penalty. He has been in custody since August 2025 after his arrest. Police accused him of making insulting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad. His lawyer argues that the case is built on inconsistent statements, questionable timing, and evidence that contradicts the official police account... — Morning Star News, February 4, 2026, Pakistan.
* "Blasphemy accusations are increasingly weaponized to incite mob violence, displace marginalized groups and seize their property with impunity." — Morning Star News, February 4, 2026, Pakistan.
* [A] Christian leader and former Muslim, Dedi Saputra, was arrested, based on a TikTok video. Saputra had answered a question about religious conversion by stating that Muhammad had only one wife before becoming a prophet, but a dozen wives afterward. Despite the historical accuracy of the statement (corroborated by a Suara Muhammadiyah magazine article), the Aceh Islamic Sharia Office and several Islamic youth organizations reported him for "religious defamation" and "hate speech," and claimed that the video "hurt the feelings of Muslims" and "sparked unrest." — Morning Star News, February 27, 2026, Indonesia.
* In Rome, a 35-year-old man was arrested in St. Peter's Basilica after attempting to enter the church while carrying flammable liquids and ignition devices during a major Mass led by the pope. — The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe, February 3, 2026, Italy.
* [A]t least 20 Yemeni Christians were arrested or abducted from their homes or off the street. While some are confirmed in Houthi-run prisons, others have "disappeared" and face potential torture or execution for their faith. Yemen is officially 99-100% Muslim; conversion to Christianity under Yemeni law is punishable by death. — International Christian Concern, February 17, 2026, Yemen.
* [R]ecent legislation poses an "existential threat" to non-Muslim representation. Parliament Bill No. 419, enacted Jan. 28, voided all sectoral certifications...." — International Christian Concern, February 17, 2026, Philippines.
* [A] Lebanese-born evangelist... was assaulted while preaching in the streets of Utrecht. A group of Muslim men interrupted his preaching, shouting Islamist slogans such as "Allah is one" and "Jesus is a human." The situation escalated when one of the men, apparently attempting to assert dominance, struck Elyas before bystanders intervened to stop the violence. — L'Observatoire de la Christianophobie, February 22, 2026, The Netherlands.
* Khaled explicitly vowed to go on a killing spree—"I will kill everything I see before me, women, children, and everything." He also insulted Christianity as the "dirtiest religion," [and] refers to Germany as a "Nazi land".... Despite numerous criminal complaints for insults, threats, and property damage (such as smashing glass bottles in the town hall parking lot), West Hesse police have only conducted "threat talks" (Gefährderansprachen) but, as no "serious crimes" have been committed, apparently see no legal basis yet for an arrest. — L'Observatoire de la Christianophobie, February 27, 2026, Germany.
* Jameel Masih, a 14-year-old Christian boy, forcibly converted to Islam, is being held in illegal custody by a Muslim landlord.... Minor children from minorities are often converted to ensure permanent control over them as laborers. — Morning Star News, February 27, 2026, Pakistan.
* Because their father is registered as Muslim, NADRA [National Database and Registration Authority] has also been blocking his five children from registering as Christians on their National Identity Cards (CNICs). Without these cards, the children are barred from education, banking, voting, and government assistance. Human rights advocates highlight that the brick kiln sector uses financial advances (debt bondage) to trap illiterate Christian workers, thereby making them vulnerable to forced religious identity changes. The Masih family, living in extreme poverty, lacks the means for the lengthy court battles required... Attempting to renounce a Muslim identity in Pakistan carries severe risks and can trigger mob violence or accusations of blasphemy that can result in death. — Morning Star News, February 18, 2026, Pakistan.

On February 3,Pakistan's Federal Constitutional Court granted custody of 13-year-old Christian girl, Maria Shahbaz, to a 30-year-old Muslim man accused of kidnapping, forcibly converting, and marrying her. Pictured: The seat of Pakistan's Constitutional Court, in Islamabad. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/ AFP via Getty Images)

The following are among the murders and abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians throughout the month of February 2026.

The Muslim Slaughter of Christians

Nigeria: According to a Feb. 13 report, more than 100 Christians were killed and more than 90,000 displaced after months of coordinated attacks on rural communities since September 2025. In areas such as Takum, Ussa, and Donga, armed groups have repeatedly raided villages, killing residents, burning homes, churches, and crops, and forcing survivors to flee into the surrounding areas. Entire communities have been obliterated. Many displaced families are unable to return: attackers reportedly seized farmland and target those who try to come back.

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** Trump's Golden Mirage for Iran ([link removed])
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by Amir Taheri • June 28, 2026 at 4:00 am
* The solution to the "Iran problem" isn't money; it is good governance. And that requires a change of regime beyond what Trump pretends has already happened.

The solution to the "Iran problem" isn't money; it is good governance. And that requires a change of regime beyond what Trump pretends has already happened. Pictured: Members of the Iranian security forces stand under a billboard of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on April 9, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Whether or not the 60-day diplomatic ping pong between the Trump administration and remnants of the Islamic Republic produces anything resembling peace, one thing is clear: There will be no shower of gold over Iran as the faction taking part in the talks pretend.

The faction that unites the remnants of the Rafsanjani cartel with some erstwhile foes among the military-security mafia is beating the drums about Iran gaining access to frozen assets, estimated at over $100 billion in 22 countries, shoveling money by imposing tariffs on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and starting to export crude on a no-tomorrow basis.

But the pièce de résistance in this imaginary banquet is the $300 billion carrot waved by President Donald Trump as an alternative to the stick of bombing Iran back to the Stone Age.

Put those mouth-watering figures together and you are talking of a $1 trillion bonanza.

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