"I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!" the president declared in a TRUTH post.

With this declaration, Trump has stepped into a deeply contentious issue that has become a rallying cry for parts of the Christian and evangelical right in the US. Last month, the conservative New York Post, known for its hawkish stance and willingness to criticize even the president, published an editorial urging him to intervene in Nigeria to protect the country's persecuted Christians.

Video: Attacks on worshippers and churches in Nigeria /// Reuters

The paper claimed that a staggering 18,000 churches had been destroyed, 50,000 Christians murdered, and more than 5 million displaced by attacks carried out by Muslims against their Christian neighbors. It argued that while Nigeria's government fights fiercely against Islamist terrorist groups in the country's north, it has done little to stop armed militias of Muslim herders from the central belt who target Christian farming communities.

A land dispute, or genocide?

Leading the political charge is Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose base includes evangelical Christians. Cruz has introduced legislation requiring the administration to classify events in Nigeria as religious persecution, demanding a US response, rather than as a conflict linked to climate change, as the Biden administration had previously described it.

Nigeria, with a population of 220 million, is almost evenly split between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced instability from multiple fronts, including the extremist Boko Haram group, which seeks to impose its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems insufficiently devout.

The violence in Nigeria is fueled by multiple factors. Some attacks are religiously motivated and target both Christians and Muslims. Others stem from resource disputes between herders and farmers, intercommunal rivalries, separatist movements, and ethnic clashes.

While Christians are among the victims, analysts note that most people killed by armed groups are Muslims in northern Nigeria, where the majority of attacks occur. Both Muslim and Christian communities have, at various times, accused the other side of committing "genocide" during bouts of religiously charged violence. These attacks are most frequent in the north-central and northwestern regions, where conflicts between predominantly Christian farming communities and Fulani herders, who are mostly Muslim, are widespread.

Joseph Hayab, former chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State, one of the areas hardest hit by insecurity, disputed claims of a "Christian genocide." He acknowledged that thousands of Christians have been killed over the years but added, "Things are better than they were before." Still, he cautioned that every killing must be condemned.

Whether the widespread killings and destruction in Nigeria's central belt constitute an anti-Christian genocide or a land conflict between farmers and herders may ultimately determine whether Washington takes real action. For the victims, however, the legal definition matters far less than the devastation that has upended their lives.

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Speaking for the many Christian supporters of Israel in Ireland, and in my capacity as national director of the Irish branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, we sense a deep shame regarding the actions of our government in recognizing a state of Palestine and, especially under the present circumstances.

In our opinion, nothing has been achieved by this action except to reward the terrorism and barbarism of Hamas on 7 October 2023 and to encourage further terror attacks on Israel and political intransigence by Palestinian leaders.

We clearly remember that there was a very different response to the terror attacks of 9/11.  At that time, our government stood firm with our American friends and held a national day of mourning. It would have been considered unthinkable to reward the al-Qaeda jihadi terrorists in any way. Yet, that is precisely what our government has done by recognizing a State of Palestine. We have rewarded terrorism and, by doing so, have exposed a moral bankruptcy at the heart of our nation that we have not seen since our government expressed condolences to the German people on the death of Adolf Hitler in 1945. Ireland was on the wrong side of history then, and we are certainly on the wrong side of history now!

Furthermore, our government claims to uphold international law, under which the legal recognition of statehood can only be conferred by a unanimous vote of the United Nations Security Council and certainly not by upstart national governments. Clearly, our action is but a paper tiger, but nonetheless an extremely dangerous one in that it encourages jihadi terrorists everywhere with the message that violence pays.

Over the last six months, cities across Ireland have heard the odious chant "from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free". This began within two days of the massacre and was not related to any subsequent actions in Gaza. It is clear that the 'protestors' are calling for the total destruction of the nation of Israel and not for a two-state solution. It is equally obvious that the two-state solution, naively promoted by our government, is not the outcome that the Palestinian people themselves are looking for. It is clear that the Palestinian people are looking for a one-state solution, a 'final solution,' and a 'judenrein' solution. That is what their opinion polls tell us, and it is even what the maps in their school textbooks tell us. The Irish government needs to wake up to what the Palestinians themselves are demanding rather than listening to their own deluded imaginations. A foretaste of what the road to that state looks like was seen on 7 October 2023.

It was a mini-Shoah, but in some ways, it was far worse, in that the Nazis tried to conceal their wicked deeds, but Hamas and their Palestinian supporters have openly celebrated the rape and butchery of Jews. They boasted of their evil deeds then and openly declared their intent to do them again.

So, for our government to think that the appropriate response to these wicked deeds and evil intentions is to reward them with a fictional state is deeply shameful and is a stain on our beloved Ireland. There is a saying that says, "You know a man by his friends." If that is so, what does it say about us Irish by the type of friends that we are making?

Under these circumstances, we regretfully understand the recall of Israeli Ambassador Dana Ehrlich from Dublin. We will sorely miss her as, in our opinion, she is the best of many excellent Israeli ambassadors to Ireland. The nation of Israel should be justly proud of her and the work that she has done in Ireland.

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Hundreds attended the traditional procession on the Mount of Olives with palm fronds and olive branches that celebrate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem at the start of Holy Week.

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"In Easter, we celebrate the feast of love and life. My wish to all is that love and life can determine our life more than the violence we are living," the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said after mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.

Christians in Jerusalem have also complained of increasing violence in recent months, Israel has said it maintains the status quo of holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, where some of the holiest sites for Jews, Christians, and Muslims sit virtually side by side, but Christian leaders have voiced growing alarm "What we are seeing is that what we call the status quo, the balance between the different communities – Jews, Muslims, Christians – is not respected anymore," Pizzaballa told reporters in Jerusalem last week.

"That aspect is problematic for me, that they consider Christians as guests. We are not guests. We are part of the identity of the city." But the pressure felt by the city's local Christians has done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of foreign visitors. According to data recorded by the Franciscan Pilgrims' Office, at least 261,353 pilgrims were expected to travel to Jerusalem this year, with visits peaking around Holy Week to numbers even higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he would prevent the passage of a proposal to punish Christian proselytizing with jail time.

The proposal had raised an uproar among evangelical Christians – one of Israel's strongest and most influential supporters in the United States –.

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The bill was introduced in January by a pair of ultra-Orthodox Jewish lawmakers, including Moshe Gafni, who heads the parliament's Finance Committee. It says soliciting someone to convert their faith should be punishable by one year in prison and solicitation to convert a minor would be punishable with a two-year sentence.

"Recently, the attempts of missionary groups, mainly Christians, to solicit conversion of religion have increased," it said.

The bill was never advanced, but it drew widespread attention in the American evangelical world this week after All Israel News, an evangelical news site, reported on it.

Evangelical Christians, particularly in the United States, are among the strongest backers of Israel, viewing it as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, with some seeing it as the harbinger of a second coming of Jesus Christ and the end of days.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu announced on Twitter: "We will not advance any law against the Christian community."

Gafni said he had introduced the bill as a procedural matter, as he has done in the past, and there were no plans to advance it.

Israel has long welcomed evangelical's political and financial support, and it has largely shrugged off concerns about any hidden religious agenda. But most Jews view any effort to convert them to Christianity as deeply offensive, a legacy of centuries of persecution and forced conversion at the hands of Christian rulers.

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Christmas was celebrated in various cities across Israel on Saturday, highlighting bridges built between Jewish and Christian communities by organizations such as the Jerusalemite Initiative.

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The non-profit organization, established in 2017, was formed to empower Arabic-speaking Christian Israelis in the Jewish state.

Elias Zarina, the cofounder of the Jerusalemite Initiative, spoke with Emily Frances of the i24NEWS magazine Holy Land Uncovered on the subject.

"The Jerusalemite Initiative is an organization that works for the local community of Christians in Israel, especially in Jerusalem," Zarina explained.

"We are Jews and Christians working side by side, focusing on the goal of integrating Christians" in Israel, he said.

He noted that the lack of education of the Hebrew language among the community is "the barrier between local Christians and Israeli society," so the NGO focuses on that issue.

Christians make up roughly two percent of Israel's population (177,000 people) as of 2019.

Around 78% of these people are Arab Christians.

"For me, as an Israeli Christian, I'm living in Israel with an Israeli ID… I'm Christian Arabic-speaking, but not really Palestinian," Zarina said.

"If I search for where I came from… I find that my roots come from Judaism. If I deny Judaism, I will also deny Christianity," he explained.

Christian Israelis are historically bound with their brethren in neighboring Lebanon and Syria and with Christian Palestinians.

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There is a conflict inside the community. There is a pro-Palestine side that believes in the Palestinian nation," Zarina described.

"Then there is my side, which believes we need and should live together here as citizens in the State of Israel," he said.

 This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Israeli authorities on Wednesday said they would permit 500 members of the Gaza Strip's tiny Christian community to enter Israel to celebrate Christmas.

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COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, announced the permits allowing people to visit relatives and holy sites in Israel. It said it was also increasing access to Jerusalem for Christians in the territories of Judea and Samaria and allowing some 200 Gazan Christians to travel through Israel to Jordan for journeys abroad.

About 1,000 Christians live in Gaza, a tiny fraction of the territory's 2 million people. Most are Greek Orthodox, with Catholics making up about a quarter of the small community.

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Lebanon was on edge over the weekend after seven people were shot and killed during a pro-Hezbollah march in Beirut calling for the removal of the judge investigating last year's Beirut port blast.

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In the wake of accusations that the Christian "Lebanese Forces" party and its leader Samir Geagea were behind the incident, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, ran a front page story depicting Geagea as Adolf Hitler under the headline, "No Doubt."

In the article, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Ibrahim al-Amine, wrote that Geagea "still doesn't care about faces, names or loved ones."

"Samir Geagea, you were the first to know what happened yesterday. Not through intelligence you never knew existed, but because you planned and prepared and carried out a crime that matches what you have done since you took up arms. It is a crime. Greater than all the crimes you have committed here and there, as [you strive] to start a widespread civil war… And you were not the only one to know what happened yesterday," al-Amine wrote.

A Beirut resident who spoke with Israel Hayom said the shooting at Shiite protesters was carried out by snipers and gunmen stationed on the roofs and balconies of buildings located along the route of Hezbollah and Amal supporters.

"Hezbollah and Amal [activists] deliberately passed through the Christian neighborhoods to provoke and defy the Christian residents as most of those killed and injured in the blast at the port were Christian residents in neighborhoods west of Beirut near the port," the resident said.

"They thought we would sit quietly while Hezbollah tried to steal Lebanon and turn it into another Iranian province as is happening in Syria. We are tired of Hezbollah doing everything to destroy Lebanon. The criminal negligence that caused the port explosion is also a result of Hezbollah's corrupt conduct in the country," he added.

Late Friday, Geagea denied that his group had planned the street violence and said a meeting held the day before was purely political.

Geagea told Voice of Beirut International radio that a meeting held on Wednesday by a political grouping the Lebanese Forces belongs to had discussed action options should Iran-backed Hezbollah succeed in efforts to remove the judge, Tarek Bitar.

He said the option agreed upon in that event was to call for a public strike, and nothing else.

Asked whether the presence of Lebanese Forces members in the areas of the Christian Ain al-Remmaneh and Teyouneh neighborhoods, where the shooting erupted, meant the incident was planned, Geagea said they were always present in these areas.

The security coordinator in the party contacted the authorities when they heard a protest was planned and asked for a heavy military presence in the area "as our priority was for the demonstration to pass by simply as a demonstration and not affect civil peace," Geagea said.

Geagea said his party was assured that would be the case.

"The army has arrested snipers so they need to tell us who they are and where they came from," he told the radio station.

Nineteen people have been detained so far in relation to the incident.

Geagea, whose party has close ties to Saudi Arabia, also criticized Lebanese President Michel Aoun over a phone call between the two during the incident.

Aoun's party, the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanon's largest Christian bloc, is an ally of Hezbollah.

"I didn't like this call at all," Geagea said, saying Aoun implicitly made the same accusations of involvement that Hezbollah has by asking him to calm down the situation.

"This is totally unacceptable," said Geagea.

Perhaps surprisingly, meanwhile, the leader of the Free Patriotic movement, Gebran Bassil, said on Saturday that the investigation into the Beirut port blast should not be stopped, contrary to the position of ally Hezbollah.

"The Free Patriotic movement is [in favor of] continuing the probe, revealing the truth and putting those responsible on trial," Bassil said in a speech.

Bassil, who is Aoun's son-in-law, was hit with US sanctions last year for alleged corruption and his ties to Hezbollah. He has denied the allegations.

France, the United States and United Nations have appealed for calm but also insisted on the need to allow the port explosion probe to continue unhindered.

Thursday's violence has added to concerns for the stability of a country that is awash with weapons and grappling with an economic meltdown.

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Israeli Consul General in Los Angeles Hillel Newman recently convened a meeting with a dozen influential pastors from across Southern California to address the rise in antisemitism and to strengthen ties with the Christian community.

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"We stand with our Christian brothers and sisters and appreciate their standing in solidarity with the State of Israel; this relationship exemplifies the importance of building bridges and acting in unity," Newman said in a statement.

"Pastors, as spiritual community leaders, serve as role models to many people who struggle with hate and discrimination. Our task is to strengthen the voices of moderation against radicalism."

The Aug. 4 meeting, held at Newman's residence in Los Angeles, included a discussion on how the Christian and Jewish communities can stand together against hate crimes and antisemitism, and how the Israeli Consulate can serve as a resource for Christian communities regarding current events and Israeli tourism.

The gathering included prominent Christian leaders from as far north as Bakersfield and as far south as San Diego.

The group decided to meet on a regular basis and invite additional pastors and community leaders to join in this effort.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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Miami Imam Dr. Fadi Yousef Kablawi called Israel the "land of Islam" and said Israelis would "run like mice" when Muslims come to take it back.

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In a Friday sermon delivered at Masjid as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah in North Miami and posted on the mosque's official Facebook page on April 16, Kablawi thanked Israelis for building the settlements, which he said would serve as housing for the Muslims when they take the land back.

"Because this is what your history [teaches]. If you are loyal to your land and you claim that it is your land, why did you leave it twice? Why did you leave it twice and run away? Go read your history before you come to us. We are tired of you," he said.

"And you will continue to see the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and you will continue to see the Dome of the Rock. You will continue to see the Palestinians and Muslims visiting that mosque, and you will continue to hear us reciting: 'Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from the Al-Haram Mosque to the Al-Aqsa Mosque,' until you go to your grave, and until we take it back. By Allah, we will take it back. Palestine is the land of Islam," he said.

Every Muslim, he said, "should talk to himself about dying for the sake of Allah."

Kablawi asked why only Muslims who die for their cause are considered terrorists, while non-Muslims such as the late South African President Nelson Mandela, [famed Indian pacifist Mahatma] Gandhi, [Argentine Marxist revolutionary] Che Guevara, and [Jamaican musician and singer] Bob Marley are considered heroes.

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"Why do you praise these people? Because they died for what they believe in. So why is it forbidden for us, when we say that the greatest level that you can attain is to die for what you believe in – for Allah? Why? You have double standards, hypocrites, why?" he asked.

"All day long you are bugging us that Jesus died for us … We don't believe that Jesus died for us, we don't even believe that Jesus died, period. Yet. But here, you are praising Jesus because he died for what he believed in, to save you from your sins. Why is it forbidden for us to die for our belief, why has it become a big deal?" he asked.

Christians, he said, should convert to Islam because Muslims believe Jesus is still alive.

"After all these years that they lied to you and told you that Jesus died, and here, we Muslims are coming to tell you that Jesus is alive. So what do you do in return? You fight us. If you truly love Jesus, this is the religion for you. Ask the people who converted [from Christianity]. Wasn't this a deal-breaker or a deal maker? Jesus, you claim you love Jesus, and we love Jesus, but we love him more than you. But we love the Jesus that we believe in, and you love the Jesus they lied to you about—two different Jesuses," he said.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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Crosses etched in mysterious abundance across the walls of Christianity's most sacred church were long assumed to be graffiti, but they may be the work of medieval masons paid to carve them by pilgrims, research suggests.]

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Revered in Christian tradition as the site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial, Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre usually bustles with worshippers and clergy. That has made study of the sacred markings difficult.

But renovations in 2018 at one of its chapels featuring thousands of the close-bunched and hand-engraved crosses gave the Israel Antiquities Authority and Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem an opportunity for research.

In coordination with the Armenian Orthodox Church, which controls the chapel, the scholars used digital cameras and three-dimensional imaging to map out, compare and date the crosses.

Video: Reuters

"This unique phenomenon always baffled us: Is it graffiti of the pilgrims, or rather, something else?...," said Amit Re'em, Jerusalem regional archaeologist for the IAA.

"We saw that all of them (crosses) have the same depth and even the marking of the mason," he said, provisionally dating them to the 15th century.

"Maybe two or three hand artists made these crosses," Re'em said. "...So it's not graffiti, it's something more organized."

He suggested an intercesionary purpose.

"Let's say that you are an Armenian pilgrim, so you pay something to the priest, you pay something to this special artist and he carved for you, for the benefit of your soul and your relatives' souls, ...a special cross in the most sacred place for Christianity on earth," Re'em said.

Father Samuel Aghoyan, the Armenian superior at the Holy Sepulchre, saw benefits to the church from the research, especially as it struggles to emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns and prepares for Easter.

"Now there are no pilgrims here, (but) still their spirit is here, we know, I believe in that," he said.

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