Posted: 05/06/2015 at 5:03pm | IP Logged

Activists Warn Congress of Christian 'Ethnic Cleansing'

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CBN News

Every day, thousands of Christians in the Middle East are brutally persecuted by Islamic jihadists demanding they convert to Islam or pay the penalties.

Many groups are urging lawmakers to step up to assist those being tortured and discriminated against.

Speakers from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss the horrors Middle East Christians are facing on a daily basis.

"Entire ancient Christian communities right now are being wiped out by hatred and terror," Yael Eckstein, senior vice president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, said.

The IFCJ and Concerned Women for America came together to discuss the dangerous persecution going on in the Middle East.

CBN's Erick Stakelbeck moderated the panel as speakers focused on religious persecution and what American policymakers can do to stop these atrocities.

Terrorism expert Dr. Walid Phares, who took part in the panel discussion, said we are witnessing the worst conditions for Christians in the Middle East since the rise of the Islamic State caliphate.

"The case can be made that in Iraq and Syria alone Christian minorities are under danger of complete ethnic cleansing," Phares said. "This is a demographic catastrophe."

Other panelists argued we must not be afraid to refer to those committing these heinous crimes as Islamic jihadists.

"We need to identify what's happening in order to accurately fight it," Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance said.

Eckstein emphasized the need for the Jewish and Christian communities to unite against those persecuting them.

"They're not kicking out the Christian community because they don't have anywhere to go," Eckstein said. "They're just killing them, and so we're seeing mass killings and I want to see the Christian and Jewish communities coming together to say this is unacceptable."

Eckstein urges Christians around the world to work together to overcome the rising tide of Islamic persecution against Christians.

"If all the Christians stand together to say we demand freedom, we do not stand with the people that are persecuting the Christians in the Middle East, and we are going to take action against them, even if that action is education -- education can be a very, very powerful weapon," Eckstein said.