ISIS Forces Out The Last Christians In Mosul, Iraq With Their Jizya Or Convert Demands

After living there for centuries, there are no more Christians in Mosul.  ISIS/ISIL gave them an ultimatum after gaining control of the northern Iraqi city- Convert to Islam, retain Dhimma status and pay the jizya (infidel tax), or death by the sword. They had until yesterday, July 19th to decide. The few remaining families left on the eve of the deadline, most with just the clothes on their back. Apparently, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the appointed Caliph of the Islamic State, announced that those who chose to leave would not be allowed to take any of their possessions. The few who tried, claim they were robbed.

Many fled to Iraqi Kurdistan, others to Hamdaniya, a predominately Christian town southeast of Mosul protected by Kurdish forces. One 60-year-old woman had this to say about leaving:

"We have lived in this city and we have had a civilisation for thousands of years - and suddenly some strangers came and expelled us from our homes."

Another man spoke about being robbed:

"The Islamic State stopped my relatives at a checkpoint when they were fleeing and when they found out they were Christians, they took everything they were carrying, including their mobile phones. They left them only with the clothes they were wearing."

But the Christians aren't the only ones ISIL has targeted, the Sunni radicals have forced Kurdish Yazidis, and Turkmen and Shabak Shi'ites to flee as well. Those they haven't captured or killed.

And that area was once considered the "cradle of civilization."

More on what they have endured.

Sources: Reuters,, HRW,

Egyptian Coptic Christians Forced To Pay "Jizya" Tax

According to the Christian Post, Coptic Christians in the town of Dalga, Egypt, are now being forced to pay the "jizya" tax to the Islamists. For those of you who might not now, that's the Islamic "submission" tax that non-Muslims have to pay if they choose not to convert to Islam. As much as $30.00 a day, for some.

Dalga, a city of 120,000 people in southern Egypt, is home to 20,000 Christians and has been under Islamist control since President Mohammed Morsi was forced to step down by the military at the beginning of the summer. After Morsi's was ousted, Islamist attackers descended upon the city's Christian neighborhoods, torching and plundering and establishing themselves as the city's authority. In response, many Coptic families have fled the city.

Father Yunis Shawqi told reporters from El Dostor Daily News yesterday that though the amount varied, the tax had been leveled against all Christian Copts.

"[The] value of the tribute and method of payment differ from one place to another in the village, so that, some are being expected to pay 200 Egyptian pounds per day, others 500 Egyptian pounds per day," Mr. Shawqi said, according to the translator.

More here.

Some Christians Can Be Killed- Says Egyptian Politician

Some Egyptian Christians can be killed, so says Mohamed Abu Samra, the secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Party.

"Those who came out with weapons, their blood is allowed for us [to spill], as a fighter is not considered dhimmi."

Dhimma, for those who might not know, is the Muslim law that provides protection for non-Muslims in Muslim lands as long as they pay the jizya (tax). If you don't, I guess you're on your own.

He laid out the  reasons why it's perfectly justifiable to  kill some Christians, during  an interview with Al-Watan newspaper:

"In the recent funeral, the Christians brought the Qur'an and urinated on it. The Sheikh of Al-Azhar did not deny it. They also came out in demonstrations to destroy Muslim places, chanting 'We'll bring Islam down by any means possible.

"Jihad gagged the new pope, as we told him in a statement 'your seclusion will not terrorize us.' If you want civil war, we will welcome it as you were the ones who started it."

"I believe that Pope Tawadros is more dangerous than Shenouda, because the former considers using force as he is trying to establish a Coptic state. He considers the arrival of the Islamists an opportunity to declare civil war. " "I believe that offering concessions to this person will make him continue on the path, which he charted, but the end will not be as he expects. Egypt is not like Lebanon or Southeast Asia, and national unity is a fact [here]."

"What Tawadros is doing is a far cry from what the Coptic people want."

More here.

U.S. Aid To Egypt Is Jizya Tax Claims Egyptian Cleric

On Al-Hafez TV in Egypt,  Egyptian Cleric Dr. Khaled Said tells his audience that U.S. aid is actually considered, by him, to be jizya- the poll tax non-Muslims are required to pay in Muslim majority countries for the privilege of living in a Muslim land. In our case, we are paying it for the privilege of using their air space and territorial waters.

Tell me again why we are sending them F-16s and millions of dollars in aid?