Local Christians sense authorities,
extremists and society in collusion against them.
RABAT, Morocco, June 17
(CDN) -
Moroccan
Christians say Muslim extremists in the country are aiding and
encouraging the government to pursue them by exposing and vilifying them
on social networking site Facebook.
Facebook user Gardes
Maroc Maroc has posted 32 image collages featuring dozens of Christian
converts, calling them "hyena evangelists" or "wolves in lamb's skins"
who are trying to "shake the faith of Muslims." That terminology on the
website, which is in Arabic, matches that of Morocco's
anti-proselytizing law, which outlaws efforts to "shake the faith of
Muslims."
The online images depict Christian converts and
their families from across the country and include details about their
roles and activities in churches, their personal addresses and anecdotal
stories attempting to malign them.
"These are some pics of
Moroccan convert hyenas," reads one image.
Since March, the
Moroccan government has expelled more than 100 foreign Christians for
alleged "proselytizing." Authorities failed to give Christians
deportation orders or enough time to settle their affairs before they
left.
Observers have called this a calculated effort to
purge the historically moderate Muslim country, known for its
progressive policies, of all Christian elements - both foreign and
national.
Amid a national media campaign to vilify
Christians in Morocco, more than 7,000 Muslim clerics signed a statement
denouncing all Christian activities and calling foreign Christians' aid
work "religious terrorism."
On the Facebook page, Gardes
Maroc Maroc makes a particularly strident call to Moroccan authorities
to investigate adoptive parents of children from the village of Ain
Leuh, 50 miles south of Fez. The user claims that local Christians under
orders of "foreign missionaries" were attempting to adopt the children
so missionary efforts would not "go in vain."
On March 8,
the Moroccan government expelled 26 Christian foreign staff members and
parents working at Village of Hope in Ain Leuh.
Now
efforts against national Christians have gained momentum. One image on
the Facebook page challenged the Islamic Ministry of Religious Affairs
and Endowments, saying, "Evangelist hyenas are deriding your Ministry."
The page with the images claimed that Christians had rented out an
apartment belonging to that government ministry.
An entire
page was dedicated to a well-known Christian TV personality in the
Middle East, Rashid Hmami, and his family. The user also inserted
pictures of hyenas next to those of Christians, presumably to indicate
their danger to the nation.
National Christians
Threatened
Moroccan Christians told Compass that authorities
had begun harassing them even before the forced deportations of
foreigners, and that pressure from officials only intensified in March
and April.
Since the deportations started in early March,
it seems that authorities, extremists and society as a whole have
colluded against them, local Christians said. Dozens of Christians have
been called to police stations for interrogation. Many of them have been
threatened and verbally abused.
"They mocked our faith,"
said one Moroccan Christian who requested anonymity. "They didn't talk
nicely."
Authorities interrogated the convert for eight
hours and followed him for three weeks in March and April, he said.
During interrogation, he added, local police told him they were prepared
to throw him in jail and kill him.
Another Moroccan
Christian reported that a Muslim had taken him to court because of his
Christian activities. Most Moroccan Christians that spoke to Compass
said the attitudes of their Muslim relatives had shifted, and many have
been kicked out of their homes or chosen to leave "to not create
problems" for their families.
Moroccan converts meet in
house churches. Some of them have stopped meeting until the pressure
subsides.
"The government is testing the reactions," said
Moroccan lawyer Abdel Adghirni of the recent pressure on Christians.
The lawyer, known as one of the strongest defenders of Berber
rights in Morocco, said that although the government's recent reactions
seem regressive, they are part of the nation's societal transformation
process.
"The government is trying to dominate," said
Adghirni. "They are defending themselves. They feel the wind of change.
All of this is normal for me - like a complex chemistry that activates
as different elements come into contact. Things are moving."
Congressional
Hearing
In an effort to alert U.S. Congress to the sudden
turn against religious tolerance in Morocco, the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission is holding congressional hearings today on the deportations
of foreign Christians from the country.
Earlier today, the
National Clergy Council held a press conference at the National Press
Club in Washington, D.C., to congratulate the Moroccan government on
religious tolerance. Organizers of the congressional hearings said they
view the council's press conference as an effort to counter the
hearings.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, who heads the council, has
had numerous exchanges with Moroccan Islamic leaders and in early April
met with the Moroccan ambassador to the United States.
"I
have enjoyed a close friendship of several years with the ambassador,"
Schenck stated on his website.
Organizers of the
congressional hearings have said they are baffled that the National
Clergy Council, and in particular Schenck, would speak so highly of the
Moroccan government at a time when it is in such blatant violation of
human rights.
"There's good and bad in every country, but
what Morocco has done on the whole to advance religious liberty in that
region of the world is extraordinary," Schenck said in a media statement
yesterday on Christian Newswire. "We hope to present a fair and
balanced picture of this unusual country."
Congressman
Frank Wolf (R-Va.), co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission, said that the Moroccan government has deported nearly 50
U.S. citizens.
"In spite of this, the U.S. government has
pledged $697.5 million to Morocco over the next five years through the
Millennium Challenge Corporation," he said. Wolf is advocating that the
United States withhold the nearly $697.5 million in aid that it has
pledged to Morocco.
"It is inappropriate for American
taxpayer money to go to a nation which disregards the rights of American
citizens residing in Morocco and forcibly expels Americans without due
process of law," he said.
Among those appearing at the
hearing today is Dutch citizen Herman Boonstra, leader of Village of
Hope, who was expelled in March. Boonstra and his wife were forced to
leave eight adopted children in Morocco. Moroccan authorities have
refused re-entry for the couple, as they have for all deported Christian
foreigners.
Lawyer Adghirni said he believes Morocco
cannot survive and develop economically - and democratically - without
national diversity.
"We can't be free without Christians,"
Adghirni said. "The existence of Christians among us is the proof of
liberty."
END
source
compassdirect.org
