Ethiopian Christians told to convert to Islam, or die

Convert or die ~ there is something too classic about that line ~ there is this gut instinct ~ that says this is what Muhammad said when he attacked local peoples to force them to convert to his new vision for the old Kaaba religion.


Most Christians in Ethiopia are Ethiopian Orthodox, although there are a growing number of evangelical Christians. Ethiopia's development seems to have been abruptly halted around the time of Islam's rise. Some suggest that all effort may have gone into staying off marauding Muslims form across the Gulf of Aden. No doubt by the Ethiopians' own efforts Muslims were never able to successfully conquer their country and bring them under their assimilated yoke. They still maintain their own language and writing script and customs ~ no doubt to the displeasure of their Muslim neighbors.

According to a news release from International Christian Concern (ICC) , Christians in the Ethiopian city of Besheno are being harassed and physically abused after Muslims posted notices on the doors of Christian homes warning them to convert, leave the city or face death.

Three Christian leaders were forced to flee while two Christians have been forced to convert to Islam, said the ICC report. In the Muslim majority city, the entire evangelical Christian community consists of about 30 believers.

The ICC says that Evangelist Kassa Awano remains in critical condition after Muslims attacked him on November 29, 2010. A few days after the attack, nearly 100 Muslims surrounded a vehicle carrying Christian leaders on their way to negotiate for peace with Muslim leaders. Two men, Tesema Hirego and Niggusie Denano, were seriously wounded, and the other leaders suffered minor injuries. On January 2, Muslims assaulted Temesgen Peteros with a knife after he testified about the attacks on these Christians in court.

Christians in Besheno have been targeted by Muslims for many years. On May 21, 2004, Muslims murdered the 7 year-old daughter of Evangelist Tesfaye Hobe. Muslims continuously attack Christians for listening to Christian songs and watching Christian videos.

“We ask for our constitutional right [to freedom of religion] to be respected. We want this inhumane act to stop. We are unable to live in our own city due to the inhumane acts,” one of the Christian leaders who fled the city told ICC.

The ICC report said "The local Muslim officials of the city refuse to protect the Christians. The officials ignore their appeals for justice, declining repeated requests for the building of a place of worship and a cemetery. On January 19, a Christian mother was forced to bury her deceased daughter in a town more than 20 miles from Besheno, due to the absence of a cemetery for Christians."

Besheno is a city located in the province of Alaba in Southern Ethiopia. According to the 2007 national census, 93.84% of the population of the province is Muslim. Christians make up 5.82 % of the population.

“We are alarmed by the posting of threats on Christian homes and the attacks against Christians in Besheno. We urge Ethiopian officials to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice, protect the Christians from further attacks and grant them permits to build a place of worship as well as a cemetery,” said Jonathan Racho, ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa.

Christians in nearby Egypt are still reeling from the bomb attack on New Years Day in Alexandria that killed scores of worshippers leaving a Coptic church. Iraqi Christians, for example, continue to stream out of their country - which has one of the oldest Christian communities in the world - seeking refuge after concerted terrorist attacks at churches and homes.

Speroforum