Al Jazeera journalist’s final message centred on Allah
A final message to the world from the Al Jazeera journalist, Anas Al-Sharif, shot dead by Israeli troops, has been published on his Twitter account, showing how he framed his life and death as in the service of Allah. “If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles. I testify before Allah that I am content with His decree, certain of meeting Him, and assured that what is with Allah is better and everlasting. O Allah, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family”. He was married with two young children and was killed with four colleagues in their make shift office, in a tent outside a hospital. Their funerals were held yesterday. The journalists’church in London, St Bride’s Fleet Street, has added pictures of those killed on the ‘Journalists’ Altar’, next to a lit candle. His killing and that of his colleagues, has been widely condemned. Jon Williams from the Rory Peck Trust, which supports journalists worldwide, said: “The murder of six journalists in a single incident is one of the worst attacks on journalists ever… killing and targeting journalists is a war crime”. The UN’s human rights office has condemned the attack, calling it a grave breach of international law. The Times reports that IDF said Sharif was a terrorist who posed as a journalist. Al Jazeera and journalists’ rights groups have rejected Israel’s claims as baseless.
Call for British Jews to acknolwedge divisions over Gaza and debate with respect
The deputy editor of Jewish News, Daniel Sugarman, reflecting on the weekend’s demonstration in London, when two progressive rabbis were booed off the stage for talking about the Palestinian right to self-determination, writes that “Perhaps the time has now come for the community to admit that it is divided. That though people may love Israel – and consider themselves to be proudly Zionist – the ways in which they express that love and that pride are increasingly different. If the current situation in Israel and Gaza continues – for months, maybe even for years – attempts to pretend that unity prevails are bound to continuously culminate in situations like that experienced yesterday”. He identifies two camps: Tribe A believes that the core beliefs and ideas that Israel and Zionism were founded on, are being destroyed by the Israeli government, and they are disillusioned with the way the war has proceeded. Tribe B have been deeply impacted by the 7 October attack, proving to them that a Palestinian state would destroy Israel. Both sides think the other are zealots and condescending. One saw the removal of the rabbis as disgraceful, the other as showing the rabbis were out of touch with the crowd. Mr Sugarman suggests it would be better to “openly acknowledge such differences – maybe even find a way to debate or discuss them in a context of mutual respect – than to simply continue to pretend that they do not exist”. Jewish News article here
Fire damages Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba
Fire has damaged two chapels at the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, which dates back to the 7th century and is one of Europe’s most iconic buildings of Islamic architecture. There are suggestions that it started in a short circuit in an electric floor sweeping machine, causing a fire which spread to a chapel in the 10th-century Almánzor section and then the adjoining 13th-century Chapel of the Annunciation, where the roof collapsed and the interior was blackened by smoke. The Times reports that the mosque was first built by the Umayyad dynasty in the late 8th century and became a Christian cathedral after the conquest of Córdoba in 1236.
Cellist ends bicycle pilgrimage to all 42 English Anglican cathedrals
Kenneth Wilson, a poet, cellist and tree planter from Carlisle, has just finished a cycling tour which took him to all 42 cathedrals in England, where he stopped to give concerts to passing visitors. In an interview with The Telegraph, he explains that he was once a vicar, until a study of Wittgenstein led him to understand that “existence isn’t the right word to use about God”. However, he found on his travels that people still regard him as a pastor, bringing stories of love, grief and trauma: “For reasons that are not particularly clear to me, people tell me their deepest secrets… I catch people and almost instantly, we have a conversation about things that they may not talk about with anyone. I suppose they treat me as a confessional.” Aged 66, he said the journey was physically and emotionally overwhelming, with his bicycle weighed down by the cello strapped to the back. But it also gave him cause to consider the role of cathedrals in nurturing spirituality, not just stuck in a groove of history. The article is here
Toy shop owner hands company to staff as a witness to his Christian faith
The Christian owner of The Entertainer toy shop chain is handing over all the shares and ownership from his family to the 1,900 staff. Gary Grant told Premier Christian News that the decision followed five years of prayer and exit planning, as he looks back at 50 years in the retail business and 33 years as a Christian. He said: “I have lived out my faith through running the business, I have always wanted our business to be a good witness. I believe businesses can be a force for good, and handing the business over to the staff so they can benefit in its profits is a fantastic legacy.” The full story is here
Peace deal revives dispute over Azerbaijan’s treatment of Christians
As Donald Trump hosted a peace deal at the White House between Azerbaijani and Armenia, activists raised concerns about the way the Vatican has accepted money from Azerbaijan, despite human rights abuses against Christians. The Religion News Service reports campaigners who say Azerbaijan is using money to whitewash ethnic cleansing against Armenian Christians. Azerbaijan, rich in oil, has given the Vatican money for restoring Vatican-owned catacombs, a sculpture, museums and books and manuscripts in the Vatican’s library. RNS reports that “Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought wars over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, historically inhabited by both Armenian Christians and Azerbaijani Muslims. In 2023, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive and took control of the region, displacing more than 100,000 Armenians and destroying a number of Christian sites”. Article is here
‘Japanese Moonies’ member locked in his flat for 12 years for de-programming
A member of the Unification Church, or The Moonies, in Japan, who was confined to his flat in Tokyo by de-programmers for 12 years without success, has written a book about his experience. “The Battle for the Soul, Toru Goto’s harrowing tale of captivity and courage”, describes how between 1994 – 2008, he was locked inside his flat, denied all contact with the outside world and forced to undergo “confrontations with hired deprogrammers, religious ‘experts’ who subjected him to hours of theological attacks, emotional manipulation, and strategic exhaustion”. At one point, he was denied sufficient food, leaving him emaciated and malnourished. The police refused to intervene, as society viewed deprogramming not as a crime, but as a familial dispute. Afterwards, he successfully sued his family and others involved in his captivity, a case which ended the practice of forcible deprogramming in Japan. He is still a member of the church and says his faith was deepened by the experience, sustaining him through prayer and scripture. Today, the church has an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 members in Japan. In 2022, the former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead by a gunman who claimed his mother had been forced to give large sums of money to the church. It has since promised to prevent excessive donations from members. In March this year, Tokyo district court ordered the Unification Church to be dissolved, liquidating its assets and stripping it of its tax-exempt status. The church said it would appeal.
