A Demand For Action (ADFA): From a Social Media Campaign to an International Human Rights Advocacy Group and Aid Organization
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A Demand For Action retweeted
ALERT: The violence in Ethiopia’s Arsi Zone is escalating. 34 more Christians bodies discovered yesterday in Robe Woreda just 11 days after the Shirka massacre of 45+ believers. Ongoing silence enables ongoing atrocities.
@StateDept @USCIRF @HouseForeign
@HouseForeignGOP @SenateForeign @SecRubio @USEmbassyAddis @RepGregoryMeeks @BrianMast @SenatorRisch @USAmbUN @VOLKER_TURK @EUinEthiopia @hrw @amnesty @ADFIntl
- Impose Global Magnitsky sanctions
- Demand accountability & protection for target communities
#ProtectArsiChristians #EthiopiaHumanRights
A Demand For Action retweeted
A Syrian Antiochian Greek Christian Goldsmith Faces Beheading as Kidnappers Demand 120 Kilograms of Gold
Maher Al-Sankari, a Syrian Christian goldsmith, remains in captivity. His kidnappers are reportedly continuing to extort his family, threatening to behead him unless they pay a ransom of 120 kilograms of gold, worth approximately $15 million.
This is not merely a kidnapping for ransom. It raises a much deeper and historically familiar concern for the Christians of Syria: the systematic targeting of their livelihoods, property, and accumulated wealth.
Throughout history, Antiochian Greeks (Rum), have built their livelihoods through their own hard work, ingenuity, and perseverance, despite generations of persecution and discrimination.
They excelled in science, engineering, craftsmanship, jewelry making, goldsmithing, diamond trading, and the arts. Their prosperity was not handed to them. It was earned through generations of education, skilled labor, entrepreneurship, and dedication to their professions.
Yet their success has repeatedly made them targets of raids, confiscation, intimidation, and extortion. Demands for gold and wealth evoke a painful historical pattern in which Christians were treated as communities whose prosperity could be seized through threats and violence.
Today, the demand for 120 kilograms of gold raises the disturbing question of whether we are witnessing a modern form of jizya imposed through kidnapping and terror, rather than through any formal decree.
Surveillance cameras reportedly captured the vehicle involved in Maher’s abduction. Yet serious questions remain about the authorities’ response and their ability or willingness to bring those responsible to justice.
Maher’s life is in immediate danger if the reported threats are genuine. His family should not have to surrender a fortune to save him.
The Antiochian Greeks of Syria have contributed enormously to the civilization, economy, and cultural heritage of their homeland. They deserve protection, not persecution.
Free Maher Nours Al-Sankari. Protect Syria’s Christians. End the extortion and terror.
A Demand For Action retweeted
#Ethiopia: Following a new attack by militants in Robe Woreda, East Arsi Zone of the Oromia region, a week after the deadly massacre that killed 60+ Christians, several civilians were killed on November 5, and the bodies of 34 Christians were recovered.
A Demand For Action retweeted
Please pray for Said Abdelrazek who is persecuted for converting to Christianity and has upcoming trial on the 3rd November. He is been persecuted under bogus terrorism charges that can lead to a life or death sentence. 🙏✝️
Who gets a seat at the table in Syria after Assad? And what will it take for families driven out by ISIS to return?
Swedish lawmaker @Y_Aydin82 filed three motions on minority rights, aid through local churches, and rebuilding in Syria and Iraq.
Read the motions below.
Yusuf Aydin’s three motions (in Swedish)
An inclusive political system in Syria
riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och…
Aid for persecuted Christians and other minorities
riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och…
Rebuilding in Iraq and Syria
riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och…
Clip from Vox Populi, Kyrkans Tidning. English subtitles by ADFA.
Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
More than 380 million Christians are persecuted for their faith, according to Open Doors.
When one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers.
Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world, according to an independent review commissioned by the British Foreign Secretary.
A Demand For Action retweeted
Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
We who have freedom to choose our beliefs are blessed.
More than 388 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.
1 in 7 Christians are persecuted worldwide
1 in 5 Christians are persecuted in Africa
2 in 5 Christians are persecuted in Asia
Let’s continually encourage each other to be in prayer for brothers and sisters around the world who are being slaughtered, imprisoned and suffering because of their faith.
Please visit
@IDOP
@Open Doors
@The Voice of the Martyrs
@Good Call Ministries to learn about the work of our dear friend, @Joseph Bonderanko, the subject of the book, KGB’s Most Wanted,
and our dear friends at @FreeBurmaRangers, @AngelMinistries, @AEBM, @HIO Ministries, @TimothyProject
and also @Hardwired Global whose mission and powerful work protects the freedom of conscience and belief for all people worldwide.
God bless you!
“Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are badly treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.”
Hebrews 13:3
A Demand For Action retweeted
Jizya Has Returned—Now Collected by Kidnappers.
Antiochian Greek Christian jeweler Maher Al-Sankari has been held captive for two weeks. His kidnappers demand a massive ransom while Syria’s Islamist authorities stand accused of knowing their identities and doing nothing.
Different rulers, same extortion. Christians are paying the price.
A Demand For Action retweeted
Sixteen Years After One of the Deadliest Church Attacks Against Christians in Iraq
Today marks the 16th anniversary of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks against Christians in Iraq’s modern history. On Sunday, October 31, 2010, armed terrorists stormed Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad’s Karrada district during the celebration of Holy Mass, killing dozens of Christian worshippers, including two priests, and leaving many others injured.
The massacre, carried out by militants belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization that later evolved into ISIS, remains one of the most devastating attacks against Iraq’s ancient Christian communities.
46 Christian Martyrs, Dozens Injured
The massacre claimed the lives of 46 Christian martyrs, including men, women, children, and two Syriac Catholic priests, Father Thaer Saad Abdal and Father Wasim Sabieh. Among the victims were an infant and a three-year-old boy named Adam.
The overall reported death toll reached 58 people, including Iraqi security personnel, while approximately 70 others were injured. The tragedy left families grieving their loved ones and survivors carrying lasting wounds, becoming one of the darkest chapters in the modern history of Iraq’s Christian community.
From 1.5 Million to 150,000 Christians: A 90% Decline
Christians in Iraq have faced widespread persecution, including terrorist attacks, kidnappings, killings, threats, and the destruction of churches. Extremist violence forced hundreds of thousands to flee their ancestral homeland.
Persecution intensified in 2014 when ISIS seized Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, forcing entire Christian communities to abandon their homes. Before 2003, Iraq was home to an estimated 1.5 million Christians, compared to approximately 150,000 today, representing a decline of nearly 90%.
These events have severely diminished Iraq’s ancient Christian population and threatened its historic presence in the region.
Honoring the Martyrs, 16 Years Later
Sixteen years after the massacre, the Christian martyrs of Our Lady of Salvation Church continue to be remembered. On April 16, 2019, the Syriac Catholic Patriarch blessed the opening of the diocesan tribunal investigating the cause for their beatification, which was later forwarded to the Vatican.
On March 5, 2021, Pope Francis visited the church during his historic journey to Iraq, honoring the memory of those killed.
Today, we remember the martyrs, pray for their families, and stand in solidarity with Iraq’s Christian communities. May their memory be eternal.
A Demand For Action retweeted
Today, we commemorate the 16th anniversary of the October 31, 2010, Islamist massacre of Christians, when Al-Qaeda/ISIS terrorists stormed the Sunday evening Mass at Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad, Iraq. The evil terrorists murdered 58 Iraqi Christians, including two priests who were celebrating Mass, and wounded more than 100 other Christians. May God grant eternal rest to our martyrs’ souls.🙏
A Demand For Action retweeted
My short documentary “A Broken Flower Takes Root” won an award yesterday. This means so much: Artsakh was left out of the #COP17Armenia conference discussions, but our film brought our story of loss, our bond with nature, and putting down roots again into the Green Zone.
A Demand For Action retweeted
Where is Maher?!
Maher Nawras Sankari has been missing for 12 days.
His family is consumed by anxiety and anguish, waiting for any news that might break this deathly silence.
@GreeceMFA | @CyprusMFA | @ThsShambos | @SecRubio | @RepMackenzie | @repdarrellissa | @BradSherman
A Demand For Action retweeted
Foreign powers, including the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, have begun declaring their positions regarding the attack committed against Christians in the Arsi Zone earlier this week.
In a statement issued by Ervin Massinga, the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, and the United States Bureau of African Affairs, they expressed that they are deeply saddened and concerned by the situation.
Read more: meseretmedia.org/p/318
A Demand For Action retweeted
Christian’s are being hunted. Thank you to @NEWSMAX and @RobFinnertyUSA for telling the truth.
A Demand For Action retweeted
One year ago, @POTUS made the right decision to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
The President’s steadfast and decisive leadership, @houseappropsgop’s work to condition aid to Nigeria and impose requirements to defend Christians, and the tireless work of advocacy and faith based organizations has started to make a difference.
We saw the first Christmas without a massacre of Christians in recent memory. There is much more work to be done, but the government of Nigeria has shown signs of a willingness to address the violence against our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Christians in Nigeria, and around the world, continue to face unspeakable violence. On this anniversary, we must rededicate our efforts to defend Christians in Nigeria and anywhere they face persecution.
Thank you @POTUS for your incredible leadership by designating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
You have always been a champion for Christians around the world, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with you and Chairman Cole @houseappropsgop to defend our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being slaughtered by radical Islamists in Nigeria.
A Demand For Action retweeted
The United States is deeply concerned about recent reports of targeted killings of civilians in Arsi zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. The United States condemns religious, ethnic, or political motivated violence. Such horrific attacks against any group must stop. As we seek to understand this tragedy, the United States urges against characterizations that could deepen division. The United States calls on the government of Ethiopia to investigate and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
A Demand For Action retweeted
🕯️💔 16 YEARS SINCE THE BLOODY MASSACRE OF 58 ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS — A NIGHT OF HORROR THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN ✝️
October 31, 2010 – October 31, 2026
Today marks 16 years since one of the most heartbreaking and horrifying tragedies in the modern history of Assyrian Christians — the massacre inside the Syriac Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation (Sayidat al-Najat) in Baghdad, Iraq.
On October 31, 2010, heavily armed Islamist terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda stormed the church while innocent Assyrian Christians were gathered for Sunday evening Mass, praying peacefully to God.
💔 What began as an evening of faith and prayer turned into a nightmare of gunfire, explosions, screams, bloodshed, and unimaginable suffering.
The terrorists opened fire and took the worshippers hostage, trapping terrified families inside the very church where they had come seeking peace and God's protection.
58 innocent lives were lost, including priests, women, men, and children, while dozens of others were wounded and left with lifelong physical and emotional scars.
⛪ Among the martyrs were Father Thaer Saadallah and Father Wassim Sabih, two young Syriac Catholic priests whose lives were brutally taken alongside members of their congregation.
Parents lost their children, children lost their parents, and entire families were shattered in a place that should have been a sanctuary of love, hope, and safety.
The church, once filled with hymns and prayers, became a place of mourning, where innocent blood was spilled simply because people had gathered to practice their Christian faith.
🌹 Behind every victim was a name, a face, a family, a dream, and a future that was cruelly stolen.
This horrific massacre was not an isolated tragedy but part of the long history of persecution, violence, and displacement endured by Assyrian Christians in their ancestral homeland.
For countless Assyrian families, the attack deepened the painful realization that even their churches could no longer offer refuge from terror.
Thousands were driven by fear and persecution to leave behind their homes, ancient churches, villages, and the land where their ancestors had lived for thousands of years.
💔 Sixteen years have passed, yet the tears of grieving mothers, fathers, children, and survivors have not been forgotten, and the wounds of that terrible night remain in the hearts of Assyrians around the world.
We remember the 58 martyrs not merely as victims of terrorism, but as beloved human beings whose lives, faith, and dignity must never be erased from history.
🕯️✝️ Their killers tried to spread terror and silence a community, but they could never destroy the memory, faith, and identity of the Assyrian people.
🌹 Rest in eternal peace, our 58 Assyrian martyrs. Your blood was shed inside a house of God, your lives were stolen, but your names will live forever in our hearts and in the history of Assyria. ❤️🕊️
WE REMEMBER. WE MOURN. WE WILL NEVER FORGET. 🕯️💔
#Assyrian #Assyrians #Assyria #AssyrianMartyrs #58Martyrs #BaghdadChurchMassacre #SyriacCatholicChurch #OurLadyOfSalvation #AssyrianChristians #NeverForget #October31 #AssyrianHistory #PersecutedChristians #JusticeForAssyrians #RememberOurMartyrs #ChristianMartyrs #StopChristianPersecution 🌹
