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ACKERMAN DEMANDS PROTECTION OF IRAQI CHRISTIANS
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News from Congressman Gary Ackerman
5th District – New York
Queens & Long Island
December 14, 2010
Contact: Jordan Goldes, 718-423-2154
Congressman introduces House measure with Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim members of Congress that condemns anti-
Christian violence in Iraq by al-Qaeda and other extremists
U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) this evening introduced a resolution urgently calling for the protection of Iraqi
Christians who have been targeted for elimination by al-Qaeda and other Iraqi Islamists. Ackerman, the Chairman of
the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, introduced the measure with a group of non-Christian
members of Congress as a symbol of the importance of protecting religious freedom for all people. They include Reps
Howard Berman (D-CA) who in addition to Ackerman is Jewish; Keith Ellison (D-MN) who is Muslim and Mazie Hirono
(D-HI) and Hank Johnson (D-GA), both of whom are Buddhists.
“It’s outrageous and unacceptable that the Christian population of Iraq has to hide, or flee just to practice their
religion,” said Ackerman. “The thugs and killers in al-Qaeda who have been terrorizing Iraqi Christians are intent on
ethnically cleansing Iraq. Their efforts must be stopped. These vermin need to be tracked down, flushed out and
crushed.”
“The moral costs of the war we’ve fought in Iraq—which are already incredibly high—will become truly unbearable if,
as an indirect consequence of getting rid of Saddam Hussein, the Christian presence in Iraq, that began in the first
century A.D., gets wiped out,” Ackerman added. “We and the Iraqi government need to prioritize this issue to prevent
that from happening.”
Since the beginning of the Second Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi Christian population has dropped by as much as half,
with thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing to other countries and many others internally displaced to safer areas of
Iraq.
SEE ACKERMAN RESOLUTION IN PDF
# # #
ACKERMAN DEMANDS PROTECTION OF IRAQI CHRISTIANS
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
News from Congressman Gary Ackerman
5th District – New York
Queens & Long Island
December 14, 2010
Contact: Jordan Goldes, 718-423-2154
Congressman introduces House measure with Jewish, Buddhist and Muslim members of Congress that condemns anti-
Christian violence in Iraq by al-Qaeda and other extremists
U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) this evening introduced a resolution urgently calling for the protection of Iraqi
Christians who have been targeted for elimination by al-Qaeda and other Iraqi Islamists. Ackerman, the Chairman of
the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, introduced the measure with a group of non-Christian
members of Congress as a symbol of the importance of protecting religious freedom for all people. They include Reps
Howard Berman (D-CA) who in addition to Ackerman is Jewish; Keith Ellison (D-MN) who is Muslim and Mazie Hirono
(D-HI) and Hank Johnson (D-GA), both of whom are Buddhists.
“It’s outrageous and unacceptable that the Christian population of Iraq has to hide, or flee just to practice their
religion,” said Ackerman. “The thugs and killers in al-Qaeda who have been terrorizing Iraqi Christians are intent on
ethnically cleansing Iraq. Their efforts must be stopped. These vermin need to be tracked down, flushed out and
crushed.”
“The moral costs of the war we’ve fought in Iraq—which are already incredibly high—will become truly unbearable if,
as an indirect consequence of getting rid of Saddam Hussein, the Christian presence in Iraq, that began in the first
century A.D., gets wiped out,” Ackerman added. “We and the Iraqi government need to prioritize this issue to prevent
that from happening.”
Since the beginning of the Second Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi Christian population has dropped by as much as half,
with thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing to other countries and many others internally displaced to safer areas of
Iraq.
SEE ACKERMAN RESOLUTION IN PDF
# # #
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