Alfonse D'Amato

We must protect Christians everywhere from persecution

Posted

For two years, the Islamic State, or ISIS, has pledged to wage war against Christianity. What have we done to prevent it?

Nothing. Although ISIS has committed countless atrocities against Christians in Syria and Iraq, it is frightening to think that its campaign to destroy all faiths that don’t subscribe to radical Islamic beliefs is now creeping West.

ISIS’s war on Christians is unprecedented, and came to a head on July 26, when a radical Islamist killer brutally slit the throat of 85-year old priest Jacques Hamel in a church near the French city of Rouen while shouting “Allahu Akbar.”

In February, the terrorist group declared an all-out war on Christianity and then proceeded to behead 21 Coptic Christians near Sirte, Libya. This is just one of the many atrocities ISIS has committed against Christianity. In April 2015, a “hit list” was discovered at the residence of a would-be ISIS militant attacker. The church where Hamel was slaughtered was on that list.

In 2014, President Obama referred to ISIS as a “junior varsity” organization and refused to label its acts genocide. Then, during the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders refused to label ISIS’s persecution of religions, including Christianity, genocide. Even Secretary of State John Kerry took too long to characterize these continued murders as such.

ISIS is committed to wiping out entire religious groups. Time and time again, we have seen what this evil and cowardly group is capable of. Now we must ask, with the Catholic Church facing constant threats and with repeated calls for attacks on Christians throughout Europe and across the world, the question must be, is the international community doing enough to protect the lives of Christians?

How can we even begin when our own leaders don’t fully have their hands wrapped around this crisis?

ISIS has already issued warnings that London is next. With just months left in President Obama’s term, it is evident that he will not ramp up efforts to destroy the organization, and he continues to tell Americans that it is not an existential threat to the U.S.

Explain that to those who lost loved ones in terrorist-related massacres. With ISIS taking heavy losses on the battlefield, FBI Director James Comey warned, “At some point there is going to be a terrorist diaspora out of Syria like we’ve never seen before.”

The terrorists will continue to spread into Western Europe and the U.S. American lives are at risk, and the clock is ticking before another attack takes place on American soil. Although it is controversial, we must put more American forces on the ground on the front lines to combat ISIS. That is the only way we will eliminate it. We must resort to extreme vetting for immigrants coming from the Middle East into America. It is the only way to protect our borders.

On the local front, the taxpayers of the City of Long Beach, including the school districts of Point Lookout and Lido Beach, notched another victory when, on July 28, the Nassau County IDA again denied a $100 million tax giveaway to the Manhattan-based developer of the Superblock, iStar, or Wayfarer LLC. Long Beach residents should give themselves a pat on the back for standing up, shoulder to shoulder, against the backdoor dealings of the City Council.

County Legislator Denise Ford, a Republican who lives in Long Beach, again raised and ferociously waved a red flag when the Board of Education attempted to schedule a special meeting on July 26, just two days before the IDA’s scheduled vote. The agenda item? Despite the fact that two school board trustees were on vacation, the board wanted to approve the agreement with Wayfarer LLC.

Overwhelming public opposition forced the board to reconsider. In fact, when Trustee Dennis Ryan heard about the special vote, he hurried back from vacation. Ryan should be applauded, as should Ford, who has fought tirelessly to ensure that iStar pays its fair share of taxes and does not get a free ride on the backs of the people of Long Beach. This is a win for everyone.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.