By Covenants Initiative
11 September 2015
Dear Signatories of the Covenants Initiative:
Assalam u Alaikum
I want to begin by asking for your prayers for Dr. Morrow, who will be denouncing ISIL at the Islamic Society of North America convention in Chicago this Saturday, Sept. 4.
The rest of this COVENANTS INITIATIVE REPORT will concentrate on a single event/action: We've posted a petition on Change.org—“To all political players: The Genocide Initiative”—and we need your help to get it off the ground. The Initiative was suggested to us by Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat of the Detroit Catholic Diocese, Eparch in the U.S. of the Chaldean Christians of Iraq; here’s his email to us:
My Dear Brothers,
I first of all would like to thank all efforts that are being done to eradicate injustice, and wish to utter the words “blessed are the peace makers”. I believe that the Muslim community has a great role to play in this initiative…. The Pope himself has made many pleads to stop the atrocities committed by ISIS/ISIL/IS and I know that the USCCB continues to play a vital role….
I do have an initiative that can bring greater focus on a common act that we can all work towards, and that is getting to proclaim the acts of ISIS/ISIL/IS to be genocide, not just in the media, not just in the wordings of some of our politicians, but by the US Congress and by the United Nations. But entities have proclaimed their acts as “crimes against humanity” but never proclaimed them for what they truly are; genocide. This must be a coordinated effort that can be done on a local level with our elected leaders and the religious leaders playing a role. Greater awareness can then be brought to these persecuted Christians and maybe a greater response from the world leaders.
Let’s begin the Genocide Initiative and ask God’s blessings in doing so.
+Francis
We’ve expanded the Genocide Initiative to include elements of a comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS. Will you take 30 seconds to sign it right now? Here's the link:
https://www.change.org/p/all-political-players-the-genocide-initiative
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The text of the
Genocide Initiative
We, the undersigned, call upon all political powers: beyond all questions of political affiliation, and in the true spirit of human solidarity and decency, to categorize the crimes being committed by ISIS and other Takfiri terrorists against Christians, Twelver Shiites, Ismailis, Alawis, Sufis, traditional Sunnis, and others, as acts of religious, cultural, and ethnic genocide.
Before ISIS, all religious denominations stand in the line of fire. Christians and Muslims know only too well the bitterness and despair of a life spent under the ominous flag of Takfirism—a heretical perversion of Islam, also known as Wahhabism, which reared its hideous head a mere two centuries ago. Evil has a new face and it is Takfirism! Doing nothing while millions of lives are at risk is tantamount to murder. We owe it to our children to carry on this fight so as to prevent the shadow of our shameful inaction from falling on future generations.
Before the threat of Wahhabi-inspired radicalism the world can no longer afford to stand on the sidelines—the enemy needs to be engaged on all fronts: ideologically through the denunciation of its nefarious dogma, religiously through the coming together of people of all faiths, politically, militarily, financially … everything conceivable must be done and no effort should be spared.
We demand that local, regional, and international powers act decisively to neutralize ISIS and other Takfiri terrorists by cutting off their legs from under them—systematically dismantling their networks, whether financial, political or religious.
While we remain committed to peace, local populations have the right to defend themselves; and we have a duty of care towards them. Therefore, concerted efforts, in keeping with international and territorial sovereignty, should be made to combat this evil by all means necessary.
We urge political and economic powers to freeze all bank accounts of ISIS and other Takfiri terrorists; to seize their assets; and to prosecute any and all who provide material support to genocidalist war criminals.
We further urge these powers to do all they can to determine how the black market trade in oil, drugs, arms, art treasures and enslaved human beings that ISIS and other Takfiri groups rely upon to fund their efforts can be interrupted and brought to a halt, and how anyone involved in any aspect of this trade, as either seller or buyer, can be prosecuted under existing laws.
We challenge all international organizations, human rights groups, intelligence agencies, national security agencies, law enforcement agencies, and military forces to coordinate their efforts to locate, arrest, indict, try, and convict any and all parties responsible for supporting ISIS and other Takfiri terrorists in any form or fashion, including, but not limited to, financial, military, strategic, political or ideological assistance. We call upon members of the legal profession to determine how the perpetrators of these crimes can be indicted under existing laws, including but not limited to those against criminal conspiracy, hate speech, and providing aid to the enemy in time of war.
Finally, we demand that any and all parties who have supported ISIS and other Takfiri groups, in any form or fashion, be labelled as war criminals guilty of genocide.
You can sign this petition by clicking on this link: https://www.change.org/p/all-political-players-the-genocide-initiative. Please share this report with your network and forward it to anyone you think might be willing to support our effort.
Our website is: https://genocideinitiative.wordpress.com/
Our Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/thegenocideinitiative
Below are links to press and TV stories about the Genocide Initiative:
http://en.shafaqna.com/topnews/item/49908-petition-against-wahhabi-inspired-radicalism-the-fight-against-terror-becomes-cross-sectarian.html
http://wane.com/2015/08/21/professor-isis-is-committing-genocide/
http://www.fortwaynehomepage.net/news/local-news/local-professor-pushes-effort-to-have-isis-violence-recognized-as-genocide (Fox TV News)
http://en.shafaqna.com/topnews/item/49403-%E2%80%9Cisis%E2%80%99-crimes-are-act-of-religious-cultural-and-ethnic-genocide%E2%80%9D-says-prominent-muslim-scholar.html
http://nws.live.mediaspanonline.com/news/local/Ivy-Tech-professor-part-of-effort-to-have-ISIS-violence-recognized-as-genocide
http://www.wowo.com/ArticleDisplay/tabid/74/ArticleId/34790/Fort-Wayne-Professor-Taking-on-ISIS.aspx
Sincerely,
Charles Upton
For Dr. John Andrew Morrow and the Covenants Initiative
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