muslims

Without in any way wanting to mitigate the horror, grief and shock of the murders in Paris, I am growing weary of the disingenuity of so many in the media disclaiming the potentially violent power of the pen and the image.

Twelve people were murdered yesterday (7 January) in an appalling attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. This has inflamed religious and ethnic tensions, as the killers are believed to be violent Islamist extremists.

A war between Christians and Muslims which seems never-ending. Religious leaders who tell the faithful that if they die fighting a ‘holy war’ they will have eternal life. This was the scenario in the Crusades of the mediaeval period, and the religious leaders who promised such rewards for martyrdom were the Popes, the leaders of Christendom.

Our valued associate Dr Harry Hagopian has been as busy as ever in travelling, advising, writing and broadcasting on the ever developing events across the Middle East and North Africa region.