Become a Member
World

Iraqi paper: Jews kidnap Christians to convert

July 21, 2011 13:12

By

Jennifer Lipman,

Jennifer Lipman

1 min read

An Iraqi newspaper is understood to have published an article alleging that "Jewish groups" are routinely kidnapping Christian citizens for forcible conversion to Judaism.

According to a report in the daily Al-Mustaqbal paper, translated by media monitor MEMRI, the abductions were being carried out so that Jewish people could get "support and protection from the dangers that that the Christian minority has been exposed to".

If the Christians refused to change religion, Jews were accused of having them "killed, kidnapped, or expelled".

Iraq's Jewish population, which once numbered 150,000, is believed to stand at just a handful of people now. The Christian population is larger, numbering an estimated 850,000, but still only around forms three per cent of the population.