Friday, April 20, 2007

Gaza: Christian Bookshop Bombed

From Elizabeth Kendal at ASSIST News Service

Two Internet cafes also were bombed on the night of 15 April. Around 40 Internet cafes and video stores have been targeted in the past few months. A self-appointed anti-vice squad calling itself 'The Swords of Islam' has claimed responsibility for most of these attacks. This is the same group believed to have kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston and in September 2006 threatened to bomb all churches and Christian institutions in Gaza in response to Pope Benedict's comments linking Islam with violence. Several possibly al Qaeda-linked, Taliban-type vigilante militias are now operating in Gaza, demanding and enforcing Islamisation along strict, purist Wahhabi lines. Ali Waked of Ynet news (Israel) comments that the signs of widespread radicalisation in Gaza are clear to see in strict dress codes and in virulent opposition to anything 'un-Islamic'.

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