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By Miriam Raftery
April 18, 2015 (San Diego)—A video released by the Islamic State, or ISIS, shows the apparent killings of 15 Christians in Libya—half by beheading, the rest by shooting. The victims are believed to be Ethiopian Christians, CNN reports. A message in the graphic 29-minute video makes clear the executions were motivated by religious hate, stating “Muslim blood shed under the hand of your religion is not cheap.”
In San Diego, Mark Arabo, a leader in the Iraqi Christian community reacted to the news with this statement.
“On this weekend of Holocaust remembrance, it sickens me to see ISIS strengthening their resolve to kill more Christians in what has amounted to a Christian genocide. The intended viewer of this short film by ISIS is clear –Christians and the United States.”
Arabo adds, “Given these dark and heinous acts, it should only solidity our responses in putting an end to ISIs and towards saving those religious minorities continuously persecuted by their actions. We cannot continue to let the Christians of the Middle East remain cattle for slaughter at the hands of these demons.”
National Security Council spokesperson Benadette Meeghan also denounced the killings as “senseless brutality,” adding, “People across all faiths will remain united in the face of the terrorists’ barbarity. The United States stands with them. While these dehumanizing acts of terror aim to test the world’s resolve—as groups throughout history have – none have the power to vanquish the powerful core of moral decency which binds humanity and which will ultimately prove the terrorists’ undoing.”
ISIS has previously released a video showing the killing of Egyptian Christians in Libya, which prompted Egypt to bomb an ISIS stronghold in Libya.
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