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http://www.wnd.com/
The government of Morocco has notified another 23 mostly
Christian foreigners, including one American, that they're
scheduled for imminent expulsion from the North African
country.
And an analyst says that those targeted by the deportation order
indicate the government of Morocco, which historically has been
considered a moderate Muslim nation, now is fearful that Muslims
will convert if exposed to Christianity.
This is the second large deportation action taken by the
Moroccan government against mostly Christian individuals in the
past two months. More than 40 Christian workers were deported
from Morocco in March.
Aidan Clay of International Christian Concern says the North
African nation simply is alarmed about the possibility that
Muslims may see an opportunity to leave Islam.
"The reason they received these notices is that they allegedly
broke Morocco's anti-proselytizing laws. This is the same reason
for the deportations in March," Clay told WND.
"This goes way beyond anti-proselytizing. It's basically
anti-conversion. The thinking there is if there is no
proselytizing, no one will convert from Islam," Clay explained.
"But upholding these laws directly violates the fundamental
religious freedoms of the Moroccan people."
Clay said the U.S. government is hesitating to confront the
Moroccan government.
"Some people in the United States government don't want to
confront the Moroccan government. They say, 'If we confront the
Moroccan government with this, we're not going to get anywhere.
They're not going to listen to us,'" Clay said.
But that feeling isn't universal yet.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has made issues of human rights and
human trafficking part of his concern.
Speaking on the House floor last week, Wolf called on the
Moroccan government to live up to its stated commitment to
religious freedom.
"I call on the government of Morocco to uphold its commitment to
the principles of religious tolerance and freedom, that for so
long, made it a model of tolerance and modernity in the Arab
world," he said.
"And I call on our embassy, the State Department and the White
House to raise this issue with Moroccan authorities at the
highest levels, and defend the interests and rights of these
American citizens … whose lives have been shattered by these
events," Wolf said.
Wolf's spokesman, Dan Scandling, said the congressman believes
the new round of deportations is "disconcerting."
"I don't think anyone has a firm answer as to why they're doing
it, but it is certainly a step backwards. That's why the
congressman made a statement on the floor of the House last week
and is going to have a hearing in June on Capitol Hill with the
Human Rights Commission. He wants to find out just what's going
on and to get to the bottom of it," Scandling said.
Scandling wouldn't say directly that the expulsions were because
of proselytizing.
"You're hearing that that's the reason they're being kicked out.
Some of these people have been there a number of years and
haven't had any issues. It's raising some eyebrows here and
that's why the congressman is raising some of the questions he's
raising," Scandling said.
However, Clay said the government in Morocco specifically is
targeting Christianity.
"It's a method to try and ensure that Morocco remains a majority
Muslim country. We've seen in North Africa in Algeria with the
Berber community. There are large numbers of Muslim Berbers
converting to Christianity. It's so substantial that the
Algerian government hasn't been able to control it," Clay said.
"It's out of their ability to control, but Morocco is seeing the
same thing and they're seeing the strength of the Moroccan
church movement. They're seeing Muslims converting to
Christianity and this move is to put an end to the spread of
Christianity in Morocco," Clay said.
Clay added that the list of upcoming deportees includes
Europeans from the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Spain
and the Netherlands. The deportees also include people from
Canada, New Zealand and South Korea.
There is no word on when the 23 persons notified will be ordered
to leave Morocco.
WorldNetDaily reported in March that Christians were being
detained in several Moroccan cities and some had been jailed
pending their deportations.
During the March crackdown, dozens of Christian orphanage
workers, business leaders, teachers and others simply were told
their visas were canceled.
A witness to the crackdown, who asked to be identified as
Brother D, told WND at that time believers were being detained
in several cities and some of them had spent overnight in
jails.
Christian work has been ongoing in Morocco for nearly 100 years,
a nation under Islamic influences for more than 1,000 years.
According to a report from Mission Network News, the deportation
move had been building for weeks.
In the report, Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs said
Morocco's new minister of justice, Mohamed Naciri, was believed
to be responsible for the crackdown.
"It's unclear if simply this new minister of justice is a more
devout or more radical Muslim and wants to come against the
apostasy movement, encouraging Muslims to leave Islam and follow
Jesus Christ and we just don't know that much about the why
right now," he told MNN.
Officials at the Moroccan Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not
respond to a WND e-mail requesting comment.
Morocco has been dominated by Islamic interests since the 600s,
when Arab Muslims moved into the region. In 711, the Berber
chief, Tariq Iban Zyad, arrived in conquest of the area. Shortly
later, Muslim control was consolidated.
The constitution provides for a monarchy with a parliament and
an independent judiciary.
The embassy website boasts that King Mohammed VI is directly
descended from the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, through his
daughter Lalla Fatima Zohra.
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