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New TV Ad Highlights Needs of Middle Eastern Christians Facing Genocide and Extinction
Ad follows State Department's March 17 declaration that ISIS is committing genocide against Christians
Contact: Andrew Walther, 203-752-4253, Andrew.walther@kofc.org; Joe Cullen, 203-415-9314, joseph.cullen@kofc.org
NEW HAVEN, Conn., April 1, 2016 /Christian Newswire/
-- A new television commercial from the Knights of Columbus began
airing nationwide yesterday, highlighting the ongoing needs faced by
Christian victims of genocide in the Middle East. Following, the State
Department's recent designation that Christian and other religious
minorities face genocide at the hands of ISIS, the U.S. has joined the
international consensus on the issue.
However,
the commercial points out that persecution and displacement have not
abated and the victims remain in dire need of assistance. It quotes
Secretary of State John Kerry's March 17 declaration that a genocide is
taking place, and that ISIS is "killing Christians because they are
Christians."
But as important
as the declaration is, the Knights of Columbus makes clear in the ad
that the real needs of the people there continue.
"The
attacks continue," says the commercial's narrator. "Christians are
still being kidnapped, killed and sold into slavery. Relief efforts are
sorely needed - your help is sorely needed."
The
Knights' commercial concludes with an appeal by Father Douglas Bazi,
who heads the Mar Elia refugee center in Kurdistan, and who was himself
kidnapped and tortured by terrorists in Iraq. In the commercial, Fr.
Bazi notes: "Genocide is an easy word compared to what's happened to my
people." He then adds a plea to the viewers:" Help my people and save
my people."
The Knights of
Columbus began its Christian Refugee Relief Fund in 2014 to aid
persecuted Christians and other religious minorities, especially those
in Iraq and Syria. To date, nearly $10 million has been raised to
provide housing, food, medical aid, education and general relief.
"While
we applaud and welcome the genocide designation, it is now vital that
we redouble our efforts to assist those who have faced this attempt at
exterminating them. The survival of the individuals affected, and of
Christianity as a whole in the region, depends in large measure on not
turning away now, thinking that ISIS will soon conform to the norms of
the international community," said Knights CEO Carl Anderson.
In
addition to raising funds, the Knights of Columbus has worked to raise
awareness of the persecution via engagement with the media and a
petition drive urging the State Department to declare a genocide. The petition drew nearly 150,000 signatures in the days prior to Kerry's announcement.
His
rationale for the designation reflected many of the points urged by
the Knights and the group In Defense of Christians in its nearly
300-page report made public on March 10.
In
testimony in December on Capitol Hill, Supreme Knight Anderson laid
out the dangerous, genocidal conditions faced by Christians and others,
even within UN refugee camps. Anderson also led a March 10 news conference along with religious leaders, scholars and other experts, pressing for the genocide designation. Four days later, he applauded the unanimous passage by the House of Representatives calling for the genocide declaration and later credited Secretary Kerry for reaching the same conclusion.
The
Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal
organization, with nearly 1.9 million members worldwide, and it is one
of the most active charitable organizations in the United States. The
Knights set a new record for charitable giving in its last fraternal
year with donations of more than $173.5 million and 71.5 million hours
of service to charitable causes, much of it raised and donated by its
more than 15,000 councils.
Additional information is available at www.christiansatrisk.org
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