In the 7th century, Muhammad commanded his followers to fight the infidels until they convert, submit, or die.

Koran, Surah 009.005 (three translations)

YUSUFALI: But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
PICKTHAL: Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
SHAKIR: So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

The few remaining Christians in Iraq face the same three options today.

Nabil Comanny and his family endured the dead bodies in the streets, the roaming kidnap gangs and the continuing power failures.

The Christian family stayed in their southern Dora neighborhood after their Muslim neighbors fled the daily fighting between Sunnis and Shi’ites.

But when a hand-scrawled note appeared on their door telling them to convert to Islam, pay $300 a month for “protection” or die, they realized they had to leave their home of 11 years.

“We don’t have weapons, and the government doesn’t protect us. What else can we do?” said Mr. Comanny, a 37-year-old journalist.

Islamic militants are increasingly targeting Christians, especially here in the capital, forcing an exodus that has cut deeply into the long-standing minority community.

Although meaningful numbers are hard to come by, the last Iraqi census, conducted in 1987, counted 1 million Christians. National aid groups estimate between 300,000 and 600,000 Christians remain today among an estimated 25 million people.

Mr. Comanny said he began to worry last spring when militants posted documents across the neighborhood ordering all residents to follow strict Islamic law. Among the 18 specific points, women were told they must wear all-enveloping black burqas.

“It’s not our tradition,” Mr. Comanny said. “How can Christian women be expected to do this?”

In the end, most Christian families paid a bribe, Mr. Comanny said, “because it gave them time to prepare to leave. But most can’t afford to keep paying.”

The 2,500 Christians in Gaza face a similar problem.

Christians Under Attack in Gaza

The 2,500 remaining Christians in Gaza have been under attack of late. An 80-year-old Christian woman was recently robbed by a man demanding, “Where is the money, heretic?” Her family members said the “robber would never have dared to attack a Moslem woman that way.” The attack followed a brutal break-in of a Christian church and school several weeks ago. Stocking-clad men hurling grenades blew open the entrances and stole computers and religious items. They also smashed many crucifixes in the buildings.

When Christians are persecuted in Muslim countries the world looks the other way. The mass slaughters of Christians in Nigeria and Darfour are particularly disturbing; they are nothing short of genocide.

FP: Walid Phares, Thomas Haidon and Jon Lewis, welcome to Frontpage Symposium.

Mr. Lewis, let me begin with you. I would like to start with something that has puzzled me: many of the roots of the Darfur genocide reside in Islamic jihad. On many fronts, this is a holy war led by Muslims. How come we almost never hear about this in the mainstream media?

Lewis: Hi Jamie, Walid and Thomas.

The media in the United States is very uncomfortable in attributing religious motivations to violence. We see this in the case of the Palestinian suicide bombers who are often described as motivated by poverty and frustration, rather than by religious ideology. In Darfur, there is indeed a religious component to the violence; after all, the Khartoum government is an Islamo-fascist one.

What bothers me more about the media coverage of Darfur is its lack of historic context -Darfur is but one example of Arab racism toward non-Arabs within the broader “Arab world.” The Darfur genocide, I believe, must be viewed not solely as a case of an Islamic jihad, but also as a case of Arab racism and should be seen as parallel to Saddam Hussein’s genocide against Kurds and the Algerian government’s repression of the Kaybles.

Remember: both the Kurds and Kabyles are primarily Sunni Muslims, at least in a nominal sense. I don’t mean to downplay the Islamic jihad aspect; however, I think that we cannot understand the violence in Darfur (and Iraq, for that matter) without examining the persistence of intra-Muslim ethnic conflict in the region and Arab racism.