Among the 21 Coptic Christian workers beheaded on a beach in Libya last year by ISIS was a father who, before he went to Libya as a migrant worker, told his wife he knew it was dangerous and that if he did not make it back alive, to please teach their children “the principles of Jesus Christ.” So testified lawyer and humanitarian Jacqueline Isaac, who met in Egypt with the families of 15 of the 21 victims and told Congress about the genocide being perpetrated by the Islamic State.
Jacqueline Isaac, vice president of the humanitarian group Roads of Success, spoke at a May 13, 2015 hearing on ISIS and religious minorities held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Despite the horrifice stories and documentation she presented to the committee along with other witnesses, none of the major news broadcast outlets covered the hearing — not ABC, CBS, or NBC.
Commenting on the genocidal actions of the Islamic State, which are producing many orphans, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N. J.) asked Isaac, “If I could ask you, where is the faith of these young people?”
Isaac said, “Congressman Smith, I went to Egypt and I met the families, 15 of the 21 families that had victims that were slaughtered in Libya. I was astonished by their faith.”
“As a fellow Christian, I thought, how would I be if I were in this situation today?” she said. “Meeting the fathers that said to me, ‘Thank God that today [my sons] they are in Heaven. Thank God.’”
“A wife, talking to me about how her husband had said, ‘I am going to Libya and I will be in danger. But if I don’t make it, teach my children, teach them the principles of Jesus Christ.'” recounted Isaac.
“That is the story,” she said. “These are the accounts of their faith. And I’ve seen it in Iraq across the board how Christians are standing strong and helping all, [and] helping the Yazidis.”
“In fact, we had a case,” said Isaac. “I remember there was a group of Yazidis that found a local [Christian] church and the church was providing care for them, providing a home for them. This is what they’re doing. They’re struggling but they’re giving everything they have. So, thank you.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declared on March 18 of this year, “My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims.”
Also, the British House of Commons voted unanimously on April 20 to declare the actions by ISIS/Daesh as genocide, despite the opposition of then Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative Party administration.
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