A man dressed as Santa Claus in the nation of Jordan has been arrested for “evangelizing” and “inciting sectarian strife” in the Muslim-majority nation. A translation of the Arabic report published December 24 follows:
Jordanian authorities have arrested a wanted man, a celebrity known as “Papa Noel” [Santa Claus], as he was distributing presents in various parts of the country.
Santa Claus was donning a red costume and white beard when he was detected by two patrols. A frantic manhunt ensued along the congested Zahran street, eventually leading to his capture some 90 minutes later.
He was charged with evangelizing, inciting sectarian strife, and conducting unauthorized charitable activities—all of which fall under anti-terrorism legislation. He was further charged with being costumed, something also banned by authorities and which had previously led to the arrest of the Ronald McDonald clown in the Arab nation.
Raymond–
There’s enough real tragedy falling upon Christians of the Middle East to include a satirical article here.
The article also covers the arrest of Ronald McDonald. Santa Claus’ Arabic initials are used to identify the culprit. There are no quotes from law enforcement or government spokespersons–nor the addition of any other information which could verify the incident.
Please review this again. Let’s focus on real and far more important matters for Christians of the Middle East.
S
If articles are posted without care for reliability, then those in search of the reliable will be re-directed to other sources. If the author of the site wishes to defend it, then he should do so. Otherwise, it should be removed. I am new to the site, and as Fox Mulder says: I want to believe. We have “the Onion” for humor
Mr. Ibrahims has given an even more brutal example in the other link about Tajikistan, so you don´t need to believe in this one: the other incident in that country is far worse and quite obvious, even in its usual attempts by the officers to deny its motivation by religious fanaticism, as is typical in such cases where the mainstream culture makes even police officers condone with such crimes: ” The assailants reportedly shouted “infidel” as they stabbed him to death.
The tragedy unfolded in the capital, Dushanbe, on Sunday night. Parviz Davlatbekov put on a traditional Father Frost costume to visit his friends and celebrate New Year with them. But before reaching his destination, the 24-year-old encountered a group of youths who beat him up and stabbed him. He died in hospital shortly after.
According to some local media and reports on social networks, the attackers were Muslim radicals who had targeted Davlatbekov for wearing a Father Frost outfit. They are said to have called their victim an infidel during the attack. Reports say some 30 people participated in the killing. …” http://rt.com/news/infidel-santa-killed-tajikistan-133/
Bottom line: the Arab/Islamic world cannot afford to engage in sarcasm when the thing that is supposedly satirical happens frequently, prompting people not to be able to tell the difference. People dressed as Santa Claus are commonly attacked in the Islamic world. One example from Tajikistan, where the guy dressed wasn’t arrested for evangelizing (which happens all over the Islamic world, again, nothing satirical about that) but rather killed by a mob screaming “infidel.” http://rt.com/news/infidel-santa-killed-tajikistan-133/ To most, that sounds even more made up than the arrest of a man dressed as Santa Claus on charges of evangelizing, etc.
Well said, you rule!!