Most of us who follow the news have seen the heart-rending photos of weary parents holding beautiful, brown-eyed babies, making their way to Europe in search of a better life. We鈥檝e seen barbed-wire borders, evacuees fleeing across deserts and the tragedy of capsized boats and lost children. We鈥檝e also watched the behavior of newly arrived young Muslim males toward women, particularly in Cologne, Germany on New Year鈥檚 Eve.
The word 鈥渞efugee鈥� is on many people鈥檚 lips as a virtual tsunami of Middle Easterners and Africans floods Europe, setting in motion a seemingly never-ending drama.
Winter weather has slowed the pace of perilous between Turkey and the Greek islands. But the political storms directed at Europe鈥檚 leadership 鈥� and outrageous behavior on the part some of the migrants 鈥� seem to be intensifying.
Germany鈥檚 beleaguered chancellor, Angela Merkel, initially adopted an open-arms policy toward migrants (leading to burgeoning numbers of arrivals into Europe) alongside raging debates about the wisdom of her decision.
On Jan. 30, Merkel rather belatedly that many of the refugees will be expected to leave Europe and return to their homes once the Syrian civil war has ended.
Germany鈥檚 Chancellor Angela Merkel Saturday said she Europe鈥檚 largest economy once the war in Syria is over, addressing public concerns the country won鈥檛 be able to cope with the continued influx of immigrants.
鈥淲e expect that once peace is restored in Syria鈥� and once terror organization ISIS is curtailed, many refugees will return back home, of her conservative Christian Democratic Party at a gathering broadcast on German television.
Some laughed at Merkel鈥檚 optimistic declaration. But the desperation of many refugees is not in question. The war-torn Middle East 鈥� Syria and Iraq, along with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan 鈥� is roiling with the displacement of millions. Some have fled Syria鈥檚 war, while others have run for their lives from the Islamic State. Many have languished in miserable refugee centers and squalid displacement camps for years.
The refugees鈥� fragile hopes of returning to their homes have been shattered, much like the houses and villages they once populated.
However, along with the genuinely displaced and dispossessed Syrians, Iraqis and even Iranians, thousands of economic migrants have also joined the parade, traveling from North and Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond to seek a new beginning in prosperous Europe鈥檚 welcoming embrace.
Meanwhile, there are repeated warnings, not only from security forces and police, but also from some of the refugees themselves (see below) that ISIS has quietly infiltrated the tide of evacuees.
After visiting some displaced Christians in Kurdistan a little more than a year ago, I had another recent opportunity, as I traveled back to Jerusalem from the United States, to listen to some other concerned voices. They told me not only about the ongoing refugee drama, but also about the Islamist ideology that overshadows it.
The first person I met with was Baroness Cox, former deputy speaker of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom and an indefatigable warrior for human rights in the world. I had the honor of writing a biography of Lady Cox a few years ago, . We shared a lovely mid-January dinner in London.
* Lela Gilbert and Baroness Cox
I wanted to hear from the baroness about the 鈥減rivate members鈥� bill鈥� she has recently introduced to the House of Lords. She has done so, working with British Muslim women鈥檚 organizations, in hopes of addressing some of the dangers and struggles they face.
I asked her why she is concerned about the practice of Sharia (Islamist) law in Britain. Does it really cause suffering to Muslim women? Here鈥檚 what she told me:
As a result of the rulings of Sharia Councils/Courts operating in this country, which not only discriminate systematically against women in ways which would make our suffragettes turn in their graves, they also represent a threat to the fundamental principle in our democracy of 鈥淥ne Law for All.鈥�
Essential tenets of Sharia Law include many forms of systematic gender discrimination against women such as:
鈥� Asymmetrical access to divorce: A man can divorce his wife merely by saying, 鈥淚 divorce you鈥� three times. The woman has to pay and also often to fulfill other requirements, which may be difficult or impossible for her.
鈥� Polygamy: Under Sharia Law, a man may have four wives; some Muslim women in this country say they often have no choice. Sometimes they are married into a polygamous marriage without even realizing it is polygamy.
鈥� Inheritance provisions: Under Sharia Law, a girl or woman characteristically receives half the amount of legacy left to a man or boy.
鈥� Unequal respect and weight of evidence: In a Sharia Law context, a woman鈥檚 evidence is deemed to be half the value of a man鈥檚, and therefore two women may be required to testify compared to one man.
Sharia Law also legitimizes physical 鈥渃hastisement,鈥� thereby allowing some forms of domestic violence.
I also asked the baroness whether the massive number of refugees flooding Europe and the ongoing reports of sexual abuse by male immigrants might awaken the West to the issues about Sharia law that she is addressing.
鈥淭his is a complex, confused and confusing issue,鈥� she told me. 鈥淭he UK has an honorable record of providing refuge to genuine refugees, which would include, for example, some of the Christians and Yazidis fleeing from ISIS terrorism in the Middle East. However, there is a real fear that many of those seeking to come to the UK are not genuine refugees and may include member of ISIS or activists with some related Islamist agenda.鈥�
After hearing these troubling words from Baroness Cox, I flew to Munich, Germany the following day. There I found people who have lived under the shadow of the Islamism Lady Cox described, and have suffered in greatly because of its brutality.
Binan is a soft-spoken Yazidi woman who arrived in Munich before the notorious 2014 ISIS assault on her people. Today she is working with admirable tenacity and humility to help her co-religionists. She has lost many friends and most of her extended family to the murderous violence.
Even before ISIS emerged in a blaze of horror, in her Iraqi village (in Nineveh), Binan saw friends and acquaintances gunned down by radicals for such crimes as purchasing alcohol or eating during the Ramadan fast.
Eventually, her village was wiped out entirely during the 2014 invasion, and the threatened families fled on foot toward Sinjar. Few survived. Stories about the violence against women that the Yazidis subsequently suffered 鈥� from rape to kidnapping to sexual slavery 鈥� are well known.
Today, she told me, it is very difficult to help the brutalized Yazidi women who have found their way to Munich. 鈥淭hey will not talk to anyone about what happened to them. They feel shamed and afraid. And it is very difficult to see their pain and not be able to help them.鈥�
鈥淲e have lost everything,鈥� one of these women told Binan. 鈥淭hey have taken everything from us. They have taken ourselves. Ourselves. Our identity, who we once were. We have nothing left.鈥�
A day or two later, a friend and I shared pizza with a young man and woman who had recently arrived in Munich from Syria. They are Assyrian Orthodox Christians. He is from Damascus; she is from Latakia.
I won鈥檛 reveal their names, as they continue to be at risk. We鈥檒l call them 鈥淢iriam鈥� and 鈥淵ako.鈥�
Binan has described the Yazidis as 鈥渁 minority within a minority [Kurds].鈥� The two Syrians I spoke to are in similar circumstances 鈥� Christians among the largely Muslim refugee minority in Europe.
After an agonizing farewell to their families, Miriam and Yako crossed into Turkey, found their way on foot to the coast (which took more than a week) and braved the notoriously dangerous journey across the water to Greece.
鈥淭he worst 17 hours of my life were in that boat,鈥� Miriam told me. 鈥淭he smugglers threw away our backpacks 鈥� food, water and whatever we鈥檇 tried to take with us.鈥� Thankfully, they had hidden their documents under their clothes. 鈥淲e were so crowded in the boat we could hardly move. The sun burned our skin. And everyone was deathly seasick.鈥�
But other dangers awaited them. Miriam is a beautiful young woman. Along the way, Muslim men continuously assailed her. They groped her, threatened her, spit on her, followed her and at least once attempted to rape her.
鈥淚 had to constantly watch over her,鈥� Yako recalled. 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 even dare to visit the toilet on her own.
Their entire journey took 27 days.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard,鈥� I began, hoping I wasn鈥檛 bringing up a touchy subject, 鈥渢hat there may be terrorists among the refugees. Did you have any reason to think so?鈥�
They looked at each other and nodded. 鈥淵es, there were Daesh (the Arabic word for ISIS or Islamic State) with us.鈥�
鈥淗ow did you know?鈥�
鈥淏y things they said,鈥� Yako told me. 鈥淵ou could even tell by the way they behaved.鈥�
鈥淎nd the look in their eyes,鈥� Miriam added, with a shudder.
鈥淪o there were a few鈥�?鈥�
鈥淣o, many!鈥� she said emphatically. 鈥淭here were many,鈥� Yako agreed.
For Westerners 鈥� Europeans and Americans alike 鈥� questions about the refugees often relate to the financial burden they will place on their host countries, or about their inability (or refusal) to assimilate culturally. And, of course, the possibility of jihadi infiltration is unquestionable.
But there are other considerations.
My new Yazidi friend Binan said something especially poignant at the end of our interview. I asked, 鈥淚f you could say anything to the people in the West about what has happened to the Yazidis, what would you tell them?鈥�
鈥淚 would like to say,鈥� Binan began rather hesitantly, 鈥淚 would like to inform them about the Yazidis, to interest them in what the Yazidis had to go through in Iraq and Syria.鈥�
Then her voice broke. 鈥淚 want to apologize for being in Germany. We are sorry to be here, but we became refugees in our own country, and were in great danger. We could do nothing about that.鈥�
Christian and Yazidi refugees. Muslim women and girls trapped in Sharia enclaves. They all need our prayers. They 鈥� and those who help them, like the baroness and Binan 鈥� need our voices to tell their stories. And they need our wholehearted efforts to provide them with hope for the future.