The Dhimmis’ Jizya

The Middle East has been, to use President Obama’s phrase, “fundamentally transformed” in recent years.  Particularly the so-called Arab Spring – marked by the rise of Islamists, civil war and jihadism – has produced an ominous new reality in much of the region.

A microcosm of that reality is seen in the plight of what remains of the Mideast’s Christian communities.  They have been forced to abandon their homes, churches and, in some cases, their countries or face assault, rape or death at the hands of Islamic supremacists.

And now, growing numbers of Christians are being forced to pay the jizya, a punitive Islamic tax on enslaved peoples known as dhimmis.  This is what the Islamists have in mind for all of us – and underscores why they must be fought, not empowered, by our government.