How is this not Islamaphobia? The religion of peace is so maligned. How can authorities assume and expect Muslims to behave badly towards Christians on Christmas Day? </sarcasm>
“Armed guards posted at Christmas church services in majority Muslim countries,” by Gul Yousafzai and Augustinus Beo Da Costa, Reuters, December 24, 2017:
Christmas church services and other celebrations are being held this weekend under the gaze of armed guards and security cameras in many countries after Islamic State gunmen attacked a Methodist church in Pakistan as a Sunday service began.
Majority-Muslim countries in Asia and the Middle East were particularly nervous after US President Donald Trump’s recent announcement he intends to relocate the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a decision that has outraged many Muslims.
In Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, police said they had stepped up security around churches and tourist sites, mindful of near-simultaneous attacks on churches there at Christmas in 2000 that killed about 20 people.
Muslim volunteers in Indonesia are also on standby to provide additional security if requested.
“If our brother and sisters who celebrate Christmas need … to maintain their security to worship, we will help,” said Yaqut Chiolil Qoumas, chairman of the youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulema, one of the country’s biggest Muslim organisations.
In Cairo, where a bombing at the Egyptian capital’s largest Coptic cathedral killed at least 25 people last December, the interior ministry said police would conduct regular searches of streets around churches ahead of the Coptic celebration of Christmas on 7 January.