Tom Gjelten Quotes & Sayings

America is or should be about inclusion. Immigrants like muslims don't and can't fit the white European mold that prevailed in this country 50 years ago. — Tom Gjelten

The letter writers span the spectrum from left to right. Members say they don't want this to become a partisan political issue. In fact, there are reasons administration officials have been cautious in making a genocide declaration. — Tom Gjelten

Many immigrant groups have faced hostility. The Irish did in their time. Jews did. Italians did - and now, Muslim immigrants. — Tom Gjelten

Holocaust Museum said ISIS has carried out genocide against the Yazidis, but its investigation did not cover Christian persecution. Now there's concern the U.S. State Department might do the same, limiting any genocide pronouncement to Yazidis without mentioning Christians. — Tom Gjelten

At one congressional hearing, Bishop Francis Kalabat complained that administration officials are overlooking what's happening to his fellow Chaldean Christians. — Tom Gjelten

They don't want to feed an ISIS narrative that there is a religious war between Islam and the Christian West, plus genocide is carefully defined under international law. — Tom Gjelten

Administration officials, in fact, have repeatedly condemned ISIS for its treatment of religious minorities, including Christians. But a bipartisan resolution now moving through Congress calls on the administration to go further and say ISIS is guilty of genocide. — Tom Gjelten

When ISIS last year called for the destruction of the Yazidi people, President Obama said that would constitute genocide and he ordered U.S. forces to keep it from happening. Human rights advocates say Christians now face a similar threat Nina Shea directs the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute. — Tom Gjelten

State Department lawyers need to have the evidence to back up the charge before they make it. Here's Nebraska Republican Jeff Fortenberry questioning Assistant Secretary of State Anne Patterson at a House. — Tom Gjelten

Muslim immigrants like himself encounter prejudice here [in U.S.] but also find political and religious freedom. — Tom Gjelten

A similar move is underway in the British Parliament. Earlier this month, more than 30 religious leaders and scholars wrote Secretary of State John Kerry asking for a meeting to discuss what's happening to Christians and other minorities. Nina Shea organized the effort. — Tom Gjelten

ISIS goes after any group that deviates from its extreme ideology, dissident Muslims, for example, or the Yazidis who practice an ancient religion distinct from both Islam and Christianity. — Tom Gjelten

The country has already become multicultural. Given immigration trends, it will only grow more diverse, and these new Americans want to share in their country's identity. — Tom Gjelten

And the pressure to clarify what exactly is happening to Christians and other minorities in the Middle East is certain to intensify in the New Year. — Tom Gjelten