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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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18th November 2004

URGENT ALERT: Operation Christmas Child Still Running

Innovative Minds and IHRC are running an awareness raising campaign regarding Operation Christmas Child (OCC).

OCC was exposed by a series of articles in the Guardian last year as a project used by Samaritan’s Purse to pursue the conversion of children and their families. Samaritan’s Purse is headed by Rev Franklin Graham, advisor to US president George W. Bush, and well known for his racially and religiously bigoted views, that have targeted amongst other, Muslims, Hindus and Catholics.

OCC involves the sending of shoeboxes full of presents for children in developing countries. Unknown to most donors, the shoeboxes are used by missionary organisations in partnership to promote Graham’s idea of Christianity described by other Christian leaders as ‘racist’ and ‘poisonous’.

After last year’s exposes many organisations, pulled out of the scheme but many have remained in it as collection points for these boxes. A full list is available on the Innovative Minds site, and campaigners a re requested to contact their local points to raise awareness of the true nature of the scheme.

For full details and campaigning resources please visit:

http://www.inminds.co.uk/occ.html

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\”And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper.\”

Holy Qur\’an: Chapter 4, Verse 75

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Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom

Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Fax (+44) 20 8904 5183
Email: info@ihrc.org
Web: www.ihrc.org