Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Reform Leader Joins Push To Spare Pregnant Christian Convert From Death

A Reform Jewish leader joined an interfaith delegation in meeting with the Sudanese ambassador to protest the death sentence of a woman convicted of converting to Christianity.

Rabbi David Saperstein, who directs the Washington DC-based Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, joined leaders of Christian and Muslim groups in meeting June 5 with Maowia Khalid, the Sudanese ambassador to the United States.

A Sudanese court has sentenced to death Meriam Ibrahim for converting to Christianity, with the sentence to be carried out after she gives birth.

Ibrahim has said she was raised Christian and did not, as the court contends, convert from Islam when she married a Christian.

“This tragic case reminds us that too many around the world are not yet free to practice their religion in safety,” Saperstein said in a statement released Monday. “We urge that Meriam Ibrahim be released from her imprisonment, her sentences be commuted or overturned, and an effort be taken to expand religious freedom for all religious groups in Sudan.”

Khalid, the ambassador, said the sentencing was based on a 1991 law, which apparently is in conflict with religious freedoms guaranteed in the 2005 constitution.

According to the RAC statement, the ambassador said that he would welcome organizing a meeting between high-level U.S. religious leaders and Sudanese officials on a tour that would include a meeting with Ibrahim.

The meeting with the ambassador was organized by Finn Church Aid.

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/06/10/news-opinion/united-states/reform-leader-joins-appeal-for-sudanese-christian-woman#ixzz34EQoRsI4

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.