Paul Marshall's piece, " A Conversion You Can't Refuse," in the current Weekly Standard provides some useful context to an Associated Press report, "Palestinian group to target non-Muslims," that ran on Saturday. From AP:
Palestinian militants who held two Fox News journalists hostage for nearly two weeks threatened in a statement posted online Saturday to abduct non-Muslims visiting the Palestinian territories and kill them unless their demands were met…. "Any infidel blood will have no sanctity," the group said in the statement. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement, which was dated August 27 - the day militants released American journalist Steve Centanni, 60, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36. They were seized Aug. 14 in Gaza City…. During their captivity, the journalists were forced at gunpoint to declare that they had converted to Islam, Centanni told Fox News after he was released. The group said in its statement that the journalists' declaration saved their lives. "Nothing but Islam gave their blood sanctity and prevented their slaughter," the group said. It added, "We are not the sort of people who are fooled ... but only God knows intentions."