Familiar Scenario in Egypt’s Continued Failure to Prosecute Muslim Offenders
Washington, D.C. (March 23, 2010) International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that for the second time, the Egyptian government has postponed the trial of three Egyptian Muslims charged with murder for killing six Christian youth in Nag Hammadi.
On March 21, the Egyptian Gazette reported that the trial of Mohammed al-Kammuni, Qorshi Abul Haggag and Hendawi Sayyed, who have been charged with murder and threatening national security, will be postponed until April 18.
The three perpetrators gunned-down six young Christian men and a police officer on January 6, as Copts were exiting Christmas Eve mass in Nag Hammadi. This attack was the largest assault on Copts since January 2000, when 21 were killed in sectarian violence.
Wagih Yacoub, a Coptic human rights activist, told ICC, “They have postponed the trial twice, and they are going to postpone it again and again… this is what we worry about. Soon the case will die… and all of a sudden we will wake up one day, and the guys will be innocent, and they will walk around on the street again after killing six kids at the Christmas mass. The Copts are furious about this postponement. We reject it and demand an immediate trial.”
Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager of the Middle East, said, “ICC predicts that once the murders of these Coptic Christians in Nag Hammadi are forgotten, the judge will issue a light sentence, perhaps one to five years imprisonment with bail, and then the murderers will be released back onto the streets. We have seen this occur time and again. Egyptian Muslims who kill Christians in Egypt continue to do so because they are fully aware that their crime will almost always go unpunished. In recent months, we have seen thousands of Coptic Christians around the world take to the streets in protest against the criminal acts of their government. Let us not see this fervor end, but let us continue to speak out by demanding justice and equality for Egypt’s Christians.”
# # #
You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Egyptian State Security Demolishes Anglican Church, Assaults Pastor
Egyptian State Security Demolishes Anglican Church, Assaults Pastor
(AINA) -- An Anglican Church pastor and his wife were assaulted by Security agents in Luxor on March 18, 2010, in order to evacuate them by force from their home and demolish Church property. Out of the nearly 3000 sq. meters of buildings attached to the Church, only the 400 sq. meter prayer hall was left standing.
Pastor Mahrous Karam of the Anglican Church in Luxor, 721 km from Cairo, said that the Church was still in negotiations with the Luxor authorities the day before regarding a replacement for the community center building which lies within the Church's compound, and was told the authorities were still considering their options. Early next morning, a 500-man force of Central Security and State Security blocked all roads leading to the Church compound, forced their way in and broke into the pastor's residence, dragging the family out by force.
In an effort to save the buildings from demolition, the Pastor sat on the fence of the Church compound, to prevent the demolition work, but was beaten and dragged away, reported Katiba Tibia News.
The Pastor's wife, Sabah, said that two men went into her flat and evacuated her by force, by slapping her face, pulling her by her clothes and dragging her by her hair. "They threatened that if I do not leave the place they would take my 3-year-old boy and throw him under the bulldozers which came for the demolition work," she told Sherif Ramzy of Freecopts. "Twenty traumatized children were dragged out of the attached nursery and thrown into the church hall," Sabah said.
She added that all their belongings were left in the street, and they have nowhere to live. "I believe they wanted to give us an Easter present, the way they gave the Copts of Nag Hammadi the Christmas Eve Massacre," she added bitterly.
Pastor Karam said that the community center lies within the archaeological excavation for the "Rams Road" project. "We are not against giving the community center up, we just want a replacement building," he told Luxor-based Coptic activist Samir Rafaat. "We want equal treatment in our own country. The city council replaced the Islamic Association with a building of 20 flats, before demolishing their building. We want the same treatment."
Dr. Samir Farag, Governor of Luxor, told the media that his forces seized only "one room" from the Anglican Church, and denied any bodily assault on the pastor's family. According to the Anglican Church approximately 2600 sq. meters were seized including the pastors 2-story high residence, and the community center, which included a nursery, guests quarters and club The Anglican Church School, which was also demolished, was not included in the negotiations between the Anglican Church and the Governorate as it does not lie within the Ram Road excavation project.
An Anglican witness said: "The Governor is lying, that is why the forces blocked the road leading to the Church before their attack, so that nobody would witness their doings. But he forgot there is the Internet and cell phone videos to show the whole world the uncivilized way Egypt deals with Christians and their places of worship."
The Anglican Church in Egypt, which has a congregation of nearly 750,000 issued a statement on March 19, condemning the behavior of the Luxor authorities for demolishing Church property without adequate negotiations. It also condemned the assault on the pastor, his wife and the threats made to harm their child, which it characterized as a flagrant violation of human rights and the sanctity of churches as places of worship.
Pastor Karam told Samir Raafat "We want a replacement plot of land for the one seized, as previously promised by the Governor, to build a community center on. Secondly, I was beaten and dragged on the ground in front of everyone, so I need my honor to be restored, because I represent the Anglican Church." He said he would stage a sit-in in front of the church until matters have been rectified. "Meanwhile I will not carry out any Church services."
The governor of Luxor has been criticized on several occasions for his execution of projects in Luxor. According to writer Safwat Samaan Yassa, UNESCO recommended that the excavation work for the Ram Road should be executed in stages in the next 20 years, but the Governor of Luxor shortened it to three years, demolishing in the process hundred of houses, hotels, restaurants, bazaars, and ancient palaces and thereby destroying Luxor's economy. Furthermore, according to Yassa, historical sites were demolished to make way for a hotel complex financed by Arab investors.
By Mary Abdelmassih
http://www.aina.org/news/20100323193843.htm
(AINA) -- An Anglican Church pastor and his wife were assaulted by Security agents in Luxor on March 18, 2010, in order to evacuate them by force from their home and demolish Church property. Out of the nearly 3000 sq. meters of buildings attached to the Church, only the 400 sq. meter prayer hall was left standing.
Pastor Mahrous Karam of the Anglican Church in Luxor, 721 km from Cairo, said that the Church was still in negotiations with the Luxor authorities the day before regarding a replacement for the community center building which lies within the Church's compound, and was told the authorities were still considering their options. Early next morning, a 500-man force of Central Security and State Security blocked all roads leading to the Church compound, forced their way in and broke into the pastor's residence, dragging the family out by force.
In an effort to save the buildings from demolition, the Pastor sat on the fence of the Church compound, to prevent the demolition work, but was beaten and dragged away, reported Katiba Tibia News.
The Pastor's wife, Sabah, said that two men went into her flat and evacuated her by force, by slapping her face, pulling her by her clothes and dragging her by her hair. "They threatened that if I do not leave the place they would take my 3-year-old boy and throw him under the bulldozers which came for the demolition work," she told Sherif Ramzy of Freecopts. "Twenty traumatized children were dragged out of the attached nursery and thrown into the church hall," Sabah said.
She added that all their belongings were left in the street, and they have nowhere to live. "I believe they wanted to give us an Easter present, the way they gave the Copts of Nag Hammadi the Christmas Eve Massacre," she added bitterly.
Pastor Karam said that the community center lies within the archaeological excavation for the "Rams Road" project. "We are not against giving the community center up, we just want a replacement building," he told Luxor-based Coptic activist Samir Rafaat. "We want equal treatment in our own country. The city council replaced the Islamic Association with a building of 20 flats, before demolishing their building. We want the same treatment."
Dr. Samir Farag, Governor of Luxor, told the media that his forces seized only "one room" from the Anglican Church, and denied any bodily assault on the pastor's family. According to the Anglican Church approximately 2600 sq. meters were seized including the pastors 2-story high residence, and the community center, which included a nursery, guests quarters and club The Anglican Church School, which was also demolished, was not included in the negotiations between the Anglican Church and the Governorate as it does not lie within the Ram Road excavation project.
An Anglican witness said: "The Governor is lying, that is why the forces blocked the road leading to the Church before their attack, so that nobody would witness their doings. But he forgot there is the Internet and cell phone videos to show the whole world the uncivilized way Egypt deals with Christians and their places of worship."
The Anglican Church in Egypt, which has a congregation of nearly 750,000 issued a statement on March 19, condemning the behavior of the Luxor authorities for demolishing Church property without adequate negotiations. It also condemned the assault on the pastor, his wife and the threats made to harm their child, which it characterized as a flagrant violation of human rights and the sanctity of churches as places of worship.
Pastor Karam told Samir Raafat "We want a replacement plot of land for the one seized, as previously promised by the Governor, to build a community center on. Secondly, I was beaten and dragged on the ground in front of everyone, so I need my honor to be restored, because I represent the Anglican Church." He said he would stage a sit-in in front of the church until matters have been rectified. "Meanwhile I will not carry out any Church services."
The governor of Luxor has been criticized on several occasions for his execution of projects in Luxor. According to writer Safwat Samaan Yassa, UNESCO recommended that the excavation work for the Ram Road should be executed in stages in the next 20 years, but the Governor of Luxor shortened it to three years, demolishing in the process hundred of houses, hotels, restaurants, bazaars, and ancient palaces and thereby destroying Luxor's economy. Furthermore, according to Yassa, historical sites were demolished to make way for a hotel complex financed by Arab investors.
By Mary Abdelmassih
http://www.aina.org/news/20100323193843.htm
Monday, March 22, 2010
Assyrians in Australia Rally in Support of Egypt's Persecuted Copts
The Assyrian Universal Alliance, Australian Chapter, joined hundreds from the Australian Coptic community, Australian Christians from various backgrounds and political and religious leaders to support calls by the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church in Australia to condemn the Egyptian Government for the violation of basic human rights of the Christian Copts of Egypt.
Mr. Hermiz Shahen, The Deputy Secretary General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance addressed the gathering in a show of support for Copts of Egypt. He delivered the following is his speech:
To all Peace loving people who have gathered here ,
To all the organizers of this gathering, The Coptic Orthodox Dioceses of Sydney
To all our friends the Copts of Egypt,
We, representatives of the Assyrian community in Australia, are gathered here to support our brothers, the Christian Copts of Egypt. We are here to protest and show our anger against the criminal activities committed against them on daily basis in Egypt.
Greetings form the Assyrians of Australia
Egypt's Copts are an endangered minority. Exposed to continuous and systematic pressures, their numbers are dwindling. Thousands have emigrated; Thousands of those who are left behind are forced to convert to Islam every year; those who stay faithful to their religion in Egypt find themselves increasingly marginalized and alienated in their own country.
The Terror campaigns against them are aimed to force them out of their homeland, they are not provided with any protection by the Egyptian government. We have reasons to believe that the Government of Egypt is collaborating with the extremist by not doing anything to protect their Christian citizens. Coptic's are indigenous people of Egypt, they are descendants of the ancient Egyptians, their human rights and well-being has to be acknowledged and respected.
Christianity once prospered, enriching and blessing in peace all that dwelt in the Middle East. But today they are disappearing from the map of the Middle East. Several of these Christian communities date back to the first decades of Christianity, such as the Copts of Egypt, and the Assyrians, the indigenous people of Mesopotamia (Today's Iraq), Descendant of the ancient Assyrian civilization who have a history that spans over 7000 years.
Assyrians like the Copts are now dispersed throughout the world facing systematic campaign of massacre and destruction, they have been intimidated, pressured to convert to Islam, kidnapped and murdered. Our families live in constant fear, They have had their loved ones beheaded, raped, and daily threats are made against their lives, our churches have been attacked and destroyed.
Accordingly, we call upon the Australian government to stand in the international spotlight as representative for the free nations of the world and as the leading champion in the realm of democracy and human rights, defending those whose essential rights are violated and stepped on by everyone in Middle East. We ask you all to support the Christian of the Middle East.
We have to help them to get their rights back while condemning these breaches of fundamental precepts of our common humanity. We fear that through complacency, the perpetrators are given free reign to destroy, terrorize and debase all that our ancestors worked to build over the past millennia. But we hope, that with a common resolve and united voice, we can remind the world there are Christian minorities in the Middle East such as the Copts of Egypt and Assyrians of Mesopotamia who are facing oppression and violence everyday. We hope to give a voice to those that have none as we cry for justice and recognition of their plight.
God bless you all, May God bless our wonderful Country Australia
Assyrian Universal Alliance
Australian Chapter
ritten by AINA
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Egyptian State Security Arrests Christians Assaulted By Muslim Mob
Written by Mary Abdelmassih
18 March 2010
(AINA) -- Following an attack on March 12 by Muslims rioters on 400 Christians, assaulting and trapping them inside a Church for 14 hours in Mersa Matrouh, Egyptian Security authorities arrested 13 Copts, including 4 minors between 13 and 17. A dozen Muslims from over 2000 rioters were also arrested (video of trapped congregation).
Security forces transported the Coptic parishioners from St. Michel's Church in the Rifiyah suburb of Mersa Matrouh, northwestern Egypt, to their homes to safeguard them from being attacked once more by the lurking Muslims, "but took the 4 minors to the police station instead of dropping them at their homes and detained them there," said Rev. Matta Zakaria to Freecopts. "Even 13-year-old Mina Mounir Aziz who was not present at church, was arrested."
After intervention from Coptic priests, the four minors were released.
Two of the released minors interviewed by Coptic News Bulletin said the Security forces 'tricked' them by saying that they would take them to the police station to identify the Muslim suspects and would bring them back home within half an hour. "Although we told them we did not see any of the assailants as we were inside church, they still insisted on taking us with them," said 17-year-old Thomas Adly Edis. It was reported that they were beaten and insulted by the police.
The suspects, including the 9 Copts, will be detained for 15 days pending an investigation and face charges of illegal congregation, destruction of public property, arson and assault.
Rev. Matta said that State Security is using the same scenario which it adopts with every sectarian incident, in order to coerce the Church into "reconciliation" with the perpetrators and waive all civil rights to pursue the matter in the courts. "It is the same as what happened in Nag Hammadi, they kill our sons, and detain our youths," he told Coptic News Bulletin (AINA 2-23-2010).
On Sunday, March 14, Anba Bachomios, Bishop of the Dioceses of Beheirah, met with the Governor of Matrouh and demanded the release of the 9 detained Copts, as well as compensation for those whose lost their homes, businesses and cars.
Rev. Shenouda Gabra, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Mersa Matrouh, said he is surprised at the savage reaction of the Muslims. "If we have an administrative matter with the local council regarding the gate, why do the Muslims interfere and take the matter into their own hands, incited by Sheikh Khamis," he told Katiba Tibia News. He said this was the first time such an attack had occurred in Mersa Matrouh.
The Friday night Muslim attack on St. Michael church, which is attached to the Coptic services building, was incited by Imam Khamis Mohamad Khamis, of the adjacent Al-Ansar Mosque, who preached through a microphone calling for Jihad against the church and its destruction, and the "infidels" (Christians) to get out of the area.
According to witnesses the episode started when a group of Muslim Salafis told workers finishing a gate and the fence surrounding the services building that they do not want the gate. "We agreed to stop work, but as we were collecting our tools, the Muslims starting insulting and beating us," said one of the workers, who got hit by a brick causing hemorrhage to his kidney. "They followed us inside church so we forced them out then they starting pelting the church from all sides," he added.
While the Christians were trapped inside church, the Muslims rioters went around the nearby areas attacking Christians and looting, vandalizing and burning their homes, while their some inhabitants were indoors.
The Muslim attacks left 23 Copts wounded, two of them seriously forcing their transfer to Victoria Hospital in Alexandria, 200 km away.
According to the church, eighteen homes were completely vandalized and burned, and 4 shops and 18 cars "The cars were used for hire by the Coptic owners and mostly financed through bank credit," said activist Wagih Yacoub. "Those people are completely ruined."
The Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization (EUHRO) is holding an international press conference on the incident of Mersa Matrouh on Sunday March 21, in the wake of the "absence of the State authority" and to demand more intervention from the Ministry of Endowment in regulating hateful preaching by Imams, which gives rise to sectarian strife between Christians and Muslims.
18 March 2010
(AINA) -- Following an attack on March 12 by Muslims rioters on 400 Christians, assaulting and trapping them inside a Church for 14 hours in Mersa Matrouh, Egyptian Security authorities arrested 13 Copts, including 4 minors between 13 and 17. A dozen Muslims from over 2000 rioters were also arrested (video of trapped congregation).
Security forces transported the Coptic parishioners from St. Michel's Church in the Rifiyah suburb of Mersa Matrouh, northwestern Egypt, to their homes to safeguard them from being attacked once more by the lurking Muslims, "but took the 4 minors to the police station instead of dropping them at their homes and detained them there," said Rev. Matta Zakaria to Freecopts. "Even 13-year-old Mina Mounir Aziz who was not present at church, was arrested."
After intervention from Coptic priests, the four minors were released.
Two of the released minors interviewed by Coptic News Bulletin said the Security forces 'tricked' them by saying that they would take them to the police station to identify the Muslim suspects and would bring them back home within half an hour. "Although we told them we did not see any of the assailants as we were inside church, they still insisted on taking us with them," said 17-year-old Thomas Adly Edis. It was reported that they were beaten and insulted by the police.
The suspects, including the 9 Copts, will be detained for 15 days pending an investigation and face charges of illegal congregation, destruction of public property, arson and assault.
Rev. Matta said that State Security is using the same scenario which it adopts with every sectarian incident, in order to coerce the Church into "reconciliation" with the perpetrators and waive all civil rights to pursue the matter in the courts. "It is the same as what happened in Nag Hammadi, they kill our sons, and detain our youths," he told Coptic News Bulletin (AINA 2-23-2010).
On Sunday, March 14, Anba Bachomios, Bishop of the Dioceses of Beheirah, met with the Governor of Matrouh and demanded the release of the 9 detained Copts, as well as compensation for those whose lost their homes, businesses and cars.
Rev. Shenouda Gabra, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Mersa Matrouh, said he is surprised at the savage reaction of the Muslims. "If we have an administrative matter with the local council regarding the gate, why do the Muslims interfere and take the matter into their own hands, incited by Sheikh Khamis," he told Katiba Tibia News. He said this was the first time such an attack had occurred in Mersa Matrouh.
The Friday night Muslim attack on St. Michael church, which is attached to the Coptic services building, was incited by Imam Khamis Mohamad Khamis, of the adjacent Al-Ansar Mosque, who preached through a microphone calling for Jihad against the church and its destruction, and the "infidels" (Christians) to get out of the area.
According to witnesses the episode started when a group of Muslim Salafis told workers finishing a gate and the fence surrounding the services building that they do not want the gate. "We agreed to stop work, but as we were collecting our tools, the Muslims starting insulting and beating us," said one of the workers, who got hit by a brick causing hemorrhage to his kidney. "They followed us inside church so we forced them out then they starting pelting the church from all sides," he added.
While the Christians were trapped inside church, the Muslims rioters went around the nearby areas attacking Christians and looting, vandalizing and burning their homes, while their some inhabitants were indoors.
The Muslim attacks left 23 Copts wounded, two of them seriously forcing their transfer to Victoria Hospital in Alexandria, 200 km away.
According to the church, eighteen homes were completely vandalized and burned, and 4 shops and 18 cars "The cars were used for hire by the Coptic owners and mostly financed through bank credit," said activist Wagih Yacoub. "Those people are completely ruined."
The Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization (EUHRO) is holding an international press conference on the incident of Mersa Matrouh on Sunday March 21, in the wake of the "absence of the State authority" and to demand more intervention from the Ministry of Endowment in regulating hateful preaching by Imams, which gives rise to sectarian strife between Christians and Muslims.
Sheikh Incites Muslims to Attack Christians in Egypt
Written by Damaris Kremida
Assault on community center, church, homes leaves 24 Copts wounded
Gutted vehicle from last weekend's Islamic
attacks on a Coptic church in northern Egypt.
ISTANBUL, March 17 (CDN) — A mob of enraged Muslims attacked a Coptic Christian community in a coastal town in northern Egypt last weekend, wreaking havoc for hours and injuring 24 Copts before security forces contained them.
The violence erupted on Friday (March 12) afternoon after the sheikh of a neighborhood mosque incited Muslims over a loudspeaker, proclaiming jihad against Christians in Marsa Matrouh, in Reefiya district, 320 kilometers (200 miles) west of Alexandria, according to reports.
The angry crowd hurled rocks at the district church, Christians and their properties, looted homes and set fires that evening. The mob was reportedly infuriated over the building of a wall around newly-bought land adjacent to the Reefiya Church building. The building, called al Malak al Khairy, translated Angel’s Charity, also houses a clinic and community center.
“I was very surprised by the degree of hatred that people had toward Christians,” said a reporter for online Coptic news source Theban Legion, who visited Reefiya after the attack. “The hate and the disgust were obvious.”
The attack was a rarity for a northern coastal resort town in Egypt; most tensions between Copts and Muslims erupt in southern towns of the country.
According to a worker building the wall around the newly-bought plot, local Sheikh Khamis along with a dozen “bearded” men accused the church and workers of blocking a road early on Friday, staff members of Watani newspaper said.
Worried that the dispute could erupt into violence, one of the priests ordered the workers to take the wall down.
The governor of Marsa Matrouh approved the building of the church center and granted a security permit to conduct religious services in 2009.
Following afternoon mosque prayers, Sheikh Khamis rallied neighborhood Muslims, gathering more than 300 people. The mob broke into groups, attacking the church and nearby houses of the Coptic Christian community. There are nearly 2,000 Coptic Christians in Reefiya.
Around 400 Copts fled into the church building while the rioting mob looted and destroyed 17 houses, 12 cars and two motorcycles, according to Watani.
Local security forces were unable to contain the attack and called-in back up from nearby Alexandria. At nearly 1:30 a.m. on Sunday (March 14) they managed to contain the crowd and let the Christians out of the church.
Police arrested 16 young Christian men among those who were inside the church building, according to Watani. Later, four of them who were released because they were underage told reporters that security forces beat them. Police also arrested 18 of the assailants.
Some of the attackers and security forces were also wounded in the altercation. Of the wounded Copts, two were reportedly rushed to a hospital in Alexandria in critical condition. Sobhy Girgis, 33, was taken to Alexandria’s Victoria Hospital for internal bleeding in the kidney from injuries sustained from rocks the crowd threw at him, and Mounir Naguib, 41, was treated for multiple stab wounds, according to Watani.
Naguib, a teacher, said he was accosted while on his way to the Angel’s Charity building, with a knife-wielding member of the mob asking him if he was a Christian. When he said he was, the Muslim told him to convert to Islam by pronouncing the two testimonies of the Muslim faith (that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is his messenger).
“When I refused, he stabbed me in the thigh and hit me on the head,” Naguib told Watani.
One Copt, Nabil Wahba, told of how his house was destroyed. Wahba said he came home at 6 p.m. to find around 40 men hurling stones at his house. At 9 p.m. they came back with clubs and iron pipes, ripping the windows open and throwing fireballs into the house.
“When we tried to put out the fire, they hurled stones at us, while others were pulling down the garden fence and setting the other side of the house aflame,” Wahba told Watani.
Security forces pulled Wahba and his sister out of his blazing house.
On the same day that violence erupted in Marsa Matrouh, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a report denouncing Egypt’s legal system for not bringing people to justice for violent acts against Christians and their property.
According to the report, in the last year there have been more than a dozen incidents in which Coptic Christians have been targets of violence.
“This upsurge in violence and the failure to prosecute those responsible fosters a growing climate of impunity,” USCIRF Chairman Leonard Leo states in the report.
Since 2002, Egypt has been on the USCIRF “Watch List” as a country with serious religious freedom violations, including widespread problems of discrimination, intolerance and other human rights violations against members of religious minorities, according to the report.
Commenting on the Marsa Matrouh attack, the Theban Legion reporter stated that among the mob were members of Bedouin communities who are intolerant of plurality and diversity in society.
“The law of the land is supposed to be a civil law, and we would like to see a civil law applying to everybody,” he said
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Muslim Mob Attacks Christians At Church In Egypt, 25 Injured
Egypt (AINA) -- At 17:00 hours on Friday a Muslim mob attacked a
Christian congregation during prayers in the church attached to the
services building of the Coptic Church in the Rifeyah area of the
Mediterranean seaport of Mersa Matrouh. The mob, estimated to be
between 2000-3000 of Bedouins and fanatical Muslim Salafis, hurled
stones at the building. Four priests, the deacons and 400 parishioners
were trapped inside the building.
Rev. Matta Zakarya told activist Wagih Yacoub of Katiba-Tibeyah, an
advocacy group, that after the mob hurled stones at the building, they
went inside and assaulted the people, mostly families. Neither the
security forces nor the fire brigades were sufficient. Only two fire
brigades were available. Witnesses said the number of security forces
was not enough to contain the Muslims, and tear gas was used against
them.
The attack in casualties among the Copts and security forces, mostly
head injuries caused by hurled bricks. The injured were treated at
Matrouh Hospital. According to Rev. Matta, twenty-five persons were
seriously wounded, including women and children. Eighteen houses,
twenty-two shops and sixteen cars were destroyed and burnt down.
"Twenty-eight people have no homes and had to seek refuge in the
services building," said Rev. Matta.
Security forces enforcement from Alexandria arrived in the early hours
of Saturday, and escorted the 400 Copts held in the services building
to their homes.
The pretext used by the Muslims for this attack was the erection,
without permission, of a wall surrounding the plot of land acquired by
the Church adjacent to the services building. "The violence started
after the Muslim evening prayer," said Rev. Matta Zakaria to Coptic
News Bulletin, "when the Mosque's Imam, Shaikh Khamees, talked of the
need to fight the 'enemies', and said 'we don't want Christians to
live among us.'"
The mob moved on to other areas not protected by security, vandalizing
and torching Coptic homes, shops, businesses and cars in the streets
surrounding the services building. "They were chanting religious and
Jihadi slogans, during which they vandalized and burnt houses and
shops, amid the cries of the terrorized Copts," reported Nader Shukry
of Freecopts.
Copts whose relatives were held inside the services building, gathered
in front of the State Security in Matrouh to protest the attacks on
them and the delay in the arrival of the security forces to protect
them.
Rev. Matta said that a meeting is to be held in the morning of March
13, between the Church, the State Security and the Muslim elders in
the area, "Because the Copts are frightened, especially the women and
children who were indoors as the Muslims torched their homes and who
are now extremely traumatized. Everyone needs re-assurance that such
an attack will never happen again."
The services building, called Archangel Michael Charity, which serves
300 Coptic families, was demolished (AINA 4-30-2009) by security
forces on April 26, 2009, under the pretext of questioning the
ownership of land, but the matter was later clarified and a license
for the construction of a replacement services building was obtained
from the Governor of Matrouh.
By Mary Abdelmassih
http://www.aina.org/news/20100313012827.htm
Christian congregation during prayers in the church attached to the
services building of the Coptic Church in the Rifeyah area of the
Mediterranean seaport of Mersa Matrouh. The mob, estimated to be
between 2000-3000 of Bedouins and fanatical Muslim Salafis, hurled
stones at the building. Four priests, the deacons and 400 parishioners
were trapped inside the building.
Rev. Matta Zakarya told activist Wagih Yacoub of Katiba-Tibeyah, an
advocacy group, that after the mob hurled stones at the building, they
went inside and assaulted the people, mostly families. Neither the
security forces nor the fire brigades were sufficient. Only two fire
brigades were available. Witnesses said the number of security forces
was not enough to contain the Muslims, and tear gas was used against
them.
The attack in casualties among the Copts and security forces, mostly
head injuries caused by hurled bricks. The injured were treated at
Matrouh Hospital. According to Rev. Matta, twenty-five persons were
seriously wounded, including women and children. Eighteen houses,
twenty-two shops and sixteen cars were destroyed and burnt down.
"Twenty-eight people have no homes and had to seek refuge in the
services building," said Rev. Matta.
Security forces enforcement from Alexandria arrived in the early hours
of Saturday, and escorted the 400 Copts held in the services building
to their homes.
The pretext used by the Muslims for this attack was the erection,
without permission, of a wall surrounding the plot of land acquired by
the Church adjacent to the services building. "The violence started
after the Muslim evening prayer," said Rev. Matta Zakaria to Coptic
News Bulletin, "when the Mosque's Imam, Shaikh Khamees, talked of the
need to fight the 'enemies', and said 'we don't want Christians to
live among us.'"
The mob moved on to other areas not protected by security, vandalizing
and torching Coptic homes, shops, businesses and cars in the streets
surrounding the services building. "They were chanting religious and
Jihadi slogans, during which they vandalized and burnt houses and
shops, amid the cries of the terrorized Copts," reported Nader Shukry
of Freecopts.
Copts whose relatives were held inside the services building, gathered
in front of the State Security in Matrouh to protest the attacks on
them and the delay in the arrival of the security forces to protect
them.
Rev. Matta said that a meeting is to be held in the morning of March
13, between the Church, the State Security and the Muslim elders in
the area, "Because the Copts are frightened, especially the women and
children who were indoors as the Muslims torched their homes and who
are now extremely traumatized. Everyone needs re-assurance that such
an attack will never happen again."
The services building, called Archangel Michael Charity, which serves
300 Coptic families, was demolished (AINA 4-30-2009) by security
forces on April 26, 2009, under the pretext of questioning the
ownership of land, but the matter was later clarified and a license
for the construction of a replacement services building was obtained
from the Governor of Matrouh.
By Mary Abdelmassih
http://www.aina.org/news/20100313012827.htm
Monday, March 8, 2010
Geert Wilders . . . Home Truths from Abroad
House of Lords, London
Friday March 5, 2010
Thank you. It is great to be back in London. And it is great that this time, I got to see more of this wonderful city than just the detention centre at Heathrow Airport.
Today I stand before you, in this extraordinary place. Indeed, this is a sacred place. This is, as Malcolm always says, the mother of all Parliaments, I am deeply humbled to have the opportunity to speak before you.
Thank you Lord Pearson and Lady Cox for your invitation and showing my film, Fitna. Thank you my friends for inviting me.
I first have great news. Last Wednesday city council elections were held in the Netherlands. And for the first time my party, the Freedom Party, took part in these local elections. We participated in two cities. In Almere, one of the largest Dutch cities. And in The Hague, the third largest city; home of the government, the parliament and the queen. And, we did great! In one fell swoop my party became the largest party in Almere and the second largest party in The Hague. Great news for the Freedom Party and even better news for the people of these two beautiful cities.
And I have more good news. Two weeks ago the Dutch government collapsed. In June we will have parliamentary elections. And the future for the Freedom Party looks great. According to some polls we will become the largest party in the Netherlands. I want to be modest, but who knows, I might even be Prime Minister in a few months time!
Ladies and gentlemen, not far from here stands a statue of the greatest Prime Minister your country ever had. And I would like to quote him here today: “Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. No stronger retrograde force exists in the World. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step (…) the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.” These words are from none other than Winston Churchill wrote this in his book ‘The River War’ from 1899.
Churchill was right.
Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t have a problem and my party does not have a problem with Muslims as such. There are many moderate Muslims. The majority of Muslims are law-abiding citizens and want to live a peaceful life as you and I do. I know that. That is why I always make a clear distinction between the people, the Muslims, and the ideology, between Islam and Muslims. There are many moderate Muslims, but there is no such thing as a moderate Islam.
Islam strives for world domination. The Quran commands Muslims to exercise jihad. The Quran commands Muslims to establish shariah law. The Quran commands Muslims to impose Islam on the entire world.
As former Turkish Prime Minister Erbakan said: “The whole of Europe will become Islamic. We will conquer Rome”. End of quote.
Libyan dictator Gaddafi said: “There are tens of millions of Muslims in the European continent today and their number is on the increase. This is the clear indication that the European continent will be converted into Islam. Europe will one day soon be a Muslim continent”. End of quote. Indeed, for once in his life, Gaddafi was telling the truth. Because, remember: mass immigration and demographics is destiny!
Islam is merely not a religion, it is mainly a totalitarian ideology. Islam wants to dominate all aspects of life, from the cradle to the grave. Shariah law is a law that controls every detail of life in a Islamic society. From civic- and family law to criminal law. It determines how one should eat, dress and even use the toilet. Oppression of women is good, drinking alcohol is bad.
I believe that Islam is not compatible with our Western way of life. Islam is a threat to Western values. The equality of men and women, the equality of homosexuals and heterosexuals, the separation of church and state, freedom of speech, they are all under pressure because of islamization. Ladies and gentlemen: Islam and freedom, Islam and democracy are not compatible. It are opposite values.
No wonder that Winston Churchill called Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ “the new Quran of faith and war, turgid, verbose, shapeless, bur pregnant with its message”. As you know, Churchill made this comparison, between the Koran and Mein Kampf, in his book ‘The Second World War’, a master piece, for which, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Churchill’s comparison of the Quran and ‘Mein Kampf’ is absolutely spot on. The core of the Quran is the call to jihad. Jihad means a lot of things and is Arabic for battle. Kampf is German for battle. Jihad and kampf mean exactly the same.
Islam means submission, there cannot be any mistake about its goal. That’s a given. The question is whether we in Europe and you in Britain, with your glorious past, will submit or stand firm for your heritage.
We see Islam taking off in the West at an incredible pace. Europe is Islamizing rapidly. A lot of European cities have enormous Islamic concentrations. Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin are just a few examples. In some parts of these cities, Islamic regulations are already being enforced. Women’s rights are being destroyed. Burqa’s, headscarves, polygamy, female genital mutilation, honour-killings. Women have to go to separate swimming-classes, don’t get a handshake. In many European cities there is already apartheid. Jews, in an increasing number, are leaving Europe.
As you undoubtedly all know, better then I do, also in your country the mass immigration and islamization has rapidly increased. This has put an enormous pressure on your British society. Look what is happening in for example Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford and here in London. British politicians who have forgotten about Winston Churchill have now taken the path of least resistance. They have given up. They have given in.
Last year, my party has requested the Dutch government to make a cost-benefit analysis of the mass immigration. But the government refused to give us an answer. Why? Because it is afraid of the truth. The signs are not good. A Dutch weekly magazine - Elsevier - calculated costs to exceed 200 billion Euros. Last year alone, they came with an amount of 13 billion Euros. More calculations have been made in Europe: According to the Danish national bank, every Danish immigrant from an Islamic country is costing the Danish state more than 300 thousand Euros. You see the same in Norway and France. The conclusion that can be drawn from this: Europe is getting more impoverished by the day. More impoverished thanks to mass immigration. More impoverished thanks to demographics. And the leftists are thrilled.
I don't know whether it is true, but in several British newspapers I read that Labour opened the door to mass immigration in a deliberate policy to change the social structures of the UK. Andrew Neather, a former government advisor and speech writer for Tony Blair and Jack Straw, said the aim of Labour’s immigration strategy was, and I quote, to “rub the Right’s nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date”. If this is true, this is symptomatic of the Left.
Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake: The left is facilitating islamization. Leftists, liberals, are cheering for every new shariah bank being created, for every new shariah mortgage, for every new islamic school, for every new shariah court. Leftists consider Islam as being equal to our own culture. Shariah law or democracy? Islam or freedom? It doesn’t really matter to them. But it does matter to us. The entire leftist elite is guilty of practising cultural relativism. Universities, churches, trade unions, the media, politicians. They are all betraying our hard-won liberties.
Why I ask myself, why have the Leftists and liberals stopped to fight for them? Once the Leftists stood on the barricades for women’s rights. But where are they today? Where are they in 2010? They are looking the other way. Because they are addicted to cultural relativism and dependent on the Muslim vote. They are dependent on mass-immigration.
Thank heavens Jacqui Smith isn’t in office anymore. It was a victory for free speech that a UK judge brushed aside her decision to refuse me entry to your country last year. I hope that the judges in my home country are at least as wise and will acquit me of all charges, later this year in the Netherlands.
Unfortunately, so far they have not done so well. For they do not want to hear the truth about Islam, nor are they interested to hear the opinion of top class legal experts in the field of freedom of expression. Last month in a preliminary session the Court refused fifteen of the eighteen expert-witnesses I had requested to be summoned.
Only three expert witnesses are allowed to be heard. Fortunately, my dear friend and heroic American psychiatrist dr. Wafa Sultan is one of them. But their testimony will be heard behind closed doors. Apparently the truth about Islam must not be told in public, the truth about Islam must remain secret.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m being prosecuted for my political beliefs. We know political prosecution to exist in countries in the Middle East, like Iran and Saudi-Arabia, but never in Europe, never in the Netherlands.
I’m being prosecuted for comparing the Quran to ‘Mein Kampf’. Ridiculous. I wonder if Britain will ever put the beliefs of Winston Churchill on trial… Ladies and gentlemen, the political trial that is held against me has to stop.
But it is not all about me, not about Geert Wilders. Free speech is under attack. Let me give you a few other examples. As you perhaps know, one of my heroes, the Italian author Oriana Fallaci had to live in fear of extradition to Switzerland because of her anti-Islam book 'The Rage and the Pride'. The Dutch cartoonist Nekschot was arrested in his home in Amsterdam by 10 police men because of his anti-Islam drawings. Here in Britain, the American author Rachel Ehrenfeld was sued by a Saudi businessman for defamation. In the Netherlands Ayaan Hirsi Ali and in Australia two Christian pastors were sued. I could go on and on. Ladies and gentlemen, all throughout the West freedom loving people are facing this ongoing ‘legal jihad’. This is Islamic ‘lawfare’. And, ladies and gentlemen, not long ago the Danish cartoonist Westergaard was almost assassinated for his cartoons.
Ladies and gentlemen, we should defend the right to freedom of speech. With all our strength. With all our might. Free speech is the most important of our many liberties. Free speech is the cornerstone of our modern societies. Freedom of speech is the breath of our democracy, without freedom of speech our way of life our freedom will be gone.
I believe it is our obligation to preserve the inheritance of the brave young soldiers that stormed the beaches of Normandy. That liberated Europe from tyranny. These heroes cannot have died for nothing. It is our obligation to defend freedom of speech. As George Orwell said: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe in another policy, it is time for change. We must make haste. We can’t wait any longer. Time is running out. If I may quote one of my favourite American presidents: Ronald Reagan once said: “We need to act today, to preserve tomorrow”. That is why I propose the following measures, I only mention a few, in order to preserve our freedom:
First, we will have to defend freedom of speech. It is the most important of our liberties. In Europe and certainly in the Netherlands, we need something like the American First Amendment.
Second, we will have to end and get rid of cultural relativism. To the cultural relativists, the shariah socialists, I proudly say: Our Western culture is far superior to the Islamic culture. Don't be affraid to say it. You are not a racist when you say that our own culture is better.
Third, we will have to stop mass immigration from Islamic countries. Because more Islam means less freedom.
Fourth, we will have to expel criminal immigrants and, following denaturalisation, we will have to expel criminals with a dual nationality. And there are many of them in my country.
Fifth, we will have to forbid the construction of new mosques. There is enough Islam in Europe. Especially since Christians in Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia are mistreated, there should be a mosque building-stop in the West.
And last but not least, we will have to get rid of all those so-called leaders. I said it before: Fewer Chamberlains, more Churchills. Let's elect real leaders.
Ladies and gentlemen. To the previous generation, that of my parents, the word ‘London’ is synonymous with hope and freedom. When my country was occupied by the national-socialists the BBC offered a daily glimpse of hope in my country, in the darkness of Nazi tyranny. Millions of my fellow country men listened to it, underground. The words ‘This is London’ were a symbol for a better world coming soon.
What will be broadcasted forty years from now? Will it still be “This is London”? Or will it be “This is Londonistan”? Will it bring us hope? Or will it signal the values of Mecca and Medina? Will Britain offer submission or perseverance? Freedom or slavery? The choice is yours. And in the Netherlands the choice is ours.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will never apologize for being free. We will and should never give in. And, indeed, as one of your former leaders said: We will never surrender.
Freedom must prevail, and freedom will prevail.
Thank you very much.
Friday March 5, 2010
Thank you. It is great to be back in London. And it is great that this time, I got to see more of this wonderful city than just the detention centre at Heathrow Airport.
Today I stand before you, in this extraordinary place. Indeed, this is a sacred place. This is, as Malcolm always says, the mother of all Parliaments, I am deeply humbled to have the opportunity to speak before you.
Thank you Lord Pearson and Lady Cox for your invitation and showing my film, Fitna. Thank you my friends for inviting me.
I first have great news. Last Wednesday city council elections were held in the Netherlands. And for the first time my party, the Freedom Party, took part in these local elections. We participated in two cities. In Almere, one of the largest Dutch cities. And in The Hague, the third largest city; home of the government, the parliament and the queen. And, we did great! In one fell swoop my party became the largest party in Almere and the second largest party in The Hague. Great news for the Freedom Party and even better news for the people of these two beautiful cities.
And I have more good news. Two weeks ago the Dutch government collapsed. In June we will have parliamentary elections. And the future for the Freedom Party looks great. According to some polls we will become the largest party in the Netherlands. I want to be modest, but who knows, I might even be Prime Minister in a few months time!
Ladies and gentlemen, not far from here stands a statue of the greatest Prime Minister your country ever had. And I would like to quote him here today: “Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. No stronger retrograde force exists in the World. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step (…) the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.” These words are from none other than Winston Churchill wrote this in his book ‘The River War’ from 1899.
Churchill was right.
Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t have a problem and my party does not have a problem with Muslims as such. There are many moderate Muslims. The majority of Muslims are law-abiding citizens and want to live a peaceful life as you and I do. I know that. That is why I always make a clear distinction between the people, the Muslims, and the ideology, between Islam and Muslims. There are many moderate Muslims, but there is no such thing as a moderate Islam.
Islam strives for world domination. The Quran commands Muslims to exercise jihad. The Quran commands Muslims to establish shariah law. The Quran commands Muslims to impose Islam on the entire world.
As former Turkish Prime Minister Erbakan said: “The whole of Europe will become Islamic. We will conquer Rome”. End of quote.
Libyan dictator Gaddafi said: “There are tens of millions of Muslims in the European continent today and their number is on the increase. This is the clear indication that the European continent will be converted into Islam. Europe will one day soon be a Muslim continent”. End of quote. Indeed, for once in his life, Gaddafi was telling the truth. Because, remember: mass immigration and demographics is destiny!
Islam is merely not a religion, it is mainly a totalitarian ideology. Islam wants to dominate all aspects of life, from the cradle to the grave. Shariah law is a law that controls every detail of life in a Islamic society. From civic- and family law to criminal law. It determines how one should eat, dress and even use the toilet. Oppression of women is good, drinking alcohol is bad.
I believe that Islam is not compatible with our Western way of life. Islam is a threat to Western values. The equality of men and women, the equality of homosexuals and heterosexuals, the separation of church and state, freedom of speech, they are all under pressure because of islamization. Ladies and gentlemen: Islam and freedom, Islam and democracy are not compatible. It are opposite values.
No wonder that Winston Churchill called Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ “the new Quran of faith and war, turgid, verbose, shapeless, bur pregnant with its message”. As you know, Churchill made this comparison, between the Koran and Mein Kampf, in his book ‘The Second World War’, a master piece, for which, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Churchill’s comparison of the Quran and ‘Mein Kampf’ is absolutely spot on. The core of the Quran is the call to jihad. Jihad means a lot of things and is Arabic for battle. Kampf is German for battle. Jihad and kampf mean exactly the same.
Islam means submission, there cannot be any mistake about its goal. That’s a given. The question is whether we in Europe and you in Britain, with your glorious past, will submit or stand firm for your heritage.
We see Islam taking off in the West at an incredible pace. Europe is Islamizing rapidly. A lot of European cities have enormous Islamic concentrations. Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin are just a few examples. In some parts of these cities, Islamic regulations are already being enforced. Women’s rights are being destroyed. Burqa’s, headscarves, polygamy, female genital mutilation, honour-killings. Women have to go to separate swimming-classes, don’t get a handshake. In many European cities there is already apartheid. Jews, in an increasing number, are leaving Europe.
As you undoubtedly all know, better then I do, also in your country the mass immigration and islamization has rapidly increased. This has put an enormous pressure on your British society. Look what is happening in for example Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford and here in London. British politicians who have forgotten about Winston Churchill have now taken the path of least resistance. They have given up. They have given in.
Last year, my party has requested the Dutch government to make a cost-benefit analysis of the mass immigration. But the government refused to give us an answer. Why? Because it is afraid of the truth. The signs are not good. A Dutch weekly magazine - Elsevier - calculated costs to exceed 200 billion Euros. Last year alone, they came with an amount of 13 billion Euros. More calculations have been made in Europe: According to the Danish national bank, every Danish immigrant from an Islamic country is costing the Danish state more than 300 thousand Euros. You see the same in Norway and France. The conclusion that can be drawn from this: Europe is getting more impoverished by the day. More impoverished thanks to mass immigration. More impoverished thanks to demographics. And the leftists are thrilled.
I don't know whether it is true, but in several British newspapers I read that Labour opened the door to mass immigration in a deliberate policy to change the social structures of the UK. Andrew Neather, a former government advisor and speech writer for Tony Blair and Jack Straw, said the aim of Labour’s immigration strategy was, and I quote, to “rub the Right’s nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date”. If this is true, this is symptomatic of the Left.
Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake: The left is facilitating islamization. Leftists, liberals, are cheering for every new shariah bank being created, for every new shariah mortgage, for every new islamic school, for every new shariah court. Leftists consider Islam as being equal to our own culture. Shariah law or democracy? Islam or freedom? It doesn’t really matter to them. But it does matter to us. The entire leftist elite is guilty of practising cultural relativism. Universities, churches, trade unions, the media, politicians. They are all betraying our hard-won liberties.
Why I ask myself, why have the Leftists and liberals stopped to fight for them? Once the Leftists stood on the barricades for women’s rights. But where are they today? Where are they in 2010? They are looking the other way. Because they are addicted to cultural relativism and dependent on the Muslim vote. They are dependent on mass-immigration.
Thank heavens Jacqui Smith isn’t in office anymore. It was a victory for free speech that a UK judge brushed aside her decision to refuse me entry to your country last year. I hope that the judges in my home country are at least as wise and will acquit me of all charges, later this year in the Netherlands.
Unfortunately, so far they have not done so well. For they do not want to hear the truth about Islam, nor are they interested to hear the opinion of top class legal experts in the field of freedom of expression. Last month in a preliminary session the Court refused fifteen of the eighteen expert-witnesses I had requested to be summoned.
Only three expert witnesses are allowed to be heard. Fortunately, my dear friend and heroic American psychiatrist dr. Wafa Sultan is one of them. But their testimony will be heard behind closed doors. Apparently the truth about Islam must not be told in public, the truth about Islam must remain secret.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m being prosecuted for my political beliefs. We know political prosecution to exist in countries in the Middle East, like Iran and Saudi-Arabia, but never in Europe, never in the Netherlands.
I’m being prosecuted for comparing the Quran to ‘Mein Kampf’. Ridiculous. I wonder if Britain will ever put the beliefs of Winston Churchill on trial… Ladies and gentlemen, the political trial that is held against me has to stop.
But it is not all about me, not about Geert Wilders. Free speech is under attack. Let me give you a few other examples. As you perhaps know, one of my heroes, the Italian author Oriana Fallaci had to live in fear of extradition to Switzerland because of her anti-Islam book 'The Rage and the Pride'. The Dutch cartoonist Nekschot was arrested in his home in Amsterdam by 10 police men because of his anti-Islam drawings. Here in Britain, the American author Rachel Ehrenfeld was sued by a Saudi businessman for defamation. In the Netherlands Ayaan Hirsi Ali and in Australia two Christian pastors were sued. I could go on and on. Ladies and gentlemen, all throughout the West freedom loving people are facing this ongoing ‘legal jihad’. This is Islamic ‘lawfare’. And, ladies and gentlemen, not long ago the Danish cartoonist Westergaard was almost assassinated for his cartoons.
Ladies and gentlemen, we should defend the right to freedom of speech. With all our strength. With all our might. Free speech is the most important of our many liberties. Free speech is the cornerstone of our modern societies. Freedom of speech is the breath of our democracy, without freedom of speech our way of life our freedom will be gone.
I believe it is our obligation to preserve the inheritance of the brave young soldiers that stormed the beaches of Normandy. That liberated Europe from tyranny. These heroes cannot have died for nothing. It is our obligation to defend freedom of speech. As George Orwell said: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe in another policy, it is time for change. We must make haste. We can’t wait any longer. Time is running out. If I may quote one of my favourite American presidents: Ronald Reagan once said: “We need to act today, to preserve tomorrow”. That is why I propose the following measures, I only mention a few, in order to preserve our freedom:
First, we will have to defend freedom of speech. It is the most important of our liberties. In Europe and certainly in the Netherlands, we need something like the American First Amendment.
Second, we will have to end and get rid of cultural relativism. To the cultural relativists, the shariah socialists, I proudly say: Our Western culture is far superior to the Islamic culture. Don't be affraid to say it. You are not a racist when you say that our own culture is better.
Third, we will have to stop mass immigration from Islamic countries. Because more Islam means less freedom.
Fourth, we will have to expel criminal immigrants and, following denaturalisation, we will have to expel criminals with a dual nationality. And there are many of them in my country.
Fifth, we will have to forbid the construction of new mosques. There is enough Islam in Europe. Especially since Christians in Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia are mistreated, there should be a mosque building-stop in the West.
And last but not least, we will have to get rid of all those so-called leaders. I said it before: Fewer Chamberlains, more Churchills. Let's elect real leaders.
Ladies and gentlemen. To the previous generation, that of my parents, the word ‘London’ is synonymous with hope and freedom. When my country was occupied by the national-socialists the BBC offered a daily glimpse of hope in my country, in the darkness of Nazi tyranny. Millions of my fellow country men listened to it, underground. The words ‘This is London’ were a symbol for a better world coming soon.
What will be broadcasted forty years from now? Will it still be “This is London”? Or will it be “This is Londonistan”? Will it bring us hope? Or will it signal the values of Mecca and Medina? Will Britain offer submission or perseverance? Freedom or slavery? The choice is yours. And in the Netherlands the choice is ours.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will never apologize for being free. We will and should never give in. And, indeed, as one of your former leaders said: We will never surrender.
Freedom must prevail, and freedom will prevail.
Thank you very much.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Will America Help the Persecuted Copts of Egypt?
Written by Ray Nothstine
Acton Institute
The violent persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt is becoming harder for the free world to ignore. This is true thanks to thousands of Copts who recently expressed their decades of frustration and anguish in street protests across the globe.
One moving example took place in West Los Angeles, Calif., latimesblogs.latimes.com last month. With American flags in hand, over a thousand Copts peacefully demonstrated. One boy simply said, “It is very dangerous in Egypt that is why we need America to help us.”
The protests were in response to a January 6 shooting that left six young Copts dead in Upper Egypt. The victims were gunned down outside the steps of their church while leaving a Christmas Eve service.
The date and location of the shooting are significant. Previously the Egyptian government has described sectarian violence within the country as family or village disputes. The latest atrocity further proves what anyone willing to connect the dots already knew: Copts are specific targets.
Copts are among the most ancient of Christian communities. They trace their roots back to the Gospel writer Mark who brought Christianity into Alexandria, Egypt, in the first century. Estimated to be about 10 percent of the population in Egypt, their long term survival in that country is in doubt. Their protection is also essential because they represent the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
Fox News deserves credit for raising awareness of Coptic persecution by airing the story of Maher and Dina El-Gowhary. The El-Gowahrys are a father and daughter who face numerous death threats because of their conversion from Islam and who are currently hiding inside Egypt. Islamic leaders have issued a fatwa against Maher, demanding the spilling of his blood. Dina even wrote a letter to President Barack Obama pleading for help.
Copts are not just terrorized with violence from growing Islamic extremism in Egypt; they face religious and economic marginalization by the government as well. The zabaleen (garbage collectors) communities are Christians who live in squalor, sorting trash daily in what can only be described as heartbreaking and horrific conditions. They epitomize the people Jesus spoke about in John 15:20: “Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.”
Christian girls face abduction, rape, and forced marriages with Muslim men. Law enforcement officials hardly respond to such cases, and when they do, they routinely dismiss the incidents as “domestic quarrels.”
Magdid Khalil, a Coptic writer living in the United States, explains the motivation behind government collusion or indifference to the plight of the Copts. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he says, “turns a blind eye to what happens to the Coptic citizens of his country. This seems to be an attempt at appeasing the Islamists to strengthen his hold on power and pass it on to his son.”
While almost every Copt would agree that the situation in Egypt is growing worse by the day, world attention to their plight is also gathering momentum. Some world and Christian leaders have taken notice and issued statements or sent letters to Mubarak’s government. President Obama received over 4,000 letters from Copts in the United States and across the world asking him to address their suffering. More than 2,000 Copts also assembled in front of the White House on a wintry January 21st to emphasize the seriousness of their resolve.
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama said, “For America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity. Abroad, America’s greatest source of strength has always been our ideals.” Interestingly, the United States may be in the best position to help the Copts. Egypt receives close to $2 billion annually in American aid, placing it high on the list of beneficiaries of American largesse. The United States has never leveraged that assistance for protection of Copts. American ambassadors too have largely ignored their plight.
While the United States has exerted pressure for democratic reform in Egypt, little has changed. The current administration has an opportunity to pivot on Egypt, taking a moral stand with the persecuted, and sending a strong message to all religious minorities in the troubled region. One thing is certain: The continued suffering and witness of Copts will remind the free world that more must be done to protect religious liberty, the core freedom due to every human being.
Acton Institute
The violent persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt is becoming harder for the free world to ignore. This is true thanks to thousands of Copts who recently expressed their decades of frustration and anguish in street protests across the globe.
One moving example took place in West Los Angeles, Calif., latimesblogs.latimes.com last month. With American flags in hand, over a thousand Copts peacefully demonstrated. One boy simply said, “It is very dangerous in Egypt that is why we need America to help us.”
The protests were in response to a January 6 shooting that left six young Copts dead in Upper Egypt. The victims were gunned down outside the steps of their church while leaving a Christmas Eve service.
The date and location of the shooting are significant. Previously the Egyptian government has described sectarian violence within the country as family or village disputes. The latest atrocity further proves what anyone willing to connect the dots already knew: Copts are specific targets.
Copts are among the most ancient of Christian communities. They trace their roots back to the Gospel writer Mark who brought Christianity into Alexandria, Egypt, in the first century. Estimated to be about 10 percent of the population in Egypt, their long term survival in that country is in doubt. Their protection is also essential because they represent the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
Fox News deserves credit for raising awareness of Coptic persecution by airing the story of Maher and Dina El-Gowhary. The El-Gowahrys are a father and daughter who face numerous death threats because of their conversion from Islam and who are currently hiding inside Egypt. Islamic leaders have issued a fatwa against Maher, demanding the spilling of his blood. Dina even wrote a letter to President Barack Obama pleading for help.
Copts are not just terrorized with violence from growing Islamic extremism in Egypt; they face religious and economic marginalization by the government as well. The zabaleen (garbage collectors) communities are Christians who live in squalor, sorting trash daily in what can only be described as heartbreaking and horrific conditions. They epitomize the people Jesus spoke about in John 15:20: “Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.”
Christian girls face abduction, rape, and forced marriages with Muslim men. Law enforcement officials hardly respond to such cases, and when they do, they routinely dismiss the incidents as “domestic quarrels.”
Magdid Khalil, a Coptic writer living in the United States, explains the motivation behind government collusion or indifference to the plight of the Copts. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he says, “turns a blind eye to what happens to the Coptic citizens of his country. This seems to be an attempt at appeasing the Islamists to strengthen his hold on power and pass it on to his son.”
While almost every Copt would agree that the situation in Egypt is growing worse by the day, world attention to their plight is also gathering momentum. Some world and Christian leaders have taken notice and issued statements or sent letters to Mubarak’s government. President Obama received over 4,000 letters from Copts in the United States and across the world asking him to address their suffering. More than 2,000 Copts also assembled in front of the White House on a wintry January 21st to emphasize the seriousness of their resolve.
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama said, “For America must always stand on the side of freedom and human dignity. Abroad, America’s greatest source of strength has always been our ideals.” Interestingly, the United States may be in the best position to help the Copts. Egypt receives close to $2 billion annually in American aid, placing it high on the list of beneficiaries of American largesse. The United States has never leveraged that assistance for protection of Copts. American ambassadors too have largely ignored their plight.
While the United States has exerted pressure for democratic reform in Egypt, little has changed. The current administration has an opportunity to pivot on Egypt, taking a moral stand with the persecuted, and sending a strong message to all religious minorities in the troubled region. One thing is certain: The continued suffering and witness of Copts will remind the free world that more must be done to protect religious liberty, the core freedom due to every human being.
Christian persecution on the rise
Written by Bill Muehlenberg
Christian Today
It would be rather easy – and appropriate – for me to change the name of my website from CultureWatch to PersecutionWatch. To watch Western culture is increasingly to watch case after case of Christian persecution. On a daily basis Christians are being vilified, attacked, persecuted, and targeted by various forces, including secularist governments.
Indeed, as I have documented so often here, the persecution is coming more and more from the state, which seems to have decided that the biggest threat to its existence is biblical Christianity. Christians of course claim a higher loyalty to the only one true sovereign. Thus the state, which has delegated – and limited - authority from God, cannot claim or demand ultimate allegiance.
That is partly why all sorts of laws are being passed to effectively silence the Christian churches. All sorts of cheap excuses are brought up to render believers ineffective in proclaiming their faith. All manner of politically correct foolishness is sweeping the West, all with the intent of muting the Christian voice.
Consider this incredible case in San Diego, California. Here is how one report covers the story: “A San Diego pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a county official and warned they will face escalating fines if they continue to hold Bible studies in their home. The couple, whose names are being withheld until a demand letter can be filed on their behalf, told their attorney a county government employee knocked on their door on Good Friday, asking a litany of questions about their Tuesday night Bible studies, which are attended by approximately 15 people.
“’Do you have a regular weekly meeting in your home? Do you sing? Do you say “amen”?’ the official reportedly asked. ‘Do you say, “Praise the Lord”?’ The pastor’s wife answered yes. She says she was then told, however, that she must stop holding ‘religious assemblies’ until she and her husband obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars. And if they fail to pay for the MUP, the county official reportedly warned, the couple will be charged escalating fines beginning at $100, then $200, $500, $1000, ‘and then it will get ugly’.”
Imagine that! Now even home Bible studies are becoming illegal. What sort of madness is this? Clearly it is diabolically-inspired madness. We know that there is a very real spiritual power which wants to silence all of God’s people. And this spiritual battle is of course being fought out in our courts, our laws, our cultures and our social policies.
Dean Broyles of the Western Center for Law and Policy said, “I’ve been leading Bible studies in my home for 13 years in San Diego County, and I personally believe that home fellowship Bible studies are the past and future of the church. … If you look at China, the church grew from home Bible studies. I’m deeply concerned that if in the U.S. we are not able to meet in our homes and freely practice our religion, then we may be worse off than China.”
The law group issued a statement saying that it is “troubled by this draconian move to suppress home Bible studies. If the current trends in our nation continue, churches may be forced underground. If that happens, believers will once again be forced to meet in homes. If homes are already closed by the government to assembly and worship, where then will Christians meet?”
Good question indeed. With hate crime laws, anti-discrimination legislation, and all sorts of other nefarious laws, the free proclamation of the gospel is under threat already. Churches are especially being targeted here. And now the powers that be want to clamp down on Christian activities in the home as well.
Perhaps if these trends continue in the West, believers will be forced to meet in isolated forests and deserts, away from the ruling authorities and religious police, just as is happening in China and other nations where the church has been driven underground.
Not long ago Western Christians used to read about the horrible persecution of the church in Communist countries such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. We read about the great exploits and sufferings of Richard Wurmbrand (Tortured for Christ), Haralan Popov (Tortured for his Faith), Brother Andrew (God’s Smuggler) and others who ministered amidst great hardship and opposition in Communist lands.
I read these books with fascination and horror when I was a young believer in the 1970s. Little did I realise that within a few short decades some of these Communist nations would no longer be under the jackboot of atheistic Communism, but that the “free” West would quickly begin to take their place.
Sure, the US does not yet have its own Gulag, and Australia has not yet set up concentration camps for those troublesome Christians. But the way things are heading, it may not be all that far off. Increasingly it is becoming very risky indeed to publically proclaim your Christian faith in the secular post-Christian West.
Indeed, the West is not so much post-Christian any longer, but actually anti-Christian. And it is getting more so each passing day. And one sure sign that things have reached their logical outcome is when this website is no longer to be found. One day it may well be forcibly taken down by censorious authorities.
Of course the early church wrestled with all this as well. They proclaimed Jesus Christ as the one true royal master, not Caesar. A clash of royal domains was underway. As Tom Wright says about Paul while in prison: “The reason he was there was that what he had been doing and saying was seen as an offence to the people in power. He was announcing a royal message, a ‘gospel’ which clashed head on with the royal message on which the Roman Empire was built: the announcement of Caesar as Lord.”
We too proclaim a different king. This is the risen Lord who was betrayed and rejected by men. They hated him and they will hate us. There is no getting around this. In the light of all this, every one of us must start asking ourselves some very hard questions.
Are we willing to pay the price for following Christ publically and boldly? Are we committed to our Lord so fully, that we would be willing to lose our jobs, be heavily fined, or spend time in prison for the sake of Christ? Are we willing to give our very life away for the sake of the gospel?
But remember, it is always easier to say we will die for our Lord. It is much harder to actually live for our Lord right now. Will we walk with him along the road less travelled? Will we join him on the Via Dolorosa? Will we take up our cross and follow him as he has called us to do?
Very soon indeed these will not just be rhetorical questions.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=98895
Christian Today
It would be rather easy – and appropriate – for me to change the name of my website from CultureWatch to PersecutionWatch. To watch Western culture is increasingly to watch case after case of Christian persecution. On a daily basis Christians are being vilified, attacked, persecuted, and targeted by various forces, including secularist governments.
Indeed, as I have documented so often here, the persecution is coming more and more from the state, which seems to have decided that the biggest threat to its existence is biblical Christianity. Christians of course claim a higher loyalty to the only one true sovereign. Thus the state, which has delegated – and limited - authority from God, cannot claim or demand ultimate allegiance.
That is partly why all sorts of laws are being passed to effectively silence the Christian churches. All sorts of cheap excuses are brought up to render believers ineffective in proclaiming their faith. All manner of politically correct foolishness is sweeping the West, all with the intent of muting the Christian voice.
Consider this incredible case in San Diego, California. Here is how one report covers the story: “A San Diego pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a county official and warned they will face escalating fines if they continue to hold Bible studies in their home. The couple, whose names are being withheld until a demand letter can be filed on their behalf, told their attorney a county government employee knocked on their door on Good Friday, asking a litany of questions about their Tuesday night Bible studies, which are attended by approximately 15 people.
“’Do you have a regular weekly meeting in your home? Do you sing? Do you say “amen”?’ the official reportedly asked. ‘Do you say, “Praise the Lord”?’ The pastor’s wife answered yes. She says she was then told, however, that she must stop holding ‘religious assemblies’ until she and her husband obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars. And if they fail to pay for the MUP, the county official reportedly warned, the couple will be charged escalating fines beginning at $100, then $200, $500, $1000, ‘and then it will get ugly’.”
Imagine that! Now even home Bible studies are becoming illegal. What sort of madness is this? Clearly it is diabolically-inspired madness. We know that there is a very real spiritual power which wants to silence all of God’s people. And this spiritual battle is of course being fought out in our courts, our laws, our cultures and our social policies.
Dean Broyles of the Western Center for Law and Policy said, “I’ve been leading Bible studies in my home for 13 years in San Diego County, and I personally believe that home fellowship Bible studies are the past and future of the church. … If you look at China, the church grew from home Bible studies. I’m deeply concerned that if in the U.S. we are not able to meet in our homes and freely practice our religion, then we may be worse off than China.”
The law group issued a statement saying that it is “troubled by this draconian move to suppress home Bible studies. If the current trends in our nation continue, churches may be forced underground. If that happens, believers will once again be forced to meet in homes. If homes are already closed by the government to assembly and worship, where then will Christians meet?”
Good question indeed. With hate crime laws, anti-discrimination legislation, and all sorts of other nefarious laws, the free proclamation of the gospel is under threat already. Churches are especially being targeted here. And now the powers that be want to clamp down on Christian activities in the home as well.
Perhaps if these trends continue in the West, believers will be forced to meet in isolated forests and deserts, away from the ruling authorities and religious police, just as is happening in China and other nations where the church has been driven underground.
Not long ago Western Christians used to read about the horrible persecution of the church in Communist countries such as the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. We read about the great exploits and sufferings of Richard Wurmbrand (Tortured for Christ), Haralan Popov (Tortured for his Faith), Brother Andrew (God’s Smuggler) and others who ministered amidst great hardship and opposition in Communist lands.
I read these books with fascination and horror when I was a young believer in the 1970s. Little did I realise that within a few short decades some of these Communist nations would no longer be under the jackboot of atheistic Communism, but that the “free” West would quickly begin to take their place.
Sure, the US does not yet have its own Gulag, and Australia has not yet set up concentration camps for those troublesome Christians. But the way things are heading, it may not be all that far off. Increasingly it is becoming very risky indeed to publically proclaim your Christian faith in the secular post-Christian West.
Indeed, the West is not so much post-Christian any longer, but actually anti-Christian. And it is getting more so each passing day. And one sure sign that things have reached their logical outcome is when this website is no longer to be found. One day it may well be forcibly taken down by censorious authorities.
Of course the early church wrestled with all this as well. They proclaimed Jesus Christ as the one true royal master, not Caesar. A clash of royal domains was underway. As Tom Wright says about Paul while in prison: “The reason he was there was that what he had been doing and saying was seen as an offence to the people in power. He was announcing a royal message, a ‘gospel’ which clashed head on with the royal message on which the Roman Empire was built: the announcement of Caesar as Lord.”
We too proclaim a different king. This is the risen Lord who was betrayed and rejected by men. They hated him and they will hate us. There is no getting around this. In the light of all this, every one of us must start asking ourselves some very hard questions.
Are we willing to pay the price for following Christ publically and boldly? Are we committed to our Lord so fully, that we would be willing to lose our jobs, be heavily fined, or spend time in prison for the sake of Christ? Are we willing to give our very life away for the sake of the gospel?
But remember, it is always easier to say we will die for our Lord. It is much harder to actually live for our Lord right now. Will we walk with him along the road less travelled? Will we join him on the Via Dolorosa? Will we take up our cross and follow him as he has called us to do?
Very soon indeed these will not just be rhetorical questions.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=98895
EU considers protecting rights of persecuted Christians
Written by John Malhotra
Christian Today
6 March 2010
Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini
Christians in the state of Orissa in India are among the millions of believers worldwide who have suffered persecution for their faith.
The European Union has reportedly formed an association to protect the rights of Christians in countries where they face persecution.
"We’ve set up a working group and are defining what bilateral action can be taken between Europe and the individual countries where Christians’ rights are in danger,” said Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
“We’re studying which international initiatives the EU can adopt to bring this problem more clearly into focus.”
In an interview with Italian daily Avvenire, Frattini further indicated that the European Union would draw up a manual for EU countries’ embassies in nations where persecution is present.
"By the end of April we’ll have a manual for European embassies in the rest of the world, focusing in particular on the treatment of Christian religious minorities," he said.
Such a "common protocol", he noted, was never before been implemented and if brought out will help "closely monitor the treatment of religious minorities, especially Christian minorities, in the most sensitive countries."
He clarified that 'monitoring' would only be in regard to religious freedom. The EU intends to use a document published recently by Open Doors that contains detailed analysis of Christian persecution worldwide and identifies a list of countries where the situation regarding religious freedom ranges from “persecution”, “serious persecution”, “limitations” to “problematic”.
Ranked first in the list is North Korea, followed by Iran, Somalia and Saudi Arabia.
Keeping that in mind, Frattini stressed the need for a group of like-minded countries that could voice for the right of Christians to profess their faith anywhere in the world.
"You see, Christians have never had a political group offering them strong support through their governments. We discovered this when we found ourselves alone in contesting the ruling on crucifixes.
"We campaigned vigorously and succeeded in attracting the consensus of at least 15-16 countries which, formally or informally, came round to our position," he pointed.
Earlier this month, a delegation of the European Union visited Kandhamal - the scene of the 2008 riots - where they met government and police officials.
The 11-member delegation led by the EU's head of political affairs Christophe Manet reviewed the ground situation and met with victims of violence. The EU has strongly condemned the violence and called for protection of minorities
Christian Today
6 March 2010
Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini
Christians in the state of Orissa in India are among the millions of believers worldwide who have suffered persecution for their faith.
The European Union has reportedly formed an association to protect the rights of Christians in countries where they face persecution.
"We’ve set up a working group and are defining what bilateral action can be taken between Europe and the individual countries where Christians’ rights are in danger,” said Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
“We’re studying which international initiatives the EU can adopt to bring this problem more clearly into focus.”
In an interview with Italian daily Avvenire, Frattini further indicated that the European Union would draw up a manual for EU countries’ embassies in nations where persecution is present.
"By the end of April we’ll have a manual for European embassies in the rest of the world, focusing in particular on the treatment of Christian religious minorities," he said.
Such a "common protocol", he noted, was never before been implemented and if brought out will help "closely monitor the treatment of religious minorities, especially Christian minorities, in the most sensitive countries."
He clarified that 'monitoring' would only be in regard to religious freedom. The EU intends to use a document published recently by Open Doors that contains detailed analysis of Christian persecution worldwide and identifies a list of countries where the situation regarding religious freedom ranges from “persecution”, “serious persecution”, “limitations” to “problematic”.
Ranked first in the list is North Korea, followed by Iran, Somalia and Saudi Arabia.
Keeping that in mind, Frattini stressed the need for a group of like-minded countries that could voice for the right of Christians to profess their faith anywhere in the world.
"You see, Christians have never had a political group offering them strong support through their governments. We discovered this when we found ourselves alone in contesting the ruling on crucifixes.
"We campaigned vigorously and succeeded in attracting the consensus of at least 15-16 countries which, formally or informally, came round to our position," he pointed.
Earlier this month, a delegation of the European Union visited Kandhamal - the scene of the 2008 riots - where they met government and police officials.
The 11-member delegation led by the EU's head of political affairs Christophe Manet reviewed the ground situation and met with victims of violence. The EU has strongly condemned the violence and called for protection of minorities
Nina Shea: Egypt gov’t buried Coptic culture, promotes hatred of Christians
Written by Mohamed Abdel Salam
Bikya Masr
4 March 2010
CAIRO: American right-wing activist Nina Shea, a member of the US Committee for Religious Freedoms, accused the Egyptian government of “burying” the Coptic heritage of Egypt. She said the Cairo government supports the promotion of hatred against Copts in the Egyptian media and called on the US government to use American aid to Egypt in the support of the Coptic Christians of the country.
Shea criticized, in an interview with the American Christian Acton Institute, what she described as “the Egyptian government’s rejection of teaching the original Coptic Language in public schools … as it allows the study of English, French or German, but not Coptic.”
She also accused the Egyptian government of “burying the history and culture of the Copts in schools and the incitement of hatred against Christians in the media and mosques.”
She cited a speech made by Egyptian Bishop Thomas, the bishop of Qusiya, at the Hudson Institute two years ago. She said that Thomas spoke of “the continuing of the project of Arabization and Islamization of Egypt, which was not originally Arab or Islamic … before the Arab invasion, everyone was Copt in Egypt.”
The the US activist, director of the Center for Religious Freedom of the American right-wing Hudson Institute, criticized the American Administration for not exploiting the aid to Egypt in order to solve the Coptic problem.
She said that the United States provides annual aid to Egypt of about $2 billion “and we don’t influence through it at all to help Christians, and our ambassadors there are not effective in helping them.”
Shea said that “Copts are facing a huge problem in light of the rise of political Islam, a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam has been revived, which seeks the application through the state.”
Shea, who is also a member of the Inter-American Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that the Copts in Egypt “are not allowed to build or even renovate churches.”
She added: “Egypt has the largest Christian minority, but in fact the largest non-Muslim minority, among all countries in the Middle East, and that is the fate of the Coptic Church is very important for the experience of religious pluralism as well as for a Christian.”
Shea said that the number of Coptic Christians in Egypt amounts to 10 million people, in contrast to the Pew Center estimates that put them at less than 5 million people.
Shea said: “There are no Christian citizens in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia does not allow the construction of churches at all … and the Christians disappear quickly from Iraq, Turkey and Iran, and thus Egypt is very important.”
Shea, is known for her stricter religious views, as she was behind a conference held in January 1996 that brought more than 100 Christian leaders, churches and Christian clergy to discuss the situation of Christianity in the world under the auspices of Freedom House.
Bikya Masr
4 March 2010
CAIRO: American right-wing activist Nina Shea, a member of the US Committee for Religious Freedoms, accused the Egyptian government of “burying” the Coptic heritage of Egypt. She said the Cairo government supports the promotion of hatred against Copts in the Egyptian media and called on the US government to use American aid to Egypt in the support of the Coptic Christians of the country.
Shea criticized, in an interview with the American Christian Acton Institute, what she described as “the Egyptian government’s rejection of teaching the original Coptic Language in public schools … as it allows the study of English, French or German, but not Coptic.”
She also accused the Egyptian government of “burying the history and culture of the Copts in schools and the incitement of hatred against Christians in the media and mosques.”
She cited a speech made by Egyptian Bishop Thomas, the bishop of Qusiya, at the Hudson Institute two years ago. She said that Thomas spoke of “the continuing of the project of Arabization and Islamization of Egypt, which was not originally Arab or Islamic … before the Arab invasion, everyone was Copt in Egypt.”
The the US activist, director of the Center for Religious Freedom of the American right-wing Hudson Institute, criticized the American Administration for not exploiting the aid to Egypt in order to solve the Coptic problem.
She said that the United States provides annual aid to Egypt of about $2 billion “and we don’t influence through it at all to help Christians, and our ambassadors there are not effective in helping them.”
Shea said that “Copts are facing a huge problem in light of the rise of political Islam, a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam has been revived, which seeks the application through the state.”
Shea, who is also a member of the Inter-American Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that the Copts in Egypt “are not allowed to build or even renovate churches.”
She added: “Egypt has the largest Christian minority, but in fact the largest non-Muslim minority, among all countries in the Middle East, and that is the fate of the Coptic Church is very important for the experience of religious pluralism as well as for a Christian.”
Shea said that the number of Coptic Christians in Egypt amounts to 10 million people, in contrast to the Pew Center estimates that put them at less than 5 million people.
Shea said: “There are no Christian citizens in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia does not allow the construction of churches at all … and the Christians disappear quickly from Iraq, Turkey and Iran, and thus Egypt is very important.”
Shea, is known for her stricter religious views, as she was behind a conference held in January 1996 that brought more than 100 Christian leaders, churches and Christian clergy to discuss the situation of Christianity in the world under the auspices of Freedom House.
European Union Growing Ally for Persecuted Christians?
European Union Growing Ally for Persecuted Christians?
Source: CBN
Mar 07, 2010
The religious rights group Open Doors reports that 100 million Christians worldwide are persecuted or discriminated against in their own countries.
Most of them live in nations where Islam is the dominant religion. Communist nations like China, cuba, and North Korea are also offenders.
In many of these nations, Christians aren't allowed to build churches, buy bibles, or find good jobs. In the worst cases, they are arrested, beaten, and sometimes murdered.
But the European Union is taking steps to help them. This week, Italy's foreign minister told an Italian newspaper the EU has set up a working group on religious freedom.
He said they're devising a set of protocols to quote "closely monitor the treatment of religious minorities, especially Christian minorities, in the most sensitive countries.'
For more insight on the significance of this development, Christian World News spoke to Jordan Sekulow, director of international affairs for the American Center for Law and Justice. Click play for his comments.
He added that the EU will draw up a set of guidelines -- a manual -- for EI nation embassies in countries where persecution exists. The idea is to help those embassies evaluate religious freedom and possibly provide policy recommendations to encourage these countries to improve their treatment.
This is all in its early stages, but if it happens the way Italy's foreign minister says, it could mean persecuted Christians have a new and powerful ally.
Source: CBN
Mar 07, 2010
The religious rights group Open Doors reports that 100 million Christians worldwide are persecuted or discriminated against in their own countries.
Most of them live in nations where Islam is the dominant religion. Communist nations like China, cuba, and North Korea are also offenders.
In many of these nations, Christians aren't allowed to build churches, buy bibles, or find good jobs. In the worst cases, they are arrested, beaten, and sometimes murdered.
But the European Union is taking steps to help them. This week, Italy's foreign minister told an Italian newspaper the EU has set up a working group on religious freedom.
He said they're devising a set of protocols to quote "closely monitor the treatment of religious minorities, especially Christian minorities, in the most sensitive countries.'
For more insight on the significance of this development, Christian World News spoke to Jordan Sekulow, director of international affairs for the American Center for Law and Justice. Click play for his comments.
He added that the EU will draw up a set of guidelines -- a manual -- for EI nation embassies in countries where persecution exists. The idea is to help those embassies evaluate religious freedom and possibly provide policy recommendations to encourage these countries to improve their treatment.
This is all in its early stages, but if it happens the way Italy's foreign minister says, it could mean persecuted Christians have a new and powerful ally.
Egyptian Court Acquits Muslim Who Beheaded a Christian
By Mary Abdelmassih AINA
Mar 07, 2010
An Egyptian court in the southern city of Assuit acquitted this week four Muslims accused of killing 61-year-old Farouk Attallah on October 19, 2009. In broad daylight and in full view of witnesses, the killers fired 31 bullets to his head before beheading him, in the busy village market place of Attaleen, near Dairout, 313 kilometers south of Cairo. The dead body was then dragged in the street, accompanied by shouts of victory. Free Copts website published a video of the disfigured body (warning, violent graphic content: video).
The judge presiding over the court on February 22, said that he was not satisfied that the testimony of the witnesses established that the imprisoned men were the killers. After the acquittal of Mohamad, Ashraf, Osama and Ahmad Hassouna, there was jubilation in the court room, with shouts of 'Allah is Great' and congratulations from all Muslims, including members of the state security forces who were present.
Christians were enraged over the acquittal, since similar cases would result in life imprisonment or execution for a Copt if the victim was a Muslim.
The verdict came as another wake-up call to many Copts, according to Peter Sarwat, the plaintiff's attorney. "It sends a clear message that Coptic blood is extremely cheap." he told Mariam Ragy of Katiba Tibia Coptic site. "This acquittal will make permanent the present culture of impunity enjoyed by Muslim aggressors against Copts.".
Sarwat said the ruling was inadequate, as it acquitted the accused but did not say who the perpetrators are. "If these men did not kill, so who killed? The ruling should have referred the case to the general prosecution to present the perpetrators."
The Court based its ruling on quasi non existent proof, as well as the absence of "positive evidence" testimony versus the presence of "negative evidence" testimony. "The judge refused to take into consideration the testimonies of the dead man's daughter who said she only saw one killer and not four, as well as the testimony of the Muslim man who was wounded in the shootings," said Sarwat. According to media reports, most people who witnessed the shootings in the market place refused to come forward for fear of vengeance from the assailants' family. There were false witnesses who confirmed that the killers were present at work.
"It is not enough to get a conviction based only on police reports which are full of legal loopholes and weak prosecution investigations," said Sarwat. Legal observers have always claimed that the police purposely deliver to prosecution reports full of inadequacies and loopholes, thereby getting from the courts acquittals for Muslims.
What prompted the killing of Farouk Attallah was an alleged illicit sexual relationship between his son Romany and a local Muslim girl, Hagger Hassouna. A rumor that intimate photos of Hagger together with her lover Romany were circulating on cell phones in Dairout lead four members of the Hassona family to kill Romany's father, after failing to locate his son, who had fled.
Besides the killing of Farouk Attallah, the arrest of the Hassouna perpetrators sparked on October 24, 2009, Muslim riots and collective punishment against all Copts in Dairout. Christian-owned shops, pharmacies, and homes were looted and burned (AINA 10-27-2009).
Although several hundreds Muslims participated in those riots, the police only detained 19, and these were acquitted on December 13, 2009 because of the lack of eyewitnesses and conflicting statements between the accused and the victims.
The majority of Copts believe the reason for the acquittal of Muslims is that although Egypt claims to be a secular state, in reality it applies the Sharia law which dictates .that a Muslim who kills a non-Muslim must not be killed, because it is not reasonable to equate a Muslim with a "polytheist" (a Christian).
Commenting on the acquittal, Dr. Naguib Gobraeel, President of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights, said: "What is the solution? The same happened with regards to Al-Kosheh Massacre [21 Copts were slaughtered in 2000 and not one Muslim was indicted], the attack on the Copts in Alexandria were blamed on a mentally unstable person; even the assailant who beheaded Abdo Goerge Younan in Menoufiah is now in a mental hospital [AINA 9-21-2009]. Heavenly Justice is our last resourt." He stated that he will appeal this week's verdict.
The victim's family was greatly shocked and saddened by the acquittal. "In spite of the blood of their slain family head filling the street, the Muslim killers got away literally with murder," Sarwat said "It just shows how cheap Coptic blood can be."
Sarwat asserted that he will appeal the ruling. "We cannot remain silent over this verdict as it has very serious implications for all Copts in Egypt." He added: "It is not safe for Copts now, as any Muslims who wants to get rid of a Copt, would kill him, knowing well that in the end he will be acquitted."
Mar 07, 2010
An Egyptian court in the southern city of Assuit acquitted this week four Muslims accused of killing 61-year-old Farouk Attallah on October 19, 2009. In broad daylight and in full view of witnesses, the killers fired 31 bullets to his head before beheading him, in the busy village market place of Attaleen, near Dairout, 313 kilometers south of Cairo. The dead body was then dragged in the street, accompanied by shouts of victory. Free Copts website published a video of the disfigured body (warning, violent graphic content: video).
The judge presiding over the court on February 22, said that he was not satisfied that the testimony of the witnesses established that the imprisoned men were the killers. After the acquittal of Mohamad, Ashraf, Osama and Ahmad Hassouna, there was jubilation in the court room, with shouts of 'Allah is Great' and congratulations from all Muslims, including members of the state security forces who were present.
Christians were enraged over the acquittal, since similar cases would result in life imprisonment or execution for a Copt if the victim was a Muslim.
The verdict came as another wake-up call to many Copts, according to Peter Sarwat, the plaintiff's attorney. "It sends a clear message that Coptic blood is extremely cheap." he told Mariam Ragy of Katiba Tibia Coptic site. "This acquittal will make permanent the present culture of impunity enjoyed by Muslim aggressors against Copts.".
Sarwat said the ruling was inadequate, as it acquitted the accused but did not say who the perpetrators are. "If these men did not kill, so who killed? The ruling should have referred the case to the general prosecution to present the perpetrators."
The Court based its ruling on quasi non existent proof, as well as the absence of "positive evidence" testimony versus the presence of "negative evidence" testimony. "The judge refused to take into consideration the testimonies of the dead man's daughter who said she only saw one killer and not four, as well as the testimony of the Muslim man who was wounded in the shootings," said Sarwat. According to media reports, most people who witnessed the shootings in the market place refused to come forward for fear of vengeance from the assailants' family. There were false witnesses who confirmed that the killers were present at work.
"It is not enough to get a conviction based only on police reports which are full of legal loopholes and weak prosecution investigations," said Sarwat. Legal observers have always claimed that the police purposely deliver to prosecution reports full of inadequacies and loopholes, thereby getting from the courts acquittals for Muslims.
What prompted the killing of Farouk Attallah was an alleged illicit sexual relationship between his son Romany and a local Muslim girl, Hagger Hassouna. A rumor that intimate photos of Hagger together with her lover Romany were circulating on cell phones in Dairout lead four members of the Hassona family to kill Romany's father, after failing to locate his son, who had fled.
Besides the killing of Farouk Attallah, the arrest of the Hassouna perpetrators sparked on October 24, 2009, Muslim riots and collective punishment against all Copts in Dairout. Christian-owned shops, pharmacies, and homes were looted and burned (AINA 10-27-2009).
Although several hundreds Muslims participated in those riots, the police only detained 19, and these were acquitted on December 13, 2009 because of the lack of eyewitnesses and conflicting statements between the accused and the victims.
The majority of Copts believe the reason for the acquittal of Muslims is that although Egypt claims to be a secular state, in reality it applies the Sharia law which dictates .that a Muslim who kills a non-Muslim must not be killed, because it is not reasonable to equate a Muslim with a "polytheist" (a Christian).
Commenting on the acquittal, Dr. Naguib Gobraeel, President of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights, said: "What is the solution? The same happened with regards to Al-Kosheh Massacre [21 Copts were slaughtered in 2000 and not one Muslim was indicted], the attack on the Copts in Alexandria were blamed on a mentally unstable person; even the assailant who beheaded Abdo Goerge Younan in Menoufiah is now in a mental hospital [AINA 9-21-2009]. Heavenly Justice is our last resourt." He stated that he will appeal this week's verdict.
The victim's family was greatly shocked and saddened by the acquittal. "In spite of the blood of their slain family head filling the street, the Muslim killers got away literally with murder," Sarwat said "It just shows how cheap Coptic blood can be."
Sarwat asserted that he will appeal the ruling. "We cannot remain silent over this verdict as it has very serious implications for all Copts in Egypt." He added: "It is not safe for Copts now, as any Muslims who wants to get rid of a Copt, would kill him, knowing well that in the end he will be acquitted."
Muslims in AMerica
Barack OBAMA, in his Cairo speech, said:
"I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story."
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN'S RESPONSE:
Dear Mr. Obama:
Where were those Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.
Where were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.
Can you show me one Muslim signature on the United States Constitution?
Declaration of Independence?
Bill of Rights?
Didn't think so.
Did Muslims fight for this country's freedom from England? No.
Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America?
No, they did not. In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery. Your own half brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as "pug nosed slaves." Says a lot of what the muslim world really thinks of your family's "rich Islamic heritage," Doesn't it Obama?
Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country?
Not Present.
There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side With Martin Luther King, Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.
Where were Muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage era? Again, Not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the 'hajib' or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women's rights, aren't they?
Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim Grand Mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi's in killing Jews.
Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept.11th, 2001? If they weren't flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East. No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day. Strangely, the very "moderate" Muslims who's asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo, Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11. To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.
And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the "rich heritage" Muslims have here in America.
Oh, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates. They were Muslim.
And now we can add November 5, 2009 - the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor and a Psychiatrist who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from Battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story."
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN'S RESPONSE:
Dear Mr. Obama:
Where were those Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.
Where were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.
Can you show me one Muslim signature on the United States Constitution?
Declaration of Independence?
Bill of Rights?
Didn't think so.
Did Muslims fight for this country's freedom from England? No.
Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America?
No, they did not. In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery. Your own half brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as "pug nosed slaves." Says a lot of what the muslim world really thinks of your family's "rich Islamic heritage," Doesn't it Obama?
Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country?
Not Present.
There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side With Martin Luther King, Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.
Where were Muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage era? Again, Not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the 'hajib' or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women's rights, aren't they?
Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim Grand Mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi's in killing Jews.
Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept.11th, 2001? If they weren't flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East. No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day. Strangely, the very "moderate" Muslims who's asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo, Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11. To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.
And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the "rich heritage" Muslims have here in America.
Oh, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates. They were Muslim.
And now we can add November 5, 2009 - the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor and a Psychiatrist who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from Battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Obama-Eibner Copts
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington D.C. 20500
November 10, 2009
Dear President Obama,
Today, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is releasing a pioneering report entitled The Disappearance, Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages of Christian Coptic Women in Egypt.
The report’s findings are deeply disturbing. Interviews with victims, lawyers, priests, nuns and relatives confirm a widespread phenomenon that corresponds to international definitions of human trafficking – a crime defined by the UN as a “crime against humanity”. The pattern involves deception, sexual violence, denial of freedom of movement and compulsion to covert to Islam.
Trafficking of non-Muslim women and girls in Egypt is not simply an underworld criminal activity. This powerful report demonstrates that such violations of fundamental human rights are encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt - often rooted in Islamic traditions – that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. They furthermore appear to be abetted by the tacit complicity of the government as evidenced by its lack of willingness to adequately investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse or to reinstate crucial policies designed to protect Egyptians from coerced conversion by educating potential converts of the full implications of conversion.
Trafficking of Christian women in Egypt is not a new phenomenon. Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church publicly protested against it in 1976, when he declared: "There is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands.” But this problem has now reached boiling point within Egypt’s Coptic community, which views it as symptomatic of a much broader pattern of religious persecution. (see the 2009 Annual Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.) As the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly noted at the beginning of September:
“It is the question of the alleged conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men that elicits the greatest passions. In July [2009] alone three separate incidents received much publicity in the press. Pharmaceuticals student Rania Tawfik Asaad was ostensibly abducted in Giza and forced to marry a Muslim. [Several] other cases, those of Marian Bishai, Amira Morgan and Injy Basta, also hit the headlines.”
You delivered last June in Cairo an inspiring address to the Muslim world. It called for a new beginning in relations with the United States, and the need to uphold the rights of religious minorities and of women. Failure, as your message implied, would have dire consequences for the individual victims and for the broader strategic vision of improved relations between the West and the Islamic world.
Christian Solidarity International (CSI-USA)
870 Hampshire Road, Suite T, Westlake Village, CA 91361
(805) 777 7107 – tel; (805) 777 7508 – fax; csi@csi-usa.org
Christian Solidarity International stands together with the victimized Egyptian Christians and implores you, Mr. President, to encourage Egypt’s President, Hosni Mubarak to take credible measures to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls, and the culture of Muslim supremacism that fosters a climate for their victimization. I also urge you to ask Secretary Clinton to place this important issue - which has grave human rights and strategic dimensions – high on the agenda of our country’s diplomatic relations with Egypt. The unhindered and unpunished trafficking of Christian women and girls in Egypt is a litmus test for the true state of relations between Muslims and non-Muslim minorities.
In Cairo you boldly declared: “I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors.” Our hope, and that of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others of good will throughout the world, is that such honest, open, self-critical dialogue will challenge the culture of religious bigotry that blights the lives of so many non-Muslims in Egypt and works against fulfillment of the lofty hopes expressed in your Cairo address.
CSI wishes you well Mr. President as you keep human rights at the center of American foreign policy and strive to improve relations with the Islamic world on the basis of mutual respect and full civil rights for religious minorities.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Eibner
CEO
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington D.C. 20500
November 10, 2009
Dear President Obama,
Today, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is releasing a pioneering report entitled The Disappearance, Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages of Christian Coptic Women in Egypt.
The report’s findings are deeply disturbing. Interviews with victims, lawyers, priests, nuns and relatives confirm a widespread phenomenon that corresponds to international definitions of human trafficking – a crime defined by the UN as a “crime against humanity”. The pattern involves deception, sexual violence, denial of freedom of movement and compulsion to covert to Islam.
Trafficking of non-Muslim women and girls in Egypt is not simply an underworld criminal activity. This powerful report demonstrates that such violations of fundamental human rights are encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt - often rooted in Islamic traditions – that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. They furthermore appear to be abetted by the tacit complicity of the government as evidenced by its lack of willingness to adequately investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse or to reinstate crucial policies designed to protect Egyptians from coerced conversion by educating potential converts of the full implications of conversion.
Trafficking of Christian women in Egypt is not a new phenomenon. Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church publicly protested against it in 1976, when he declared: "There is pressure being practiced to convert Coptic girls to Islam and marry them under terror to Muslim husbands.” But this problem has now reached boiling point within Egypt’s Coptic community, which views it as symptomatic of a much broader pattern of religious persecution. (see the 2009 Annual Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.) As the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly noted at the beginning of September:
“It is the question of the alleged conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men that elicits the greatest passions. In July [2009] alone three separate incidents received much publicity in the press. Pharmaceuticals student Rania Tawfik Asaad was ostensibly abducted in Giza and forced to marry a Muslim. [Several] other cases, those of Marian Bishai, Amira Morgan and Injy Basta, also hit the headlines.”
You delivered last June in Cairo an inspiring address to the Muslim world. It called for a new beginning in relations with the United States, and the need to uphold the rights of religious minorities and of women. Failure, as your message implied, would have dire consequences for the individual victims and for the broader strategic vision of improved relations between the West and the Islamic world.
Christian Solidarity International (CSI-USA)
870 Hampshire Road, Suite T, Westlake Village, CA 91361
(805) 777 7107 – tel; (805) 777 7508 – fax; csi@csi-usa.org
Christian Solidarity International stands together with the victimized Egyptian Christians and implores you, Mr. President, to encourage Egypt’s President, Hosni Mubarak to take credible measures to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls, and the culture of Muslim supremacism that fosters a climate for their victimization. I also urge you to ask Secretary Clinton to place this important issue - which has grave human rights and strategic dimensions – high on the agenda of our country’s diplomatic relations with Egypt. The unhindered and unpunished trafficking of Christian women and girls in Egypt is a litmus test for the true state of relations between Muslims and non-Muslim minorities.
In Cairo you boldly declared: “I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors.” Our hope, and that of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others of good will throughout the world, is that such honest, open, self-critical dialogue will challenge the culture of religious bigotry that blights the lives of so many non-Muslims in Egypt and works against fulfillment of the lofty hopes expressed in your Cairo address.
CSI wishes you well Mr. President as you keep human rights at the center of American foreign policy and strive to improve relations with the Islamic world on the basis of mutual respect and full civil rights for religious minorities.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Eibner
CEO
Pioneering Report on Disappearance, Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages of Egyptian Christian Women Released
Pioneering Report on Disappearance, Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages of Egyptian Christian Women Released
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Disappearance, Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt – a pioneering report on human trafficking - was released today by Christian Solidarity International (CSI) and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights.
Researched in Egypt by American anti-trafficking specialist Michele Clark and Egyptian women's rights activist Nadia Ghaly, the report documents a criminal pattern involving deception, sexual violence, captivity, compulsion to convert to Islam and forced marriage. This disturbing phenomenon corresponds to internationally recognized definitions of human trafficking.
Among the documented cases are:
R. 17-year-old Christian from Al-Fayoum: Drugged, kidnapped, raped, coerced into conversion to Islam, forcibly married.
J. 19-year-old Christian from Cairo: Abducted, raped, incarcerated, forcibly married, converted to Islam.
M. 15-year-old Christian from El Menya: raped, gave birth, converted to Islam, physically scarred, forcibly married, drugged, and prostituted.
The report demonstrates these violations of fundamental human rights are encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt - often rooted in religious tradition - that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. The report furthermore finds the Egyptian authorities tacitly complicit by consistently demonstrating a lack of will to adequately investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse.
Egypt's prestigious Al-Ahram Weekly recently broke a longstanding taboo by acknowledging that allegations of widespread conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men have brought relations between the country's Christian community and the Islamic authorities to a boiling point. (Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 3-9 September 2009, no. 963)
Writing today to President Barack Obama, Dr. John Eibner of CSI urged the U.S. government "to encourage Egyptian President Mubarak to take credible measures to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls." Eibner furthermore stated "the unhindered and unpunished trafficking of Christian women and girls in Egypt is a litmus test for the true state of relations between Muslims and non-Muslim minorities."
Last June in Cairo, President Obama addressed the Muslim world, calling for a new beginning in relations with the United States, and the need to uphold the rights of religious minorities and the rights of women.
The Clark-Ghaly report concludes by urging human rights institutions to undertake further research on this largely unexplored facet of human trafficking in Egypt.
Contact Elliott Daniels, (202) 544 7778 or (919) 440 9729, elliott.daniels@csi-usa.org.
To view or download the full report visit www.csi-int.org.
SOURCE Christian Solidarity International (CSI)
© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Disappearance, Forced Conversions and Forced Marriages of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt – a pioneering report on human trafficking - was released today by Christian Solidarity International (CSI) and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights.
Researched in Egypt by American anti-trafficking specialist Michele Clark and Egyptian women's rights activist Nadia Ghaly, the report documents a criminal pattern involving deception, sexual violence, captivity, compulsion to convert to Islam and forced marriage. This disturbing phenomenon corresponds to internationally recognized definitions of human trafficking.
Among the documented cases are:
R. 17-year-old Christian from Al-Fayoum: Drugged, kidnapped, raped, coerced into conversion to Islam, forcibly married.
J. 19-year-old Christian from Cairo: Abducted, raped, incarcerated, forcibly married, converted to Islam.
M. 15-year-old Christian from El Menya: raped, gave birth, converted to Islam, physically scarred, forcibly married, drugged, and prostituted.
The report demonstrates these violations of fundamental human rights are encouraged by the prevalence of cultural norms in Egypt - often rooted in religious tradition - that legitimize violence against women and non-Muslims. The report furthermore finds the Egyptian authorities tacitly complicit by consistently demonstrating a lack of will to adequately investigate allegations of rape, abduction and abuse.
Egypt's prestigious Al-Ahram Weekly recently broke a longstanding taboo by acknowledging that allegations of widespread conversion and forced marriage of Coptic girls to Muslim men have brought relations between the country's Christian community and the Islamic authorities to a boiling point. (Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 3-9 September 2009, no. 963)
Writing today to President Barack Obama, Dr. John Eibner of CSI urged the U.S. government "to encourage Egyptian President Mubarak to take credible measures to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls." Eibner furthermore stated "the unhindered and unpunished trafficking of Christian women and girls in Egypt is a litmus test for the true state of relations between Muslims and non-Muslim minorities."
Last June in Cairo, President Obama addressed the Muslim world, calling for a new beginning in relations with the United States, and the need to uphold the rights of religious minorities and the rights of women.
The Clark-Ghaly report concludes by urging human rights institutions to undertake further research on this largely unexplored facet of human trafficking in Egypt.
Contact Elliott Daniels, (202) 544 7778 or (919) 440 9729, elliott.daniels@csi-usa.org.
To view or download the full report visit www.csi-int.org.
SOURCE Christian Solidarity International (CSI)
© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
