Category Archives: Egypt

Report from Egypt: Violent clashes outside Al-Marshada Church in Upper Egypt

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The following report has no link for reference. It was in an email to me from Asaad Alepti, an Egyptian Copt activist now living in Australia. Typically his information is quite reliable.

Eeyore for Vlad

UPDATE: AINA

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Violent clashes have erupted between security forces and lawless Muslim protesters outside Al-Marshada Church in Upper Egypt, as police attempted to arrest individuals storming the building, following the alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old Muslim girl by a Coptic man.

As the violence mounted, an Al-Marshada village Imam Sheikh Ali Hafez called on local youth to form security committees to prevent looters from breaking into shops owned by Coptic Christians.

Al-Marshada church, which is located in Qena governorate, closed its doors Friday morning pre-empting another attack by the angry protesters who marched to the church following Friday’s prayers.

The church had already been raided at dawn and a number of shops in the village were torched by Muslims who claimed that a 45-year-old Coptic shop owner molested a six-year-old Muslim girl.

However, a number of the Muslim villagers deny the accusations saying that the shop owner has been always friendly to the young girl and treated her as his own child. Eyewitnesses further added that the false accusations were circulated by the girl’s salafists neighbours and not by her family, the salafists in the area object to the prescence of any churches in the district stating “a mosque will be built in its place”. Muslims in the distriict have also been warned against befriending or trading with the “Coptic infidels.”

Bishop Kirollos of Naga Hamadi told Al-Ahram Arabic language news website that the young girl has received a medical check-up and it was proven that she is still a virgin.

Bishop Kirollos added that the priests have handed the accused shop owner over to the police for his own protection, as they feared he will be killed.

“The terrified priests have locked the doors of the church in fear of further attempts to raid the building,” said Kirollos who added that some protesters have repeatedly tried to break through the security barrier surrounding the church and threatened to kill the priests.

Security forces have been blocking the entrances and exits of Al-Marshada village and the church all day in an attempt to avoid further clashes.

Meanwhile, head of security in Qena Salah Mozeed said that investigations are ongoing, adding that the girl’s family will be brought in for questioning.

Family Jailed In Egypt For Becoming Christian

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Sky news:

A mother and her seven children are jailed for 15 years for converting to Christianity and changing their names.

Egyptian Muslims and Christians celebrate Coptic Christmas eve mass, at Tahrir Square in CairoEgyptian Christians celebrate Coptic Christmas mass in Tahrir Square, Cairo

Egypt family jailed Beni SuefThe family were jailed in Beni Suef

  • A mother and her seven children have been jailed for 15 years in Egypt for converting back to Christianity.

Nadia Mohamed Ali and her children Mohab, Maged, Sherif, Amira, Amir and Nancy were sentenced at the criminal court in Beni Suef, 70 miles south of Cairo.

Another seven people involved in the case were also sentenced to five years in prison, according to reports.

Nadia was born a Christian, but converted to Islam when she married husband Mohamed Abdel-Wahhab Mustafa 23 years ago.

He later died, and she planned to convert back to Christianity along with her family.

In 2004, after converting back to Christianity, they attempted to get new identity cards with their Christian names on them.

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White House Condemns Morsi’s Anti-Semitic Remarks, Calls for His Affirmation of Respect for all Faiths

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Methinks the horse has gone, the barn is ashes and the farmer is collecting social security on this issue.

From Algemeiner:

Mohammed Morsi. Photo: YouTube.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s antisemitic proclamations, including that Jews are “the descendants of apes and pigs,” may be coming back to haunt him. The comments, made during two separate 2010 interviews, but just now being brought to light because of access to their English translation, also urge violence against Zionists and refers to Jews as bloodsuckers and warmongers.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Morsi’s representatives have repeatedly declined comment over the past three days. The article proceeds to surmise that his camp’s silence can be attributed to “a political bind. While his past comments may be a liability abroad, he faces a political culture at home in which such defamation of Jews is almost standard stump discourse. Any attempt to retract, or even clarify, his slurs would expose him to political attacks by opponents who already accuse him of softness toward the United States and Israel.”

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Muslims Demolish Church Building in Egypt

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AINA:

(AINA) — Hundreds of Muslims came out of mosques today with hammers and destroyed a social services building belonging to the Coptic Church while chanting Islamic slogans. Security forces arrived after the building was completely razed. The 100 square meters social services building in the village of Fanous, Tamia district in Fayoum province, 130 KM south west of Cairo, had all the necessary government permits; it had a reception hall on the first floor and a kindergarten on the second.

But the Muslims insisted that it would become a church.

A meeting had taken place beforehand between the village mayor and elders from Muslim and Coptic sides and it was agreed that only the first floor was to remain and the second be demolished.

Mosques in surrounding villages called on their microphones this afternoon on Muslims to go and help their Muslim brethrens in the village of Fanous, because Christians were “building a church.” According to rights activist Nader Shukry of Maspero Coptic Youth Organizations, nearly 5000 Muslims took part in demolishing the church property with their hammers, while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” He said no one was arrested, not even the imams who called on Muslims to demolish the building; their calls fall under the crime of “enticement to violence.”

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Egypt’s Jews and the Brotherhood’s surprise offer

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J-Post:

By ZVI MAZEL
01/10/2013 22:48

Analysis: Unfortunately, Essam el-Erian outburst is yet another example of the deep-seated hostility of the Brotherhood toward Israel. Egypt, the largest and most important Arab state, is now under their sway.

MOHAMED MORSI, center, prays at Al-Azhar mosque in

MOHAMED MORSI, center, prays at Al-Azhar mosque in Photo: REUTERS

In the midst of an unprecedented economic and political crisis, one of the leading figures of the Brotherhood saw fit to call on Egyptian Jews to come back.

Essam el-Erian, vice president of the Justice and Freedom Party – the party of the Muslim Brothers – was at the time adviser to President Mohamed Morsi. Behind that somewhat bizarre call was Erian’s belief that the State of Israel is bound to disappear within ten years. And no, he was not worried about the fate of the Jews but wanted them to move out to make room for the Palestinians.

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Islamic Caliphate? Growing Persecution of Coptic Christians Under Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood

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Catholic.Org

Egypt’s new constitution “prepares the way for an Islamic caliphate,” according to the acting leader of Coptic Catholics, who is among three bishops to condemn the document as a fundamental attack on human rights.
Bishop Kyrillos William, Administrator of the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria

Bishop Kyrillos William, Administrator of the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria
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CAIRO, EGYPT( Catholic Online) – The history of Christianity in Egypt dates back to the visit of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to that land. (Matt. 2) It predates any claimed Islamic history in that land. To the Christians who live in that historic land, the history of the Christian Church is the history of Egypt.

The Evangelist Mark brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Egypt in 61 A.D. and planted the Church there, deep in the soil of that land of martyrs and saints. Egypt has a proud, long, unbroken and vital Christian heritage. We must pray for, stand with, and defend Christians in Egypt as hostility toward the Christian faith grows under the Morsi regime.

The majority of Christians in Egypt are Coptic Orthodox. The very word “Copt” comes from an early Greek name for Egypt. Christianity and Egypt have a long and holy history. In addition, there is a strong, ancient and devout community of Coptic Catholic Christians. The relationship between the two Churches is strong – and growing stronger under the persecution which they face together.

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Egypt’s Education Minister reiterates: Bahai children to be excluded

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H/T Shabnam

Sen’s Daily


Egypt Today, January 6

Egypt’s Minister of Education, Ibrahim Ghoneim, told Akbar Al-Youm newspaper that Bahais cannot enroll in public schools in Egypt, saying it would violate the Constitution.

“The Constitution only recognizes the three Abrahamic religions, and as religion is a subject taught in schools, they do not meet the requirements for enrollment,” he said. [By this reasoning, atheists, Buddhists, Hindus and many other groups will also be excluded from education in Egypt under the new administration. It is notable that Dr. Ghoneim is a technocrat, not affiliated with either the Brotherhood or the Salafists ~ Sen]

Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-1BH

Muslim Brotherhood took ‘billions’ from Obama: Egypt lawyers

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H/T EDL Buck

Al Arabiya:

Friday, 04 January 2013

Egyptian lawyers filed a complaint that accused Muslim Brotherhood illegally receiving billions from Obama administration. (Reuters)

Egyptian lawyers filed a complaint that accused Muslim Brotherhood illegally receiving billions from Obama administration. (Reuters)

By Al Arabiya

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has been accused of taking 10 billion Egyptian pounds (U.S. $1.5 billion) from the American government, according to claims by Egyptian lawyers.

An immediate investigation into the accusation was ordered by Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah on Thursday.

The lawyers, Mohamed Ali Abd al-Wahab and Yasser Mohamed Sayab, filed the complaint against the Muslim Brotherhood for the allegedly illegal money transaction, Egypt’s private daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Jan. 3.

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Brotherhood’s Shater seeks ‘total control’ of media

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Voice of the Copts:

Created on Saturday, 29 December 2012 06:49
Written by AL ARABIYA

Khairat al-ShaterKhairat al-ShaterEgypt’s opposition group, the Popular Front, said on Wednesday that it had laid hands on a leaked document signed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy chairman Khairat al-Shater in which he urged the government to claim “total control of the media.”

 

Shater, who was the Brotherhood’s main presidential candidate before he was disquieted by the election committee, reportedly also called for shutting down TV channels owned by opposition groups.

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U of Alabama discovers massive new archeological finds in Egypt.

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Fantastic discoveries including the lost capital of ancient Egypt. Rotten timing under a government that would like to destroy all evidence of pre-Isamic rule. Do click through to see the video.

BBC:

Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images

By Frances Cronin BBC News

Modern day San El Hakkar and infrared image of ancient Tanis The infrared image on the right reveals the ancient city streets of Tanis near modern-day San El Hagar

Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt.

More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings.

Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings, including two suspected pyramids.

The work has been pioneered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham by US Egyptologist Dr Sarah Parcak.

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A slap in the face for Egypt’s women

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I beg to differ with this lawyer. The nile region is not an exception it is the rule. Wherever there is the sharia, there is horror and oppression of women and non Muslim males and ultimately Muslim males if they fall afoul of anyone’s interpretation of sharia where convenient as a tool of settling unrelated personal disputes. You cannot be a feminist and a religious Muslim. I think she is out of touch with the reality of the religion and its history.

DW.De:

An older Egyptian woman wearing a black headscarf passes her vote to two men sitting at a table in a small room. (Photo:Amr Nabil/AP/dapd)

Civil Rights

Preliminary reports suggest that Egyptians have approved a new constitution in a referendum process. One lawyer believes that the consequences for Egypt’s women will be wide-ranging and severe.

She’s a feminist and a Muslim, she fights for women’s rights wearing beige slacks and a bright red headscarf. Nihad Abu El Konsam is perhaps the best evidence that Egypt’s women can be followers of the Koran and yet still see eye-to-eye with their male counterparts.

Yet Egypt’s Nile region has always been the exception, the lawyer and chairwoman of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) admits. Abu El Konsam worries that the Islamists currently in power in Cairo will use a newly drafted constitution to reverse the forward march of Egyptian history.

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