Persecution of Copts in Egypt

[ialmisry]

Egyptian Cleric: Sharia Law Would Make Egypt the ‘Mightiest Nation in the World’

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/egyptian-cleric-sharia-law-would-make-egypt-the-mightiest-nation-in-the-world/

Please, our Coptic brothers and sisters, leave Egypt now! Ethiopia owners of the Nile water know how to handle these messengers of Satan.

God bless those who stay!

I'm wondering how soon the new president elect will be able to show what regime has taken power.  Lord have mercy!

[CoptoGeek]

All we can do now is pray.


Statement by His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom on the announcement of Mr Mohammed Morsi as the new president of Egypt on the 23rd June 2012.

http://www.copticcentre.blogspot.com/2012/06/statement-by-his-grace-bishop-angaelos.html

[Salpy]

We definitely need to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Egypt.

[Hiwot]

Egyptian Cleric: Sharia Law Would Make Egypt the ‘Mightiest Nation in the World’

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/egyptian-cleric-sharia-law-would-make-egypt-the-mightiest-nation-in-the-world/

Please, our Coptic brothers and sisters, leave Egypt now! Ethiopia owners of the Nile water know how to handle these messengers of Satan.

Balthazar, you need to think about what you are saying my brother, you being a copt should know better than to suggest such a thing. Trust me when I say, that I will go and join my brothers and sisters in Egypt and die by the gates of Saint Mark before i suggest for all of them to abandon Egypt. Please Forget  about the Nile, and most Ethiopians that I have known are anti Zionism and sympathise with the plight of Palestinians both Christians and Muslims, and we very much love our Arab Christian brothers and sisters, we have Arab Christian Saints that have been baptised and served in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, St. Abba Embaqom is one of them. I am sincerely troubled by your tone and insinuations, once again I will ask you I know you are in pain, but pain and suffering are the time where we must be more loyal to the principles that make us who and what we are, if we betray the tenants of our faith for the cup of madness offered to us, then whats the point of it all?

I am now in deep sadness at the result of the election, even though I have anticipated it, still it was difficult and painful all the same.The Copts and all the Christians in Egypt are now faced with a real danger, May the Almighty God, be with them and shelter them, this is not the first time they have carried the Cross He has blessed them with, and this will not be by the Grace of God the last, so with tears I join in the prayer of the church that if it be His will that they carry this cross,for the copts to continue to be granted the Grace of remaining a loyal servant and witness of Christ the Almighty.

Let us remember what our beloved Holy Father had said with compassionate wisdom, with tears, with much courage and strength of Faith.

 taken from HH Pope Shenouda's sermon in 2008  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESG-KO4QX88&feature=related

[Balthasar]

Egyptian Cleric: Sharia Law Would Make Egypt the ‘Mightiest Nation in the World’

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/egyptian-cleric-sharia-law-would-make-egypt-the-mightiest-nation-in-the-world/

Please, our Coptic brothers and sisters, leave Egypt now! Ethiopia owners of the Nile water know how to handle these messengers of Satan.

Balthazar, you need to think about what you are saying my brother, you being a copt should know better than to suggest such a thing. Trust me when I say, that I will go and join my brothers and sisters in Egypt and die by the gates of Saint Mark before i suggest for all of them to abandon Egypt. Please Forget  about the Nile, and most Ethiopians that I have known are anti Zionism and sympathise with the plight of Palestinians both Christians and Muslims, and we very much love our Arab Christian brothers and sisters, we have Arab Christian Saints that have been baptised and served in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, St. Abba Embaqom is one of them. I am sincerely troubled by your tone and insinuations, once again I will ask you I know you are in pain, but pain and suffering are the time where we must be more loyal to the principles that make us who and what we are, if we betray the tenants of our faith for the cup of madness offered to us, then whats the point of it all?

I am now in deep sadness at the result of the election, even though I have anticipated it, still it was difficult and painful all the same.The Copts and all the Christians in Egypt are now faced with a real danger, May the Almighty God, be with them and shelter them, this is not the first time they have carried the Cross He has blessed them with, and this will not be by the Grace of God the last, so with tears I join in the prayer of the church that if it be His will that they carry this cross,for the copts to continue to be granted the Grace of remaining a loyal servant and witness of Christ the Almighty.

Let us remember what our beloved Holy Father had said with compassionate wisdom, with tears, with much courage and strength of Faith.

 taken from HH Pope Shenouda's sermon in 2008  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESG-KO4QX88&feature=related

Thank you, dear Hiwot for your considerate thoughts. I will certainly watch the video, I know, His Holiness is watching over his people from above, I am certain!

But, I don't know whether Abraham's bargain with God will work in the Egyptian case – I wish. (Genesis 18:16-33) But, Egypt, the past 1400 years, mostly meant trouble to the wider world. How long do you think God will go on      tolerating the evil deeds of  the Pharaoh-blooded, Ishmael-spirited Egyptians?

God is using the demonic forces of Islam as a sign for the righteous ones in Egypt to abandon that place. Sooner or later, God's wrath will fall upon Egypt, another ten plagues are on their way, and the Nile will again play an important role. That's my humble feeling.

Be angry and  not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.
Do not give the devil an opportunity (Ephesians 4:26-27)

So, let's all be righteously angry to demonstrate to those foolish evils that they are indeed fools and evils.

[CoptoGeek]

Egypt: Muslims force Christians out of church during prayer, police advise priest to comply
by Raymond Ibrahim, Jun 26, 2012 at 1:35 pm

http://www.raymondibrahim.com/2012/06/egypt-muslims-force-christians-out-of-church

[Balthasar]

Muslims murder two Christians in Egypt

http://www.bosnewslife.com/22304-egypt-christians-killed-after-election-morsi

“Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood "announced they would destroy the country if Morsi didn't win, but they also said they will take revenge from all those who voted for [his opponent Ahmed] Shafiq, especially the Christians as they are sure we did vote for Shafiq,"

"Soon after Morsi won, Christians in upper Egypt were forcibly prevented from going to churches."

[CoptoGeek]

The Coptic Solidarity Conference Attracts Large Number of Politicians and Rights Activists
Published on Monday, 02 July 2012 17:53

The Third Annual Coptic Solidarity Conference which wound up its sessions on Friday June 29, was attended by an unprecedented number of prominent political figures.

Amongst the most prominent figures attending the conference was Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Michael H. Posner. There was also a number of Congressmen such as Senator Roy Blunt and Congressman Frank Wolf. Also in attendance was Lord Alton from the British House of Lords and Jim Karygiannis, a senior member of the Canadian Parliament.

http://www.copticsolidarity.org/reports-resources/reports/675-the-coptic-solidarity-conference-attracts-large-number-of-politicians-and-rights-activists

[Salpy]

WASHINGTON -- A new Christian Solidarity International (CSI) report released today calls on Egypt's Islamist government and the international community - especially the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - to investigate and take strong measures to prevent the disappearance, forced marriage and forced conversion to Islam of Coptic Christian women and girls.

...

"Tell My Mother I Miss Her" was released in connection with today's Congressional Helsinki Commission hearing on violence against Coptic women in Egypt, chaired by Congressman Chris Smith. Speaking as a witness before the hearing, Professor Clark stated, "Coptic women in Egypt are disappearing from their homes, their schools and their jobs. These cases are not allegations."

The hearing also featured testimony from an Egyptian Christian woman who received asylum in the United States after narrowly escaping abduction in Alexandria in January 2011. She was rescued by a doorman who saw her and her infant daughter being dragged into a taxi by a man shouting that she was "an enemy of Islam."

...

www.marketwatch.com

http://www.aina.org/news/20120718183057.htm

[Salpy]

A Christian laundry worker burns the shirt of a Muslim, and Christian homes are burned:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT_SECTARIAN_CLASHES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-27-14-53-51

[Salpy]

According to this article, things have become worse for Copts since Morsy's election.  Ethnic cleansing of Copts is becoming more common:

http://www.aina.org/news/20120731192433.htm

120 Christian Families Flee Egyptian Village Following Death of a Muslim

AINA) -- The sectarian strife between Muslims and Christians which took place last week in the village of Dahshur has prompted over 120 Christian families to flee their homes today after news that a Muslim man who had suffered 3rd degree burns in the incident died this morning in a Cairo hospital. Before his death, the father and brother of Moaz Hassab-Allah told the media yesterday that should he die, "the whole village will avenge his death."

Coptic villagers were terrorized today after a Muslim Brotherhood cleric roamed the village vowing that the village church of St. George will be burned down, its pastor and all the entire Christian inhabitants killed and their homes torched after the burial of Moaz tonight, reportd Coptic activist Maariam Ragy.

Two other incidents:

In another incident in Shubra el Khayma, Qaliubya province, On July 26, Dr Maher Ghaly looked out from his window at dawn and asked a group of Muslim Salafis who have a shop in the same building not to fire their weapons in the air in celebration of another day of the Ramadan fast. He explained to them that in his household there are sick persons and children who are greatly disturbed. "Their answer was to shoot at him. One of his eyes was blown away and there is no hope of replacing the cornea in his other eye," said his brother Fayez. He said that the Muslims wanted to break the main building door and go to his flat but were unable. "Although the police issued a report, they have done nothing to arrest the culprits."

...

Two days ago, a Muslim attacked a church in the area of Sheikh Zayed, Qaliubya. Prosection did not make any charged against him as he is "mentally unstable," and was subsequently released.

[CoptoGeek]

Just so its clear, the real cause was not some BS story about a burnt shirt. This is a deliberate, on-going effort to destroy every Christian owned business village by village, a slow motion Kristallnacht.

[Salpy]

Another Copt has been arrested for insulting Islam, and also for insulting the new president.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/31/229494.html

It all stems from a cartoon on a Facebook page, which the person accused says he did not put there.

[Severian]

Has the US Government done anything to prevent these acts?

[Salpy]

No.  The Copts here in the US really need to organize. 

[Salpy]

Regarding the burnt shirt incident, the Coptic neighborhood was burned down, as the Muslim Brotherhood cleric promised:

(AINA) -- The sectarian crisis in the village of Dahshur escalated on August 1 after the burial of the Muslim man who died yesterday in hospital. Hundreds of Muslims torched and looted Coptic businesses and homes despite hundreds of security forces being deployed in the village. Eyewitnesses reported that security forces did not protect most Coptic property -- only the small church of St. George was protected, in addition to some Coptic houses in its neighborhood.

"As 120 families had already fled the village the day before after being terrorized, the businesses and homes were an easy game for the mob to make a complete clean-up of everything that could be looted," said Coptic activist Wagih Jacob. "The security forces were at the scene of the crime while it was taking place and did nothing at all."

After the violence, the family of the deceased Moaz Hasab-Allah said that destroying Coptic property is not enough and that Coptic have to "pay for their son's death" with lives. They did not yet accept condolences for his death, which is a sign that a vendetta is intended. In certain parts of Egypt, when the family of a deceased intends to take revenge, they accept no condolences before the persons responsible are killed.

The sectarian incident which, now called the "shirt sedition," started on July 27 in Dahshur, Badrasheen, 40 km south of Cairo, after the Coptic launderer Sameh Samy inadvertently burned the shirt of his Muslim client Ahmad Ramadan. Although they agreed to meet in the evening to settle the claim, Ramadam did not wait but came back in the afternoon to fight. After some 3000 armed Muslims surrounded the Copt's home and launderette, he locked himself up in his home. As the fight intensified on both sides with Molotov cocktails, the Copt hurled one fire bomb from the roof of his house, which the 25-year-old Moaz, who happened to be passing by. He was taken to hospital, suffering third degree burns. After his death in hospital, Muslim brotherhood clerics and his family vowed to exact revenge, causing 120 terrorized Christian families to flee the village, with only one Christian family remaining behind according to the village priest Takla Abdel-Sayed.

Read the rest of the article here, including allegations that President Morsi is not living up to his promise to protect the Copts:

http://www.aina.org/news/20120802201306.htm

[CoptoGeek]

So much for citizenship rights 
by Sameh Samy, Friday 03 Aug 2012 - 02:26 PM
 
excerpt:

In Dahshur, the matter was compounded by the security order that the Copts must, for their own safety leave. Can this be a case of security deficiency, or uncontainable fanaticism? Will the culprits who killed, looted, and burned be caught? Will it be possible for the Copts to go back to their homes and businesses? And if so, who will help them rebuild these homes or restart their businesses from scratch? Or will it be impossible for them to go back, and it should be good-by forever to ‘previous’ prosperous lives? Will they be obliged to relocate, with the all the pain, hardship and alienation such a move involves? Nothing short of a comprehensive solution can put an end to the Dahshur crisis and ensure that no similar event occurs again.

http://www.wataninet.com/watani_Article_Details.aspx?A=29630

[CoptoGeek]

Fact-finding on Maspero  
Nader Shukry, Tuesday 07 Aug 2012 - 12:31 PM

excerpt:

The Maspero incident, in which 23 Copts and one Muslim met brutal deaths, took place on 9 October 2011 during a peaceful protest by Copts against the burning of a church in Merinab, Aswan. The protesters were shot be the security forces, and crushed under military trucks. Apart from the 24 who lost their lives, more than 300 suffered injuries.

At its offices in Heliopolis, the committee heard witnesses from among the injured and the victims’ families.

The committee's chairman, Judge Ayman Afifi, called upon the eyewitnesses who had not appeared before the commission to come forward with their testimonies, and to furnish the commission with any photos or video shots they might have of the event. The final report is expected by the end of the month.

http://www.wataninet.com/watani_Article_Details.aspx?A=29788

[CoptoGeek]

In Dahshur: Ruin beyond repair  
Robier al-Faris , Friday 10 Aug 2012 - 07:09 PM
 
The Giza town of Dahshur was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1979, since it is home to five of the most famous pyramids of ancient Egypt. Today, and thanks to the recent vicious attack against the town Copts, Dahshur is a place of total ruin.

http://www.wataninet.com/watani_Article_Details.aspx?A=29913

For a picture album of the visit, see
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.401803619874313.102337.131810520206959&type=1

[CoptoGeek]

Has the US Government done anything to prevent these acts?

Sad to say, but the US Gov't has actively supported the Ikhwan's rise to power. It's absolute insanity.

[CoptoGeek]

Copts in Upper Egypt Attacked, Beat, Plundered
By Coptic Solidarity, Published on Monday, 20 August 2012 14:32

Christian Copts in Upper Egypt are under attack, hours after a call for their eradication appeared in the form of leaflets calling on Muslims to kill Copts, specifically naming regions of Upper Egypt.

A report by Fady Talaat, for Al Akhbar News, published August 14, has the details. In Al Gallaweya Village, Sohag, Upper Egypt, Christians are being beaten, their stores destroyed, and their properties plundered. The attackers are declaring that “any Christian who dares to leave his house will be killed”; and the Copts are complaining that the police only arrive after the damage has been completely done.

http://www.copticsolidarity.org/cs-releases/784-copts-in-upper-egypt-attacked-beat-plundered

[Cyrillic]

What makes it even worse is that this is happening in the country of Athanasius, Anthony, Cyril, John the Almsgiver and so many other great luminaries 

I have the greatest respect for the Copts.

[Salpy]

This one is just stupid:

CHRISTIAN SURGEON’S HEART OP CENTRE UNDER THREAT FROM MUSLIMS IN EGYPT


A charitable medical centre that performs free heart operations on children in Egypt is under threat from radical Muslims, who want it closed down because it was founded by a Christian surgeon.

The centre in Aswan city was established by the world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub, an Egyptian Christian who emigrated to Britain in 1962. His charitable organisation covers all the centre’s costs, and operations are performed on Christian and Muslim children alike free of charge.

The centre’s Muslim director was interviewed on Egyptian television about the protests by radical elements in Aswan. She said that closing down the centre, which is licensed and has a government permit to practise, would be a big loss for Egypt.

http://barnabasfund.org/US/News/Archives/Christian-surgeons-heart-op-centre-under-threat-from-Muslims-in-Egypt.html

[dzheremi]

What a bunch of morons. They hate Christians more than they love free heart surgeries for children. It boggles the mind. If you're a skilled surgeon, and you volunteer to save my life FOR FREE, I don't care who you pray to once you put the scalpel down.

This kind of thing really makes me wonder how radical Islam has any appeal at all. "Join us! We'll close down hospitals that do charitable work FOR OUR OWN PEOPLE, all because the person who founded them, who doesn't even live in this country anymore but still directs hundreds of thousands of dollars to keeping our children healthy, is not a member of our religion!"

Thank God so many Copts go into medicine and pharmacy. Perhaps then if all of the radical Muslims boycott those services, they'll realize very quickly how much they need Christians in their societies to provide basic services that, surprise surprise, protesting and burning things down does not provide.

They will rue the day they closed the hospital when one of their children needs a heart operation. Ever wonder why Yasser Arafat, pride of Islamic resistance losers the world over, died in France, not Palestine? You'd think they'd want medical expertise available in-country, but nooooo, not if the people providing it don't bow to the name of Muhammad and his sick recension of God. God willing, they will learn their lesson without too many innocents having to die in the process, but that's not how things have been going these last, let's say, 1400 years...

[WeldeMikael]

What a bunch of morons. They hate Christians more than they love free heart surgeries for children.

Bigotry...   

Lord have mercy !

[CoptoGeek]

Persecution of Christian Copts in Egypt on Rise as Muslim Brotherhood Consolidates Power
By Michael Terheyden, 8/27/2012

KNOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - There is growing fear among the Coptic Christian community as open violence escalates against them in Egypt. According to reports, this violence is in response to a letter calling on Muslims to kill Copts. Again, the world watches to see if Egypt's new president, Mohammed Mursi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, intends to follow up on his promise to be the president of all Egyptians.

On August 14, 2012, a publication called El Fegr posted a copy of a letter inciting violence against Christians. The title of the letter is "An Urgent and Important Notice." The letter refers to Christians as enemies of Allah's religion and slaves of the cross. It calls for Allah to curse them and for all Muslims to physically attack or kill Christians throughout Egypt until they either convert to Islam or submit to their status as dhimmi in accordance with verse 9:29 of the Koran.

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=47348

[Shanghaiski]

Has the US Government done anything to prevent these acts?

And it won't. The US follows Britain and France in actually supporting Islamism, although it supports Zionism first. It won't interfer to protect Christians.

[Shanghaiski]

This one is just stupid:

CHRISTIAN SURGEON’S HEART OP CENTRE UNDER THREAT FROM MUSLIMS IN EGYPT


A charitable medical centre that performs free heart operations on children in Egypt is under threat from radical Muslims, who want it closed down because it was founded by a Christian surgeon.

The centre in Aswan city was established by the world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub, an Egyptian Christian who emigrated to Britain in 1962. His charitable organisation covers all the centre’s costs, and operations are performed on Christian and Muslim children alike free of charge.

The centre’s Muslim director was interviewed on Egyptian television about the protests by radical elements in Aswan. She said that closing down the centre, which is licensed and has a government permit to practise, would be a big loss for Egypt.

http://barnabasfund.org/US/News/Archives/Christian-surgeons-heart-op-centre-under-threat-from-Muslims-in-Egypt.html

Their false prophet Mohammed is also tainted, being taught by and having associated with Christians.

[Salpy]

RAFAH, Egypt, Sept. 21 (UPI) — Coptic Christians in two towns in Egyptian-controlled North Sinai say they refuse to leave despite threats against them and their church’s urging to go.

Leaflets were posted on the homes and businesses of seven families in Rafah and Arish, threatening to blow up the properties if they didn’t leave, the Cairo newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported Friday.

http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2012/09/copts-refuse-to-leave-despite-threats/

[TITL]

RAFAH, Egypt, Sept. 21 (UPI) — Coptic Christians in two towns in Egyptian-controlled North Sinai say they refuse to leave despite threats against them and their church’s urging to go.

Leaflets were posted on the homes and businesses of seven families in Rafah and Arish, threatening to blow up the properties if they didn’t leave, the Cairo newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported Friday.

http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2012/09/copts-refuse-to-leave-despite-threats/

Why is it that news like this can spread like wildfire all over the world, but still can't be prevented? Usually destruction happens because "it was too late", or "no one knew it was coming", but here we are in America reading about someone's house about to be blown up, and we can't stop it???

[CoptoGeek]

EGYPT'S COPTS HOSTAGE TO MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD THREATS
By Michael Carl, Published on Sunday, 30 September 2012 08:02

Coptic Christians were warned if they protested against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi during his visit to the U.S., they would suffer, reports from Egypt said.

The speech is over, but the retaliation is happening anyway.

Egyptian human rights activist and journalist Wagih Yacoub says protests or not, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is acting on those threats.

"We've seen it today. People are going to the Sinai, shooting at Christian's shops. They're telling the people to leave their homes," Yacoub said. "It's especially because they are Christians."


http://www.copticsolidarity.org/media-news-events/news/868-egypt-s-copts-hostage-to-muslim-brotherhood-threats

[Salpy]

(AINA) -- Mohammad Mostafa Kamel, a Muslim prosecutor at the Alexandria Criminal Court, and his two sons, aided by some hired Muslims, broke into the church of the St. Mary in Rashid at 4 PM today and demolished a great part of its alter. They came to the church with front loaders.

Kamel had no demolition order.

Read the rest here:

http://www.aina.org/news/20121008001210.htm

[CoptoGeek]

What 2011 meant for Egypt's Copts

October 9th 2011, a year ago today, Egypt witnessed a massacre against it's own people, committed by army soldiers, police and thugs, manipulated by State media and covered up by the Supreme Council of Armed forces. Today, many people are remembering this day with testimonies, blogs, and vigils for the victims, may they all rest in peace.
To mark this day, which I was lucky enough to walk out of safely and unharmed, is a simple documentation of incidents of violence against copts through out the year 2011. It is a vivid and telling truth to what the revolution has meant for many, the government's failure in protecting it's people, the systematic attack against the coptic community in Egypt, the army's crimes against protestors and unarmed civilians, and the continued denial of justice.

http://sarahngb.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-2011-meant-for-egypts-copts.html#!/2012/10/what-2011-meant-for-egypts-copts.html

[mabsoota]

thank you for reminding us of this aniversary, may their memory be eternal and may God bring comfort to all those who are remembering this day with pain.
may the luminous martyrs remember us before the throne of God.
is this your own blog, coptogeek?

[minasoliman]

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/55044/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Mina-Danial-The-untold-story-of-a-revolutio.aspx

Tarek El-Tayeb, 25, had always hated Christians. He was known among his friends as Tarek “El-Salafi” as he followed the ultraorthodox school of Islam.

"I joined the Salafist school of Islam when I was 13 years old," remembers El-Tayeb. "According to my ideology, Christians were heretics and being a friend with any of them was a grave sin."

All of this changed when he met Coptic Christian activist Mina Danial.


...

"I never told him how I felt about Christians," says El-Tayeb. "He would sometimes tell me that he loved me and I would respond by saying that I hate him. It was just hard for me to get rid of these fanatical ideas all at once. It took time."

Since becoming a Salafist, El-Tayeb made sure he was civil to his Christian neighbors and colleagues, however, being friends with a Christian was simply out of the question. Danial was different.

"I just could not hate him. For the first time in my life, I found that I could not hate a Christian. I could not put this barrier of religion between me and him," El-Tayeb explains, "The emotions I felt towards him destroyed all of these shackles. I didn’t understand it then and I still don’t understand it now. What is it about Danial that made him have this impact on people?"

...

"The Muslim Brotherhood, for one, are all hypocrites," fumes El-Tayeb. "On a personal level they call Mina a heretic, but publicly, they claim that he is a martyr."

El-Tayeb has abandoned Salafism since Mina’s death. He now considers himself a "moderate Egyptian Muslim." He is proud that he now has many Christian friends.

"Mina opened the door for me. He taught me what humanity meant," says El-Tayeb. "He opened my eyes and I finally saw Christians as they really are: good people, kind, charitable and not corrupt as the extremists claimed."

As for Mina, everyone loved him.

"How can a man win so many hearts, unless God loves him?" asks El-Tayeb. "There is only one Mina."

[Kerdy]

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/55044/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Mina-Danial-The-untold-story-of-a-revolutio.aspx

Tarek El-Tayeb, 25, had always hated Christians. He was known among his friends as Tarek “El-Salafi” as he followed the ultraorthodox school of Islam.

"I joined the Salafist school of Islam when I was 13 years old," remembers El-Tayeb. "According to my ideology, Christians were heretics and being a friend with any of them was a grave sin."

All of this changed when he met Coptic Christian activist Mina Danial.


...

"I never told him how I felt about Christians," says El-Tayeb. "He would sometimes tell me that he loved me and I would respond by saying that I hate him. It was just hard for me to get rid of these fanatical ideas all at once. It took time."

Since becoming a Salafist, El-Tayeb made sure he was civil to his Christian neighbors and colleagues, however, being friends with a Christian was simply out of the question. Danial was different.

"I just could not hate him. For the first time in my life, I found that I could not hate a Christian. I could not put this barrier of religion between me and him," El-Tayeb explains, "The emotions I felt towards him destroyed all of these shackles. I didn’t understand it then and I still don’t understand it now. What is it about Danial that made him have this impact on people?"

...

"The Muslim Brotherhood, for one, are all hypocrites," fumes El-Tayeb. "On a personal level they call Mina a heretic, but publicly, they claim that he is a martyr."

El-Tayeb has abandoned Salafism since Mina’s death. He now considers himself a "moderate Egyptian Muslim." He is proud that he now has many Christian friends.

"Mina opened the door for me. He taught me what humanity meant," says El-Tayeb. "He opened my eyes and I finally saw Christians as they really are: good people, kind, charitable and not corrupt as the extremists claimed."

As for Mina, everyone loved him.

"How can a man win so many hearts, unless God loves him?" asks El-Tayeb. "There is only one Mina."

Thank you for posting this!

[dzheremi]

Yes, thank you for posting that. It is good to see Christians having such a positive impact on their Muslim acquaintances.

I've had Muslim acquaintances (I dunno if I can call them 'friends' given Islam's hangups about Muslims and Christians being friends...it doesn't really seem like we have the same ideas of how we should relate to each other) tell me that I helped them see Christianity in a different light, and on one hand I guess it's flattering or whatever, but on the other hand it's a little unnerving to be a token, essentially. "X is bad...oh, but not you, my friend...you're one of the good X's." Um...thank you? It's kind of uncomfortable, because the sense of being an ambassador for your religion and community is heightened, and if you end up in a disagreement it can all fall part pretty quickly. "You were so good when you agreed with everything I already think! Now the Christians/Buddhists/Muslims etc. show their true colors..." 

[minasoliman]

To me, it seems fitting to consider a certain holiness in Mina Danial guided for general goodness of others without imposing his religious views.  He taught how to be a good citizen, by doing good to others, even though if by virtue of his religious upbringing, but more so by virtue of his humanity.  He didn't convert the Salafi to a Christian, no doubt (at least perhaps not yet), but he did achieve to convert the Salafi's heart, a hope that destroys and refutes any notion that the Civil Rights Movement in Egypt is to no avail and much different than any other Civil Rights Movements in other parts of the world.

[Stavro]

Mina Daniel is an excellent young man who fought for the cause of Copts and secular Egypt in general. He will be remembered among Copts as a small version of Che Guevara. He is a martyr of Egypt.

Yet, the road to political saints and demonstration martyrs is not clear, given the violence in their actions and their very cause of revolution. 

[Kerdy]

Mina Daniel is an excellent young man who fought for the cause of Copts and secular Egypt in general. He will be remembered among Copts as a small version of Che Guevara. He is a martyr of Egypt.

Yet, the road to political saints and demonstration martyrs is not clear, given the violence in their actions and their very cause of revolution. 

I'm not entirely certain it's advisable to compare him to Che.

[Stavro]

Mina Daniel is an excellent young man who fought for the cause of Copts and secular Egypt in general. He will be remembered among Copts as a small version of Che Guevara. He is a martyr of Egypt.

Yet, the road to political saints and demonstration martyrs is not clear, given the violence in their actions and their very cause of revolution. 

I'm not entirely certain it's advisable to compare him to Che.

A small version of Che.   

It is all relative in the end.

[CoptoGeek]

Mina Daniel is an excellent young man who fought for the cause of Copts and secular Egypt in general. He will be remembered among Copts as a small version of Che Guevara. He is a martyr of Egypt.

Yet, the road to political saints and demonstration martyrs is not clear, given the violence in their actions and their very cause of revolution. 

I'm not entirely certain it's advisable to compare him to Che.

I think Stavro just means all the artwork & graffiti appearing around Cairo with Mina's image. I don't think he's comparing Mina's character to that Communist thug and murderer.  But, yes, most of Egypt's youth have been indoctrinated with Leftist ideology so many of them would see that thug as a hero & base some of the Martyr's images on him.  If you do a google image search, you'll get the picture.

[CoptoGeek]

The Christian Exodus From Egypt
For Copts, a persecuting dictator was preferable to the Islamist mob
By SAMUEL TADROS

Visit any Coptic church in the United States and you immediately recognize the newcomers. You see it in their eyes, hear it in their broken English, sense it in how they cling to the church in search of the familiar. They have come here escaping a place they used to call home, where their ancestors had lived for centuries.

Waves of Copts have come here from Egypt before, to escape Gamal Abdel Nasser's nationalizations or the growing Islamist tide. Their country's transformation wasn't sudden, but every year brought more public Islamization. As the veil spread, Coptic women felt increasingly different, alien and marked. Verbal abuse came from schoolteachers, bystanders in the bus station who noticed the cross on a wrist, or commentators on state television.

But life was generally bearable. Hosni Mubarak crushed the Islamist insurgency of the 1980s and '90s. He was no friend to the Copts, but neither was he foe. His police often turned a blind eye when Coptic homes and shops were attacked by mobs, and the courts never punished the perpetrators—but the president wasn't an Islamist. He even interfered sometimes to give permission to build a church, or to make Christmas a national holiday.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444358804578014733288327450.html

[Salpy]

Muslim Gang Attempts to Kidnap Egyptian Christian Mother, 4 Dead

(AINA) -- Ali Hussein, a 35-year-old Muslim gang leader, entered the home of a Coptic Christian family in the village of Abdelmassih in Deir Mawas on at 7 A.M. on Sunday and demanded that Hiyam Zaki Zaher, the 25 year old mother of two children, come live with him. Ali Hussein was accompanied by his two brothers, both ex-convicts. Two weeks before Ali Hussein told the Marzouk family that he would either take the woman or they would have to pay him 1,000,000 Egyptian pounds.

"The family managed to get Hiyam out of the village one day before Ali Hussein came to their house," said Roshdy Ibrahim, a relative of the Marzouk family. He said that when Hussein went into the home he was met by 24-year-old family member Ephrem, a university graduate, who rejected his demand, upon which Hussein shot him twice, killing him instantly. Roushdy said that Hussein had instructed 120 of his men to wait outside and come in and start shooting if they heard gunfire.

After the shooting of Ephrem the gang broke into the house. They encountered the father, 61 year-old Ibrahim Marzouk, a retired village bank manager, and killed him. They shot everywhere, wounding another three family members on the roof. Although Hussein was also killed under the hail of bullets, it is not clear who shot him.

Read the rest here:

http://www.aina.org/news/20121017202832.htm

This is truly sickening.  According to the article, the Salafis tried to keep the Copts from burying their dead, and are now calling for revenge for the death of the Muslim gang leader.  The Muslim gang also went into the stables and shot all the animals belonging to the Coptic family.  Evidently this gang leader had been terrorizing the local Coptic villagers for a couple of years, and the authorities refused to do anything about him.

[Salpy]

Also this:

Egyptian Teacher Cuts Girls' Hair For Not Wearing Headscarf

LUXOR, Egypt (AP) -- A teacher in southern Egypt punished two 12-year-old schoolgirls for not wearing the Muslim headscarf by cutting their hair, the father of one girl said Wednesday, in an incident that stokes concerns over personal rights following the rise of Islamist political movements.

The governor of Luxor province where the incident occurred called the teacher's actions "shameful" and said she had been transferred to another school. But rights groups say that some Islamic conservatives have been emboldened by the success of groups like Muslim Brotherhood and the ultraconservative Salafi trend in parliamentary and presidential elections and have been increasingly brazen about forcing their standards on other Egyptians.

The incident follows a surge in legal cases against Egyptians, mostly Christians, who allegedly showed contempt for religion. The trial of one, Alber Saber, opened Wednesday but was postponed.

http://www.aina.org/news/20121017193620.htm

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