What Next for Christians in Egypt?

By Aidan Clay, International Christian Concern (www.persecution.org)  
Special to ASSIST News Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- A few weeks ago, Christians believed a Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt’s presidential election would mark the end of religious freedoms and abolish any hope they still had of living a peaceful existence in post-revolution Egypt. However, all that changed just days before the mid-June election when Egypt’s military council dissolved the Islamist-dominated Parliament and stripped the president of most of his powers. Now, despite the presidential victory of Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi on Sunday, the remaining hope of many Christians is in the military, which they view as their final source of protection against Islamists.

Mohammed Morsi declares victory

For Christians, post-revolution Egypt was defined not by democratic progress and greater freedoms, but by the political rise of Islamists and large-scale attacks on their community and places of worship. Many Christians determined to flee the country, but they were holding out for the results of the presidential election to see if secularist Ahmed Shafiq could, by chance, defeat the Islamist Mohammed Morsi.

Shafiq, considered by many to be loyal to the regime, was not the ideal presidential choice of most Christians, but at least, they thought, he was not an Islamist. Islamists already held 75 percent of Egypt’s two houses of parliament. A Brotherhood presidential victory would give Islamists complete control of the government which, Christians feared, would transform Egypt into an Islamic state.

The Islamic agenda of the Brotherhood was made clear during the presidential campaign. In May, Morsi was allegedly quoted by the popular Egyptian website, El Bashayer, as saying: “We will not allow Ahmed Shafiq or anyone else to impede our second Islamic conquest of Egypt.

They [Christians] need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay 'jizya' or emigrate.” Furthermore, the Brotherhood demanded that Islamists should draft the new constitution and center it on Sharia law. It appeared to Christians that there would no longer be room for them in Egyptian society if Morsi was elected president.

All that changed, however, only days before Morsi was officially recognized as Egypt’s president. On June 14, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Islamist-dominated Parliament should be dissolved. And, after election booths closed on June 17, the military further announced a constitutional declaration that expands their power over civilian politicians, including the president, and grants them authority to draft a new constitution. The military was effectively retaking control from the Islamists and many Christians, viewing the military as their last hope of protection, were relieved by the decree.

“Christians are happy, because they were afraid the Muslim Brotherhood was taking over the Parliament,” Athanasious Williams, a Coptic Christian human rights lawyer in Cairo, told Compass Direct News. “But now they feel that there might be a better chance for a secular government.”

Despite the support of Christians, however, is a potential military takeover worth the risk of safeguarding Egypt’s Christian community? A similar situation occurred in Algeria when the army staged a coup just before elections to stop the Islamic Salvation Front from gaining victory in 1991. The result: 150,000-200,000 people were killed in a decade-long civil war. Similarly, Egypt’s Islamists will not back down quietly. The Brotherhood has vowed to “fight in the courts and the streets to reinstate the Parliament,” according to The New York Times. Also, Islamists have the support of more than half of the country’s population, taking into account that 75 percent of registered voters voted for Islamists in the parliamentary elections and 52 percent voted for them in the presidential elections. Although civil war is unlikely, the country remains divided and all calculations on Egypt’s future have been thrown to the wind. Anything can happen.

The question all Egyptians are now asking is: What role will the president and Islamists have in Egypt’s future? Will Morsi be stripped of his presidential powers by the military, making him nothing more than a figurehead? Or, will the Brotherhood and other Islamists continue to demonstrate in Cairo’s Tahrir Square or, less likely, embark on a campaign of armed resistance until the military steps down? It is the answer to these questions that will inevitably determine the fate of Egypt’s ancient Christian community.

---

Aidan Clay is the Middle East Regional Manager for International Christian Concern (ICC), a Washington, DC-based human rights organization that exists to support persecuted Christians worldwide by providing awareness, advocacy, and assistance (www.persecution.org). Aidan is a graduate from Biola University in Southern California. Prior to joining ICC, Aidan worked with Samaritan’s Purse in South Sudan and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa and Europe. He and his wife currently live in Nairobi, Kenya. For more information, contact Aidan Clay at clay@persecution.org 

Court in Egypt Sentences Young Christian for ‘Insulting Islam’

In legal double standard, free speech takes a blow in conviction regarded as dubious.

CAIRO, Egypt, April 6 (CDN) — In a show of partiality to Muslims who go unprosecuted for like offenses against Christianity, a juvenile court in Egypt on Wednesday (April 4) sentenced a Coptic Christian teenager to three years in prison for allegedly insulting Islam.


Gamal Abdou Massoud, 17, denies the charges. The court claimed that he posted cartoons on his Facebook account in December that mocked the Islamic religion and its prophet, Muhammad. The court also claimed that he distributed the pictures to other students.


After the incident came to light, Muslims in Assuit, where Massoud lives, rioted. They fire-bombed his home and burned down at least five other Christian-owned homes in several Assuit villages. Massoud’s family left their village. It is uncertain if they were ordered out, left from fear or left because they had no home.


The sentencing was considered significant not only because violates the free speech clauses of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Egypt is a signatory, but also shows another area where justice is executed unequally between Muslims and Christians in Egypt. The sentencing also shows that rights are given to the Christian minority in Egypt only when Islamic sensitivities are not involved.


When Muslim public figures violate Egyptian laws related to insulting Christianity, which happens often, the laws are ignored, Coptic Christians said. But when Christians are accused of violating the same laws against Islam, they pointed out, even a minor is usually punished to the full extent of the law.


The court also held Massoud responsible for inciting the riots. No one responsible for burning down any of the homes has been charged.


Samia Sidhom, managing editor at  Watani newspaper in Cairo, said the sentencing was a clear example of the double standard. When Coptic lawyers bring cases before the court about alleged instances of inflammatory speech broadcast publicly by Islamic or government leaders against Christianity, the Bible or Christians, the charges “are simply sidelined,” with cases going on for years with no outcome.


“They never get any sentences,” Sidhom said.


The three-year sentence was the maximum Massoud could have received.


Sidhom also called into question the veracity of the charges. She said her reporters could find no evidence that Massoud had even had a Facebook page, calling him “almost computer illiterate.”


This is the third high-profile case of “insulting Islam” to be brought to court against Copts in Egypt in roughly a month. On March 3, a Cairo court dismissed a case against Naguib Sawaris, a Copt and telecommunications tycoon, who was accused of insulting Islam for placing a cartoon of Minnie Mouse in a veil on his Facebook site as a satirical comment on what Egypt would look like if Islamists gained political power in the country.


Two weeks later, on March 16, a group of Muslim lawyers blocked off a courtroom where Makram Diab, a Coptic Christian, was trying to launch an appeal against a six-year prison term levied against him for insulting Islam. A Salafi Muslim brought the accusations against him after the two had a quarrel at a school where the two worked. Salafists claim to practice the Islam of the first three generations after Muhammad.


Sentenced six days after authorities arrested him, Diab was not allowed to have a defense attorney present at his original court hearing. His appeal is pending.



END

Salafist Leaders Celebrate Death of Coptic Pope in Egypt

Pope Shenouda III 

Open contempt for head of church of more than 40 years bodes ill for Christians.

CAIRO, Egypt, March 23 (CDN) — As Christians across Egypt continued to mourn the loss of Pope Shenouda III this week, Islamist leaders of the Salafist movement issued a litany of insults, calling the late leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church the “head of the infidels” and thanking God for his death.


The vitriol indicated the level of hostility the Salafists, who now make up 20 percent of Egypt’s parliament, have toward Christians. In a recorded message released on the Facebook page of one leading Salafi teacher, Sheik Wagdy Ghoneim, the sheik celebrated the pontiff’s death.


“We rejoice that he is destroyed. He has perished,” Ghoneim said on Sunday (March 18), the day after Shenouda died at the age of 88. “May God have His revenge on him in the fire of hell – he and all who walk his path.”


After the cleric issued his statement, several others followed suit, releasing insults throughout the week. On Monday (March 19) in the lower house of Egypt’s parliament, the People’s Assembly, several Salafi members refused to stand in remembrance of Shenouda during an official moment of silence. Others left before the moment of silence took place.


Bishop Mouneer Anis, head of the Episcopal and Anglican Diocese of Egypt, North Africa and the Horn of Africa, said that insulting people after their death is considered one of the rudest things someone can do in the Middle East. Anis, a close friend of the pontiff, told Compass the comments and actions were “very sad.”


“I see this as being moved by hatred,” Anis said. “To be honest, I feel sorry for members of the Salafi – to criticize such a remarkable man.”


The provocative comments are not a good sign for Egypt’s Christians. Adherents of the Salafist movement, which obtained that one-fifth of the People’s Assembly through the Nour Party, have led most of the recent attacks against Christians in Egypt. The comments were thought to reveal the utter disdain the Salafists have toward Egypt’s Christian minority.


The Salafist movement claims it patterns its beliefs and practices on the first three generations of Muslims.


Shenouda, formerly know as Nazeer Gayed Roufail, died due to complications from kidney disease and other health issues. A former theology teacher, Shenouda was enthroned on Nov. 14, 1971 as the 117th Pope of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.


He led the church through some of its most challenging times, often coming into conflict with the government. In 1981, he criticized then-President Anwar Sadat for what Shenouda characterized as an inadequate response to the rise of what is now called “political Islam” in Egypt. For this and the Coptic protests against Sadat that followed, Sadat banished Shenouda to a monastery in the desert.


Shenouda was released three years later, after Islamic militants assassinated Sadat, and after his successor, Hosni Mubarak, granted the pope amnesty. Last year, Mubarak was deposed after a series of pro-democracy protests roiled the country.


Shenouda’s passing leaves many questions unanswered as to how the leaders of the Coptic Orthodox Church will direct its followers to deal with the persecution leveled against them. Mubarak’s removal from power brought heretofore unfulfilled promises of change by the transitional military-run government, but it has also unleashed a tide of violence against Copts unheard of in recent history.


In his statement, Ghoneim made a long list of accusations against Shenouda that, put together, portray the former pope as waging a war against Muslims in Egypt. The accusations were considered either twisted by lack of context or were blatantly false, such as the claim that Shenouda was holding two female Coptic converts to Islam against their will in a monastery. Ghoneim characterized Shenouda’s well-known desire to see Egyptian society protect the human rights of Christians as impudence.


Most surprising was the claim that the former pope was somehow orchestrating the religiously motivated violence against Christians in Egypt.


“He wanted the sectarian strife,” Ghoneim said. “He wanted to burn Egypt.”


The irony of the comments has not been lost on most Copts. In May, Salafist leaders publicly threatened to kill Shenouda over the rumors about hiding the two women against their will. This was after groups of Muslims, led by members of the Salafist movement, held massive protests in April and blocked rail and road ways because the transitional military government appointed a Copt to be governor over the province. The rioting stopped only after the appointment was withdrawn.


Though it all, Anis said, Shenouda remained ardent in trying to engage Muslims in a peaceful way.


“He was a friend of many Muslim leaders. He was a peacemaker,” Anis said. “He was even criticized by Christians for making peace with those who persecuted the church.”


The last public meeting Shenouda had was with members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a little more than a week before he died.


“Pope Shenouda met members of the Muslim Brotherhood even when he was in pain,” Anis said.


Most Muslims in Egypt did not share Ghoneim’s sentiments. The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamic group in the country, issued a statement expressing his condolences over the Coptic pope’s death.


Shenouda was buried on Tuesday (March 20) in the Monastery of St. Bishoy in Wadi el-Natrun, with several thousand followers attending. Before Shenouda was buried, Naguib Ghobrial, lawyer and head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights, filed suit on Monday (March 19) against Ghoneim for contempt of a revealed religion.


Undeterred, Ghoneim released a statement the next day denying any wrongdoing and issued a challenge to all Christians.


“You believe in your Bible and say its words are holy,” he concluded. [Your Bible teaches] ‘Love your enemies and bless all who curse you.’ Your enemies – you love them and those who curse you – you bless them. So I say, God curse you! Bless me now. Bless me. Isn’t this your religion? I am going to say it again – I am your enemy, and I say, God curse you. Now, say it, ‘We love you Wagdy. And God bless you Wagdy.’”

END

Nuns Traumatized after School Attack in Egypt

One hospitalized for breakdown after sword-wielding Muslims converge.

CAIRO, Egypt, March 16 (CDN) — Two nuns in Upper Egypt faced “unimaginable fear” – with one later hospitalized over the emotional trauma – when 1,500 Muslim villagers brandishing swords and knives trapped them inside a guesthouse last week and threatened to burn them out.


The next day, the assailants frightened children at the school; attendance has since dropped by more than a third.


Accusing the nuns of building a church at the site, the throng on March 4 chanted Islamic slogans as they surrounded the guesthouse of a privately run, public school in the village of Abu Al-Reesh, in Aswan Province. Two nuns, volunteer teachers at Notre Dame Language Schools, barricaded themselves into the school’s guesthouse for about eight hours.


The women were “terrified,” said Magdy Melad, director of the school.


“No matter what I say, I cannot give a picture of the fear and the worry they had,” Melad said.


School workers hid a third nun from the mob in a separate building on the campus out of fear that the mob would attack her as well. While two of the three nuns are Egyptian, one with a French name holds both Egyptian and French passports.


Conservative Muslims began milling around the school and accosting school employees at 2 p.m. on March 4. A group of men with swords stopped one employee and accused him of “building a church, and we are coming to attack the place,” the employee told Melad, who was at the scene of the attack.


“Huge numbers of people with swords, knives and daggers were gathering,” Melad said. “All that was in my head was that I was worried about the nuns. So I called and told them not to open the door and not to move until I came to get them.”


The Muslims tried to push their way into the building as the nuns kept calling for help. The door to the guesthouse is made of heavy reinforced metal, according to Melad, which prevented the building from being breached. Members of the mob ransacked the entire building, stealing security cameras, electrical equipment and a satellite dish on top of the guesthouse, among other items.


From three mosques near the school, people began shouting over loudspeakers in minarets, summoning more Muslims to surround the guesthouse.


“People of Abu Al-Reesh, get down [there] – the Christians are building a church and building a monastery,” the loudspeakers blared, according to Melad Kamel Garas, owner of the school. “The Christians took our ancestor’s land and are building a church.”

School workers tried to get the nuns out of the building, but the Muslims sent them away.


“When we tried to get them out, they refused to let them out, and they wanted to burn them alive in the guesthouse,” Garas said.


School employees called police, but initially only three officers showed up, according to Melad. The mob set upon them. Four more trucks arrived with reinforcements, but authorities were still unable to control the mob.


Eventually, school workers began talking with moderate Muslims and were able, along with the police contingent, to get all the nuns out. As the women were pulled through the crowd, different men began shouting that they were “pigs” and “infidels” who wanted to “build a church,” according to Garas.


The two nuns suffered cuts and bruises in the attack, and one fainted during the ordeal, according to Garas. The women were taken to a Catholic church in Aswan, except for one, who suffered what Melad characterized as a “major” nervous breakdown and had to be transported on March 8 to Cairo, where she was hospitalized.


The three nuns, who range in age from 30s to mid-50s, were part of a volunteer contingent brought to the school to teach manners to younger students. The nuns have been there for a year and are certified teachers. They did not teach religious classes other than to Christian students; school officials inspected all of their course work and materials, and their texts were approved by the national Ministry of Education, Melad said.


“They are committed to teach what the Ministry of Education has told them to teach,” Melad said.


The next day, the mob started intermittently attacking the school itself.


“They scared the children in a very, very bad way,” Melad said. “The children were so scared, terrified.”


Notre Dame Language Schools enrolls about 560 students ranging from preschoolers to ninth graders. It is open to students from all faiths; roughly 360 of the students are Muslim, the rest being members of the Coptic minority. Having opened two years ago, the school has about 170 employees, 60 of them Coptic Christians and the rest Muslims.


After the nuns were removed from the guesthouse, members of the mob refused to let anyone inside, even after police inspected the building’s interior and found no place of worship.


Leaders of the mob told school officials that they were not allowed to use the guesthouse. They also said the school could no longer continue doing construction work around the guesthouse.


Eventually the Muslims left the school property, and police posted a guard outside the building. But now the Islamists have enlisted a group of children who mill around the guesthouse and tell them if anyone goes inside, according to Melad.


This poses a problem because the guesthouse is also the utility control room for the school; all electrical switches, and the valves for the school water supply, are located there. School workers find themselves in the strange position of having to ask people from the mob to use school property. Police, Garas said, have done nothing to regain control of the guesthouse.


As a result, attendance at the school has dropped by 34 percent, something Garas said he understands.


“All the loss in property, that can be replaced,” Garas said. “But all I am worried about is I don’t want to lose one of the children. Because God forbid, if in an irrational act like this, one of the children got injured or hurt, all the money in the world wouldn’t be able to fix or replace that.”


An attempt is underway to force school officials into a “reconciliation meeting,” which in Egypt usually results in Christians having to accept concessions with nothing in return. In September another group of Muslims in Aswan rioted outside another guesthouse, wrongly claiming that church officials were building a house of worship inside. In a reconciliation meeting, church officials agreed to remove the crosses outside the building and not to ring any church bells.


This wasn’t enough, and eventually Salafis and other hard-line Muslim villagers began rioting again. Ultimately church officials entered another series of reconciliation meetings. Altogether, the priests conceded to every major demand the Muslim villagers made but received no conciliatory offers in return. While the domes on top of the church building were being removed in accordance with the meetings, the villagers attacked and burned it to the ground.


The priest of the church was later charged with a building violation and sentenced to six months in jail. None of the Muslims who attacked the church building have been charged. The priest will appeal the sentence.


Reconciliation meetings are, in theory, arbitration meetings between two equal entities that are loosely based on traditional tribal councils. But most human rights activists in Egypt say that the reconciliation process works to deny rights to powerless groups while maintaining an image of legality and fairness.


All in all, Garas said, the persecution in Aswan echoes what seems to be an unofficial motto there, “No Christians allowed.”



END

Egyptian Court Sentences Priest from Attacked Church Building

Assailants uncharged, but clergyman gets six months in jail for building violation.

CAIRO, Egypt, March 7 (CDN) — A priest in Egypt was sentenced this week to six months in jail for a minor construction violation at his church building, while no one in a mob that burned the same structure down has been arrested.


The Rev. Makarious Bolous of the Mar Gerges Church in Aswan was sentenced on Sunday (March 4), but neither the imams who called for the attack nor the Muslim villagers who destroyed the church building last September have been charged with any crime.


Bolous said the ruling, coupled with the absence of prosecution against those who burned down the church building, is clear evidence of persecution and a legal double standard between Christians and Muslims.


“I feel it is unjust,” Bolous said. “It’s not fair.”


The lower court that made the ruling also fined Bolous 300 Egyptian pounds (US$50). Bolous remained free Tuesday (March 6) awaiting appeal.


Local government officials said the building was 2.5 meters taller than what they had approved on a series of architectural drawings. Bolous said the citation was issued days after the fire.


The priest said the charges surprised him. A significant percentage of construction projects in Egypt are done without permits, he said, and even when permits are issued, adherence to their stipulations is casual and enforcement is lax. The village where the church building once stood is surrounded by homes that have two or three extra floors built outside of permitted specifications and by others that were built with no permit at all, according to Bolous.


“The whole village is full of people who are building against their licenses,” Bolous said. “So the whole thing is, ‘Why did they only cite the church and pick on the extra bit of building?’”


Bolous’ attorney, Osama Refaat, said the citation was unusual because by law contractors, not property owners, are responsible for permit violations.


“The right law was used, but in the wrong way,” Refaat said.


The Attack
On Sept. 30, 2011, shortly after afternoon prayers, approximately 3,000 villagers set fire to and then demolished the Mar Gerges building in the El Marenab village of Aswan. The mob also razed four homes near the church building and two businesses, all Christian-owned. Widespread looting was also reported.


“Imams in more than 20 mosques called for crowds to gather and destroy the church and demolish the houses of the Copts and loot their properties,” Michael Ramzy, a villager from El Marenab, told local media in September.


The tension in El Marenab began the last week of August, when Muslim extremists voiced anger over renovations taking place at Mar Gerges. Muslim villagers claimed that church officials were turning a guesthouse on church property into a church. They were also upset that symbols of the Christian faith, such as crosses, could be seen from outside the church building.


That same week, Muslim villagers began blockading the entrance to the church building and threatening Copts on the street – in effect making them hostages in their own homes.


On Sept. 2, a meeting was held with military leaders and village elders in which the local leadership of the Coptic Orthodox Church agreed to remove all crosses and bells outside the building. Peace returned briefly to the village, but by early the next week, the Muslim villagers abandoned the agreement and went back to harassing local Christians. They demanded the removal of domes newly constructed on top of the church building, and the hard-line Muslims – ignoring pleas by priests to leave the church building alone – called for it to be burned.


Throughout the dispute, Muslim leaders in the village claimed that the renovations were illegal because the building wasn’t a church but a hospitality facility – even though the original structure on the site was used as a church building for roughly 100 years.


The governor of Aswan, Mostafa al-Sayyed, sided with the rioters and cast blame for the attacks on the Copts and local leaders of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He claimed he had never given permission to turn a guesthouse into a church, in effect blaming the Copts for bringing the attack on themselves. But documents produced by church officials and independently verified by a non-sectarian group, The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, showed that Al-Sayyed signed off on construction permits that authorized the renovation of an existing altar area inside the building.


Bolous said Tuesday (March 6) that tensions remain in the village. Despite government guarantees to fund and build a new church structure to replace the old one, the promises have proven empty.


“It’s been six months now, and even after Field Marshall Tantawi gave the permission to rebuild the church, I cannot go back to the church or hold any prayers there or even go to the village at all,” Bolous said, adding that part of the problem is that Al-Sayyed blocks all attempts to build the replacement. “He keeps saying, ‘Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after – we are going to do it,’ but it never happens.”


The villagers who burned down the church building and have escaped criminal prosecution, Bolous said, are the same ones blocking the construction of a replacement. Because he can’t go back to the village, approximately 40 Coptic families in El Marenab are without a priest and cannot meet for Mass or other meetings traditionally held at a church building.


Protests and DeathCopts across Egypt were incensed at being blamed for the destruction of the Mar Gerges Church building. Coptic leaders also accuse the government of playing a colluding role in the violence by not enforcing the law, which requires imprisonment as a penalty for acts of sectarian strife, “thuggery” and vandalism of private property.


On Oct. 9, thousands of people marched through the streets of Cairo to protest the governor’s statements, the government’s lack of action to stop attacks against Christians and its refusal to prosecute perpetrators of violence against Christians.


The protest turned into a blood-bath after counter-protestors opened fire on some of the demonstrators, and soldiers ran over others with riot-control vehicles. Of the 27 people killed, at least 23 were Christians. Witnesses claimed that the shooters and the military were seen working closely together on the evening of the protest.


The army denied any responsibility for the killings, but eventually charged three soldiers with what amounts to accidental vehicular manslaughter. No one was been charged in connection with any of the shootings.


By comparison, the government has charged two priests with inciting sectarian strife, illegal possession of firearms, illegal possesion of a bladed weapon, and destroying public property – charges that are much more serious than anything the soldiers face.



END

Islamists in Egypt Use Rumors to Attack Christians

Salafis attack in one village, while officials in another overturn evictions.

ISTANBUL, March 5 (CDN) — Tensions remain high in an Egyptian village where as many as 5,000 mostly Salafi Muslims went on a rampage over a false rumor that a church was holding a girl against her will in order to convert her back to Christianity.


Dismissing media reports of 20,000 rioting Muslims, sources told Compass that between 2,000 and 5,000 hard-line Muslims, most of them from the Salafi movement, last month harassed Christian villagers in Meet Bahsar in the Nile Delta, attacked a church building in a misguided effort to “save” the girl, damaged a priest’s house and then destroyed his car.


The 14-year-old girl’s father, an ethnic Copt who converted to Islam, had stirred them up on the mistaken notions that his daughter had converted to Islam and that Christians had kidnapped her, the church priest told Compass.


“Things are partly calmer now, and parishioners still go to church but they are a bit hesitant,” said the Rev. Gerges Gamil of the Church of the Virgin Mary. “Some things got broken in my house, because they threw rocks and stones at the house, and my car was destroyed, but thankfully no one in my family was hurt.”


The girl, 14, was not in the church building. It was unclear if her father was merely mistaken about her location or intentionally misled villagers.


The attack mainly by Salafists, an extremist movement that patterns its belief and practices on the first three generations of Muslims, happened on the evening of Feb. 12. Skirmishes in Meet Bahsar lasted for two days, with Muslim villagers threatening to kidnap Coptic girls in retaliation for the alleged kidnapping.


Some media reported that the rioters knocked down a wall surrounding the church, but priests speaking on behalf of the parish said the wall was already being demolished.


The events that led to the attack involved a family dispute.


The girl’s father, Khalil Ibrahiem Mouhamed Abd Allah, converted to Islam in 2009, and then divorced his Christian wife and married a Muslim woman. Abd Allah claimed that his daughter converted to Islam in October of last year. In February, the girl got engaged to a Muslim man in her father’s village, but shortly after the engagement she ran away.


“She got engaged to a Muslim man called Ahmed Abdallah, but she was still in touch with some Christians, and after the engagement she disappeared,” Abd Allah told local media. “So, I immediately thought that the Christians kidnapped her.”


By contrast, the girl reportedly said her father treated her poorly and that she never converted to Islam. She confirmed the engagement but said that ultimately she couldn’t continue with it because the groom-to-be was Muslim.


The girl was able to make it to Cairo, but after finding out about the attacks and the reports that she was being held against her will, she contacted police. Her location was not publicly known at press time, but she has reportedly asked not to be returned to her father or mother.


Egyptian newspapers have reported that she was either in state care or the custody of an uncle. She reportedly said she went to Cairo to stay with an uncle.


The Salafi movement is made up of extremely conservative Muslims increasingly known for their vitriolic rhetoric and attacks against churches in Egypt. The Salafis have used rumors of kidnappings or relationships between Christians and Muslims to incite other attacks against Christians. In May 2011, an attack in downtown Cairo left 12 people dead and at least one church building in ruins.


More recently, in January Salafists terrorized Christians of a village in northern Egypt after an unsubstantiated rumor spread about a video recording of a Coptic man having sex with a Muslim woman. The Muslims in Sharbat, near Alexandria, rioted and then forced numerous Christians to abandon their property in informal but binding “reconciliation councils,” though a parliamentary commission overturned the council decision last month, and most of the evicted Christian families have returned home.


Human rights activists say such councils are unjust and are often a guise to force members of the Coptic minority to relinquish their rights.


END

Egyptian Parliament Commission Overturns Coptic Eviction Decree

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

Copts demonstrate after eight Copt families evicted

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (ANS) -- A public meeting was held on February 16 in Alexandria, Egypt to forcibly evict eight Coptic families from Sharbat village (Ameriya), and seize their property, based on allegations of a video clip of an illicit relationship between a Coptic man and a Muslim woman.

According to Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih, writing for AINA -- the Assyrian International News Agency www.aina.org , the meeting follows the report from a fact-finding commission, made up of two Copts, two Liberals and the Salafi member of Parliament, Shaikh Sherif Hawary, who was responsible for the tribunal of February 1, met with representatives of the evicted Coptic families, the tribunal's members and two priests.

It comes after the fact-finding commission delegated by parliament went to investigate the facts surrounding the decision made on February 1 by a village tribunal, composed of villagers and parliamentary members, mostly from Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood parties.

AINA reported the commission issued a statement at the public meeting, which was attended by village residents, that all Coptic families are to return to their homes, and nullified the rulings of the tribunal of February 1.

Abdelmassih writes the commission asked for the safe return of the Abaskhayron Suleiman families to their homes, stressing their legal rights and the rule of law, which does not conflict with Sharia. The committee said the Suleimans have the right to reside in their own village. The Suleimans were not involved in any way with the alleged video clip, but were still evicted.

The news agency said the commission deferred a decision on the return of the three families of the Coptic man Mourad Girguis, accused of having the video clip in question, and the Muslims who burned down the homes of Christians, leaving these matters for the judiciary to decide.

Attorney Marian Malak, a member of the commission, said the purpose of the meeting was to set a date for the return of the Christian families back to the village, through a consensus among the people of Ameriya, but the issue of compensation to affected Copts has not yet been resolved.

According to the news agency report, Sherif Hawary, member of Parliament for Ameriya, said there was a split among the members of the commission about the term "eviction," pointing out that members of the tribunal described the departure of some Christian families to be for security reasons and fear for their own lives, while a number of other members insisted on describing what happened as eviction. Hawary prevailed, and the committee statement said the Christians left the village for security reasons.

After the reading of the statement, heated arguments broke out between some members of the delegation of the Maspero Coptic Youth Union and the parliamentary commission regarding the failure of the police to arrest the perpetrators and instigators of the torching and looting of Coptic homes during the violence on January 27th and 30th.

The AINA report says the commission said the prosecution had issued arrest warrants for some of the defendants. The Maspero delegation also asked about the woman accused of having a relationship with Mourad Girguis, as records of the prosecution investigations failed to identify her, as well as the absence of photos to prove the incident actually took place.

A question during the meeting was raised regarding whether the return of the families also includes the Mourad Girguis family, but Sheikh Sherif Hawari said that they will not come back, since what Mourad did was an "outrageous act."

Mourad Girguis was released on bail on February 15, after having been charged with spreading false rumors. Mohammad Toema, the barber who started the rumor, was also released on bail, the agency said.

"The video about a Muslim woman was not found," said member of Parliament Dr. Emad Gad, "and there is no evidence of the woman having existed. This proves that, as suspected, the accusations were fabricated in order to forcibly evict Mourad Girguis and his family from the village."

The news agency said the commission will present its findings to Parliament on Sunday.

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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20,000 Muslims Attempt to Kill Pastor and Torch Church in Egypt

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

EGYPT (ANS) -- A mob of nearly 20,000 radical Muslims, mainly Salafis, attempted recently to break into and torch the Church of St. Mary and St. Abram in the village of Meet Bashar, in Zagazig, Sharqia province.

St. Mary's Church in Meet Bashar, Egypt

According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News agency (AINA), they were demanding the death of Rev. Guirgis Gameel, pastor of the church, who has been unable to leave his home.

AINA said nearly 100 terrorized Copts sought refuge inside the church, while Muslim rioters were pelting the church with stones in an effort to break into the church, assault the Copts and torch the building. A home of a Copt living near the church and the residence of a church staff member were torched, as well as three cars.

AINA said the mob demanded the return Rania of Khalil Ibrahim, 15, to her father. 

She has been held with the Security Directorate. Christian-born Rania had converted to Islam three months ago after her father, who had converted to Islam two years ago and took custody of her.

AINA said she had disappeared from the village last Saturday, after claiming to go shopping. According to Gameel, she had a disagreement with her father, who had arranged a marriage for her with a Muslim man.

Her father, Khalil Ibrahim, went to the police on Saturday and accused the priest of being behind her disappearance, and said she had gone to live with her Coptic mother.

AINA said a Salafi mob of 2000 went to the priest's home and destroyed his furniture and his car, surrounded the church and pelted it with stones. They demolished a large section of the church fence. In the evening security forces announced that they had found Rania in Cairo and that she was not abducted by Christians. She was brought to the police station in Meet Bashar.

“After hearing this news yesterday everyone was relieved,” AINA reported Coptic activist Waguih Jacob said.

He added, “However, the Copts noticed that the Muslims did not completely disperse, but were hovering in all streets.”

AINA said the few security forces stationed in front of the church were dismissed as the village seemed to return to peace.

But the mob became more angry when they heard that Rania refused to go back to live with her father, and returned in much greater numbers.

AINA reported some Coptic eyewitnesses said a number of Muslim villagers tried to prevent the Salafis from assaulting their Christian neighbors, and some stood as human shields to protect the church until security forces arrived.

Bishop Yuaness, Secretary to Pope Shenouda III, said that they have been in contact with authorities “at the highest levels.”

AINA said Marian Malak, a Coptic member of parliament, contacted Egyptian Prime Minister El-Ganzoury, who ordered sending reinforcements to contain the crisis.

Bishop Tadros Sedra, of Minia el Kamh and Zagazig Coptic diocese, said that military and police forces have arrived in great numbers and have dispersed Muslims from outside the church and Gameel’s home. He confirmed that security will stay in the village for at least two weeks.

AINA said US-based Coptic Solidarity International, issued a press release strongly urging the international community, through the United Nations Human Rights Council, to appoint a special rapporteur for the Copts in Egypt. That particularly in light of the recent evictions, property confiscations and attacks against Copts.

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Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City." Additional details on "Homeless in the City" are available athttp://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

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Muslim Council in Egypt Evicts 8 Christian Families, Seizes Their Property

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (ANS) -- National and international rights groups have consistently criticized the recourse to the so-called "reconciliation meetings" -- dubbed "Bedouin sittings" -- that take place between Copts and Muslim assailants after every attack on Coptic Christians, says Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih, writing for AINA -- Assyrian International News Agency www.aina.org .

The meetings are conducted under the auspices of state security, Abdelmassih writes.

“Last week a series of meetings were held by radical Muslims to decide on the fate of the Copts in a village in Alexandria, and Muslims insisted that the whole Coptic population of 62 families must be deported because of an unsubstantiated accusation levied against one Coptic man,” Abdelmassih states in an online report.

Coptic homes set ablaze by Muslims in Ameriya.

According to AINA, Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat (El-Ameriya), Alexandria, were attacked on January 27 by a mob of 3,000 Muslims led by Salafi leaders, who looted and torched homes and shops belonging to Copts.

“The violence was prompted by allegations made by a Muslim barber named Toemah that a 34-year-old Coptic tailor, Mourad Samy Guirgis, had on his mobile phone illicit photos of a Muslim woman,” writes Abdelmassih.

She continued: “Mourad denied the accusation and surrendered to the police for fear for his life. 

Muslims looted and torched his workshop and home after he surrendered to the police, and his entire family, including his parents and his married brother Romany, were evicted from the village. He is still in police detention.”

Abdelmassih reports that three "reconciliation meetings" were held at the El-Ameriya village police headquarters. They were attended by Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood representatives from neighboring villages, as well as church representative. Muslims demanded the eviction of all Coptic inhabitants from the village because "Muslim honor had been damaged."

Abdelmassih says many believe that the mobile phone story was fabricated as an excuse to start violence against the Copts. According to the police, the woman in question denied the story and no photos were found on Mourad's mobile phone, according to Ihab Aziz, a Coptic-American activist who is presently in Egypt.

“During the first reconciliation meeting it was agreed that only Copts who were directly involved with the Mourad incident would be evicted, and the church demanded compensation of two million pounds for the innocent Copts whose homes and businesses were torched on January 27. Muslims, especially Salafis from the neighboring villages, refused any kind of compensation and insisted on the eviction of all Copts,” Abdelmassih went on to say.

AINA reports that on January 30 a Muslim mob attacked Copts in Kobry-el-Sharbat for the second time, and torched three Coptic homes in the presence of the security forces, "which took the role of an onlooker and made no effort to stop the violence," according to Joseph Malak, lawyer for the Coptic church in Alexandria.

"This proves that the assailants were not afraid of the security forces or the law," he said.

The AINA report goes on to say that Muslim representatives demanded the eviction of the wealthy Coptic merchant Abeskhayroun Soliman, together with his four married sons and their families, accusing them of causing sedition by shooting in the air when Muslims broke into and torched their home while the family was inside. "No one was wounded due to the alleged shootings, which the family says never took place. The police authorities issued an arrest warrant for two of the Soliman sons," said Ihab Aziz.

AINA stated that the Solimans have been in hiding with a Muslim family which saved them from their burning homes, and is presently giving them protection. Muslims threatened that if eight Coptic families were not evicted by February 3, all remaining 54 Coptic families in the village would be subjected to violence after Friday prayers. They called it "Friday of Eviction" and "Friday of Clean-up."

Reconciliation meeting for Ameriya.

The news agency said that on Wednesday, February 1, a hastily-organized reconciliation meeting was arranged by security authorities, and was attended by Ebeskharion Soliman and one of his sons.

The terms of the agreement which resulted were:

** Eviction of eight Coptic families, namely three of the Mourad families, in addition to five Soliman families. 

** Selling of the assets of the wealthy Abeskhayron Soliman family within three months by a committee, under the supervision of Salafi shaikh Sherif el Hawary.

Soliman has no right to get involved in the sale or even accompany a prospective buyer. 

**The Committee is to collect any money accrued from the sale of his land, properties, businesses as well as collect promissory notes pending from business transactions by the Soliman-owned chain of stores. 

** In case of non-implementation of this Agreement, all Copts in the Kobry-el-Sharbat village will be attacked, their homes and property completely torched.

AINA reports that Abeskhayron Soliman signed the agreement, which most Copts viewed as "humiliating."

Father Boktor, who attended the meeting, described the reconciliation agreement as "utter injustice," AINA said.

According to the AINA report, Wissa Fawzi, member of the Maspero Coptic Youth Union in Alexandria, said that Soliman has nothing at all to do with the Mourad story, but signed the agreement to save his family and the Copts in the village, "otherwise there would have been a massacre of the Copts on that Friday." He said that Security authorities pressured Soliman into accepting the terms of the agreement by threatening him with refusal of police protection for him and his family.

"What constitutes the real crisis is the complicity of security officials in the process of displacement," said Fawzi.

AINA explained that Copts in Kobry-el-Sharbat were stunned after hearing the news of the eviction of the "top Copt" in their community, whose wealth is estimated at more than 20,000,000 Egyptian pounds. "There is a feeling of humiliation and being completely under the mercy of the radical Muslims," said Rami Khashfa of the Alexandria Maspero Youth Union, adding:"They are terrorized and are scared of the future. Copts in the neighboring villages are also scared." He said that Copts in the village are thinking of moving elsewhere.

Speaking on US-based Christian TV channel Al-Karma, Magdy Khalil, head of the Middle East Freedom Forum, said that reconciliation meetings made up of Salafis and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and arranged by security officials are illegal and forced eviction is one of the crimes under international law.

"Who gave them the right to form a committee headed by a Salafi to sell Christian property? This is thuggery and blatant targeting of Copts," Khalil said

The AINA report says Khalil called on the Coptic Melli Council, which is the civilian body that represents Copts in the Egyptian State, to protest this agreement and ask for the return of the Copts to their homes.

"If we accept it, this will open the door for an avalanche of forced evictions," Khalil said. He believes that radical Muslims have a bigger plan they hope to achieve by terrorizing the Copts, namely displacing and dispersing them from places with high Coptic population density, taking their property and weakening them economically.

Ihab Aziz, like many others, believes that "Coptic capital" is targeted everywhere in Egypt. He said that members of the Egyptian parliament have been made aware of the El-Ameriya forced displacement, and the issue will be brought before parliament shortly.

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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Over 3000 Muslims Attack Christian Homes and Shops in Egypt, 3 Injured

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (ANS) -- A mob of over 3000 Muslims have just attacked Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat (el-Ameriya), Alexandria, Egypt. Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Two Copts and a Muslim were injured.

Mary Abdelmassih, writing for the Assyrian International News Agency (www.aina.org) said that the violence started after a rumor was spread that a Coptic man had an allegedly intimate photo of a Muslim woman on his mobile phone. The Coptic man, Mourad Samy Guirgis, surrendered to the police for his protection.

According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrators were bearded men in white gowns. “They were Salafists, and some of were from The Muslim Brotherhood,” according to one witness. It was reported that terrorized women and children who lost their homes were in the streets without any place to go.

Father Boktor Nashed from St. George's Church in el-Nahdah, said that a meeting between Muslim and Christian representatives was supposed to take place in the evening in Kobry-el-Sharbat. But, by 3 P.M. a Muslim mob looted and torched the home of Mourad Samy Guirgis, as well as the home of his family and three homes of Coptic neighbors. A number of Coptic-owned shops and businesses were also looted and torched.

“We contacted security forces, but they arrived very, very late,” said Father Nashad. The fire brigade was prevented from going into the village by the Muslims and the fires were left to burn themselves out. “Those who lost their home, left the village,” said Father Nashed.

Coptic activist Mariam Ragy, who was covering the violence in Kobry-el-Sharbat, said it took the army 1 hour to drive 2 kilometers to the village. “This happens every time. They wait outside the village until the Muslims have had enough violence, then they appear.” She said that she spoke to many Copts from the village this evening who said that although their homes were not attacked, Muslims stood in the street asking them to come to their homes to hide. “They believed that this was a new trick to make them leave, so that Muslims would loot and torch their homes while they were away,” said Ragy.

Abdelmassih said that the Governor of Alexandria visited al-Nahda, near Kobry-el-Sharbat, this evening and told elYoum 7 newspaper that the two Copts and one Muslim who were injured were transported to hospital. He said that the family of the Muslim girl whose image was on the Copt's mobile phone wanted revenge from the Coptic man. They broke into his home and torched a furniture factory located in the same building.

Joseph Malak, a lawyer for the Coptic Church in Alexandria, said it is too early to count injuries to Copts or losses to their property.

Mr. Mina Girguis, of the Maspero Youth Union in Alexandria, said that “collective punishment of Copts for someone else's mistake, which is yet to be determined, is completely unacceptable.” He believes that the reason for this violence is fabricated, and the military is behind it. “They are trying to divert the attention from the second revolution which is taking place now.”

The Middle East journalist went on to say that Father Nashed denied that Islamists were present, only ordinary village Muslims, and could not give an explanation as why people who have lived together amicably for years could commit such violence. “Maybe because of lack of security, they think that they can do as they please,” he said.

He added that the nearly 65 Coptic families were ordered to stay indoors and not to open their shops and businesses tomorrow. He added that security forces did not arrest any of the perpetrators, “on the contrary, they were begging the mob to go home.”

“By midnight the violence had subsided,” concluded Abdelmassih.

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Dan Wooding, 71, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books, one of which is his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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Muslims in Egypt Attack Church, Burn Christian Homes and Shops

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- A Muslim mob yesterday (Jan.19) attacked Copts in the Upper Egyptian village of Rahmaniya-Kebly, Nag Hammadi, Qena province, destroying and torching their homes, straw huts and shops, while chanting Allahu Akbar.

Mary Abdelmassih, an Egyptian journalist writing for the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) --www.aina.org  -- says no one was reported killed or injured. According to reports, security forces were present but did not intervene and the fire brigade arrived 90 minutes late.

AINA reports that an eye-witness said a straw hut belonging to a Coptic Christian was torched to clear the area for a mosque. There are more than 300 mosques in the village and one church.

AINA says that according to Coptic residents, the reason behind the violence was the parliamentary elections. The Salafists wanted to prevent Copts, who number more than 50 percent of the inhabitants (20,000), from voting because they intended to vote for two moderate Muslims and not the Salafi candidates. "No Copt from Rahmaniya-Kebly was able to vote today, so the Salafists will win the elections," said a witness. Copts were forcefully prevented from voting.

AINA goes on to say that US-based WAY TV, which covered live yesterday’s Rahmaniya attacks, called commander Osama, head of security at Rahmaniya, who said "everything was OK" -- despite live pictures on TV of the burning homes.

AINA reported that Joseph Nasralla of WAY TV spoke to security and made them aware that the videos of the fires were being broadcast in the U.S. and Middle East, which caused the immediate dispatch of security vehicles. By late evening the violence had stopped.

In another incident yesterday, a large number of Salafis and members of the Muslim Brotherhood entered the Abu Makka church, in Bahteem, Shubra-el-Khayma, Qaliubia province, and informed the congregation that the church has no license and no one should pray in it. One Muslim said the 1,300 square meter church would be suitable for a mosque and a hospital.

AINA said Bishop Marcus of Shubra el Khayma was scheduled to inaugurate the incomplete church and celebrate the Epiphany mass in the evening.

However, according to Coptic witnesses the Bishop cancelled the festivities, which angered the congregation, who were not informed of the reason. A witness said the Muslim promised to be back Friday.

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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Egypt’s military is on alert for New Year’s Attack on Christians

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- Egypt’s military is on high alert today (Sat., Dec.31) due to threats against Coptic Christians in that country.

The Egyptian military said Friday that it was increasing security at churches across the country before the anniversary of a deadly New Year's attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria.

According to NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin reporting from Amman, Jordan, with additional reporting by NBC's Jacob Keryakes and msnbc.com's Suzanne Choney, the heightened state of alert before New Year's celebrations and the Coptic Christmas season came as anonymous threats against the Copts circulated on Facebook.

NBC says Facebook has apparently taken down the account of at least one group threatening a New Year's attack on Egyptian Christians. An Arab-language Facebook page (not linked to in the story but monitored by msnbc.com reporters) no longer loads.

The NBC report says one of those groups on Friday threatened a suicide bombing of an unnamed church in Egypt and said that the church's name would be posted at 11:50 p.m. local time Saturday just before the attack. A spokesman for Facebook said it was aware of the threat "and is investigating it."

The Alexandria attack occurred just after midnight Jan. 1, 2011 as worshippers left a New Year's Mass. More than 20 people were killed, making it the worst violence against the Christian minority in Egypt in a decade.

In its report, NBC reported the military said that it would work closely with internal security forces, revolutionary youth groups and various political forces inside Egypt to ensure the safety of Christian worshippers across the country.

NBC went on to explain that in addition to New Year's Eve Masses, Egyptian Copts are preparing for the Orthodox Church's Christmas on Jan. 7.

This year's Christmas celebrations and mass at the cathedral in Cairo will be attended by a senior delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood.

NBC said it's the first time in nearly 30 years that the church has invited the Islamist group -- outlawed during the Mubarak regime -- to attend the Mass and celebrations.

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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Egypt Charges Three Soldiers with ’Manslaughter’ in the Maspero Massacre

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- Egypt’s Supreme Military Court yesterday (Dec. 27), started procedures in the trial of three soldiers on charges of "manslaughter" of 14 Christian Copts during the Maspero Massacre which took place in front of the radio and television Building in Maspero on October 9.

Mary Abdelmassih, writing for the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) www.aina.org , says that according to the indictment, the list of defendants were limited to three soldiers from the military police, who were charged with manslaughter, which under the penal code carries penalties of imprisonment of not more than seven years.

A Copt who was run-over by an army armored vehicle

AINA reports the military prosecution accused the three soldiers of causing "through their mistakes caused by their neglect and lack of precaution" the death of 14 people from the crowds in front of the Radio and Television Union Building.

In its report, AINA stated: “The indictment went on to say that the drivers of vehicles and armored vehicles of the armed forces ‘drove randomly and did not match the condition of the road, which was full of protesters, leading to their collision with the victims.’"

On October 9, 27 Christians were killed, 14 crushed under the wheels of military armored vehicles and the rest by being fired at with live ammunition. Another 329 Christians were injured. According to witnesses and video footage, the protestors were chased by armored vehicles chased over the pavements (video) and were shot at by snipers placed in the TV building and over bridges overlooking the TV Building.

AINA explained the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an independent NGO, said that the military justice took into account only those victims who were trampled under the wheels of the military armored vehicles and excluded those victims who were killed by live bullets, including the prominent Coptic political activist Mina Daniel, known from the January 25 Revolution.

AINA stated: “EIPR said the trial did not meet the minimum guarantees of seriousness and justice and is a continuation of the position of the military junta, which refused and still is refusing any recognition of its responsibility for this heinous crime which resulted in killing 28 protesters, mostly Copts.

“It (EIPR) also accused the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of (SCAF) continuing to seek the protection of members of the military police from criminal accountability by bringing the three soldiers before a military tribunal, even before the investigating judge assigned by the public prosecution has completed his investigation into the same incident.”

Hossam Bahgat, director of EIPR, who was honored this year by Human Rights Watch for upholding the personal freedoms of all Egyptians, said: "Nearly three months after the Maspero massacre, the junta decided to select 14 of the victims of the massacre who were crushed under the wheels of the military armored vehicles, in front of our eyes and on television, and then go on to consider them as ‘victims of negligent military drivers, as if they died in an ordinary accident.’"

Commenting on the indictment, Bahgat said: "How can the killing of 14 citizens be considered a manslaughter misdemeanor? What about Mina Daniel and the rest of the victims of the massacre who were killed by live bullets? And why has the military decided to quickly make this mock trial without waiting for the report of the investigating civilian judge of the massacre? How can we trust in the military justice? We see them making every effort to shield its members and its leaders from accountability."

According to the AINA report, observers say the main purpose of the military trial is to confirm the account of the massacre given by two members of the Military Council at the press conference which was held on October 12, during which they denied that the soldiers guarding the television building were armed, and instead accused the unarmed Coptic demonstrators of attacking the military police forces.

Observers also said that the drivers of the armored vehicles were confused and trampled over the demonstrators. To prove their point, the police randomly arrested 27 Copts from the streets, in addition to the prominent Muslim activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, and accused them of inciting violence, the murder of one soldier, the theft of guns from the armed forces, and damaging private and public property during the October 9 Maspero Massacre, They were all released last week after being detained for 66 days.

Ahmed Hossam, a lawyer with EIPR believes that no justice will ever be received for the victims of Maspero, or victims of any of the other crime committed by the military against the Egyptians, as long as the provisions of Code of Military Justice stands as a barrier to the ability of the prosecutors to investigate with the military in cases referred to them.

AINA says activists have previously called for the need to amend these provisions to put an end to the impunity enjoyed by military of accountability to civil courts in crimes against civilians.

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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Two People Killed, Homes and Stores Torched in Attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses, according to the Assyrian International News Agency (www.aina.org ).

In an article for AINA, Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih says that a quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province.

AINA reports that Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Hosni apparently fled from the village with his family, "fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts," reported activist Mariam Ragy.

The news agency says the events started on Monday, November 28, when John Hosni, a building supplier, had a quarrel with his neighbor, Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer (48), over some steel rods and cement Hosni had left in the street to use for erecting a wall around his house.

This was perceived by Mr. Abdel-Nazeer as extending the home into the street, which is public property, AINA says.

"Instead of reporting this building transgression to the police or local authorities, Abdel-Nazeer took the matter in his own hands and brought some Salafists and torched the store and the home of the Copt," said an eyewitness.

In the altercation between the neighbors, Hosni hit Abdel-Nazeer in the head with a wooden branch, which lead to his death later in hospital, AINA reported.

In its report, AINA says that angry Muslims murdered two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Ibrahim (55) and Kameel Tamer Ibrahim (50), in revenge. The brothers were not a party to the altercation. Kamel Tamer, who was defending his shop from looting, was murdered in front of his wife. His brother was also murdered in front of his wife for defending his home.

AINA goes on to report that three other Christians, Maher Samir Gota, his wife, and his brother Osama Samir Gota, were severely injured and are in intensive care.

The AINA report says: “They were in their homes when their shop was broken into and looted by Muslims. Maher and his wife were stabbed and Osama received a blow on the head. The ambulance could not go to them to transport them to hospital. He was privately transported by his friends. There were reports of Muslims preventing the fire brigades from reaching the burning homes.”

After killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses, AINA reported.

AINA went on to state that despite killing the two Coptic brothers the Muslims insist they have not yet avenged Abdel-Nazeer's death.

"This is not revenge; this is simply an excuse to kill people because they are Christians, as well as loot their property," said an eyewitness.

"Security was present in all the streets, and protected the churches, but they did nothing in the face of Muslims killings, looting and torching of Christian property," said another eyewitness, who managed to get out of the village "by a miracle," as he put it, leaving all his belongings and money behind.

"We do not know whether we will be able to go back to the village as the Muslims refuse to bury the dead Muslim before killing all Copts in the village."

The eyewitness added that Muslims are openly walking the streets carrying firearms and clubs while the police standby and do nothing. The number of police is not enough, there are about 500 Muslims for every one policeman.

AINA explained the Copts have been prevented from fleeing the village by Muslims, who have imposed a blockade. Some were able to flee with the aid of some Muslims, who drove them out in a truck, telling the guards at the exit point these people have nothing to do with the ongoing problem.

AINA said Christian inhabitants are still afraid to venture into the streets.

Father Lucas Aghapios, pastor of St. George's Church in alGhorayzat, described the situation in the village today as "cautioned" peace. He said that although the Muslim attack started at 11 AM, security forces turned up late in the evening, and Muslim transgressions occurred in the presence of the security forces.

Father Lucas said that yesterday Muslim attacks resulted in 25 incidents of looting and torching of Christian-owned shops, in addition to 8 homes. He confirmed the eyewitness accounts of the events, but could not confirm that John Hosni had surrendered to the police.

He told AINA:"Yesterday John Hosni was in a safe place, but he is not in the village, I do not know his whereabouts." He also does not know whether any Muslims were arrested in connection with the slaughtering of the two Coptic brothers.

AINA said a funeral for Abdel-Nazeer was held on Tuesday.

Bishop Bachoum of Sohag said yesterday evening on CTV Coptic Channel that funerals for the two Copts were held in Sohag and they were buried in their village of elGhorayzat, under heavy security. He said that efforts are under way for a "reconciliation" meeting between Muslim and Christians elders.

Commenting on the elGhorayzat events, Dr. Fawzi Hermina, a Coptic activist who lives in Sohag, said that Copts are living in a state of Statelessness -- with no state, no security and no law.

"Unfortunately the Copts, being the weak party in society, are paying the price," he said.

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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