Abuse of Muslim Brothers and Islamists to Christians in Egypt
In city rooted in Bible, Islamist marches and graffiti intimidate Egypt's Christian minority
ASSIUT, Egypt – It was nighttime and 10,000 Islamists were marching down the most heavily Christian street in this ancient Egyptian city, chanting "Islamic, Islamic, despite the Christians." A half-dozen kids were spray-painting "Boycott the Christians" on walls, supervised by an adult.
While Islamists are on the defensive in Cairo following the military coup that ousted President Mohammed Morsi, in Assiut and elsewhere in Egypt's deep south they are waging a stepped-up hate campaign, claiming the country's Christian minority somehow engineered Morsi's downfall.
"Tawadros is a dog," says a spray-painted insult, referring to Pope Tawadros II, patriarch of the Copts, as Egypt's Christians are called. Christian homes, stores and places of worship have been marked with large painted crosses.
In Egypt’s post-coup standoff, allegations of torture-murders roil an already tense mood
CAIRO — People living on Badr el-Din street say they found the two young men dumped in a pile of rubbish by a park on July 27. Amr Mohammed Salim, 22, a street vendor, was dead, hands bound and body covered with gashes, residents said. Hany Moussa, a 24-year-old kitchen helper, was still alive, but barely.
They were found just three blocks from where followers of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi are camped in protest at the new military-backed government, and what happened to them is a mystery that ties in with the tumultuous events and fierce recriminations that have engulfed Egypt over the past five weeks.
Minya Copts to MCN: Sheikh provoked MB to attack church
by Emad Maher
Dozens of Muslims from Raida village, Minya [southern Egypt] attacked Coptic homes and churches with stones, Molotov cocktails and firearms on Saturday evening.
The attacks resulted in the defacing of the Evangelical Church's interface and a number of cars, shops and houses owned by Copts. Eyewitnesses said the imam of the village mosque was the instigator of the incident after he alleged that a mosque in the neighboring village was burned with worshippers inside.
Amnesty International says there is evidence, and eye witness accounts indicating that Pro-Morsi supporters tortured their rivals after mass rallies began across the country over a month ago.
Testimonies from victims include accounts of how they were captured, assaulted and subjected to electric shocks by loyalists of the former President. The organization also claims that eight bodies at the morgue in Cairo also showed signs of torture. At least five of these were discovered near pro-Morsi sit-ins around the capital.
“Allegations that torture is being carried out by individuals are extremely serious and must be investigated as a matter of urgency,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. To back up their claims, the organization sites the case of a 21-year-old Mastour Mohamed Sayed, who along with 20 others was assaulted by a gang armed with knives or machine guns of alleged Morsi loyalists near the pro-Morsi sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya early last month.
Egypt: Children on front line of pro-Muslim Brotherhood demos dressed in white "death shrouds" for their "martyrdom": "I am ready to die!"
Yet the Muslim Brotherhood's chief supporters in the U.S., such as Hamas-linked CAIR's Hussam Ayloush and DHS official Mohamed Elibiary, continue to insist that the Muslim Brotherhood represents "freedom" for Egyptians. Not for these victimized children. "Children Used on the Front-line of Islamist Demonstrations," from Egyptian Streets, July 30 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
Shocking footage has emerged of Egyptian children being dressed in white ‘death shrouds’ in preparation for their ‘martyrdom’ by pro-Morsi families in a large demonstration at Rabaa al-Adaweya.
Egypt's Coptic Christians pay price of political tumult
By Ahmed Maher BBC Arabic, Minya
Father Ayoub Youssef said Muslim neighbours helped him escape during the attack on his church
Khamis had no other choice than to leave his house in the village of Dalga, near the central Egyptian city of Minya. After an arson attack on his cousin's house and the fatal shooting of another relative, he fled into hiding with his wife and six children.
He said they had been singled out for no other reason than being Christians.
"It was a terrible night," recalled Khamis, who agreed to talk to us but did not want to be identified. Khamis is not his real name.
Christians Flee Villages in Egypt's North Sinai after Terrifying Murders
Killings top months of kidnappings, attacks by Islamic extremist militants.
By Our Middle East Correspondent
CAIRO, Egypt, July 16, 2013 (Morning Star News) – Christians in two villages in North Sinai, Egypt have fled for their lives after a priest was gunned down and a Christian businessman was abducted and killed, his decapitated body dumped onto a street.
On Thursday (July 11) the body of Christian businessman Magdy Lamei was found in the town of Sheikh Zuwayed. Suspected members of an unidentified Islamic extremist militant group had kidnapped him on July 6, and he was thought to have been killed on the first day of Ramadan, which in Egypt began on Wednesday (July 10).
بعد عامين من الغزل والعلاقة مع أميركا عاد الإخوان المسلمون الآن للعب الورقة الأميركية بالمنطقة، ومصر تحديدا، فبعد أن سقط حكم الإخوان، وبسبب استعداء الجماعة لكل فئات المجتمع المصري، يعود الإخوان الآن لوصم خصومهم بالعمالة لأميركا، والتلويح بالعنف ضد واشنطن التي يطالبونها بالتدخل ضد الجيش المصري!
القيادي بجماعة الإخوان المصرية محمد البلتاجي يقول في مقابلة مع وكالة «رويترز»: «نستشعر أن المجتمع الدولي يتدخل بشكل ما اعترافا ومساندة ودعما لهذا الانقلاب العسكري»، مضيفا: «لكن هذا يجعل شعوب المنطقة تعيد مرة ثانية النظر إلى أميركا وأوروبا على أنها داعمة للاستبداد وداعمة للقمع وأنها تقف ضد مصلحة الشعوب، وهذا يعيد مرة ثانية حالة الكراهية لتلك الشعوب الأوروبية والأميركية التي تقف أنظمتها دائما مع الأنظمة المستبدة»! فهل بعد هذا التضليل تضليل؟ فما لم يتنبه إليه الإخوان أن الحاضنة الأهم هي الشعب، والمجتمع المصري ككل، وليس إدارة أوباما التي كانت تقف مع الإخوان بشكل فج، وصارخ، ورغم شكوى المصريين من مواقف السفيرة الأميركية بالقاهرة الداعمة للإخوان.
Coptic Priest Gunned Down in Egypt, Christian Villages Attacked
(AINA) -- This morning masked men gunned down Father Mina Cheroubim, pastor of the Coptic Orthodox church, as he left his church building in el-Arish North Sinai, 344 kilometers northeast of Cairo. Yesterday Muslims attacked Coptic inhabitants in the village of Nag Hassan, Dabayaa, in Luxor province. This attack was prompted by news that allegedly four Copts killed 45-year-old Muslim H. Hefny, whose body was found near the river. The attack killed four and wounded three. 16 homes and shops were torched, including the home of a Coptic family who are accused of being involved in the killing of the Muslim man. Police and ambulances were sent to the village as hundreds of scared Coptic inhabitants left the village. One of the villagers said that the dead Muslim was not killed by Copts but by Muslims in order to cause sedition and force Christians to leave the village.
A Coptic Christian priest in Egypt's Northern Sinai has been shot dead, in what could be the first sectarian attack since the military overthrow of Islamist Mohammed Morsi.
Opponents of Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans against the Muslim Brotherhood at Tahrir Square in Cairo today Photo: AP
The priest, Mina Aboud Sharween, was attacked in the early afternoon while walking in the Masaeed area in El Arish.
The shooting in the coastal city was one of several attacks believed to be by Islamist insurgents that included firing at four military checkpoints in the region, the sources said.
CAIRO -- Rallies in support of Mohamed Morsy during the day on Thursday were smaller than they had been previously, perhaps because supporters of the deposed president stayed away out of fear of violence. But while the numbers may have been down, reports of violence throughout the city suggested that this crisis is far from over.
Bullet holes were visible at sites across the pro-Morsy sit-in outside Cairo's Rabaa al-Adaweya mosque -- the product of violence at the protest site late last night. There is also anecdotal evidence that some of the former president's Islamist supporters have grown increasingly radicalized by the military takeover: One protester directed a message to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, saying that he had created "a new Taliban" and a "new al Qaeda" in Egypt.
ABU MUSSALAM, Egypt — Residents of an Egyptian village outside Cairo said they were "proud" of the mob lynching of four Shiite Muslims in an attack that followed weeks of anti-Shiite rhetoric in the media.
Witnesses and security officials told AFP that on Sunday hundreds of residents of Abu Mussalem, a village in Giza province south of Cairo, surrounded the house of a Shiite resident after learning that a leading Shiite cleric, Hassan Shehata, was inside.
The mob threw molotov cocktails at the house, situated in a tiny alley, hoping to set it ablaze.
The crowd chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and "Shiites are infidels" before storming the house, dragging the Shiites out and beating them, witnesses told AFP.
Egypt's Mohamed Morsi appoints hardline Islamist to govern Luxor
Concerns for tourism as governor is member of Gamaa Islamiya, the militant group responsible for 1997 Luxor massacre
Luxor's ancient temples and statues bring in foreign tourists, who are vital to the local economy. Photograph: Nasser Nasser/AP
The Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, has appointed a member of the hardline Islamist group Gamaa Islamiya to the governorship of Luxor – a tourist city in which militants associated with the group killed 58 tourists in 1997.
The symbolism of the appointment has enraged Egypt's sidelined non-Islamist opposition, who see it as further evidence that Morsi is unconcerned about the country's increasing polarisation.
Tourism is the lifeblood of Luxor, home to some of Egypt's most dramatic ancient temples and pharaonic tombs, including that of
Islamists Warn Christians From Demonstrating to Topple Egyptian President
(AINA) -- The youth-led Tamarod (rebel) Initiative has collected more than their targeted 15,000,000 signatures calling for a no-confidence vote against President Mohammed Morsi and forcing early elections in Egypt, causing the ruling Muslim Brotherhood party and its Islamists partners to feel seriously threatened, say political observers. Millions are expected to join a nationwide anti-Morsi and anti-Brotherhood demonstration set for June 30, to coincide with Morsi's first anniversary as president. Protesters in Cairo will go to the Presidential "Unity" Palace in the Heliopolis suburb of Cairo with their demands. "We will stay there until Morsi leaves," said Mahmoud Badr, spokesman for Tamarod. In every other Egyptian province local protests will be held. Expatriate Egyptians will also hold demonstrations in their respective countries.
Radical Islamic preacher Wagdy Ghoneim said participation in the protests scheduled for 30 June is forbidden as President Mohamed Morsy is a legitimately elected president.
Those who will join the protests on 30 June are “disbelievers” because the people should obey those in charge of their affairs, he added.
In a video posted on Youtube, Ghoneim said, "[the protests] are a front of destruction, made up of crusaders, criminals, thugs, and traitors who want to oust his excellency the president." "You started it all and the initiator is the aggressor," he remarked.
After making contentious remarks about 'Islamic fascism,' Germany-based author Hamed Abdel-Samad appeals to Egyptian authorities for protection against campaign launched by hard-line Islamists calling for his death
A Germany-based Egyptian author has requested protection from Egyptian authorities after ultra-conservative Islamists in Egypt declared him an "apostate" and launched an online campaign calling for his death.
Hamed Abdel-Samad, a researcher in political and Islamic studies, was invited by Egypt's so-called 'Secularist Movement' to speak at a 4 June forum devoted to "Islamic fascism." Abdel-Samad's speech, however, appears to have put him in hot water – and may even have put his life in jeopardy.
At the forum, Abdel-Samad asserted that "Islamic fascism" could trace its origins to "the return of the Muslims to Mecca [some 1500 years ago], when they... destroyed all the pagan idols."
UNITED NATIONS, June 7 (UPI) -- The conviction of human rights workers in Egypt is a sign the country is becoming less respectful of human rights, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says.
Ban commented Thursday on Egypt's decision to draft a law on non-governmental organizations. He said any new law "should conform to international human rights standards, and respond to the aspirations of the people."
"The secretary-general reaffirms the commitment of the United Nations to work alongside the government and the people of Egypt in support of the country's democratic transition, development and prosperity," a U.N. statement said.
The Cairo criminal court found 43 employees of non-governmental organizations guilty Tuesday under a law dating from the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Egyptians were given suspended sentences but foreigners who had remained in the country could be imprisoned.
European court asks France not to deport Egyptian Copt
(AFP) -- The European Court of Human Rights Thursday asked France not to deport a Coptic Christian who fled Egypt, saying he still risked religious persecution back home.
Born in 1973 and from Upper Egypt's Assiut governorate -- which has a huge Coptic population -- the man, identified as M.E., alleged that he faced several attacks and threats along with his family. He said that he was assaulted but police did not register his complaints and he also received death threats.
