Before I married, I loved coconut. I loved coconut chocolate bars, coconut sprinkled over rice pudding, and coconut in basboosa, an Egyptian desert. I loved coconut.
I do not know who to attribute this design to. It was used as a profile picture by friends - and then me - on Twitter. It reads: one nation, one people.
My husband, on the other hand, couldn’t stand it. He’s the type of person that makes a disgusted face whenever a food he dislikes is mentioned. It really only took a few short months and the thought of coconut made me feel sick to my stomach.
The extraordinary double standard at work between the West and the Muslim world is one of the most troubling elements in the ongoing clash of cultures.
Because the West is reluctant to admit it is even engaged in such a war, it is unable or unwilling to effectively prosecute many of the battles that arise.
The rise of Islamic extremism is putting increasing pressure on Christians in Muslim countries, who are the victims of murder, violence and discrimination. Christians are now considered the most persecuted religious group around the world. Paradoxically, their greatest hope could come from moderate political Islam.
Religious liberty in Egypt in general is giving rise to grave concern. Converts to Christianity have to live a life of constant fear for their children lives and themselves on the run all the time like fugitives, deprived from jobs, source of income surviving severe social pressures and threats from extremists Muslims whom they know are protected by some elements in the State Security Intelligence Service police.
Of all the issues of concern to the public, immigration is possibly the most explosive - and the one about which the most lies are continuing to be told.
During the period that Labour has been in office, mass immigration has simply changed the face of Britain. The total number of immigrants since 1997 is pushing three million.
ON PLATFORM one at Bolton train station in England a mob of about 100 men punch the air in unison as a chant - "Muslim bombers, off our streets!'' - goes up. Their voices echo loudly, and as more men suddenly appear, startled passengers move aside. The protesters wave St George's Cross flags - the red and white English national emblem - and raise placards. Some wear balaclavas, others black-hooded tops. There is an air of menace.
Dr Charles Tannock MEP during his visit to Copts 21 Feb 2010
Throughout my career as a parliamentarian I have sought to highlight the treatment of Christians and other religious communities in countries around the world where they find themselves in a minority – especially in Arab and Muslim countries, and in the communist world. I hope that the next Conservative government will not shy away from speaking out in favour of religious freedom.
Deceiving Them with the Words ‘138 Church Licences’
By UCGB Member
On 19 February 2010, Egypt submitted its report to the United Nations Human Rights Council at Geneva, in the seventh session of the Council’s ‘Periodic Comprehensive Review’. This report is documented in the Council.
Dr Mufid Shihab, Minister of Legal Affairs, of the People’s Assembly Council Affairs and of the Advisory Council Affairs, travelled to Geneva, heading a large governmental delegation, and submitted the report to the Council. This report is worthy of lengthy comment but we will limit ourselves here to what comes under the sub-heading ‘Freedom of Religion and of Belief’ (Pages 12-13), in which Mr Shihab said the following:
Egyptian State Security Accused of Torturing Christian Youth
(AINA) -- Egyptian State Security has been accused by lawyers, rights activists and victims' families of torturing the Christian youths arrested in the aftermath of the Christmas Eve shootings of Copts on January 6, 2010. The shooting in the southern town of Nag Hammadi resulted in the death of six and the injury of nine Christians (AINA 1-7-2010).
At midnight every January 6th, Christmas Eve Mass ends and the early hours of Christmas Day begin for the Coptic Church in Egypt. As Orthodox Christians, descendants of Egypt's ancient Christianity that far outdates Islam, the Copts have to wait longer for Christmas festivities than those who celebrate on December 25. Perhaps to emphasize that the long-anticipated day has arrived, the Mass celebrating Christ's birth ends with the joyous ringing of bells as Egyptian Christians, dressed in their finest clothes, head home to continue their Christmas celebrations.
On Sunday, February 14th, 2010, many people around the world celebrate Valentine’s Day and the New Lunar Year - Year of the Tiger on the Chinese calendar. Men tend to give gifts, and/or flowers, and chocolates to their wives, and the women in their lives, as a token of their love, affection, and appreciation. I would like to offer greetings, respect, and best wishes to all our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives, fiancés, girlfriends, daughters and granddaughters all over the world on Valentine’s Day. I would also like to extend greetings and best wishes to all of our friends celebrating the New Lunar Year for a healthy and prosperous New Year.
Brian O'Connor: discrimination and religious intolerance the evils of Saudi Arabia
by Nirmala Carvalho
A Christian of Indian origin, O'Connor spent seven months in the prisons of the Kingdom on the false accusations of proselytism. He stresses that the "unlimited powers" of the religious police perpetrate crimes and violence. He prays every day for the country, the rulers and administrators.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - In Saudi society, "discrimination and intolerance" are an "evident" matter of fact, exacerbated by the "unlimited powers" enjoyed by the muttawa - the kingdom's religious police - who perpetrate crimes, violence and promote a system of widespread corruption. This is the statement of Brian Savio O'Connor, a Christian of Indian origin, for 7 months and 7 days a prisoner, chained and tortured in a Saudi jail on charges of proselytizing.
According to a recent ABC report, "As many as three dozen criminals who converted to Islam in American prisons have moved to Yemen where they could pose a 'significant threat' to attack the U.S., according to a report on al-Qaeda from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. … Also of concern to U.S. officials, the Senate staff found, is a group of 'nearly 10 non-Yemeni Americans who traveled to Yemen, converted to Islam, became fundamentalists, and married Yemeni women so they could remain in the country.' … An American official described them as 'blond-haired, blue-eyed types' who fit the profile of Americans who al-Qaeda has sought to recruit for terror missions."
NAG HAMMADI, Egypt — State security agents wearing black uniforms and armed with automatic weapons stood guard at the entrance to this small city. Armored personnel carriers and rows of boxy troop carriers parked along the main road. Local police officers and the secret police patrolled nearly every block, on foot and in vans.
Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times
A damaged home in the village of Bahjora, near Luxor. Riots and clashes followed a church attack last month.
Bruce Newsome: Most Jihadism is Local -Perhaps Inspired, but Rarely Supported, by Foreign Jihadis
(CBS) Bruce Newsome, Ph.D., lectures on counter-terrorism at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Made, Not Born: Why Some Soldiers Are Better than Others (Praeger, 2007).
For years, Americans have assumed that home-grown Jihadi terrorism would be impossible. Yet in recent months the US government has admitted that it is riskier than previously realized.
“I sought and I found, I asked and I was given, I knocked and I believed, that itwill be opened to me.”
From the Coptic Doxology of Saint Anthony
The Christians of Egypt, the Copts, commemorate the departure of Saint Anthony the Great (c251-356AD) on Tobi 22nd, 1726 AM on the Coptic calendar, which coincides with January 30th, 2010 AD.
Saint Anthony the Great is recognized as the father of the world-wide Christian monasticism and several Western churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorate his departure on January 17th. The life of Saint Anthony the Great was first and foremost a Christ-centered life, which over the centuries has provided inspiration for Christians all over the world. His life has provided a role model for many Christians and even saints, e.g. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) is known to have been influenced by reading of the “Life of Anthony” written by Saint Athanasius the Apostolic (c293-373 AD), the 20th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Egyptians are still struggling to come to terms with a drive-by shooting this month that killed six Coptic Christians and a Muslim outside a church in the southern town of Naga Hammadi. The attack on the eve of Coptic Christmas has focused attention on the government’s handling of mounting sectarian tensions.
By Ashraf Ramelah A couple of years ago, I wrote to the Egyptian ambassadors in Washington, DC, Rome and the Vatican. My open letter was published prior to the Copts' Christmas and contained an invitation to the Egyptian authorities to stop their farcical Christmas visits to the Coptic churches. Copts all over the world and some Westerners recognized those visits as propaganda in favor of the Egyptian regime.
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives a speech on Internet freedom at the Newseum Thursday, among those listening to her closely will be Egyptian blogger, Bassem Samir.
Samir, of the Egyptian Democracy Academy, was one of a group of Egyptian bloggers and activists arrested last Friday after organizing a demonstration protesting sectarian violence in the southern Egyptian city of Nagg Hamadi that killed six Coptic Christians on church steps on their Christmas Eve earlier this month.
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