Thursday, September 5, 2013

Anti-Copt Violence In Egypt

Anti-Copt Violence In Egypt


The complaint charges that Obama coordinated, incited and assisted the armed elements of the Muslim Brotherhood in the commission of crimes against humanity in the period from March 7 through Aug. 18 in Egypt.
The complaint specifies the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt persecuted the country’s Christian minority, including the torching, destruction and plundering of some 85 Christian churches. The regime also scapegoated the Christian Copts in Egypt for their support of the June 30 Revolution and the removal of Morsi from the presidency, the complaint asserts.
The complaint alleges Muslim Brotherhood incitement against the Copts resulted in the murder of a 10-year-old girl who was shot and killed as she walked back from Bible class, the murder of a young Coptic priest who was shot in front of his church in the Egyptian Sinai with his body found mutilated and beheaded, and the murder of two girls, aged 8 and 12, who were riddled with bullets as they attended a Christian church wedding.
The complaint further alleges that since the Muslim Brotherhood denounced the Copts, entire towns and villages have been emptied of Christians. More than 100 Christian families, for example, have been driven from the North Sinai city of El Arish.
Muslim Brotherhood supporters are accused of extorting Copts by making them pay tribute money to Islamic overlords, while those unwilling to pay were attacked, with their wives and children being beaten or kidnapped.
In a YouTube video, CBN News contributor Raymond Ibrahim reported from Egypt details of alleged atrocities committed by Muslim Brotherhood members against Christians in Egypt.

Read more at http://mobile.wnd.com/2013/11/criminal-terror-charges-filed-against-obama/#2lFBB70EhETsT2f0.99

from http://hakawi.wordpress.com/

update on copts in egypt – 31 august 2013

Posted by hakawi on August 31, 2013
Update 1 September 2013:
  • Minya Bishop Macrius suggests making 14 August a national Coptic holiday. [link]
Update 31 August 2013:
  • Port Said: Four soldiers shot and injured in new attack on Abu Seifin church. Armed assailant opened fire on the church and struck the soldiers standing in front of it  [link]
  • Assiut: A church deacon was killed in Al Koseya, after his family failed to pay ransom to his kidnappers. His name is Waheed Yacoub [link]
Update 29 August 2013:
  • Dalja, Minya Copts continued to be under siege as police and army have been unable to enter the village. Dalja Bishop in Minya says Copts have abandoned their homes and that Islamists were enforcing informal taxes on people. He also said extremist Assem Abdel Majed is hiding there.
    Dalja, Minya. Ikhwan on the streets
    Dalja, Minya. Ikhwan on the streets
Update: 27 August 2013:
  • Minya: City of Samaloot – Copts in danger and so is Good Shepherd Hospital. The x-signs have been placed on Coptic stores this morning
Update 26 August 2013:
  • Mansouriya: New pics of the destruction of the Church of the Virgin May and Bishop Karas
Read the rest of this entry »

بلاغ إلى من يهمه الأمر – أسماء المحرضين على أحداث المنيا

Posted by hakawi on August 24, 2013
اسماء المحرضين على خراب المنيا يوم 18-14 أغسطس .
علاء صابر – مرشح سابق لمجلس الشعب – ابوهلال المنيا – العمل مطعم سمك تحت كوبري محمد بدوي مستولي على ارض الدوله – اهلة بمنطقة ضرب الحفيان المتفرع من شارع الجزارين ” سوق الغلال القديم” حرق وتخريب مركز خدمات كنيسة مارمينا – مركز عمانوئيل الطبي – الكنيسة الانجيلية بحي جاد السيد – الكنيسة الرسولية الثالىة ابو هلال – جمعية الجزويت والفرير بالمنيا.
2. الشيخ عمار – التنظيم والادارة – حرق ونهب كنيسة الانبا موسى الاسود بشارع التنظيم والادارة بابوهلال – الامداد بالبلطجية لحرق الميرميد والدهبية على كورنيش النيل امام بنك الاسكندرية.
3. اسامة الكسراوي – مرشح سابق لمجلس الشعب – منطقة الحسيني البحري – صاحب محلات الكسراوي للملابس والاحذية بشارع الحسيني البحري – حرق كنيسة الامير تادرس ومحلات الاقباط بشارع الامير تادرس – حرق الميرميد”ونشب عنها مقتل 2 من العمال حرقا” – الدهبية – ملجاء البنين بالمنيا”
4. الحج صلاح وولده – صاحب استوديوا الحج صلاح امام الامير تادرس هو من قاد بطجية الكسراوي لحرق محلات الاقباط بشارع الامير وكان يضعوا عليها العلامات لتميزها.
. 5. الشيخ حازم الفوال – شارع كوبري المنصورة القديم تحت السكة الحديد – محاولات فاشلة للهجوم على كنيسة العذراء مريم وكنيسة ماريوحنا ولم يتمكن منهما بسبب تصدي اهالي المنطقة – حرق كنيسة نهضة القداسة التانية بشارع كوبري المنصورة – محاولة اقتحام مدرسة الاباء اليسوعيين بالمنيا – المشاركة في حرق جمعية الجزويت والفرير – تجميع البلطجية وامداد باقي الشيوخ في محاولات متفرقة لاقتحام مركز الشرطة ومديرية الامن.
6. عاصم عبد الماجد – المحرض الكبير والمنظم لخطة الحرق والنهب والمدعم المادي للجماعات الارهابية – مقيم بنطقة عشش الحكيم بجوار مدرسة الراعي الصالح القبلية فوق امام الترزي الدور التالت – اهلة من قرية دير عطية غرب المنيا ومن المقترح انهم الاقرب لتخبئته ولانها القرية الاكثر شهرة في دعم المظاهرات بعدد كبير منهم اثناء اعتصام ميدان بالاس – وله كثير من الاتباع بقرية دمشاوهاشم غرب المنيا والتي تشتهر بتشددها وتعصبها ضد الاقباط وقد راءه بعض الناس في المظاهرات الاولى يوم الاربعاء يوم فض اعتصام رابعة في المحافظة على راس المظاهرات وبعدها قد اختفى
. 7. بخلاف هؤلاء يوجد الكثير لم يتم معرفة اسمائهم بعد امين حزب الحرية والعدالة بالمنيا – امين حزب النور – امين واعضاء حزب الراية – شيوخ الجمعية الشرعية – شيوخ مسجد عمر بن الخطاب – شيوخ مسجد الرحمن – شيوخ مسجد الهدي – شيوخ مسجد بن حمبل للدعوة السلفية
المصدر: بعض من أقباط المنيا من الأصدقاء لا يريدون إعلان اسمائهم لأنهم خائفون من إنتقام المحرضين

18 august – with daily updates on the coptic situation

Posted by hakawi on August 18, 2013
Assiut:
In spite of the tense and threatening situation, people flocked to the Churches in Assiut today for Sunday morning prayers and liturgy.  Mari Guirguis Church conducted prayers amidst the ruins of the Church.
assiutliturgy
Liturgy amidst the ruins of the Mari Guirguis Church in Assiut
Menya – Upper Egypt:
All Menya Churches today – Sunday 18 August 2013 – have cancelled the 2nd Sunday liturgy due to the tense security situation. The first liturgy was brief. Father Selwani Aziz, pastor of the Virgin Mary and Anba Abrahm Monastery in the village of Delga said that for the first time since the founding of the Monastery 1600 years ago, no liturgy was performed. He added that Ikhwan continue to destroy remnants of the monastery which includes 3 ancient churches, some of whom wrote graffiti on the fence that said “Donate to the Martyrs Mosque” – referring to Ikhwans killed by the Egyptian army since the dispersal of their sit-in. [link]
The first liturgy in the largest of the Menya torched churches, the Anba Moussa church was conducted by Anba Macarius. It was a prayer for those who have torched the church ‘for they know not what they do.’ [link] It should be mentioned that the looting of the church continued until Friday evening.
Menya - Maghagha
Bishop of Maghagha accuses Ikhwan of looting the church and torching it. [link] The Mari Guirguis and Abu Seifein Church in Belhasa and 2 schools belonging to the Maghagha Diocese had been torched a day earlier.
Menya – near Hor Village
Abu Fana Monastery: shots were fired at the monastery and there were attempts at storming it. [August 19 update: army trucks arrived to protect it]
Update on Menya: 24 August – monks at Abu Fana monastery continue to call for help because they are surrounded by Islamist mobs.
Update on Menya: 21 August – Saft El Laban village: 3 Coptic homes were torched in a renewed escalation.  Clashes between Muslims and Copts continued.
Update on Menya: 20 August – The Good Shepherd School has been looted – computers and even buses stolen in spite of evening curfew and in spite of the fact that it is next to the police station [link]
Kafr El Sheikh:
There was public and police mobilization around two churches in Sakha, Kafr El Sheikh, after news circulated that radicals were heading to Mari Guirguis Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church West of the city. People – both Muslims and Copts – formed chains around the churches to protect them. [link]
Suez:
The Associated Press reported that 3 nuns had been ‘paraded like prisoners of war’ before the torching of the Franciscan Catholic monastery on August 14th during the torching rampage [link] The report also said that a Muslim woman took them in and saved them. While the AP report includes interviews with at least two of the nuns, the Catholic Church’s media spokesperson Father Rafeek Greish said the information was inaccurate and that the nuns were asked to leave before torching the place and that indeed a nearby Muslim neighbor took the nuns in [link].
In addition, for the first time in its history, the Coptic Church sent a letter with full documentation, pictures and videos of the attacks against Churches, to all national and international media [link].
In addition to the Coptic Orthodox church’s statement yesterday, the Catholic Church in Egypt [on August 18th] issued a statement also supporting the army, asking the world to note that the current Egyptian battle is not one between two political factions but rather one of state vs terrorism:
Lastly we address the international conscious (sic) and all national leaders that they understand and believe that what is happening in Egypt now is not a political struggle between different factions, but a war against terrorism.
catholicmain
Click for larger image
Unfortunately the following statement is a typical justification in pro-Ikhwan narratives- and this from a non-Egyptian – insisting that he was ‘just saying!’ : “Burning churches is absolutely deplorable. But Coptic Church should have estimated that when they supported the coup.’ While the tweeter is entitled to his opinions -  and assuming good intentions – it is my view that he is acting as an apologist with this irresponsible statement.
shouldhaveknown

15-16-17 August – more churches torched and other news

Posted by hakawi on August 17, 2013
Alexandria:
  •  Sidi Bishr: Ikhwan cut off the Corniche St., stopped all cars, and checked identities. A Coptic taxi driver, Mina Raafat Aziz, was dragged out of his car for having a cross hanging in it. They undressed and then stabbed him to death  – 15 August
    Video of an eyewitness.. the man sitting near the driver whose life was spared because he was not a Copt. Eyewitness says the driver was shot with a gun.
Menya:
  • Church of Mari Guirguis and Abu Seifein in Maghagha Menya, torched. [link] – August 17
  • Two schools – St. Mark and Al Tewfik belonging to the Menya Bishophric in Maghagha stormed and looted. – August 17
  • 2 buses belonging to the Bishophric were stolen, as well as the safe and 40 computers. August 17
  • Armed attack on Coptic homes – Delga village. Ongoing [link] August 17
anbaMecarius-bishopofmenya
Bishop Macarious, Bishop of Menya and Abu Korkas with some priests from the Al Amir Tadros Al Shatbi Menya Church praying in the torched Church
  • Coptic homes torched in Belhasa Village, Al Adwa, Menya August 17
  • Evangelical church in Malawi – explosion via gas tank [more pics here] – August 16
  • Catholic Church torched – Malawi [link to more pics] August 16
  • Virgin Mary Church torched August 16
  • Good Shepherd School torched [link] August 16

Evangelical Church burning after explosion
Qena:
  • 6 Copts held hostage by armed gunmen. After exchange of fire with police they were freed and one gunman arrested [link]
Attempts at storming the following churches:
  • Giza Bishopric
  • Virgin Mary Church, Masarra, Shubra, Cairo
  • Virgin Mary church – Maadi St. – Cairo
  • Mari Meena – Bani Mazar, Menya
  • Monastery of Abu Fana – Mallawi, Menya
  • Mari Guirguis Church – Kafr el Sheikh
The Coptic Church issued a statement  on August 17, in essence supporting the army and addressed the West asking them to  “read objectively the facts of events, and not give international and political cover to these terrorist and bloody groups.”
Sources:
  • Maspero Youth Union
  • Al-Tahrir newspaper
  • تاريخ الاقباط المنسى
  • Al-Ahram newspaper



Posted by hakawi on August 16, 2013
While this is a list of most events that occurred August 16th, perhaps the most notable are the following: Menya’s Ikhwan had threatened that they would pray in the destroyed churches and thereby transform them into Mosques. They indeed succeeded in some churches. Muslim prayers were conducted in the following three churches:
  1. The Virgin Mary and Anba Abram Church in Delga, Menya
  2. Anba Moussa al Aswad Church in Menua
  3. Evangelical Church in Bedeen, Samaloot, Menya
_____________________________________
حال كنائس مصر  16 اغسطس
حرق بيوت لاقباط في قرية بلهاسا -العدوة – المنيا
مدينة ملوي – تفجير الكنيسة الانجيلية بالانابيب
حرق الكنيسة الكاثوليكية
حرق كنيسة العدرا
حرق مدرسة الراعي الصالح
حرق بعض بيوت الاقباط
-محالاوت فاشلة لاقتحام الكنائس
حاول الارهابيين أنصار المعزول من الاخوان بمحاولة التعدي علي الكنائس التالية:
محاولة اقتحام المستشفى القبطى – الطبيب هانى ارميا كتب على تويتر استغاثة
مارجرجس مطاي- المنيا
العدرا مسرة – شبرا
مارجرجس كوتسكيا – كورنيش المعادي
كنيسة مارمينا – بني مزار – المنيا
العدرا – كورنيش المعادي
القديس دميانة- كفر الشيخ
دير قديس ابو فانا – ملوي – المنيا
كنيسة مارجرجس – كفر الشيخ
كنيسة الراعي الصالح – الإسكندرية
كنيسة الراعي الصالح – السويس
مطرانية الجيزة- شارع مراد
كنيسة الملاك – شارع ربيع الجيزي – الجيزة
كنيسة مار جرجس بجزيرة شندويل مركز سوهاج حاولوا اقتحامها والاهالى تصدوا لهم
محاولة حرق إحدى الكنائس بشارع تونجي بحدائق حلوان بالقرب من محطة مترو الأنفاق وتدخلت قوات الجيش بمدرعاتها لحماية الكنيسة والأهالي  [link]

short memory… or not…

Posted by hakawi on August 16, 2013
For a people who rose up against a long-time corrupt military regime – think of what Ikhwan have done that got many of them wishing – just wishing for the day that corrupt regime returns to power. “Anything but this”… I heard it so many times.
And for some people [Egyptians included - and in fact this post is directed at Egyptians] to assume that people have a short memory – or that people are now ‘licking military shoes’ as someone just posted – or that people love the bloodshed – is an insult to Egyptians and a ‘holier than thou’ attitude.
People DO have short memory and it was YOU who egged people on to follow your lead and ‘elect’ Ikhwan. People trusted YOU in spite of all indications that this was a bad choice. The short memory is forgetting Ikhwan’s history – not forgetting army history. If you focus on army history then you cannot see beyond your ’2yr leadership’ and 5 minutes of fame.
As for now… what’s happening now is not a restoration of power but a seizure of that power from the people who had so misled Egyptians that we are dug in a deep deep hole trying to climb out of. We are not going back to square one – we are trying to climb back to square one so that we can move on with a revolution so rudely interrupted.

ikhwan et al’s one day ramapage

Posted by hakawi on August 15, 2013
The dispersal of Ikhwan sit -in began 14 August 2013. About a week earlier, Ikhwan had announced what they term a ‘public nafeer‘ which is a call for mobilization, in anticipation of the dispersal. As mentioned before in previous posts, Ikhwan blamed Copts for the army takeover considering them allied with their ‘enemy’, the army.  They had also made repeated threats against them. Un-traditionally true to their word, Ikhwan and their radical allies went on a burning rampage across Egypt. While they torched government buildings and establishments, they also targeted churches, monasteries, Coptic homes and businesses.
Here is a count of their one day rampage of torching and looting – unprecedented in the history of Egypt:
AlAreesh:
  • Mari Guirguis Church on 23 July St torched.
Assiut:
  • Adventist Church torched.
  • Mari Guirguis Church torched.
  • Al Islah Church torched. [link]
  • St. Therese Franciscan Church torched.
  • Holy Bible society torched
  • Coptic stores and homes torched
  • Franciscan St. Therese Church looted and ransacked. Some rooms torched. 4 cars belonging to priests.
  • Franciscan Monastery near the school torched ad looted. [link to Franciscan loss]
  • Mari Yohanna Church, Abnoob – torched
Read the rest of this entry »

a chronicle of sectarian strife since 30 August

Posted by hakawi on August 12, 2013
An ugly phrase. In Egypt consecutive governments have tried for very long to either deny its existence or at minimum understate the violence. Sometimes Egyptians felt offended that people were accusing us of having such a thing as sectarian strife.  Ever since the ousting of the Mubarak government, there have been repeated high-profile incidents that were difficult to deny. Naturally with the rise of the Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] to power, such incidents were not only on the rise but were categorically denied by the government. Many Islamist leaders who ‘graced’ our presence with their faces on broadcast and in written media openly spewed inciting rhetoric against minorities.
Initially Copts were accused of voting for former regime member Shafeek and were threatened during those elections. Then came Morsi with repeated attacks against minorities, including the Copts, the most egregious of which was the attack on the Orthodox Cathedral in Abbassiya.
Once again on June 30th 2013, when Egyptians decided they had enough of the theocratic totalitarian regime that brought Morsi to power, they decided to oust him.  Copts were once again accused of supporting the army’s General alSisi – a not unfounded accusation. In fact Copts were very outspoken as anyone else in Egypt about their anger at the Brotherhood’s regime. But the Brotherhood and their supporters of the Islamist movements decided to take vengeance on the Copts. In fact, one caller to AlJazeera stated outright that ‘no Christian will be able to walk the streets of Egypt again‘.
The majority of the incidents that occurred from June 30th to this day have been outside of Cairo and hence relatively outside the arm of the law. But while Cairo is traditionally relatively safe, it has nevertheless witnessed unprecedented incidents, For example, only today, August 12th, 2013, a march passing by the Orthodox Cathedral in Abassiya wrote obscene graffiti against Copts and against the Pope, and proceeded to break its outdoor flood lights.
cathedraugust12
Orthodox Cathedral in Abbassiya, Cairo
Writing shown here says down with Pope Tawadros
abbassiyacathedral
On the Cathedral fence in Cairo:
Islamic in spite of the dog Tawadros
A day earlier, St. Fatima Church in Heliopolis was also defaced and so was the Armenian Patrirachy.
stfatima2
St Fatima Church’s fence in Heliopolis
Writing says ‘Islamic, you cross-worshippers’
stfatima
St. Fatima Church’s main door. Graffiti says ‘Islamic’
Armenian Patriarchy in Cairo defaced.
Armenian Patriarchy in Cairo defaced.
Read the rest of this entry »

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