Four Copts massacred in Cairo gangland style

That's what Muhammad the self proclaimed prophet of Islam called Jews and Christians in his Koran. We start by asking this question: Do you consider mohammad saying this to be a prophet or a Thug? And how would you judge the Muslims agreeing with him, calling him "The most honorable of all prophets, the sublime of all creations, the one that came to fulfill the best of deeds, sent to be Mercy for the Worlds. Koran 21:107 " We will lay open the shame of Islam that is not taught in the Islamic studies of the best Universities, and leave the verdict to the jury. This is the start, and the best is yet to come. Our aim is an open public debate on the Koran, to ban it for the evil it spreads.

For the last twenty five years, muslim fundamentalists attacked and robbed Coptic jewelers who refused to pay the jeziah

It's worth noting that the all powerful Egyptian security apparatus never succeeded in bringing any of the perpetrators to justice.

Two men on motorbike enter Copts owned jewellery shop in Egyptian capital's Zeitoun district, shoot dead owner, staff.

The victims included the owner, named as Makram Gamil, 60, and one of his staff, named as Makram Salib, 22, both of them Christians. The other names were not immediately available.

CAIRO - Two men in wigs and sunglasses shot dead four Coptic Christians jewellery shop workers in the Egyptian capital on Wednesday in an apparent gangland-style killing, a security official and witnesses said.

The shooting happened at around 12:30 pm (0930 GMT) in the mixed Christian-Muslim district of Zeitoun in northeast Cairo, the official said, adding that the attackers escaped without stealing anything from the shop.

Eyewitnesses said that the men arrived at the shop on a motorbike, walked in and shot dead the shop's owner and three employees before driving away, in a rare act of brazen bloodshed in the capital.

"Preliminary investigations show that the motivation behind the attack could have been revenge," the official said, adding that the owner had frequent disputes with local residents.

The official had initially said the killings were the result of a drive-by shooting.

Police, who swiftly cordoned off the area, found 15 revolver shell casings at the scene, the official said.

Cairo's Zeitoun district is a famed pilgrimage site where, according to witness accounts, the Virgin Mary appeared above the Church of Saint Mary over a period of several years in the late 1960s.

The apparitions were seen by millions including Copts, Muslims, Jews and atheists.

Egypt's Copts - the largest Christian community in the Middle East - account for an estimated twelve to 15 percent of the country's 80 million inhabitants and complain of systematic discrimination and harassment.

Tensions often run high between Egypt's Muslim and Christian communities in an increasingly religious society dominated by Sunni Muslims.

When the president of Egypt comes to town, Hosni Mubarak, with his hand out, administrations past and present have welcomed him with open arms and a check. Egypt is the 2nd largest recipient of American foreign aid.

A full-page ad in The Washington Times in 1999 headlined, "An Appeal to President Mubarak of Egypt: STOP THE KIDNAPPING, RAPE AND FORCED-CONVERSION OF YOUNG COPTIC CHRISTIAN GIRLS (With the Blessings of the Egyptian Police Forces!)

The Telegraph (UK) writes in 1998, "Egyptian police 'crucify' and rape Christians. Egyptian Christians have been subjected to horrific crucifixion rituals, raped and tortured by trhe security forces during a crackdown on the ancient Coptic community, according to international human rights and Christians groups.

Why do our administrations continue to support Muslim war criminals (as we do in Kosovo when we side with the Kosovo Liberation Army terrorists against the Christian Serbs)?

We have come to a point where we no longer hear of these abuses of Christians in Muslim countries.

The War on Eastern Orthodoxy
by Theodoros Georgiou Karakostas

21 March 2004

At the present time, the Serbian Orthodox faithful of Kosovo are being murdered. Ancient Churches and Monasteries that survived the centuries of Ottoman occupation stand no more. The religious heritage of Kosovo is being destroyed by extremists and fanatics.

The sacrifices made by Serbia to the West in both World Wars has been forgotten, as has the Genocide of the Serbs that occurred during the Second World War. During the Second World War, the Serbs heroically resisted the Germans. Simultaneously, pro-Nazi Croats, Muslims, and Albanians engaged in Genocide that resulted in the extermination of 800,000 Serbian Orthodox faithful. The Germans and the Vatican who destroyed the first Yugoslavia in 1941, would likewise destroy the second Yugoslavia in 1991.

Forgotten are the sacrifices made by the Serbs who rescued over 500 American pilots who were shot down over Yugoslavia during the Second World War. During the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, the largest ethnic cleansing campaign occurred when pro-Nazi Croatia launched an offensive that resulted in the massacres and forced expulsions of over 200,000 Serb civilians from lands that they had been residing in for many centuries. During the 1990s, as Osama Bin Laden began building the most dangerous terrorist network in the world, Washington either backed, or launched its own war against the Serbian nation that had been a historic ally of the United States in two World Wars.

Terrorism expert Youssef Bodansky, in his 1999 biography of Osama Bin Laden noted that Al Quada supported the wars against the Serbs. Muslim extremists from Al Quada, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Afghanistan all gathered in Bosnia and Kosovo to wage "jihad" against the Orthodox nation of Serbia. The Kosovo Liberation Army, backed by the Clinton administration in 1999 has since been exposed as a network of drug dealers and terrorists with links to Muslim extremists.

Since 1999, over 300,000 Serbian Orthodox have been ethnically cleansed. Victims include Monks like Father Chariton Lukic who was beheaded in 2000. There has been no notice in the west of the destruction of the Serbian Orthodox population and culture over the past five years. For the record, it should be noted that the Serbs of Kosovo had been persecuted and ethnically cleansed during the Communist period as well. This is a fact that the US media with its anti-Serb propaganda during the Kosovo war failed to take notice of.

Orthodoxy now mourns the loss of lives and the destruction of shrines and Churches in Kosovo. The American "war on terror" apparently does not intend to target those terrorists who murder and ethnically cleanse Orthodox Christians. While the faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church are suffering and dying in Kosovo, Washington is planning to help Ankara finish off Cyprus.

The Greeks and the Serbs have much in common. They were both victims of Genocide during the twentieth century, they were both allies against the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria during the Balkan Wars, both supported the United States at crucial times, and both have been sacrificed to Islam. Present day events in Cyprus and Kosovo indicate that Washington is surrendering in the war on terror.

The defeat of the Serbs during the 1990s has paved the way for the establishment of Al Quada bases in Bosnia and Kosovo. The historic appeasement of Turkey by the United States has led to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. The sacrifice of the Serbs and Greeks will come at a great cost for the West.

After the horrors of the 9/11 attacks, I had hopes that the western world would come to recognize and acknowledge the enormous suffering and martyrdom of the Eastern Churches over the centuries. Rather, it appears that Washington is going to help the perpetrators of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and occupied Cyprus finish the job. The American government today resembles the British government of 1938 which handed Czechoslovakia to Hitler. Such is the fate of the Kosovo Serbs and the Greek Cypriots.

Theodoros Georgiou Karakostas, Founder, Byzantine Cultural Project

“Present day events in Cyprus and Kosovo indicate that Washington is surrendering in the war on terror.”

As the years have passed, it has become apparent that its even more than Karakostas said. Why have Americans died for the imposition of Sharia law in Afganistan? Why is Islam enshrined in the constitution of Iraq? Why do American forces and politicians look the other way when Iraqi Christians are killed and churches destroyed, when dhimmitude is imposed on the Iraqi Christian community?

I am convinced this is because for the powers here in America, Eastern Christians are disposable as a great way to curry favor with the likes of the demon Saudis. Like I said before and as I have sadly seen here on FR, Eastern Christians just don’t cut it with the Protestant (and some Catholic) crowd that calls the shots in this country. At best we are a field for their blow dryed, double knit suited “missionaries”.

I am not the only Orthodox Christian who feels this way. It stands to reason it would be a commonly held perception in Orthodox countries and in the Middle East, like in Lebanon and Syria and Israel and Egypt, even in Ethiopia. But Doc, its a regular topic of conversation in Orthodox Churches here in America every Sunday after Liturgy.

I've been to Egypt twice -- once in 1984 for 2 weeks and once in 2000 for a week. Do not plan to go back again.

The first trip, of course, the Pyramids, Abu Simbel and the ancient sites were on the tour, but so was the 3rd century "Hanging Church" and many ancient Christian sites were options, including St. Antony's and St. Katherine's monasteries -- two of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world. I had a Coptic guide, really nice man -- he said things were OK for Christians then, no problems.

Second trip, only the ancient Egyptian and Islamic sites were offered, unless you specifically asked for these Christian sites. In short, if you were a Western tourist who hadn't done their homework prior to the trip, you'd think that Egypt was a purely Moslem country. Our main guide this trip was Moslem and completely nuts. He told us some wild stories about how "people were after him" and he spent the whole time trying to convince me of the "glories of Islam". Another guide we had on the Nile cruise was Coptic, and when we took him aside and asked, he privately said things were getting very bad for them, but not to mention it on the cruise because he could lose his job for bringing it up.

First trip, Egyptians couldn't do enough for us and we were completely separated from "the masses" unless we ventured out into areas on our own.

Second trip, we were shoved around like cattle in a pen -- and everywhere we looked there was someone hawking us to rip us off. When I said no to a ride on a camel at the Pyramids, the guy kept asking (demanding) and I answered him "no" again --but in Arabic. So he turns to my husband and insults him, saying "typical American, you do what your wife says like a little boy". (I had to drag my husband out of there or there was going to be trouble.) It was like that all over, they were rude, insulting and both of us couldn't wait to get out of there because we didn't feel safe.

The Islamic militants first raised their ugly head in the assassination of Anwar Sadat years ago but the problem has grown exponentially over the years. Egypt is now a powder keg, where the Coptic Christians aren't safe because the crazies are allowed to take out their frustration on them with impunity. But, it's only a matter of time before the whole of Egypt blows up, politically.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.