http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=egypt
http://www.memri.org/egypt.html
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07060125.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Egyptian Coptic Christians Attacked By Violent Mobs
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
NORTHERN EGYPT (ANS) — According to Christian Solidarity World (CSW), a British Christian human rights group, two Coptic Orthodox Christian Communities in northern Egypt have been attacked during the past two weeks by rioters following arguments between Christians and Muslims.
A CSW spokesperson told ANS, “According to the Coptic newspaper, Watani, and news agency Compass Direct, a group of Muslims attacked the Christian quarter of Zwyet Abdel-Qader on June 8, 2007, looting shops and vandalizing homes. The rioting was eventually broken up by police after 90 minutes.
“The incident allegedly resulted from an argument which took place the previous day between a Christian truck driver and a Muslim teenager who refused to move out of the way to let the truck pass.
Coptic Christians worship the Lord in Egypt.
“Four days later, on June 12, 2007, the Holy Virgin’s Church in Dekheila was attacked after a fight broke out between Christians and Muslims. The fighting started from an argument between a Coptic Christian, 16 year old Bassem Mikail, and 21 year old Muslim Abdel-Dayem, who were both construction workers. The rioters threw bottles and stones at the Church, although serious damage was prevented by the immediate response of local police.”
The CSW spokesperson added, “Egypt has a history of conflict between Muslims and Coptic Christians. On May 11, 2007, the Imam of a mosque in the village of Bemha, Giza, told his congregation to defend Islam in the face of a rumor that a new church was secretly being built. A mob subsequently attacked seventy houses, looting shops and wounding many Christians. In February, a similar mob attack took place against Christians in Armant, Upper Egypt, following rumors of an affair between a Muslim girl and a Christian man.”
During a fact-finding trip to Egypt in March 2007, Christian Solidarity Worldwide met with Christian representatives, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. They expressed concern that the lack of action by Egyptian Authorities to prevent these attacks has made the Coptic community vulnerable to this kind of violence.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s National Director, Stuart Windsor, said: “There is a clear similarity to these attacks which must be investigated by the Egyptian Authorities. The lack of prosecutions following these attacks has resulted in the failure to deter people from planning and taking part in similar mob violence. Unless the Egyptian Government tackles the underlying social tensions and promotes a culture of tolerance and equality, we fear more clashes like these will be triggered by trivial situations.”
For more information, please contact Penny Hollings, Campaigns and Media Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 20 8329 0045, email pennyhollings@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Note: CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=hamas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=jimmycarter
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http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Levant_Ezra/2007/06/24/4285926-sun.html
Sun, June 24, 2007
“Hamas’ strange ally
Jimmy Carter leaps to defend criminal organization”
By EZRA LEVANT
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “When hooded Hamas terrorists cut their way through the Gaza Strip last week, executing rival Fatah gunmen and their families in the streets, shooting their way into hospitals and public buildings, they found an ally in former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.
Speaking at a human rights conference in Ireland, Carter said the West should be more supportive of Hamas, and the refusal by the U.S. to acknowledge their legitimacy was “criminal” — considering the fact Hamas had won the last Palestinian “election.”
But Carter didn’t call Hamas criminal, though they are in fact a criminal organization in the U.S., Canada and most other democracies, and anyone with a TV set could clearly see that last week.
But in Hamas —which is the Arabic acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement — Carter saw what he called “superior skills and discipline” to the Fatah gunmen it killed.
It is hard to argue with Carter’s observation Hamas has superior skills, a result of Iranian weapons and training.”
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07060135.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Iraqi church leaders: Iraqi government failing nation’s Christians
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
LONDON, UK (ANS) — Five London-based Iraqi church leaders have denounced the “reprehensible failure” of the Iraqi government to protect Christians from persecution, journalist Simon Caldwell has reported in a story posted on the Catholic News Service website (www.catholicnews.com).
Caldwell quoted a letter sent to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth II, which said, “Iraqi Christians have been targeted by a wave of attacks on their persons, churches, monasteries, homes and businesses,” The letter went on to say that Iraqi Christians expected their government to ensure their “safety, security and justice.”
The letter stated that since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, there had been “thousands of attacks” on the country’s Christian minority. It also said Christians in Baghdad were being made to choose between converting to Islam, paying high taxes or leaving their homes.
“Terrors are being incited by a number of imams in the mosques and other fanatics against the ‘Christian infidels,’” the letter said.
“The developments that follow will be even more serious,” it said. “We ask the United Nations, all peace-loving governments, human rights organizations and individuals to help the Christians of Iraq.
“The reprehensible failure of Iraq to guarantee religious freedom, justice and accountability toward Christians simply amounts to an invitation to continue the same in the future,” it added.
The letter was signed by Syrian Orthodox Bishop Toma Dawod, Father Stephen Turkhan of the Assyrian Church of the East, Father Habib Jajou al-Noufaly of the Chaldean Catholic Mission, the Rev. Khoshaba Georges of the Ancient Church of the East and Father Nizar Semaan of the Syrian Catholic Mission. It was dated June 6 but was made public June 20 by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity helping persecuted Christians around the world.
Caldwell added that Father Jajou told the charity that Christians were fleeing Iraq at the rate of 50,000 a month.
“At this rate, there will be no Christians at all in Baghdad, Mosul or Basra a decade from now,” said the priest. “The situation is very, very miserable.”
Caldwell’s story concluded: “Figures from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees revealed last year that about 44 percent of Iraqi refugees are Christian, although Christians account for just 4 percent of the total population of Iraq.”
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.