Samia Sidhom - Material on Dr Engr Rassem Bedwani contributed by Ahmes Labib Pahor
On 6 October 1973, Egyptians crossed the Suez Canal into Israeli-occupied Sinai, bringing victory to Egypt and ultimately regaining the Peninsula
Tuesday 6 October marks Victory Day for Egypt. It is the date in 1973 when Egyptian armed forces, covered by Egyptian air strikes, crossed the Suez Canal from its west bank on the Egyptian mainland to its east bank on the Sinai Peninsula which Egypt had lost to Israel during the June 1967 Six Day War. Since that time, Egyptian land of Sinai was under Israeli occupation, off-limits to Egyptians. The two armies of Egypt and Israel flanked the banks of the Suez Canal, each camping on one side, taunting one another and facing off in sporadic fire which came to be known as the War of Attrition, apparently endless but which never claimed a winner or loser. Apart from the loss of Sinai to the Israelis, the humiliating defeat left Egyptians with a collective bitter sense of indignity and inferiority to their enemy of some 20 years.
All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief
Women and Girls: Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
Ideologically motivated sexual grooming
In an event for the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief organised by The Coalition for Genocide Response (view the event in full)
Dr Mariz Tadros, Director of CREID and Professor of Politics and Development at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, highlighted the need to recognise how ideologically motivated sexual grooming targets women from religious minorities in order for effective action to be taken.
Dr Tadros argued that there is an urgent need to:
Recognise officially ideologically motivated sexual grooming as a form of sexual predatory behaviour that targets many women who belong to religious minorities
Create an accountable police force that secures the return of girls who have disappeared without delay
Ensure that families and the girl who has disappeared are afforded a safe and neutral place to meet, while ensuring full protection from any harassment or mortal fear
The struggle of Arab secularists within their environments is a complex one with centuries of theocracy and tyranny. Over the last century and a half, Arab secularists have both progressed and been delayed repeatedly because of their bitter struggle with several forces. Among these forces are ignorance, illiteracy, tyranny, the power of religious institutions, and finally the Islamic tide that has hit the region since the failures of both the liberal project followed by the Arab national project. I am not pessimistic about the future of secularists in Egypt and the Arab societies though I realize the magnitude, dimensions and gravity of the battle between these two parties: the proponents of science, civil society and the values of modernity versus the proponents of tyranny and theocracy.
Egypt that I love is a combination of two histories : an old one (Ancient Egypt) and a newer one (Mohamed Aly : 1805-1952).
While the older one, is the spine of our glory, the second is the core of our Nostalgia. The two Egypts, in reality and as historic memories, have been significantly eroded over the past five decades since the late President Anwar el Sadat declared that he is a Muslim President of a Muslim Country.
The first time I met Anba Demetrious, brother of Fr Pigol, was when I accompanied my father Dr Pahor Labib on a visit to St Mar-Mina Monastery in Dairout. My father and the then Fr Archiledis spoke all the time exclusively in fluent Coptic. I also met Tassoni Angele during a visit to Abu Seifein Convent in Old Cairo to take the blessings of Mother Erine. So, I was looking forward to meet their brother, Fr Bigol.
(This was forwarded to me by a dear brother and I thought it well worth sending on as is. I did not verify its accuracy but have no reason to dought the accuracy)
The past few years {25 - 30} I always felt the news was spoon-fed to the masses, to see what and how much they would swallow.
It all becomes a little clearer now.
*YES, the Governor of Michigan used to work for George Soros
* YES, CALIF GOV. GAVIN NEWSOME IS NANCY PELOSI'S NEPHEW.
Missing Coptic women: a new, old, recurrent, perennial headache
By Hal Meawad
Lately, there have been talks, news, and rumors about this old/new/perennial subject of disappeared/kidnapped/runaway Christian girls in Egypt. Usually, they reappear after a while as newlywed and converts to Islam.
Some of these girls did what they did with their own free will, while others coerced, deceived, or even kidnapped, by the likes of organized criminals, and forced very likely with some help from some corrupt law enforcement officials.
The struggle of Arab secularists within their environments is a complex one with centuries of theocracy and tyranny. Over the last century and a half, Arab secularists have both progressed and been delayed repeatedly because of their bitter struggle with several forces. Among these forces are ignorance, illiteracy, tyranny, the power of religious institutions, and finally the Islamic tide that has hit the region since the failures of both the liberal project followed by the Arab national project.
EGY 010 / 1119 / OBS 100 Arbitrary detention / Torture / Judicial harassment Egypt November 29, 2019
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Egypt.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Ramy Kamel, a defender of religious minorities’ rights. He is a member of the Maspero Youth Union (MYU) [1], a Coptic human rights organisation.
In recent years, the Egyptian regime has promoted a new “vision” of Islam, both locally and internationally, to combat terrorism and religious extremism. President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi not only called for the renewal of “religious discourse” to fight terrorism at the beginning of his presidency, but he also has on numerous occasions highlighted the need for correcting the image of Islam by shaking the “dust” off the Islamic heritage in line with the modern age.
“Why does God let these people kill innocent people?” 11 years old Mariam.
Christian Children Face the Dark Realities of Persecution
By Claire Evans
11/19/2018 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) –
“Why does God let these people kill innocent people?” Mariam is only 11 years old, but her question was long expected by her parents.
Her family belongs to Egypt’s Coptic Christian community. Like other Egyptian Christians, they live in a perpetual state of forced marginalization and targeted violence. In Upper Egypt, the violence is especially potent. Attacks against Christians are, sadly, a normal part of life.
September 26, 2018 (Morning Star News) – Nearly a year after declaring that attacks on Christians had hit a level not seen in decades, a Coptic Orthodox bishop in Egypt continues to lament a stream of incidents of violence against churches in Upper Egypt.
Coptic Orthodox Bishop-General of Minya Anba Makarios this month confirmed that an Islamist assault on four Christians’ homes after mosque prayers on Aug. 31 left two Copts with knife wounds in the head and face.
Coptic Christian battles prejudice in Egyptian football
Bassem Aboualabass
Agence France-Presse
Alexandria, Egypt | Mon, May 21, 2018| 06:15 pm
Youth members of (AFP/Mohamed El-Shahed)
Mina Bendary dreamed of becoming a professional footballer in Egypt, but found his Coptic Christian name was an insurmountable barrier in the Muslim-majority country.
What Had Never Been Said In Saudi Arabia. A First For Tauran
By Sandro Magister
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, has been in the capital of Saudi Arabia since April 13, and will stay there until April 20, thereby repaying the visit made to the Vatican on September 20, 2017, by the secretary general of the Muslim World League, the sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa.
Welcomed by Prince Muhammad bin Abdurrahman bin Abdulaziz, vice-governor of Riyadh, Cardinal Tauran gave at the headquarters of the Muslim League, during his meeting with the sheikh Al-Issa, an address without precedent in the history of relations between Christianity and Islam, not because of the things that were said but because of the place where they were pronounced.
The U.S. military remains mired in countless wars in the Greater Middle East. Ironically – and tragically – it tends to combat Islamists that Washington either armed or birthed.
We, Americans, truly are a strange lot. Our government in Washington – ostensibly representative of "We the People" – speaks of peace, but wages endless war, prattles on about "freedom," but backs absolute monarchs and authoritarian strongmen the world over. A bipartisan array of politicians warns of the evils of radical Islamic (though Islamist is more accurate) terrorism; and yet, truthfully, the US once supported and/or funded those same extremists not too long ago. In some cases, and certain circumstances, it backs them still; until, that is, all those guns are turned on the US military, or those fighters threaten Washington’s (ever shifting) "interests."
I’m very much aware that what I’m going to argue here is not the way many from Middle Eastern origins regard the United States. The mere mention of “America” upsets some so much, pushing them over the edge. To many, hatred for America has becomea faith-like passion, very hard to change. Hence, my purpose here is not to change these people’s mind, nor am I trying to defend America, as it certainly does not need my defense! But for me this is a matter of principle and conviction, and it is my way of paying back some of the debt I personally owe to this great country. This is particularly true because I probably know more about America than many who criticize it claim they do. I have lived and worked in America for almost half a century, and I was fortunate enough to experience much of what life is really like here in America.
Mass inside the Arch Angel Michael Cathedral Asyut, EgyptRFI/ Pedro Costa Gomes
As Egypt's elections kick off on Monday 26 March for the next three days, Rfi goes to the southern city of Asyut, which has one of the largest Coptic populations in the country, to see if efforts by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have been effective in ensuring the safety of the Copts after recent terrorist attacks. Photos by Pedro Costas Gomes.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is still one of key points of discrepancies in the Balkans. Unfortunately, BiH cannot be called a full-fledged and sustainable state due to peculiarities of its political order, permanent political and economic crisis and complicated ethnic and confessional composition.
The first mass held in the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland on 15th February, 2018. PICTURES: World Watch Monitor.
It is a special day for the Coptic community of Minya province, Upper Egypt, as a new church was inaugurated this morning in Al-Our village in remembrance of 20 Egyptian Copts and one Ghanaian Christian beheaded by the so-called Islamic State on the Libyan coast three years ago on Thursday.
Christians Warn Against al-Azhar Influence in Egypt’s Curriculum
By Claire Evans
01/25/2018 WashingtonD.C. (International Christian Concern) - During the last year, Egypt’s Christians experienced persecution in ever increasing waves. Though ISIS accounted for the vast majority of deaths, the militants are responsible for only a fraction of the various kinds of persecution facing the country’s Christians. Each incident of persecution has elements of uniqueness, but they usually stem from the same basic belief that Christians are not welcome in Egypt.
