"اليوم السابع"ينشر نص تقرير لجنة تقصى الحقائق لبعثة المركز المصرى للسياسات حول أربعاء التعدى على الكنائس بعد فض اعتصامى ميدانى رابعة والنهضة..الخسائر بالملايين..والدولة تقاعست
حرق الكنائس
كتب محمد عبد الرازق
فى صباح يوم الأربعاء الموافق 14 أغسطس الماضى، كان اليوم الذى انتظره أغلب المصريين سواء بخوف أو بأمنيات، لم يكن يعلم أحد بشكل قاطع كيف سيكون حال البلاد بعد فض اعتصامى ميدانى رابعة والنهضة، توجهت جل كاميرات الإعلام إلى هذين الميدانين وقاموا بتغطية وتحليل المشهد وتوصيف الحال والتنبؤ بالمستقبل.
وفى الوقت الذى كان أغلب المصريين يشاهدون شاشات التليفزيون لصور محيط ميدان رابعة والنهضة بمشاعر متخبطة، كانت ميكروفونات المساجد والجمعيات الشرعية فى صعيد مصر يعلو صوتها خارقًا صمت القرى بنداءات طائفية تدعو إلى الدفاع عن الإسلام والانتقام للمسلمين من مسيحيى مصر.
ونتيجة لهذه الدعوات كانت أكبر هجمة على مسيحى مصر فى التاريخ المصرى المعاصر، فدمرت وسرقت وحرقت الكنائس، والمنازل والسيارات والدراجات البخارية والمحال التجارية والأكشاك والجمعيات الأهلية والمراكب السياحية، بل وذاد على ذلك قتل وتنكيل بعدد من المواطنين المسيحيين فى صعيد مصر.
Egypt: Christians scapegoated after dispersal of pro-Morsi sit-ins
Coptic Christian communities have been targeted in Egypt.
It is deeply disturbing that the Christian community across Egypt was singled out for revenge attacks over the events in Cairo by some supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi. ”
Source: Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
A detailed report into the attacks targeting Coptic Christian communities in August reveals the extent of the failure of the security services to protect the minority group, said Amnesty International.
The new report published today examines events during the unprecedented wave of sectarian attacks in the wake of the dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo on 14 August.
Egypt rights group demands report on Maspero massacre
Human Rights group demands results of fact-finding committee under Morsi on anniversary of Maspero massacre
Ahram Online
Egyptian Christians clash with soldiers and riot police during a protest against an attack on a church in southern Egypt, in Cairo October 9, 2011. (Photo: Reuters)
Two years on, 'We are Following You with the Report' (WFYR) demands justice for the Maspero massacre’s slain on Wednesday, marking the anniversary of the bloody night when 25 civilians were killed in clashes with the army.
Coptic Bishop Escapes Assassination Attempt in Egypt
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- Bishop Anba Makarios of Minya was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempted this morning. The Bishop was driving into the town of el-Sario in Abou Qorqas, Minya province, when his car came under a hail of bullets from several unidentified persons. The Bishop's driver was able to drive away and he brought the Bishop to the home of a local Copt, where the Bishop took refuge. But the gunmen followed, surrounded the Copt's house and shot at it for over 90 minutes, causing extensive damage to its windows, doors and walls.
Minya security were contacted immediately but they arrived 90 minutes after the shooting stopped.
Muslims Expel 6 Christian Brothers From Village in Egypt
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- Violence against Egyptian Christians erupted yesterday in the village of Zakaria, located in the Upper Egyptian province of Minya. Zakaria has a population of 4000, split evenly between Christians and Muslims. The violence began after a Muslim family accused Kirollos Sabet, 22, of having an illicit relationship with a Muslim woman, also 22.
According to a statement by Anba Makarios, Bishop of Minya, Muslim villagers assembled where the family of Mr. Sabet lives, broke into their furniture and household appliances stores, looted its contents and then destroyed it, looted an adjacent electrical appliances warehouse and a family-owned taxi. Security forces arrived in the village to restore order, but loud speakers were inciting sedition, and hard-line Muslims prowled the streets of the village throwing stones at Coptic homes and calling for revenge.
بعد تحويلها للإسلام.. أم تخطف طفليها وتُجيرهم على تغيير ديانتهم بالقوة.. والأب يستغيث بالأزهر والكنيسة والداخلية لإستعادتهم
كشفت رابطة ضحايا الاختطاف والإختفاء القسري، قيام هناء عبده كامل بيشوي، بتغيير ديانتها من المسيحية إلى الإسلام، وأجبرت في ذلك طفليها «فيلوباتير مجدى عطية، وفادى مجدي عطية» أعمارهم خسمة سنوات وثمانية سنوات، على تغيير ديانتهم وأسمائهم إلى كريم وياسين، وإتهم والدهم في ذلك الأم، بأنها قامت بخطفهم وإجبارهم على ذلك العمل.
وقام والد الطفلين مجدي عطية تجره جاد الله، بإرسال إستغاثات إلى فضيلة الدكتور احمد الطيب شيخ الأزهر الشريف، وإلى قداسة البابا تواضروس الثاني، وإلى وزارة الداخلية المصرية لمساعدته في إستعادة أطفاله، متهماً والدتهم بخطفهم بالقوة وتغيير ديانتهم إجبارياً، متحدية في ذلك القانون، وهو ما يشير إلى أنهم قد تعرضوا للضرب او الاعتداء لإجبارهم على هذا الفعل الإجرامي الذي يعتبر وطبقا للقانون، تعدي على حقوق الأطفال.
Morsi supporters had held Delga since his overthrow in July and unleashed a campaign of terror against Christian minority
Men inspect damage to the 1,600-year-old monastery of the Virgin Mary and St Abraam in Delga, one of many Christian properties that were attacked in the town. Photograph: Rex/Levine/Sipa
Egyptian authorities have finally recaptured a town in central Egypt that had been under the control of hardline supporters of ex-president Mohamed Morsi for more than two months, locals have told the Guardian.
Compilation of Footages Showing Infringements Committed by Muslim Brotherhood Members (MBs) and Morsi Supporters
تجميع لبعض اللقطات التى توضح الانتهاكات التى يقوم بها الإخوان وأنصار الرئيس المعزول محمد مرسى =================
1. MB Leader Walid Khattab: We will drown the streets in blood and, for us, killing police officers is allowed. القيادي الإخواني وليد خطاب: سنغرق الشوارع "بالدم".. وضباط الشرطة والجيش ليس لهم عندنا دية http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm887hVNM-A
'Horrible': Christian churches across Egypt stormed, torched
By Sarah Sirgany and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
Egypt's churches looted and torched
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A Christian church southwest of Cairo is attacked, state news says
Moderate Muslims put out fire at one church, halted other attacks, church staff say
A Coptic Orthodox Church leader says 52 churches have been attacked in 24 hours
Bishop: "It's about burning churches to initiate a response that spirals into greater violence"
Kafr Hakim, Egypt (CNN) -- For 67 years, the Virgin Mary Church has been a peaceful refuge for Shenouda El Sayeh, much like the Giza province village of Kafr Hakim where it rests and where he has lived all those years.
But, as he swept its floors on Thursday, it was painfully obvious things had changed.
At least two Coptic Christians killed; 27 church buildings attacked.
CAIRO, Egypt, August 14, 2013 (Morning Star News) – In the violence that exploded across Egypt today, supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi attacked scores of church buildings and Christian-owned homes and businesses in response to national security forces breaking up two protest camps in downtown Cairo.
St. George Church in Sohag, one of more than two dozen Egyptian church buildings attacked on Wednesday, Aug. 14. (Watani photo)
At least two Coptic Christians were killed in the reprisal attacks, which started mid-morning after the armed break-up of the camps the Muslim Brotherhood and others had occupied in downtown Cairo for six weeks. Pro-Morsi assailants attacked 27 church buildings, setting fires that gutted most of them, according to the Coptic Watani Weekly; the government reported attacks on only seven Coptic churches.
Locals find the body of a Christian shopkeeper in a graveyard in Sheikh Zuweid, North Sinai
Egypt’s Coptic Christian community, is currently reeling from an onslaught of religiously-motivated attacks across the country (DNE Photo)
The decapitated body of a Christian man who had been kidnapped by unknown assailants was found in Sheikh Zuweid on Thursday morning.
Security sources confirmed that the body was that of 59 year old Magdy Lamay Habib, who had been missing and presumed kidnapped for six days. The mutilated corpse was found in a graveyard in Sheikh Zuweid, whereby the body was transferred to the morgue at El-Arish General Hospital.
A security official told news agency AFP that “extremist groups” had captured the man on Saturday, the same day that a Coptic priest was killed.
البرلمان الاوروبى بخصوص نادية محمد على واولادها السبعة المسجونين بسبب تحولهم للمسيحية
Question for written answer E-000734/2013to the Commission (Vice-President / High Representative)
Rule 117Charles Tannock (ECR)Subject:VP/HR -
The case of the Egyptian Coptic woman Nadia Mohamed Ali and her childrenIs the Vice-President / High Representative aware of the disturbing case of Mrs Nadia Mohamed Ali, an Egyptian woman who, along with her 7 children, has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment for converting back to Christianity?
Mrs Nadia Mohamed Ali was a Coptic Christian before marriage, converted to Islam when she married her husband, and then chose to return to Christianity after her husband’s death in 2004.
A blasphemy trial against a Christian teacher in this Egyptian city renowned for its Pharaonic monuments is among a wave of cases that have Egyptian Christians worried they can be jailed for insulting Islam on the flimsiest of evidence.
Dozens of lawyers crowded a small, hot courtroom yesterday, eager to participate in the case against Dimyana Abdel Nour, a primary school teacher from a village near Luxor. Three students accused her of insulting Islam while teaching a social studies class last month. Such blasphemy cases have become much more frequent since the 2011 uprising that brought Islamists to power in Egypt.
Lawyer Roman Murad Saad sentenced in absentia for defaming Koran in library, latest in series of similar cases since 2011 uprising
ASSIUT, Egypt (AP) — An Egyptian court has convicted a Coptic Christian lawyer in the southern province of Assiut on charges of blasphemy and sentenced him to one year in prison with hard labor.
The verdict against Roman Murad Saad was handed down on Saturday. It’s the latest in a surge of blasphemy cases following Egypt’s 2011 uprising.
Sedky Sherif (36) died in the violence that broke out in the Dakhela district of Alexandria on 17 May. Muslims launched an attack on a church after an accusation was made against a local Christian man.
Shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is great”), they threw Molotov cocktails and bricks at the building, burning the gate and breaking most of the windows. As Christians tried to defend the site, they also came under assault; the Muslims fired birdshot and threw bricks at them.
بعد قرار النائب العام إخلاء سبيلها.. نيابة الأقصر تأمر بإحالة المعلمة المتهمة بازدراء الإسلام لمحاكمة عاجلة
أمرت نيابة الأقصر اليوم الثلاثاء بإحالة المعلمة المتهمة بازدراء الدين الإسلامي لمحكمة الجنح وتقديمها لمحكمة عاجلة يوم الثلاثاء المقبل.
كان مدير إدارة الطود التعليمية، جنوب الأقصر، تلقى مذكرة من رئيس مجلس الآباء بالمدرسة بقيام مدرسة مادة الدراسات الاجتماعية بالمدرسة بازدراء الدين الإسلامى في حصة لطلاب الصف الرابع الابتدائى.
Egypt’s Coptic Christian teacher detained over blasphemy released on bail
By Associated Press,
LUXOR, Egypt — An Egyptian Christian teacher detained over charges of insulting Islam has been released on bail on Tuesday, her lawyer said.
A history and geography teacher in the southern city of Luxor, 24-year-old Dimiana Abdul-Nour paid L.E. 20,000 (almost $3,000 dollars) to be freed pending further investigation, the lawyer, Badawi Abu-Shanab said. The decision comes four days after a judge ordered her detained for 14 days during the investigation.
Parents of a student had accused the teacher of showing contempt to Islam while talking to fourth-graders about religion. Three pupils allegedly complained the teacher showed disgust when she talked about Islam, something the family and lawyer of Abdul-Nour denied.
Egypt: authorities should release Coptic Christian teacher detained for 'blasphemy'
24-year-old Dimyana Obeid Abd Al Nour accused of touching her stomach or knee when speaking of Prophet Muhammad
A Coptic Christian teacher detained in Egypt on charges of “defamation of religion” must be immediately released and the criminal case against her dropped, Amnesty International has said.
Dimyana Obeid Abd Al Nour, 24, has been in custody since 8 May when she went to the public prosecution’s office in Luxor to respond to charges of “defamation of religion”. The case against her is based on a complaint lodged by the parents of three of her students alleging that she insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad during a class.
The alleged incident took place at the Sheikh Sultan primary school in Tout, Luxor Governorate on 8 April during a lesson on “religious life”. According to information available to Amnesty, some of the students alleged that Dimyana Obeid Abd Al Nour said that she “loved Father Shenouda”, the late Patriarch of the Egyptian Orthodox Church, and touched her knee or her stomach when she spoke about the Prophet Muhammad in class. She has denied the charges, and maintained that she stuck to the school curriculum.
Egyptian Christian Teacher Accused of 'Defaming Islam' Goes on Hunger Strike
(AINA) -- The latest victim in the series of defamation of Islam accusations against Christians is a Coptic school teacher, 24-year-old Ms Demiana Ebeid Abdelnour, who teaches social science at a primary school in Tout, Luxor. Demiana went on hunger strike two days after Luxor prosecution detained her on May 8 for "defamation of Islam." Parents of three school children accused her of defamation of Islam and insulting Mohammad.
Yesterday prosecution extended her detention for a further 15 days. It was reported that she was not allowed to be transferred to hospital from prison based on the report of the prison physician. The teacher's union in Luxor said that all investigations confirmed the innocence of Demiana, and that they have assembled a team of lawyers to defend her.
Police intervene in Upper Egyptian village after Copt is killed
Sectarian fight in a village in Minya leaves one Coptic man dead
Police forces have on Friday evening cordonned off a village in Upper Egypt’s Minya governorate after a Copt was shot dead in a fight with Muslims, according to the Anadolu Turkish news agency.
The victim, Magdy Mounir, was killed during a fight in Deir Pasha village during sectarian tensions which erupted after unknown individuals erased a picture of an imam off a poster titled “Hand in Hand”.
The poster was produced by an anti-sectarian NGO displaying an imam and priest locking arms to signify national unity.
Egypt has been witnessing a rise in sectarian attacks on Copts in recent years.
The most recent sectarian attack involved a mob assault on the Saint Mark Cathedral in Cairo’s Abbasiya in April during a funeral for 4 Copts killed in sectarian clashes in Upper Egypt.
Police also fired teargas at the church complex during the attack, stirring the anger of many Copts.
5 killed in clashes between Muslims, Christians in Egypt near Cairo
By Associated Press,
Mohammed Nouhan, El Shorouk Newspaper/ Associated Press ) - Onlookers gather at the house of Egyptian Christian, Samir Iskandar which was burned during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Qalubiya, just outside Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Several Egyptians including 4 Christians and a Muslim were killed in sectarian clashes before dawn on Saturday, security officials said.
CAIRO — Clashes between Egyptian Muslims and Christians erupted early Saturday in a town near Cairo, leaving at least five people dead, security officials said.
Investigators said they were waiting for autopsy reports to confirm how the men — four Christians and a Muslim — were killed in the small town of Khosoos, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital.
CAIRO (AP) — Amnesty International has called on Egyptian authorities to release a Coptic Christian schoolteacher held for contempt of Islam.
The rights group on Friday denounced the detention of 24-year-old Dimiana Abdel-Nour, a social studies teacher in a southern village near the famed city of Luxor. She was accused by some students of allegedly showing contempt while talking about Islam in class last month.
Luxor prosecutor issued an arrest warrant against Abdel-Nour this week over allegations of proselytizing and of “defamation of religion.” A court is scheduled to look into her detention on Saturday.
Amnesty’s Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui says it’s “outrageous that a teacher finds herself behind bars for teaching a class” and that if Abdel-Nour had made a “professional mistake or deviated from the curriculum, an internal review would have sufficed.”
MATAI, Egypt (AP) - Ezzat Kromer's resistance to his kidnappers did not last long. One of the masked gunmen fired a round between his feet as he sat behind the wheel of his car and said with chilling calm, "The next one will go into your heart."
The Christian gynecologist says he was bundled into his abductors' vehicle, forced to lie under their feet in the back seat for a 45-minute ride, then dumped in a small cold room while his kidnappers contacted his family over a ransom.
For the next 27 hours, he endured beatings, insults and threats to his life, while blindfolded, a bandage sealing his mouth and cotton balls in his ears.
Kromer's case is part of a dramatic rise of kidnappings targeting Christians, including children, in Egypt's southern province of Minya, home to the country's largest concentration of Christians but also a heartland for Islamist hard-liners.
Christians in Egyptian Town Threatened With Violence Over Missing Muslim Girl
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- A deadline given by a Muslim family, with support of most Muslims in the area, to all of the Christian Coptic inhabitants of the town of El-Wasta, 90 kilometers south of Cairo, expired today. The Muslim family had given an ultimatum regarding a Muslim girl who disappeared at the end of February, and threatened violent reprisal if the girl was not returned by today.
Fliers were distributed yesterday throughout the town by Muslims, who vowed violence. Muslims visited Coptic businesses and warned them not to open today otherwise they would be torched. Today Copts disregarded this ultimatum and opened their businesses as usual.
Egyptian mosque turned into house of torture for Christians after Muslim Brotherhood protest
FoxNews.com
Amir Ayad lies in a hospital bed after he was allegedly beaten by Islamic hardliners who stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo. (MidEast Christian News
Islamic hard-liners stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo, turning it into torture chamber for Christians who had been demonstrating against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the latest case of violent persecution that experts fear will only get worse.
Such stories have become increasingly common as tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and Copts mount, but in the latest case, mosque officials corroborated much of the account and even filed a police report. Demonstrators, some of whom were Muslim, say they were taken from the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in suburban Cairo to a nearby mosque on Friday and tortured for hours by hard-line militia members.
“There is no longer anything to hold them back. The floodgates are open.”
Egyptian anti-military protesters evacuate a demonstrator after he was wounded during clashes in the Abbassiya district of Cairo in May 2012. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
Senior Egyptian army doctors were ordered to operate without anaesthetic on wounded protesters at a military hospital in Cairo during protests against military rule, according to an investigation commissioned by president Mohamed Morsi. The report into military and police malpractice since 2011 also alleges that doctors, soldiers and medics assaulted protesters inside the hospital.
عضو باتحاد "ماسبيرو": الناشط القبطي أمير عياد تم اختطافه من قبل "الإخوان" في المقطم وتعذيبه
أميرة هشام
نقل مينا ثابت، عضو اتحاد شباب ماسبيرو، عن أمير عياد، عضو جبهة الشباب القبطى، الذي اختفى خلال أحداث المقطم أمس الجمعة، أن الأخير تم اقتياده مع مجموعة كبيرة من الشباب من قبل شباب الإخوان المسلمين وتم احتجازهم بأحد المساجد، على حد قوله.
وقال ثابت المتواجد بمستشفى الهلال الذي يعالج فيها عياد حاليًا، أنه لا يعرف اسم المسجد الذي تم اقتيادهم إليه، وأنه يتوقع أن يكون مسجد بلال
Four Copts arrested for complicity in Cathedral clashes
Arrests believed to be related to reconciliation meeting between Muslims and Christians
Two men try to put out their burning clothes after they were attacked by unidentified individuals outside the St Mark’s Cathedral on April 7 (AFP Photo)
At least four Coptic activists were arrested on Friday dawn for complicity in St. Mark’s Cathedral clashes which erupted outside the cathedral on Sunday as Coptic families were preparing a funeral procession for those who were killed in Al-Khasous the day before.
The Coptic Maspero Youth Union announced that Michael Morqos was arrested on Friday alongside three other activists. The union condemned his arrest, calling it an escalation against Coptic youth and likening it to Mubarak’s violations against Copts where “the violator is free and the victim gets jailed and humiliated”.
سلفيين يتجمهرون لمنع بناء كنيسة السيدة العذراء بأبو العباس بالمنيا
المنيا يوسف البباوي
تلقي اللواء أحمد سليمان مدير أمن المنيا تلقى إخطارا من مأمور مركز شرطة "بني مزار" بتلقيه بلاغ من الخدمة المعينة لتأمين وملاحظة الحالة على كنيسة السيدة العذراء بقرية" ابو العباس" بتجمع 150 شخص من مسلمي القرية أمام الكنيسة لاعتراضهم على قيام راعى الكنيسة القس ميخائيل إبراهيم بهدم حائط منزل ملاصق للكنيسة ملك "عماد فوزي صادق" وذلك تمهيدًا لضم المنزل للكنيسة.
وتحرر عن الواقعة المحضر رقم 2474 لسنة 2013 أدارى مركز بنى مزار ،وتم عقد لقاء بمركز الشرطة مع كبار عائلات القرية بعد انتقال الاهالى إلى الكنيسة لمعاينة التعديات وإجبار راعى الكنيسة بإعادة الحال إلى ما كان عليه وبناء الحائط مرة أخرى.
Cairo clashes at St Mark's Coptic Cathedral after funerals
One person was reported to have died in the clashes
Aleem Maqbool BBC News, Cairo
One person has been killed in clashes outside Cairo's main cathedral following the funerals of four Coptic Christians killed in religious violence on Thursday.
Mourners leaving St Mark's Cathedral clashed with local residents.
Police fired tear gas to break up the violence. More than 80 people were injured, the state news agency said.
The health ministry said one Christian man was killed. The ambulance service said he was struck with birdshot.
Mourners inside the church had earlier chanted slogans against Egypt's Islamist President, Mohammed Morsi.
قال القس ديمتريوس كاهن كنيسة العذراء وماريوحنا بمنطقة المساكن بكفر طهرمس بمحافظة الجيزة انه نشب حريق محدود باعلى مبنى الكنيسة مساء اليوم وتمكنت سيارات الاطفاء من السطرة عليه قبل انتقاله الى مبنى الكنيسة والمبانى المجاورة
واشار ان الجزء الذى شب الحريق فيه يعلوا المبنى وهو عبارة عن استراحة مكشوفه بها بعض المقاعد التى تستخدم احيانا لاستراحة الاسر او اقامة انشطه شبابية مشيرا ان الاستراحه كانت مغلقه ولم يكن بها انشطه فى هذا التوقيت الشتوى حتى فؤجئنا بالحريق الذى خرجت منه السنه اللهيب وادت لخسائر فى المقاعد الخشبية وبعض الاخشاب والاثاث فى الدور كله ولكن لم تصل النيران الى مبنى الكنيسة الداخلى .
وتابع ان اجهزة الشرطه قامت بمعاينة الحادث وتقوم برفع الادلة الجنائية ولم يعرف حتى الان الاسباب وراء الحادث
قال القس ديمتريوس كاهن كنيسة العذراء وماريوحنا بمنطقة المساكن بكفر طهرمس بمحافظة الجيزة انه نشب حريق محدود باعلى مبنى الكنيسة مساء اليوم وتمكنت سيارات الاطفاء من السطرة عليه قبل انتقاله الى مبنى الكنيسة والمبانى المجاورة
واشار ان الجزء الذى شب الحريق فيه يعلوا المبنى وهو عبارة عن استراحة مكشوفه بها بعض المقاعد التى تستخدم احيانا لاستراحة الاسر او اقامة انشطه شبابية مشيرا ان الاستراحه كانت مغلقه ولم يكن بها انشطه فى هذا التوقيت الشتوى حتى فؤجئنا بالحريق الذى خرجت منه السنه اللهيب وادت لخسائر فى المقاعد الخشبية وبعض الاخشاب والاثاث فى الدور كله ولكن لم تصل النيران الى مبنى الكنيسة الداخلى .
وتابع ان اجهزة الشرطه قامت بمعاينة الحادث وتقوم برفع الادلة الجنائية ولم يعرف حتى الان الاسباب وراء الحادث
Christian Killed in Attack on Coptic Mourners in Egypt
Rocks, fire bombs, gunfire greet mourners leaving funeral of four slain Christians.
By Our Middle East Correspondent
CAIRO, Egypt, April 7, 2013 (Morning Star News) – Coptic Christians attending a funeral service here today for four Copts killed two days earlier in an anti-Christian rampage were in turn attacked themselves by at least 200 Muslim rioters.
The incident, which started with a few dozen men pelting the mourners with stones, quickly escalated into a massive attack against Christians at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia area of Cairo involving firearms, flash-bang grenades, tear gas, fire bombs and other improvised weapons, besides cars set ablaze.
A Morning Star News reporter observed that police took more than an hour to respond, and when they arrived, they did nothing to stop the attack. Instead, most stood and watched men throw rocks at the Christians gathered at the gates of the cathedral compound or hurl stones over walls at the Christians trapped inside.
Egytian Muslims Accuse Priest of Using Black Magic on Muslim Girl
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- Hundreds of Muslims marched for the second day through the street of the Egyptian town of El-Wasta, 90 kilometers south of Cairo in Beni Suef Province, to protest the disappearance of a young Muslim girl, Rania Shazli, and accuse the priest of St. George's Church in Wasta of using black magic to lure her to Christianity.
The girl's uncle lead a group of Muslims to force the Copts in town to close all their businesses until the girl is brought back to her family. Coptic owners who refused were forcefully shut down. The Shazli family, supported by local Salafists, threatened to kidnap a Christian girl if their daughter is not brought back and vowed to destroy the church after prayers on Friday, March 22nd.
Muslims Attack Christian Funeral in Egypt, 1 Killed, 23 Injured
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- Thousands of Copts attended the funeral service held today at St Mark Cathedral in Cairo for the Coptic victims killed by Muslims on April 4 and 5 in al-Khosous, Qaliubiya (AINA 4-6-2013). The service was attended by Christians from all denominations as well as Muslims.
Priests holding the service were unable to calm the Copts and at several times the service was interrupted by the wailing of the mothers of the victims, protests by angry Copts demanding retribution, and chants saying "no to the persecution and killing of Copts." Political chants dominated the scene, demanding President Morsi to "Go Away," and banners holding him responsible for the killing of Copts in al-Khosous were displayed.
After the funeral services ended, as coffins and attendants were leaving the cathedral, unidentified persons fired shots in front of the cathedral. It was reported that clashes took place between Copts coming out of the Cathedral and Muslims in the area, and that Muslims were on roof tops of neighboring buildings firing at them (video).
Torture Likely Led to Death of Egyptian Christian in Libya,
Sources Say Beatings, electrical shock exacerbated serious heart condition.
By Our Middle East Correspondent
CAIRO, Egypt, March 14, 2013 (Morning Star News) – Repeated electrical shock torture of an Egyptian Christian accused of “proselytizing” in Libya likely exacerbated his heart ailment, leading to his death in custody, according to sources close to the deceased.
Ezzat Hakim Atallah died on Sunday (March 10) in a Tripoli jail while in the custody of an Islamic militia group known as the Preventative Security Unit. He was 45.
Thousands at Egypt Copt funeral prayers after clashes
(AFP)
CAIRO — Thousands of people packed Cairo's main cathedral on Sunday for the funeral prayers of four Coptic Christians killed in sectarian clashes.
"Down, down with Brotherhood rule," the congregation chanted in reference to the ruling Muslim Brotherhood of President Mohamed Morsi.
"Leave!" they chanted as they held up wooden crosses, television footage showed.
One Muslim was also killed in the clashes which flared on Friday night in Al-Khusus, a poor area in Qalyubia governorate, after a Muslim in his 50s objected to children drawing a swastika on a religious institute.
Egyptian Christian who died in Libya prison buried
By MAMDOUH THABET The Associated Press
Ragaa Abdallah, right, the wife of an Egyptian Christian who died in prison in Libya after he was detained on suspicion of having proselytized there has been buried in a subdued ceremony in his hometown, mourns during his funeral in Assuit, Egypt, Wednesday, March 13, 2012 in southern Egypt. The local church head Priest Baqi Sadaqa told the funeral congregation on Wednesday that Ezzat Atallah's death earlier this week was a "crime against Egypt." Mamdouh Thabet / AP Photo Photo By MAMDOUH THABET
ASSIUT, Egypt -- An Egyptian Christian who died in prison in Libya after he was detained on suspicion of having proselytized there has been buried in a subdued ceremony in his hometown in southern Egypt. Local church head Priest Baqi Sadaqa told the funeral congregation Wednesday that Ezzat Atallah's death earlier this week was a "crime against Egypt," and expressed concern about Islamists' rising clout in Egypt and Libya. Sadaqa says Attalah was tortured. An Egyptian diplomat has said he likely died of natural causes. Attalah suffered from diabetes and heart troubles.
10 Christians, 1 Muslim Killed in Sectarian Clashes in Egypt
By Mary Abdelmassih
Cairo (AINA) -- Clashes between Muslims and Christians erupted yesterday in the Al-Khosous district of Qaliubia province. According to reports, ten Coptic Christians and one Muslim were killed. The violence broke out after swastikas were drawn on the side of a mosque wall. The Muslims claimed the swastikas were drawn by Christian children, but the Qaliubia security forces manager, Mohamad Yousry , said it was two Muslim children who drew the swastikas and that the mosque Imam chided them. But some Christians and Muslims got involved in the incident and it escalated from there. He added that rumors of Christians drawing crosses on the mosque's walls were circulated by Muslims.
Mystery of Muslim woman's disappearance leaves Kom Ombo in crisis
Kom Ombo in Upper Egypt is in turmoil after rumours a Muslim woman was abducted by the Coptic Church and converted to Christianity — a charge her family denies
Salma Shukrallah in Kom Ombo (Aswan )
Crowds inside church during attacks(Photo: Ahram Online)
A rumour has spread in the Upper Egyptian city of Kom Ombo that a divorced Muslim woman in her mid-30s was kidnapped by the Coptic Church and converted to Christianity. In an area divided by tribal and religious allegiances, the story has fuelled violence against the area's Christian minority.
The city's largest church, the Church of Mar Girgis, has been under attack for the past three days by what residents describe as "unknown assailants." Mostly in their teens, hundreds of young boys and men have been surrounding the church and pelting it with rocks and Molotov cocktails.
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.jpg "Coptic Christian communities have been targeted in Egypt.")
CAIRO, Egypt, August 14, 2013 (Morning Star News) – In the violence that exploded across Egypt today, supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi attacked scores of church buildings and Christian-owned homes and businesses in response to national security forces breaking up two protest camps in downtown Cairo. 
