DC Rally in Support of Egyptian Copts – February 26, 2010
— “VOICE OF THE COPTS a Human Rights organization is to organize a peaceful demonstration on February 26, 2010 at 1:00 pm in Washington DC in front of the Egyptian Embassy located at: 3522 International Court Northwest Washington, DC 20008-3022”
Category: Coptic Oppression
Egypt: “A barometer of religious intolerance”
Egypt: Christian Copts Protest for Equal Rights, Rights to Build Churches
AP reports that “Egypt Christians call for right to build churches”
— “Egyptian activists have protested in front of parliament and called for legislation giving Christians equal rights as Muslims to build houses of worship.”
— “The demonstrators, both Muslim and Christian, were also protesting Wednesday against the sectarian strains in the country, particularly in light of a Christmas Eve slaying of six Copts and a Muslim guard outside a church in southern Egypt.”
— “The government has maintained that sectarian harmony reigns in Egypt and said the Jan. 6 attack had no religious dimension.”
— “Muslims need a municipal permit to build mosques. But Copts must get their papers signed by the president.”
— See other R.E.A.L. postings on Coptic oppression
Egypt – AINA: Egyptian Parliament Member “Falsifies Facts About Christmas Eve Shootings”
Egypt’s Copts send 4,000 letters to Obama
Bikya Masr reports:
“The American Coptic Assembly said in a statement last week that the Coptic community in the United States and across the world had sent 4,350 letters to American President Barack Obama in the past week, asking him to take a stand to protect the Copts in Egypt. According to a statement from the religious group, the letters included a list of the problems that the Copts suffer from in Egypt.”
Egypt: “In Egypt, Religious Clashes Are Off the Record”
NYT reports on the continuing issues with Copts in Egypt:
— NYT: “In Egypt, Religious Clashes Are Off the Record”
— “A few weeks ago, on the day that Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas Eve, a Muslim gunman opened fire on worshipers as they walked out of church, killing 7, wounding 10 and leading to the worst sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians in Egypt in years. In the days that followed, there were riots and clashes. Stores were wrecked. Homes were burned.”
— “The government responded by sending in heavily armed police officers, banning the news media and insisting that the Jan. 6 attack was retaliation for a rape.”
–“‘There are initial indications connecting this incident to the consequences of accusing a young Christian man of raping a Muslim girl in one of the governorate’s villages,’ the Interior Ministry said after the attack.”
— “The one thing the government would not do was admit the obvious: Egypt had experienced one of the most serious outbreaks of sectarian violence in years. Instead, it said talk of sectarian conflict amounted to sedition.”
— “But the evidence, provided in newspapers, was irrefutable: 14 Muslims arrested, 28 Christians arrested, Christian shops burned, Muslim houses burned.”
Egypt: “Press Conference Regarding Muslim Converted in Cairo”
Egypt: Press Conference Regarding Muslim Converted in Cairo
Voice of the Copts has provided the following press release:
Press Conference Regarding Muslim Converted in Cairo
– Regarding the case filed for Mohamed Bishoy Hegazy, an Egyptian Muslim converted to Christianity: On January 22, 2010 the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ) presented an application to the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Human Rights.
– The application is the result of various months of silence and hard work among the principals involved: Mr. Ashraf Edward, Egyptian attorney of record, Dr. Grégor Puppinck, Director of ECLJ and Dottore Architetto Ashraf Ramelah, President of Voice of the Copts, a human rights organization with offices in the USA and Italy.
– Mr. Ashraf Edward announced a press conference to be held on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at the Middle East Forum for Freedom, located at Cleopatra Street, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt.
– The conference will start at 12:00 noon, Cairo time. Mr. Edward will be present along with Mr. Mohamed Bishoy Hegazy. Dr. Puppinck and Dottore Ramelah will join by teleconference.
For additional information in Cairo, please contact Mr. Edward at the following telephone numbers:
22905931
22905932
0125226887
Or send your inquiry to the following email address:
Egypt: US aid diverted towards ‘minority rights’
Egypt: US aid diverted towards ‘minority rights’
— Al masry al youm.com: “The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has decided to redirect funds earmarked for Egyptian NGOs… to financing ‘awareness programs’ highlighting minorities’ rights.
— “Agency officials did not state overtly that the ‘minorities’ in question referred to Egypt’s Coptic Christian community.”
Egypt rights groups call on government to address sectarianism, workers rights
Egypt: Christian in Egypt: ‘They Try to Kill Us’ – Copts Dina and Maher El-Gohary
Egypt: Christian in Egypt: ‘They Try to Kill Us’
— FOX News reports: “Egyptian Maher El-Gowhary and his 15 year old daughter Dina never pray twice at the same church, never stay longer than a month in any one apartment. They are constantly under threat, always on the run because they converted to Christianity in a largely Muslim country.”
— Dina and Maher El-Gohary, Persecuted Coptic Christians Ask Obama for Help
- Peter Athanasius and 15 year old Daughter Dina
See also November 2009 report:
Egypt: 15 Year Old Egyptian Convert to Christianity Sends Plea to Obama — Dina el-Gowhary