Coptic Christians Leaving Egypt In Droves

Coptic Christians in Egypt have always been persecuted to some extent, but fears of escalated violence against them under an Islamist-led regime, and a country that is turning ever more conservative, has them leaving the land of the pyramids in droves. Actually, according to this Telegraph UK article, even liberal Muslim families are getting the heck out of Dodge, and I don't blame them. Things might seem okay now, but when the country is firmly entrenched in Islamist ideology it's going to get much uglier for those who don't conform.

Coptic Christian churches in the United States say they are having to expand to cope with new arrivals, as priests in cities like Cairo and Alexandria talk of a new climate of fear and uncertainty.

"Most of our people are afraid," Father Mina Adel, a priest at the Church of Two Saints in Alexandria said. "Not a few are leaving - for America, Canada and Australia. Dozens of families from this church alone are trying to go too."

Father Mina's church has an important place in the history of the Arab Spring. It was struck by a car bomb on New Year's Eve 2010, Egypt's worst sectarian attack in recent decades, in which 23 people were killed.

After the bombing, liberal Muslim groups staged protests in support of Christians, printing posters showing the cross and the crescent interlinked which then went on to be symbols of inter-faith unity during the Tahrir Square protests three weeks later.

But the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary and presidential elections has changed the mood - particularly as the biggest opposition party is the even more hardline Salafist movement which wants strict Sharia law implemented.

"Salafis meet Christian girls in the street and order them to cover their hair," Father Mina said. "Sometimes they hit them when they refuse."

President Mohammed Morsi has promised to respect Christians' rights, and issued a New Year message insisting Egypt was "one homeland for all". But several Brotherhood leaders and clerics issued thinly veiled threats against them during protests in late 2012, accusing them of being part of a plot to overthrow the government.

The biggest change in attitudes has come since the passing of a new constitution giving Sharia law more prominence.

"With the new constitution, the new laws that are expected, and the majority in parliament I don't believe we can be treated on an equal basis," said a congregation leader in Cairo's Church of St Mary and St John the Baptist.

He said he knew a dozen families who had left already and 40 or 50 more friends who had applied - including, he added, liberal Muslim families who were also unhappy with the prospect of more restrictive laws.

The rest here.

Soon the Middle East will have no Christians, because they will  have been killed or emigrated to the West, which I'm sure is exactly what conservative Muslims in those countries want.

Two Coptic Priests In Sudan Arrested For Converting Muslim Woman

There are Coptic Christians in Sudan. I had no idea. And according to Al Arabiya they've done okay there for the past 23 years, no overt violence leveled against them like the Copts in Egypt. That seems rather surprising considering where they are living, and the fact that their President, Omar al-Bashir, is a genocidal Islamist 'war criminal'. But all that could change because of one woman's conversion to Christianity.

Two Coptic priests have already been arrested, because while 'dawah' (proselytizing) is part of a  Muslim's religious duty, converting to other religions is a crime, sometimes punishable by death.

“I understand there was someone from the Arab origin that accepted Christ and was baptized by them,” leading to their arrest within the past few days, one religious leader told AFP.

So two Christian priests are in jail, and some Al-Qaeda linked group calling themselves al-Qaeda in the Nilien States wants that Christian convert back.  Probably so they can stone her to death for apostasy.  If the Christians don't return they woman they claim was "kidnapped" they will target the Copts in retaliation.

Group Of Egyptian Christian Women Not Allowed To Vote In Referendum

Coptic Christians are a minority in Egypt but they are still citizens of that country, and yet some were not allowed to vote today in that controversial constitutional referendum that has many finally realizing how 'undemocratic' their president Mohammed Morsi really is.

According to the National Salvation Front (one of the many opposition groups) a judge in Nasr City- a district in Cairo of mostly condominiums- allegedly banned Christians from voting. And today a group of Christian female residents were turned away. Whether it's because they were female or Christian or a combination of both is anybody's guess. Of course Nasr City is a bastion for Islamists.

What secular Muslims and Christians alike fear (and why they walked out on the predominately Islamist assembly on November 30th) is that all it would take to give the Islamists even more power is a simple majority, and the constitution in its current incarnation leaves many worried about women's rights, civil liberties among other things.

“At one point in our history, Cleopatra, a woman, ruled Egypt. Now you have a constitution that makes women not even second-class but third-class citizens,” this is that Olivia Ghita a prominent businesswoman declared. Adding, “This constitution is tailored for one specific group (the Muslim Brotherhood). It’s a shame. I am very upset.”

If it's not voted through, the opposition would have three months to come up with a new constitution and new elections held. No wonder they're trying to keep the Christians from voting.

Egypt- Arrest Warrants For Florida Pastor Terry Jones and 7 Copts Over Anti-Islam Film

The dopes in Egypt seem to think they have the authority to issue arrest warrants for U.S. citizens who don't happen to live in their country. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and 6 other Egyptian Christian Copts have warrants out for their arrest, but they also added idiot Floridian pastor Terry Jones to their list for promoting the infamous anti-Islam film "The Innocence of Muslims".

Of course, that's better than being the target of a death fatwa, which is what Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah wants for all the people who participated in the movie.

Egypt's general prosecutor knows the arrest warrants are simply a means of appeasing the rabidly angry masses who, like Nasrallah, probably want their pound of flesh, preferably dead. It also doesn't help matters for Herr prosecutor that most, if not all of them, don't happen to live in Egypt.  At least one would hope, for their sake.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that the accused, which includes the film's alleged producer, face charges of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information. The office said they could face the death penalty, if convicted. No date for the trial has been set.

Besides the main culprit Nakoula, they've also charged Morris Sadek (another Coptic Christian who is said to have been the one to stupidly bring the film to the Egyptian press' attention), and Florida Pastor Terry Jones (who promoted the video).


Source: ABC World News

Anti-Islam Film Directed by X-Rated Director Alan Roberts?

As if the whole anti-Islam "Innocence of Muslims" saga couldn't get any more bizarre (or confusing), it does.

First of all we were told the director was an Israeli Jew by the man calling himself Sam Bacile. Then we come to find out that 'director' Bacile was not an Israeli Jew after all, but rather ex-con Coptic Christian Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. But Nakoula insisted he was only involved in the logistics, and now it turns out he was possibly telling the truth when he claimed he wasn't the director of the tacky film. According to Gawker, the movie- that we have since come to realize was actually dubbed in post production to add Islamic references- was actually directed by a  d-rated, "has been" director best known for several softcore x-rated films from the 1970s and 80s. Although this too could eventually change.

65-year-old Alan Roberts aka Robert Brownell directed "The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood", and several others, but had more success as a film editor. If he did indeed direct this, I'm sure the notoriety wasn't quite what he had hoped for his career; because even though he was apparently duped like the majority of people involved in the production, when word gets out to the Muslim world, you know there will be a price on his head.

An Alan Roberts is listed as director on the film's casting calls and call sheets from the summer of 2011, back when it was innocuously called Desert Warriors..

Castmembers and crew told us yesterday that Roberts was brought on by producer "Sam Bacile" aka Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, and he muddled his way through a disorganized three-month shoot.

This is the same Alan Roberts listed in IMDB as the director of a handful of softcore porn movies and other low-budget films, according to acquaintances we spoke to today.

"I am sure it was the same Alan Roberts, as I remember him speaking about this project," said filmmaker David A. Prior, a longtime acquaintance of Roberts, in an email. Roberts is listed as a producer on two of Prior's films, 2008's Zombie Wars and 2007's Lost at War.

"He did work on [Innocence of Muslims]," confirmed a man who was Roberts' business partner in a post-production facility he ran, who asked not to be named.
The backstory behind how Roberts became director of Innocence of Muslims is still unclear, like so many things about the film. We've tried to reach Roberts, but his business associate told us he "turned off his phone" soon after protests broke out over the film and is laying low. But he said Roberts was "non-political" and did not have any apparent anti-Islam feelings. Roberts may have been duped by the film's producer in much the same way as the rest of the cast and crew. They believed they were participating in a period piece about ancient Egypt and had no idea the movie would be edited and dubbed into a piece of Islamophobic propaganda..

The rest at Gawker.

Note: "Desert Warriors" is not listed on imdb.com

The Real Man Behind The Anti-Islam Movie "The Innocence of Muslims"?

"Sam Bacile" writer/director of the tasteless, cheesy  anti-Islam movie "The Innocence of Muslims" that spawned the violence in Egypt, Libya and now Yemen, is more than likely 55-year-old Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian Christian Copt living in Southern California. Although he claims he merely "provided logistics" for the movie initially called 'Desert Warriors', and that he's not the "Israeli/Jewish" director "Sam Bacile", it's more than likely he's fibbing. Apparently, the cellphone the AP dialed for an interview with Sam Bacile was traced back to Nakoula's address. Oops.

It also turns out that Nakoula has been a very bad boy, aside from producing a piece of crap film that has set the Middle East ablaze, not that it takes much to do that. In 2010, Nakoula pleaded no contest to federal bank fraud charges. He had to pay back over $790,000, and was sentenced to 21 months in jail. Prosecutor Jennifer Leigh Williams said Nakoula had a major "check-kiting scheme" going on, which he managed by using stolen identities and Social Security numbers.

 "You try to get the money out of the bank before the bank realizes they are drawn from a fraudulent account. There basically is no money."

Nakoula is obviously of questionable character, so I suppose it's not surprising that he had the brazen gall to claim he (as Bacile) was an Israeli Jew.  Since Coptic Christians are terribly persecuted in Egypt, I can understand the need to keep his identity under wraps, but to identify himself as another religion, particularly one that is so vilified in that region, is unconscionable.  In fact, protesters in Yemen were calling for "Death to America", and "Death to Israel" thanks to Nakoula.

More evidence that indicates a Coptic/Christian connection, not an Israeli one, is the fact that the film consultant Steve Klein,  a Christian, has been involved with the Copts for years.  Jim Horn, another activist working with Coptic groups said about Klein:

"He's been helping them to stand up for themselves against Islamic terror in Egypt. That's what he does."

Then you have wacko evangelical Christian Florida Pastor Terry Jones, who has promoted the video, and  Morris Sadek- another Christian Copt, posted the 13-minute trailer on his Facebook page a week a week or so ago.

It's all still much of a mystery, including why the video was only promoted right before 9/11 of this year, when the movie was filmed last summer.  More of the truth will eventually be revealed.

Sources: Yahoo, GuardianUK

UPDATE: According to the Daily Beast, Nakoula was also meth manufacturer (spending a year in jail for that back in 1997), and a registered Democrat from 2002 to 2008. He then switched to American Independent.

Egyptian Bishop Claims Attacks On Christians Escalating

Attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt have escalated, according to Bishop Morcos. He made that statement after an attack on a Church and homes of Christians in a village near Cairo this past Wednesday. 16 people were injured as a result of clashes between Muslims and Christians after a fight between a Muslim man and a Christian resulted in the death of the Muslim from his wounds.

He also complained about Mursi's failed promise to include more Christians in his cabinet. Only one was sworn in- the scientific research minister.

“The general climate is turning against Christians,” said Bishop Morcos. “Assaults on Christians have increased. It’s not just a matter of having one ministry,” he told AFP.

“There is a difference between promises and implementation,” said Morcos. “Perhaps there were obstacles in implementing the pledge, or the promise is one thing, and the actual implementation is another.”

There had always been sectarian strife between Muslims and the minority Coptic Christian population, even during Hosni Mubarak's leadership, but it seems to have increased since the Muslim Brotherhood took over. 

Bishop Morcos isn't the only one worried.

The United States warned on Monday that despite gestures by Egypt’s interim military leaders towards greater inclusiveness, sectarian tensions and violence had increased.

Washington’s 2011 International Religious Freedom Report expressed concern over “both the Egyptian government’s failure to curb rising violence against Coptic Christians and its involvement in violent attacks.”

Did Morcos really expect that under an Islamist majority government things would get any easier for the 10 percent of Christians that still live in Egypt?

Coptic Bishop Tells Christians To Dress Like Their Muslim Sisters

As if women in Egypt don't have enough to worry about with an Islamist led government (and possibly president) dictating how they dress, a Christian Coptic Bishop is now jumping into the modesty bandwagon, simply as a measure of appeasement and for his own political gain. At a recent event, Bishop Bishoy (who is vying for a papal position with the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church) suggested that Christian women should dress like their Muslim sisters, which- needless to say- has them outraged.

“I call on Christian girls to learn from veiled Muslim women their modesty. Some Christian women might be displeased with me, but the Virgin Mary, St. Demiana and the nuns wore modest clothes.”

Yes, but 21st century Christian Egyptian women are not the Virgin Mary, Saints or nuns, so why should they dress like them?

Mariz Tadros, writing for the Guardian UK, says that in recent years Muslim women in Egypt have become progressively more conservative, and a large majority wear the hijab (veil). This makes it even more difficult for the minority who don't, and harassment (though problematic in the past) has become even more unbearable.

In the streets of Egypt, many Coptic women have been told "Our Lady Mariam [referring to St Mary] used to wear a tarha [long scarf covering the hear], why can't you follow her example and cover up?".

While all eyes are focused on the presidential race, on the streets of Egypt, inch by inch, bit by bit, women's rights are shrinking. Women, Muslim and Christian, who do not cover their hair or who wear mid-sleeved clothing are met with insults, spitting and in some cases physical abuse. In the urban squatter settlement of Mouasset el Zakat, in Al Marg, Greater Cairo, women told me that they hated walking in the streets now. Thanks to the lax security situation, they have restricted their mobility to all but the most essential of errands. Whereas a couple of years ago they could just inform their husbands where they were going (visiting parents, friends or going to the hairdresser for example), now they have to get their husbands or older sons to accompany them if they go out after sunset.

And the Islamists have made it worse. A Coptic Christian woman said to me "we and our Muslim friends who do not cover our hair get yelled at by men passing by telling us 'just you wait, those who will cover you up and make you stay at home are coming, and then there will no more of this lewdness'". It was, she id, as if they were gloating over the fact that we were being pushed off the streets. Another woman told me that girls and women wearing mid-sleeved clothing had been slapped on their bare arms by men on bicycles shouting slurs. Another told me she had been spat on by men telling her to cover up. Another told me that she had her hair up in a pony tail and a young man pulled it so hard that she thought her head was going to fall off. Another recounts how she was pushed and elbowed by a passerby telling her to cover her nakedness (she was wearing a mid-sleeved blouse and trousers).

Tadros is convinced that Bishoy's statement has mostly to do with wanting to "win over" the Islamists "by showing he is willing to comply with their dress code for women", and winning that papal seat, of course.

Some 50 Coptic men and women demonstrated at the papal residence in Abbasiya demanding an apology, but Tadros says many were actually in disagreement with the protest.

This was the first time in the modern history of Egypt that Coptic Christian women had risen against a member of the clergy in protest. It is the first time they had collectively raised their voice to demand their rights as Coptic Christian women. The protests did not go well with all Christians: what's wrong with modesty many said, why attack the church now? Others said that while they completely sympathised with the cause of the protesters, this was not the time.

As one of the organisers of this protest, I tried to explain why we couldn't wait. I explained that if there is talk of women's modesty today, tomorrow there is more pressure on veiling, the day after it is going to be a socially imposed ban on trousers, after that a ban on women's freedom of mobility, until bit by bit, inch by inch we are driven back home.

Mohammed Mursi, the Islamist presidential wannabe, announced this week that if he is elected president he will not enforce an Islamic dress code on either Christian or Muslim women. But promises are cheap, and politicians will blatantly lie to achieve their goals. And with a majority Islamist parliament, even if Mursi did truly intend to not force women to wear the veil, he would soon cave to the demands of the majority.

I feel very sorry for the women of Egypt. At least those who relish freedom.

17-Year-Old Egyptian Christian Gets 3 Years In Jail For Insulting Islam

If Egyptian Christians think it's bad now, wait until there's an Islamist president to go with the Islamist majority in parliament, and Sharia law becomes the official law of the land. 

In Saudi Arabia, under Islamic blasphemy laws, insulting Islam, Mohammad or anyone or thing associated with Islam will get you executed, since the Saudis consider blasphemy 'apostasy' (and Sharia imposes the death penalty for apostasy). Same thing goes for Pakistan. Insult Mohammad, say bye-bye to your head. Defile the Quran, you'll spend the rest of your life in jail. 

Egypt, though not yet an Islamic state, still has blasphemy laws, although the sentences are tame in comparison to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.  Gamal Abdou Massoud, a 17-year-old Christian boy who apparently defamed Islam and Mohammad by posting some cartoons on his Facebook page, will spend three years in prison for his actions. 

Gamal Abdou Massoud was also accused of distributing some of his cartoons to his school friends in a village in the southern city of Assiut, home to a large Christian population and the hometown of the late Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda.

“Assiut child’s court ordered the jailing of Gamal Abdou Massoud ... for three years after he insulted Islam and published and distributed pictures that insulted Islam and its Prophet,” the court said in a statement seen by Reuters.

The cartoons, published by Massoud in December, prompted some Muslims to attack Christians. Several Christian houses were burned and several Christians were injured in the violence.

Human rights lawyer Negad al-Borai said the jail sentence was the maximum penalty under Egyptian law for such a crime.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country’s 80 million population, have long had a difficult relationship with Egypt’s overwhelmingly Muslim majority.

Tension between Muslims and Christians has simmered for years but has got worse since the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Christians have become increasingly worried by a surge in attacks on churches, which they blame on hardline Islamists, though experts say local disputes are often also to blame.

The maximum penalty for such a "crime"? The crime is sentencing a child (or anyone else for that matter) to three years in jail for exercising his right to freedom of speech.

But Muslim-majority countries aren't the only ones with blasphemy laws.  I was actually surprised to learn that many Western nations have them as well, though some don't implement the laws, and others just hand out hefty fines. Wales and the U.K. only recently abolished their blasphemy laws. But if the Organization of the Islamic Conference has its way, there will be a global "anti-blasphemy law", and we all better watch out.

Egyptian Copt Blames Obama For Facilitating Creeping Shariah In The U.S.

Egyptian-born Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, Founder and President of the Voice of the Copts, has some interesting things to say about creeping Shariah in America, and how Barack Obama is facilitating that.

Will we ever know the extent to which President Obama’s most recent submission to the pressured demands of Islamists has endangered American national security? When the Obama administration yielded to the outcries of Muslim-American citizens and Islamic organizations recently with the removal of FBI training manuals containing certain anti-terror material deemed “offensive,” the President was either ignorant of the goals of Islam, complacent about what he knows, or notching up another win for appeasement and promotion of Islam ─ for now a mystery.

He ends with:

Will Americans settle for a repressed society governed by political correctness waiting for Islam to build a stronghold inside our country? Immigrants living in America having once been subject to Islamic law are much more cautious than those who were born into freedom and have only known the freedom of the West. Take the word of the Copt living in America; the signs of Jihad are everywhere, seeking to dismantle our liberty and way of life. It is the Copt living in America who will speak the truth having lived it never allowing the falsehoods of Islam to dominate.

The rest of his article is worth the read.

Salafi Leader Bassem al-Zarqa Wants The Word "Civil" Clarified, Says All Egyptians Salafis

Salafis, those uber-conservative, ultra religious Saudi Arabian brand of Muslims that are poised to take control of the Egyptian government alongside their Muslim Brotherhood brothers refuse to get down with the word "civil", at least until they fully understand what it means.  So what exactly is their problem?  What I gather is that in post-revolution, post-Mubarak Egypt the liberals are battling the soon-to-be majority Islamists over a secular "civil" state versus a religious Sharia dominant Egypt. 

The Egyptian Salafi al-Nour Party, via  Bassem al-Zarqa (one of its members), recently told Al Arabiya News, that

“Salafis reject the use of the word ‘civil’ in a way that does not clarify what it entails and they are now trying to reach an understanding on its meaning with other political powers in Egypt."

“Salafism means following the teachings of the Prophet and his companions. It is based on those teachings that both religion and state were founded, so we can say that all Egyptians are Salafis.”

Wrong. Not all Egyptians are Salafis- there are a heck of a lot of Coptic Christians and secular-minded Muslims living in Egypt who would beg to differ, including Hani Nessira, an Egyptian writer. Nessira explains why Salafis have such a major problem with words like "civil" and "democracy":

“From the Salafi point of view, democracy and civil state mean giving people power over God’s laws and this for them is unacceptable. The creation of a civil state is part of Egypt’s history and it can be traced back to even before the 19th century.”

So, of course they would reject those words, because there is no room for democracy in an Islamist,  Shariah compliant country.  Unfortunately,  a non democratic, non "civil" Egypt would be most detrimental to the Copts who even under a predominately secular, civil state have been terribly persecuted over the decades.  Emad Gad, a Copt and member of  one of the more liberal political parties believes that the Salafis' have a problem with the word "civil"  because of their attitude towards non-Muslims living in Egypt.

“Salafis do not recognize the presence of Egyptian Christians and consider a Pakistani Muslim closer to them than an Egyptian Christian. Therefore, they undermine the principle of citizenship,” he said.

Well, if they believe that all Egyptians are Salafis (as al-Zarqa cleary stated), that doesn't leave room for
anyone else, does it.

According to Gad,  there have been

.... several fatwas issued by Salafi clerics and which label Christians apostates and prohibit dealing with them.


“The Salafi discourse is confused and has very dangerous implications which become clear in their statements about democracy as a form of apostasy.”

Gad wants the Salafis to be more upfront about their position on things like, free speech, freedom of religion, rotation of power- you know, all those democratic principles that the liberal activists fought so hard to achieve during their revolution in Tahrir Square.

“They also need to state whether they are willing to accept whatever the majority of Egyptian political powers agrees on or not,” he concluded.

I think it's a little too late, since the Islamists have pretty much won a majority in the elections there. And, somehow, I don't think the Salafis are ever going to come to terms with the word "civil".