(Hudson Institute New York) Raymond Ibrahim - A prominent Egyptian, Muhammad Salim al-Awwa, ex-secretary general of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, appeared on Al Jazeera on Sep. 15, and accused Egypt's Coptic Christian minority of "stocking arms and ammunition in their churches and monasteries" - arms imported from Israel, no less, as "Israel is in the heart of the Coptic Cause" - and "preparing to wage war against Muslims." To make matters worse, Islamist leaders began to circulate baseless rumors that the Church and Pope Shenouda III "kidnap" Coptic women, who willingly convert to Islam, and torture and re-indoctrinate them back to Christianity. Since last month there have been at least ten mass demonstrations in Egypt condemning the Copts, who make up 12% of the population. The government not only has not prevented or dispersed the increasingly rabid demonstrations, but Egyptian security actually facilitates, and sometimes participates, in them. As history teaches, whenever a majority group casts all its woes onto a minority group, tragedy often follows.
2010-10-21 09:16:55Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive