Tag Archive for Coptic Christian

| January 2, 2014
No comments

Foiled: Hamas Planned Bombing Church on Christmas Day

Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas reportedly planned to murder Egyptian Christians by bombing Churches on Holy Day.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood planned a series of bombings at Egyptian churches, according to a report in the Kuwaiti paper Al-Watan, according to Channel 10 news.

According to the report, the attacks were to take place on Christmas. Terrorists in Sinai had succeeded in gathering explosives for the planned attack.

Egyptian intelligence reportedly foiled the plot after discovering communications between the two groups. Intelligence agents also listened in on calls between the Muslim Brotherhood and other Gaza-based terrorist groups. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| August 16, 2013
No comments

Outside of Israel, Christians Are Endangered Species in Ancestral Land

 

 

According to the Vicar of St George’s Church in Baghdad, Israel is the single bright spot for Christians in the Middle East, a true bastion for religious minorities.

By Noah Beck

 

Egypt’s Christians are being targeted and scapegoated for the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood. An Egyptian human rights activist tweeted that the Virgin Mary in Minya, one of the oldest churches in Egypt, built in the 4th century, was destroyed by fire yesterday. There have also been media reports about attacks on churches in the city of Suez and other villages. Jason Isaacson, Director of Government and International Affairs for the American Jewish Committee condemned these acts: “Organized violence against Egypt’s Copts, the murder of innocents and destruction of churches, is outrageous and unforgivable.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 12, 2013
No comments

Egyptian Christian Leader tells the EU & US to back off in ‘Open Letter’

 

 

Western maneuvering to quietly reinstate the Muslim Brotherhood baffles Egypt’s frightened & persecuted Christians.

By Ashraf Ramelah

 

The following is an open letter from Egyptian Christian Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, director of Voice of the Copts, to European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who, together with leading American officials, has been working to reinstall Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt.

***************************

I have followed with great interest your latest visit to my native country of Egypt — particularly your request to free former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

Sources in Egypt inform me that Egyptians fear that your aim to have Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders released from custody and dismissed from their day in court. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| May 10, 2013
No comments

Cairo livid at Israel for barring Egyptian diplomats from Jerusalem church

 

Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador & demanded written apology from Israel after 3 Egyptian diplomats, including Deputy Ambassador Mustafa Al-Kuny were removed from Easter Mass at Coptic Church in East Jerusalem.

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

Israel’s Ambassador to Egypt Yaakov Amitai has been summoned by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry for clarification over “inappropriate treatment” of Egyptian diplomats in east Jerusalem over the weekend.

Chapel of St. Helen in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem – Photo: Wikipedia

The Egyptian authorities are demanding an apology from Israel after three Egyptian diplomats, including Egypt’s Deputy Ambassador to Israel Mustafa Al-Kuny, were reportedly removed from the Easter Mass service held at the Coptic Church adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in east Jerusalem on Saturday.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| March 29, 2013
No comments

Egyptian Copts visit Jerusalem

 

Following the death of the last patriarch, who banned visits to Jerusalem, &  clear lack of policy on the matter by new leader, members of Coptic Church exploit the situation and fly to Israel for Easter.

By Roi Kais

 

Some 50 Copts arrived in Israel on Thursday on a direct flight from Egypt to celebrate Monday of the third week of Easter, which takes place on April 15.

Pope and Patriarch of the Church of Alexandria Theodoros II - Photo: EPA

Pope and Patriarch of the Church of Alexandria Theodoros II – Photo: EPA

The guests plan to tour holy sites in Jerusalem, despite a prohibition by Pope Shenouda III (the 117th Pope and Patriarch of the Church of Alexandria, who died in 2012) not to visit the Israeli capital as long as the city is under occupation. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| January 3, 2013
No comments

Mideast Christian persecution

Analysis: The process of Islamization has become an assault on the region’s Christian communities

By Professor Yossi Shain

 

The Middle East’s Christian population has been gradually dwindling and is on the defensive with respect to its identity – and even its very existence. In the early 20th century Christians made up some 20% of the Middle East’s population. Today they amount to less than 5% of the population.

Coptic Christian church in Egypt – Photo: Ido Becker

The reasons for the Christians’ crisis in our region are related to their success as a modern group with low growth rate and free immigration to Western countries. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| September 14, 2012
No comments

‘No Regrets’ Says Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, Alleged Maker of Mohammed Film

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, (not Sam Bacile, who claimed to be an American-Israeli who had Jewish financial backing) a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt living in California, is “saddened” by the U.S. envoy’s murder.

By AFP and Gil Ronen

 

A man who claims to be the producer of an anti-Islam movie that has sparked violent protests across the Arab world and in several Muslim-majority countries says he has no regrets about making the film.

Protest in Bangaladesh

Protest in Bangaladesh – Reuters

“No, I do not regret it. I am saddened by the killing of the ambassador but I do not regret making it,” Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt living in California, told American Arabic-language Radio Sawa. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| April 5, 2012
No comments

Egypt jails Christian student for insulting Islam

17-year-old gets three years for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page mocking Islam and the Prophet Mohammad.

Egypt lower parliament, Majlis As-Shaab - Photo by Reuters

Egypt lower parliament, Majlis As-Shaab - Photo by Reuters

CAIRO – An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced a 17-year-old Christian boy to three years in jail for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, actions that sparked sectarian violence.

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.
Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| March 3, 2012
No comments

Egypt: Christians, Actors Targeted as Islam Rises

Actresses, comedians and Christians among the targets of a new rash of accusations of “insult to Islam” in Muslim Brotherhood Egypt.

As Islamist parties gain power in Egypt, the country has seen a wave of lawsuits accusing various figures of “insulting Islam.” In the latest case, a group of lawyers belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood have accused high-profile Egyptian women of provocative behavior.

The lawyers argue that the women “encourage sexuality and other inappropriate behaviors.” The Egyptian paper Al-Bawaba named two of the targets as actresses Ghada Abd al-Raziq and Summaya al-Khashab.

The same lawyers previously accused renowned comic actor Adel Imam of insulting Islam. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,