PLEASE CHECK JIHAD WATCH FOR THESE REPORTS ON EGYPT’S PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
CNN reports all of the known fatalities are Christians, though it masks the genesis of this incident under the term “sectarian clashes” and describes the cause as “a feud between a Muslim and a Coptic family,” continuing yet again the pattern of downplaying Muslim aggression against Christians as the product of reciprocal “strife.”
As AINA reported before:
“The father of the Muslim woman was killed by his cousin because he did not kill his daughter to preserve the family’s honor, which led the woman’s brother to avenge the death of his father by killing the cousin. The village Muslims blamed the Christians.”
And a mob of thousands of Muslims took their opportunity to attack and destroy a church, desecrating its crosses and along the way. Some “feud.” “9 Christians Killed, 150 Injured in Attack By 15,000 Muslims and Egyptian Army,” from Assyrian International News Agency, March 9:
(AINA) — According to Father Abram Fahmy, pastor of St. Simon the Tanner Monastery in Mokatam Hills, on the outskirts of Cairo, Copts were killed and injured today in a fresh attack by Muslims. It was reported the Egyptian army fired live ammunition on Copts. The attack has claimed until now the lives of 9 Copts and injured 150, 45 seriously.
Muslims threw fire balls at the Monastery from the top of the hills. Coptic youth have arrested five of them, who are now being held within the Monastery grounds, waiting to be handed over to the authorities.
Eight homes and 20 garbage recycling factories owned by Copts have been torched, as well as 30 garbage collection vehicles.
The incident started when 500 Coptic demonstrators from Manshier Nasr, also known as “Garbage City,” which is near the Monastery, were on their way to join the Coptic protest near the Egyptian TV Building, to show their solidarity with the Copts of the village of Soul in Atfif, who were forcibly displaced from their village and their church torched (AINA 3-5-2011). Nearly 15,000 Muslims from the nearby area of Sayeda Aisha and Mokattam, who were armed with weapons including automatic guns, confronted the Copts.
The clashes first started with hurling of stones at the Coptic demonstrators, then Molotov Cocktails. According to eyewitnesses the Copts called the army which arrived at the scene at 15:00 with 10 tanks . At first the military stood by watching, then shot in the air, then at the Coptic side with live ammunition.
“We were at one side and the Muslim on the other, we have hundreds of injured at the Coptic side,” said an eyewitness. “The Muslims were also shooting from behind the army tanks.”
First-aid was given to the injured in the clinic attached to the Monastery, “But there are only 3 doctors here, not enough to look after all the injured,” said the Church custodian. According to one of the doctors all injuries were caused by gun shots. The injured were transported by private persons to various hospitals around Cairo, as ambulances refused to respond to their calls.
It was reported that Muslims stood at the head of the road and any garbage collecting vehicle belonging to Copts from “Garbage City” was confiscated and the owners beaten.
Attorney Wagih Anwar Abou Saad, an eyewitness, told Free Coptic Voice the army has been firing live ammunition on the Copts since 3 PM. “The army is protecting the Muslims, who sought shelter behind the army tanks,” he said.
There was a media blackout on the incident. There are no reports of any Muslim casualties.
The Coptic sit-in in front of the Egyptian TV building (AINA 3-8-2011) in Cairo has been ongoing since Saturday March 5, as the army has not yet fulfilled its promise to the Copts of handing over the torched church in the village of Soul, under the pretext that Muslim are demonstrating near the church.
The same CNN story above only refers to this as “last week’s burning of a church.”
Remember what started all of this. A relationship between a Christian man and a Muslim woman, and a mob of thousands of outraged Muslims. And note how the attack on the church is described in the passive voice below: “Christians were protesting for the second day over a church in Helwan on the outskirts of the capital that was set on fire Sunday after a row sparked by a relationship between a Christian man and a Muslim woman.”
That’s also one heck of a “row,” with an estimated 4000 Muslims in the mob, but it fits a broader pattern in the media of trying to make Muslim attacks on Christians sound more like the product of mutual “tensions” than Islamic supremacist aggression. It seems almost an unwritten rule that Christians cannot be victims, and Muslims cannot be villains. More on this story. “One dead as Muslims, Christians clash in Cairo,” by Shaimaa Fayed for Reuters, March 8 (thanks to all who sent this in):
CAIRO (Reuters) – One Christian youth was shot dead Tuesday during a protest between 1,300 Christians and Muslims who were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at each other, a security source said.
The fighting erupted when a group of Christians blocked a main highway south of Cairo and clashed with Muslims who wanted to pass through, a security source said.
Christians were protesting for the second day over a church in Helwan on the outskirts of the capital that was set on fire Sunday after a row sparked by a relationship between a Christian man and a Muslim woman, witnesses and a security source said.
Someone set the building on fire, but we can’t say who. Is Milton Waddams on vacation in Egypt? Did customs confiscate his Swingline stapler?
The army fired gunshots in the air to break up the riot but was unable to quell the fight straight away, witnesses said. An army statement said it “successfully handled riots Tuesday.”
One 18-year old Christian was killed by a bullet that struck him in the back but it was unclear who had fired the shot or whether it had been aimed intentionally, the security source said. Some witnesses said they saw protesters carrying weapons.
“They (the Christians and the Muslims) began fighting because people in their cars wanted to pass through and the protesters had blocked the highway,” the security source said.
About 20 people were injured and five cars were burned during in the latest sectarian flare-up.
In downtown Cairo hundreds of Christian protesters, carrying wooden crosses and some wearing glow-in-the-dark crucifixes brought another major highway to a halt.
There have been previous flashpoints between Muslims and Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the 80 million population.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council that is governing the country after Hosni Mubarak quit, said the army would rebuild the church before the Easter holidays.
The governor refused to rebuild the church where it stood. Who will win that… “row?”
Qur’an 4:34 attaches a woman’s value to obedience (“good women are obedient”), and gives men the right — from Allah’s own command — to beat (yes, beat) women from whom they “fear disobedience.” The spirit of that verse is alive and well in those who turned out to grope, shove, belittle, and shout at the relatively few women who dared participate in the “Million Woman March” in Cairo.
The Qur’an also sets a woman’s testimony as worth half that of a man (2:282), another clear impediment to assuming a position of authority. And Muhammad himself pronounced that women are “deficient in religion and intellect,” and comprise the majority of those spending eternity in hellfire (Sahih Bukhari 1.6.301, 4.54.464).
In other words, the thugs in Tahrir Square yesterday weren’t making this stuff up, underscoring the true challenge for meaningful reforms of women’s rights in Egypt. More on this story. “Egyptian million woman march ends with a gunshot,” by Ekram Ibrahim for Ahram Online, March 8:
Today, on International Woman’s Day, Egyptian men and women activists organized a Million Woman March for women’s rights in Tahrir Square, which turned into a violent scene of confrontation.
“We are not convinced by the amendments of the constitution as they don’t give women the right to run for presidential elections, and there are still no equal rights,” said Reem Shahin, a member of the Million Woman March movement.
The Million Woman March started with activists sharing flyers and their ideas with other people in Tahrir. The ideas of the movement were not acceptable to the majority of the people. “I feel people are disgraceful, they don’t want equal rights for women,” Yasmine Perni, an Italian photographer participating in the march told Ahram Online. Perni had a long conversation with a koshary seller who told her that she is well off and does not need money and for that reason she should not voice her opinion. He also argued that women should stay at home and not engage in political life. The conversation became aggressive and the man started ripping up the flyers of the movement and throwing them on the ground.
People were standing in groups and the majority of conversations were tense. “Egyptian women are too emotional. They are different from western ladies,” Mahmoud Ahmed told Ahram Online.
Others rejected the ideas of the march because of religious backgrounds. “We rule by the Quran and the Quran does not allow a woman to rule men,” said Mustafa Tarek to Ahram Online.
Meanwhile, as a group of activists stood side-by-side holding banners of the movement calling for equality, another group of male protesters came from the other side to disrupt the march. As males and females activists chanted “Men and women, one hand,” “Muslims and Christian, one hand,” the other group described as “thugs” chanted “No, no, the people want women to step down,” and “The Quran is our ruler.”
It was a shouting match more than a dialogue, with neither side hearing the other. The thugs became insulting and aggressive, but the majority of the activists insisted on staying. The thugs then became violent and started pushing and harassing some women. Activists ran away to Qasr El Aini street, thugs running after them until they reached a point where the army was stationed. The army fired in the air, and the thugs ran away. The army sent soldiers to accompany home girls who had been harassed. “I got harassed by those thugs, I don’t know what to say,” said an activist female who preferred to remain anonymous. She was very angry and called on everyone to leave Tahrir Square and not to return, at least for today.
Feminist activist Mona Ezzat who participated in the march thinks that this is a result of culture created by the old Egyptian regime. “This is a natural product of the long years of dictatorship and the absence of culture in Egypt,” Ezzat told Ahram Online. She also thinks that the disruptive people were thugs and do not therefore represent the majority of Egyptians.
Most people in Tahrir Square believe that the old regime pays thugs as one of their counter-revolution techniques. “They come here every day and try to disperse our demonstration in Tahrir Square. The same faces every day,” said Osama Motawea, one of the demonstrators who sleeps in Tahrir Square every night.
The marchers left in sadness, shock and fear. “It is very intimidating, that Women’s International Day ends this way. Women were here every day during the revolution standing hand in hand with men,” Sara Rifaat told Ahram Online….
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