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Egypt’s Grief-Stricken Christians Fear a New Wave of Persecution Following Death of Pope Shenouda III

03/20/2012 4 comments

“The death of Pope Shenouda III, who led Egypt’s Coptic Christian Church for 40 years, has increased fears among Copts that they will face persecution and discrimination as Islamic parties become more powerful.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners, many crying, packed the streets around St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo yesterday as they waited to file past the body of Pope Shenouda, dressed in ceremonial robes and sitting in the papal chair. Ashraf, 26, a blacksmith, said as he stood beside the outer wall of the cathedral that ‘the very existence of Shenouda made us feel protected’.

A tired-looking woman, who would not give her name, was sitting on the pavement holding a child. She said: ‘I wish I could get in to see the body. I feel worse that our protector has gone. God knows what is going to happen.’

Egypt’s Copts, estimated to number 10 to 12 million, complain that they are treated as second-class citizens and denied top jobs. They had hoped that the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year would reduce discrimination, but now fear their condition may worsen as the Muslim Brotherhood and the fundamentalist Salafi movement, which together have 70 per cent of the seats in the newly elected parliament, gain greater influence.

Pope Shenouda, 88, was famous as a cautious Coptic leader, all-powerful within his community, who for four decades had dealt with the Egyptian government. Born in Assiut, in upper Egypt, he was careful to give support to President Mubarak. He was briefly stripped of his temporal powers by President Anwar Sadat in 1981, for accusing the government of being tolerant of extreme Islam…

The Coptic Orthodox Church is a branch of Christianity founded in Egypt, but has devotees across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The apostle Mark is believed to have visited Egypt country in 50AD.” Read more.

Egyptian Cleric Wagdi Ghoneim Praises Allah for the Death of Pope Shenouda III: ‘May Allah Exact Revenge from Him in the Hellfire‘ – “Praise be to Allah. With the grace of Allah, the head of unbelief and polytheism, known as Shenouda, died yesterday, may Allah exact revenge from him. God’s worshippers and the trees and the animals were all relieved by his death. Egypt is relieved by his [death], because he generated sectarian strife… This dead accursed criminal, known as Shenouda, was told that the Koran says, in Surat Al-Maida: ‘And [beware the day] when Allah will say: Oh Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people: Take me and my mother as gods beside Allah?’ [Shenouda] said: ‘We don’t take Christ and his mother as gods beside Allah. He Is God.’ … Are we supposed to send condolences or be sad about someone like this? We should be happy that he died. Let him go to Hell. May Allah exact revenge from him in the Hellfire – from him and from all those who follow his path.” Source – MEMRI.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War Tags:

U.S. Funding for Egyptian Military to Resume, Senior Administration Officials Say

03/20/2012 Leave a comment

Looks like extortion against the United States from Israel’s new “first enemy” will pay off. Despite threats to the contrary, the Islamists will gladly accept $1.5 billion in US military aid and taxpayer dollars, especially if it means that the Egyptian military will be even stronger the day Islamists take full control.  It’ll make their plans to “one day kill all Jews” that much easier …

By William Wan – “The Obama administration intends to resume funding for Egypt’s military, despite congressional restrictions and objections from human rights and democracy advocates.

For months, the money for Egypt — more than $1.5 billion, with the bulk earmarked for the military — has been withheld amid that country’s crackdown on pro-democracy groups, including several U.S.-based organizations with close ties to political parties in Washington.A law passed by Congress in December forbids funding unless the State Department certifies that Egypt is making progress on basic freedoms and human rights.

But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is close to announcing plans to bypass those restrictions on national security grounds, according to senior administration officials and others who have been briefed on the deliberations but were not authorized to speak publicly. The administration believes failure to provide the funds would risk worsening already fraying ties with Egypt’s leaders, most notably the Egyptian military, which still controls the country.

Under the plan, which could be announced as early as next week and was first reported Friday by the New York Times, Egypt would not receive the full $1.5 billion all at once, as has been the practice for decades. The administration would instead dole out the funds in smaller portions to preserve leverage over Egyptian authorities, officials said. The plan would also allow for the continuation of U.S. defense contracts that provide American jobs.” Read more.

Egypt: Islamist-dominated parliament votes to include 50 fellow Islamists on 100-member panel to write new constitution – “Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament voted to include 50 of its lawmakers in a 100-member panel tasked with writing a new constitution, with the remainder coming from other institutions. The results were read by Mohamed Saad el-Katatni, speaker of the lower house of parliament, according to footage of the session posted on the Cabinet’s Facebook page… The makeup of the committee has been the focus of wrangling over the degree of influence Islamist groups will have shaping the constitution… ‘You’re going to agree on 100 people, and then get those 100 people to agree on politically-charged issues that have created a lot of polarization in Egypt: the role of the military, oversight over the military budget, the role of religion in public life, the division of power between parliament and the president,’ Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar, said by phone. ‘That’s a challenge.'” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War