An Egyptian friend writes that Osama bin Laden’s lieutenant and the “brains” behind al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has released a new, three-part letter titled “Message of Hope and Glad Tidings to Our People in Egypt,” which has yet to be released in full but is being reported in the media. Among other rantings, in its second part, it demonizes and incites violence against Egypt’s Coptic Christians, the largest remaining religious minority in the Middle East. My friend also gives more details on the murder in Upper Egypt, the southern part of the country (the Nile flows north), of Fr. Daoud Botrous, a Coptic priest (some say Orthodox, others say he was Catholic), who was stabbed and then reportedly beheaded. Yesterday, the AP reported the following about this murder: “A fellow clergyman, Danoub Thabet, says his body had several stab wounds. He says neighbours reported seeing several masked men leaving the apartment and shouting ‘Allahu akbar,’ or ‘God is great,’ suggesting the killing was motivated by the divide between Egypt’s Muslims and its minority Coptic community.”
My friend’s letter follows:
I spoke with my family this morning and they reported disturbing news from Asyut, Upper Egypt. Catholic Father Daoud (David) from Musha (pronounced: moo-sha) was brutally murdered in his Asyut home in Upper Egypt. Father Daoud was alone in his home at the time of his killing as his family was abroad (not sure which country). The attackers beheaded Father Daoud after they killed him with knives and robbed his home.
Today, there was a possible casing by a Muslim individual of an area with predominately Christian residents. Residents confronted this individual and physically beat him. He used his cell phone to contact someone, resulting in the arrival of a large crowd of armed Muslims.
Both Christian and Muslim religious leaders intervened and prevented a potentially violent clash between the two groups.
Separately, Al-Qa’ida’s number two leader . . . Egyptian born Ayman al- Zawahiri has issued (actually yet to be released!!!!) a three-part message commenting on events in Egypt. In his second part of the message series, Zawahiri spends considerable time inciting violence against Coptic Christians and the Coptic Church. Zawahiri stated that Copts were one of the main problems leading to the situation facing Egypt today. Zawahiri alleged that Copts have aspirations to form a separate State with Asyut being its capital. He calls [Coptic Orthodox] Pope Shenouda a Zionist traitor who invited America to intervene in Egypt’s affairs in collusion with the “traitor Zionist” Mubarak. . . . Zawahiri specifically mentioned the cases of Kamilia Shihata and xxx who converted to Islam, then [were] “kidnapped” by the Coptic church where they are undergoing brainwashing and re-conversion to Christianity. Zawahiri denies Al-Qa’ida’s involvement in the attack against al-Qidissin Church in Alexandria [the Coptic church that was bombed on New Year’s Day], and squarely puts the blame on Mubarak’s government, and on the Christians themselves. He cited Christians in Alexandria showing a movie that hints at Muslims being freed by accepting ’Issa (Jesus) the son of Mary. Zawahiri confuses the name of the Church and says that he thinks it was the St. George’s Church that showed the movie and was also the same church that was bombed.
— Nina Shea is director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.
There was a time when the Christian community was as uncivilized as the Muslim community; both sought to defend their people and their faith with violence as necessary, wars were fought, and in the end, there was a kind of balance based on the MAD principle (Mutually Assured Destruction).
But the Christian community has, by and large, become pacifist. They are civilized, defending their faith with words, not violence. When one side eschews violence, while the other wields it, the violence wins; some might say that passive resistance can defeat violent evil, but that is only if there is a stronger force that can be wielded by those who are swayed by the passive resistance.
Sit-ins in the south would have been useless, had they not motivated a majority to use police force and the power of government to change things. And there's no indication that Egypt, or other Muslim-majority countries, are going to be swayed by the plight of the minority Christian community and step in to save them from the Muslim majority that will likely take over the governments.
Where does this leave us? Frankly, if one side promises violence to the death in order to push their views, how else CAN it end? Either they are victorious, or they are violently decimated to the point where they decide they really didn't want to die as a culture.
But who is there to even give the THREAT of such action which might itself convince them to stop the violence? Certainly not the United States. Probably not Israel. The U.N. is silent, or at best impotent. Europe has their own problems of appeasement. Russia has some skin in the fight, but is hardly showing signs of wanting to change the status quo.
Iraq and Saudi Arabia may be the only powers left who both care enough, and have any ability, to stop the violence. Did you ever think you might be hanging the fate of the christian minority of the middle east on those two countries?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"There was a time when the Christian community was as uncivilized as the Muslim community; both sought to defend their people and their faith with violence as necessary, wars were fought, and in the end, there was a kind of balance based on the MAD principle (Mutually Assured Destruction)"
You are so misinformed Mr Charles that in your instance I would favor censoring of the internet. It is statements such as yours that create confusion among people who are trying to figure out what Islam is.
You tell me where in the Bible it calls for killing of people who are not Christians. But in the Koran it actually says that people who are not Muslims must be killed or enslaved and their possessions confiscated.
While the Bible verses are the inspired words of God, the Koran is literally the word God. It is not open to interpretation. And they did kill Christians, seize their lands and enslaved them. This is what led to the 1st Crusade. Start reading your history!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse