The Atlantic: 'The Actual War on Christians - Egypt's Copts are under attack'

A fearless and essential article in a major publication exposes the systemic persecution of Coptic Christians by Muslims in Egypt. These lessons apply to wherever Christians live under Islamic rule.

Read and share widely...


The Actual War on Christians - Egypt's Copts are under attack
by Samuel Tadros, The Atlantic, December 17, 2016:

A nun cries as she stands at the scene inside Cairo's Coptic cathedral, following a bombing, in Egypt December 11, 2016

...Being a Copt was never a simple matter of attending different places of worship, but rather a salient feature shaping their lives. A Copt was a Dhimmi—the Islamic term used to refer to Christians and Jews, which means “protected person”—a tolerated second-class citizen, constantly reminded of his inferiority, and expected to behave.

Even at the height of Egypt’s experiment with liberalism from 1923 to 1952, a Copt could never escape his Coptic identity, nor, paradoxically, bring it to the public square. Under Egypt’s military rulers the Copts’ plight only worsened.

Despite proclamations of equality by the state, a Copt has never been an equal Egyptian citizen in the eyes of the law. Egyptian laws are, in fact, designed to remind him of his second-class nature.

A Clarifying Moment: ‘Something big is coming, both in France and in Europe… We are still building to the crescendo’

Rod Dreher defines the essence of the 'Clash of Civilizations' about to erupt in a major way:

'We are all the same to the jihadis, and despite our rivalries, we had better think of ourself as on Russia’s side in this epic battle.'

Dreher also relates a Frenchman’s assessment of the rising wave of Islamic jihad in Europe: 

“Europeans are fed up with Muslims and with the migrant horde… people back home — even at the left-wing grassroots — have had enough of the multiculturalism lie.”

All signs indicate a crisis point being reached very soon, a tipping point, with an open “clash of civilizations” exploding across Europe and the Middle East.

In America, the incoming Trump administration should be able to blunt the worst of it through a freeze on Muslim immigration and aggressive prosecution of jihad plots and seditious mosques, but the global jihad is here as well, as the ever growing number of 'known wolf' Muslim terror attacks and plots attest.


Jihadis vs. ‘Christendom’
by Rod Dreher, The American Conservative, December 19, 2016

This is a clarifying moment. Yesterday I found myself at a public event sitting next to a French man who lives here in Louisiana. We were talking geopolitics.

He told me he reads the French media closely, and says that something big is coming, both in France and in Europe.

“We are still building to the crescendo,” he said, explaining that Europeans are fed up with Muslims and with the migrant horde. He said we probably won’t like what we get, but that people back home — even at the left-wing grassroots — have had enough of the multiculturalism lie.

So, why clarifying?

Updates on the Cairo Jihad Bombing at St Mark's Coptic Cathedral

Possible links to both the Islamic State AND the Muslim Brotherhood... Four arrested by Egyptian police in connection with the investigation.

Follow the links below for full stories...


Islamic State claims responsibility for church bombing, Egypt says bomber was Muslim Brotherhood supporter, Jihad Watch, December 13, 2016:

The bomber could have been both a Muslim Brotherhood supporter and a supporter of the Islamic State. Although rivals, the two have the same outlook and goals, and the bomber was from one or the other... 

Trump names the enemy: 'Islamic terrorists continuously slaughter Christians…as part of their global jihad'

Vows to carry out 'mission' to 'eradicate' Islamic terrorists and their networks 'from the face of the earth'.

If Obama was the anti-Constantine, marginalizing and denigrating Christians while defending and advancing Islam, refusing to even name the enemy ('Islamic terrorism' and its 'global jihad'), President-elect Donald Trump has clearly set his course as defender of 'freedom-loving' peoples, and of Christians in particular.

UPDATE: Trump and Putin, in phone conversations last month, indicated that they would “tackle ISIS together.” Following the murder of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to obliterate the Islamic State.

As he has done even since before announcing his candidacy, Mr. Trump continues to clearly name the enemy, the essential first step in defeating it.


President-Elect Donald Trump Reacts to Berlin Truck Attack
by Brendan Morrow, Heavy, December 19, 2016 (h/t Jihad Watch):

President-Elect Donald Trump has issued a statement after at least nine people were killed and 50 injured in a truck attack in Berlin, Germany.

This incident occurred on Monday at a crowded Christmas market in Germany’s capital. The assault is reminiscent of another truck attack that took place in Nice, France in July; ISIS claimed responsibility for that Nice attack, but it’s not yet clear whether Monday’s attack was inspired by ISIS.

In his statement, President-Elect Trump cites ISIS and says that Islamic terrorist organizations of its kind must be eradicated. While running for president, Trump repeatedly promised to use the words “radical Islamic terror,” distinguishing himself from President Barack Obama, who generally avoids this kind of language as to not give the impression that groups like ISIS are a representation of Islam.

Here is the president-elect’s statement:

Jihad All the Way... Russian Ambassador assassinated in Turkey, Truck plows into crowd in Berlin, killing at least nine

Islamic jihad attacks accelerate as Christian Feast of the Nativity draws near.

The Muslim suicide bombing at a Coptic church in the St Mark's Cathedral complex in Cairo, Egypt, has inaugurated another wave of Islamic jihad terrorism:

The Muslim jihad assassin,screaming 'Allahu Akbar', gun in hand, and left index finger raised in show of ISIS solidarity, moments after shooting to death the Russian ambassador to Turkey (at right).

Turkey: Muslim screaming “Allahu akbar” murders Russian ambassador at photo exhibit; 'The ambassador, Andrei Karlov, was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition in the capital, Ankara, when a man wearing a suit and tie shouted “Allahu Akbar” and fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience...'

Berlin police says at least nine dead, 50 injured, after truck plows into crowded Christmas market; Attack is identical in method to jihad attack in Nice, France earlier this year. ISIS had issued a call for Muslims to use any and all means to wage jihad, with guns, knives, vehicles, bombs...

Coptic Bishop Angaelos of the UK: 'Forgiveness is by no means synonymous with ignoring justice'

"As Christians, we also believe in forgiveness, but forgiveness is by no means synonymous with ignoring justice. Forgiveness ensures that our own hearts are not entangled in a web of anger and resentment, or corrupted by feelings of hatred or revenge. Forgiveness is ultimately liberating and empowering, but at the same time, justice is essential; not for the purposes of punishment, but to secure and protect our societies in which people must respectfully live side by side."


Bishop Angaelos comments a day after the brutal bombing and murder of 25 people in St Peter’s Coptic Orthodox Church – Cairo
Coptic Orthodox Church-UK via OCP Media,  12/12/16

Link includes embedded video of Bishop Angaelos on the BBC

HG Bishop Angaelos comments a day after brutal bombing and murder of 25 people in St Peter’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Cairo.
Today is a day of many emotions: sadness, nervousness, uncertainty, and understandably even anger at times. That is because yesterday was a day in which we witnessed the worst of humanity, when innocent women and children who decided to worship their God in their spiritual home had their lives needlessly and senselessly ended without warning. They were used as pawns; a means to an end. To the perpetrators of this heinous crime, their lives clearly held no greater value than scribbles on a strategic page; a plan that was to be executed for a cause to which they were merely incidental, collateral damage. Yesterday we saw beautiful lives lost, families separated and broken, and whole communities grieving; a truly painful time that has not only affected Coptic Christians, but Egyptian society at large, Muslims and Christians alike, and millions around the world.

Crimes will always be perpetrated and criminals will continue to exist, but such a strategic, vicious act is difficult to comprehend. It is indeed difficult to understand how a person might plan and execute such a horrific, ruthless and barbaric plot against innocent women and children. The only way to do this is to completely disregard the relevance, value and sanctity of any life potentially affected by these actions.

In recent decades, we have seen recurring acts of violence against Christians and Christian communities in Egypt. Time and time again, very few, if any, perpetrators have been brought to justice, and we subsequently continue to witness an escalation of these attacks. This is not a matter of blame, but accountability, with an expectation that barbaric acts such as these should never occur, but if they do, that their perpetrators are rightly and fairly held to account. This is not a call for vengeance, but a deterrent against similar future plans and aspirations.

The Coptic Cathedral Jihad Massacre, and the Call to Forgiveness

In the aftermath of the horrific bombing at St Peter's Church, in St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, in which at least 27 Coptic churchgoers were killed, nearly all of them women and children, we all struggle with our emotional reactions, ranging from deep sorrow, grief and despair, to righteous anger, and perhaps even hate and a desire for vengeance.

I was reminded of the below post from April 2015, not long after ISIS beheaded 21 Coptic Christian men on the Libyan shore and broadcast the video to the world, and thought to re-post it in its entirety.

The Muslim jihad slaughter of women and children in the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo is yet another bloody reminder that we live in an age of mass martyrdom of Christians, where Christians are killed simply because they are followers of Jesus Christ. Let us therefore truly be followers of Jesus Christ, our Lord and True God, who said:

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven..." (MT 5:11-12)

'Let Us Forgive All, By The Resurrection'

If we’re going to claim to be Christians and worship Jesus Christ and proclaim His Resurrection, we can’t just sing the beautiful hymns of Pascha and not live by them.

Facing Islam Blog, April 20, 2015

'Be not faithless, but believing!'

My priest gave an astounding sermon on Thomas Sunday. In the midst of proclaiming the historical truth of the Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb, he challenged us all in a way we might never have been challenged before, especially in our age of near universal apostasy and “soft” persecution in the West, and of harsh and bloody persecution in the Middle East and throughout the entire Islamic world around the globe.

I wish I had a video for you, but you’ll have to trust my feeble paraphrase.

He said, in effect, “We can’t just sing these beautiful hymns week after week, and ignore what they actually say. They challenge us to forgive. This is the very heart of the Gospel.” 

He was referring especially to the Paschal Stichera ("Let God Arise..."), which in an ecstatic outpouring proclaims the following:

“Let us call ‘Brothers’ even those who hate us! And forgive all, by the Resurrection…”

‘O Allah, Kill the Despicable Christians’: Muslim Persecution of Christians, August 2016

Majed el-Shafie, who was imprisoned and tortured for apostatizing years back in Egypt, wants the world to know that “ISIS is not the problem.” As proof he recounted his experiences—not at the hands of ISIS but Egyptian authorities: “They shaved my head, they put my head in freezing cold water and then into boiling hot water. They burned their cigarettes on me, they electrocuted me. They cut me and put salt in my wounds. I still wake with nightmares about it, even now 20 years on.”

New Boko Haram leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi announced that Christians are now target #1.

‘O Allah, Kill the Despicable Christians’: Muslim Persecution of Christians, August 2016
by Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute, November 20, 2016:

Islamic hate for Christians was on constant display throughout the month of August. Shortly after an 80-year-old Catholic priest in France was slaughtered by Muslims who stormed his church during mass, the 16-year-old Muslim son of an Islamic cleric living in Belgium made and posted a video on social media. In the video he appears walking along the main street of the Belgian city of Verviers during recent Ramadan while making prayers to Allah, including: “Allah, kill the despicable Christians. Allah, kill each and every last one of them…” According to Immigration Minister Theo Francken: “It’s obvious that his father, the imam, is promoting such ideas not just to fighters to join the battle in Syria, but also to his own children. The young man who appears in the video reflects the father’s views, and I understand and empathize with the great concern that city residents have over this.” A deportation order was last reported as pending a court appeal.

Similarly, in the August edition of Dabiq, ISIS’ propaganda magazine, the jihadi organization urged Muslims to destroy the “arrogant Christian disbelievers” and urged them to “pray for Allah’s curse to be upon the liars.” ISIS also threatened Christians to “break the cross.” Those who do and convert to Islam will “enter the Gardens of Paradise,” and those who reject Islam and cling to the cross will die in a “futile” war against ISIS.

As if the Christians of Nigeria weren’t persecuted enough by Muslim groups such as Boko Haram, the new leader of that terrorist organization, which was also known for killing nonconformist Muslims, announced that Christians are now its number one and primary target, and that Boko Haram will continue to “bomb churches and kill Christians while ending attacks on mosques and markets used by ordinary Muslims.” Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the new leader, also spoke of “booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach, and killing all of those who we find from the citizens of the Cross.”

The experiences of Muslim converts to Christianity in Egypt continue to speak for themselves. After Muhammad Hegazi’s nine-year long battle with authorities—that began when he asked that his religion be changed to Christianity on his Egyptian ID card and ended with him being arrested and tortured for years—Islam’s honor was restored, though in a way held suspect by many rights activists in Egypt. Hegazi made a brief video announcing his return to Islam and praising Muhammad, adding “I say this out of my complete free will. I am not being held by any agency, nor am I under any pressure of any kind.”

And Majed el-Shafie, who was imprisoned and tortured for apostatizing years back in Egypt, wants the world to know that “ISIS is not the problem.” As proof he recounted his experiences—not at the hands of ISIS but Egyptian authorities: “They shaved my head, they put my head in freezing cold water and then into boiling hot water. They burned their cigarettes on me, they electrocuted me. They cut me and put salt in my wounds. I still wake with nightmares about it, even now 20 years on.”

The remainder of August’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians—all of which was not committed by ISIS—includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Let us honor and exalt the Holy Coptic Neo-Martyrs of the Cairo Cathedral Jihad Attack

The world calls them 'victims', but we Christians call them 'Victors', for they loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and did not allow threats of persecution and murder by the enemies of mankind to keep them from confessing their faith in Him.

These photos show us 'normal' looking women, from late teens to their 50s and 60s, both young and mature. When they awakened on Sunday morning, they no doubt did not expect that this was the day they would pay the ultimate price for their faith in Christ.

But unlike the foolish rich man in the Lord's parable (LK 12:15-21), these women were found in the Church when their time came. Sunday morning, they faithfully went to the Divine Liturgy, giving thanks to the Lord. They put the Lord first, on the Lord's Day, and they were killed in the Church, during the Divine Liturgy, so their holy Guardian Angels immediately conducted their souls straight to the Lord.

And we in the West, who sometimes struggle to rouse ourselves to even attend the Liturgy, or are chronically slothful and tardy, can we even imagine what it is like for our brothers and sisters in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, and all through the Islamic world, where they do not know if they will be the ones next to be killed, raped, beheaded, crucified or tortured for their faith in Jesus Christ?

So let us gain strength and courage from all our martyred sisters and brothers, who were faithful to the Lord to the end, and who have received the crowns of martyrdom, and thus live to intercede for us lowly ones.

Let us honor and exalt the Holy Coptic Neo-Martyrs, and all the 21st Century New Martyrs under the bloody sword of Islam, who are joining that 'great cloud of witnesses' in the heavenly kingdom!

And let us, at least, vow to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ even unto death, and to be found in the bosom of His Holy Church.

Remembering the Victims of the Cairo Cathedral Terror Attack
Egyptian Streets, December 12, 2016:

On Monday morning, Egypt’s Ministry of Health released the names and ages of 23 people who were killed in a terror attack that targeted a chapel connected to St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo.

Below are the translated names of 23 victims. A 24th victim remains unidentified as the death toll increased after the statement. Photographs of some victims were also found shared by their loved ones and friends on social media...

Raymond Ibrahim: 'Egypt’s Deadliest Church Attack'

Update, analysis, and context on the December 11, 2016 bombing of the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt.

Highlights:

• "In death toll and severity, this attack surpasses what was formerly considered the deadliest church attack in Egypt: a New Year’s Day bombing of a church in Alexandria that killed 23 people in 2011. 

• "Yesterday’s attack was also symbolically more significant:  St. Peter’s Church is attached to and used by St. Mark’s Cathedral, the seat of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Christian church and home to its leader, Pope Tawadros II.

• "Although Western and English language media do not report them, there have been several minor and unsuccessful terror attacks on churches in Egypt in recent weeks and months."

• There are many instances of "moderate", ordinary Muslims persecuting their Christian neighbors. In one recent case in Minya, 80 Christian homes were burnt down by the Muslim 'neighbors', with Muslim "women and children shouting 'Allahu Akbar!' and 'We’ll burn the church, we’ll burn the church'."

Egypt’s Deadliest Church Attack
by Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute, December 12, 2016:

The worst attack on Egypt’s Christian minority in recent years occurred yesterday, Sunday, December 11, 2016. St. Peter Cathedral in Cairo, packed with worshippers celebrating Sunday mass, was bombed; at least 27 churchgoers, mostly women and children, were killed and 65 severely wounded. As many of the wounded are in critical condition, the death toll is expected to rise.

As usual, witnesses say that state security was not present and that police took an inordinate amount of time to arrive after the explosion. Preliminary investigations point to a bomb placed inside an unattended lady’s purse on one of the rear pews of the women’s section.

Mutilated bodies were strewn along the floor and pews of the cathedral. “I found bodies, many of them women, lying on the pews. It was a horrible scene,” said one witness.

“I saw a headless woman being carried away,” said Mariam Shenouda: “Everyone was in a state of shock. We were scooping up people’s flesh off the floor. There were children. What have they done to deserve this? I wish I had died with them instead of seeing these scenes.”

In death toll and severity, this attack surpasses what was formerly considered the deadliest church attack in Egypt: a New Year’s Day bombing of a church in Alexandria that killed 23 people in 2011.

Yesterday’s attack was also symbolically more significant: St. Peter’s Church is attached to and used by St. Mark’s Cathedral, the seat of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Christian church and home to its leader, Pope Tawadros II.

It is to President Sisi’s shame that the deadliest church attack in Egypt occurred on his watch. Yet it is also unsurprising considering how little has really changed for Egypt’s Christians since Sisi ousted Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in 2012.