JihadWatch.com
Will the Islamophobia never end? "Another Copt Killed as Alleged Shooters Plead Not Guilty in Egypt," from Compass Direct News, February 16:
ISTANBUL, February 16 (CDN) -- Three men accused of killing six Coptic worshipers and a security guard pleaded not guilty on Saturday (Feb. 13) as the Coptic community mourned the loss of yet another victim of apparent anti-Christian violence.The three men allegedly sprayed a crowd with gunfire after a Christmas service in Nag Hammadi on Jan. 6. In addition to the seven that were killed, nine others were wounded. The killings were the worst act of anti-Coptic violence since January 2000, when 20 Copts were killed in sectarian fighting in Al-Kosheh.
Defendants Mohammed al-Kammuni, Qorshi Abul Haggag and Hendawi Sayyed appeared Saturday in an emergency security court in Qena, a city 39 miles (63 kilometers) north of Luxor.
In front of the packed courtroom, the three men said little at the hearing other than to enter their plea before Judge Mohammed Adul Magd, according to one attorney present at the hearing. The men are charged with premeditated murder, public endangerment and damaging property.
Numerous Muslim attorneys volunteered to defend them for free as seven attorneys representing the interests of the victims looked on. The next hearing is set for March 20.
Even as the men entered their pleas, the Coptic community mourned the loss of yet another Christian, this one shot dead by police. On the evening of Feb. 9, Malak Saad, a 25-year-old Coptic carpenter living in Teta in Menoufia Province, was walking outside a meeting hall that police had seized from Christians when he was shot through his chest at close range. He died instantly.
Scant details are known about the shooting. Police surrounded the entire village and closed it to all reporters. In a statement, officials at the Interior Ministry said the Saad was killed by mistake when a bullet discharged while a police guard was cleaning his weapon. The Interior Ministry said the shooter has been detained and will be tried in a military court. Such courts are traditionally closed to the public.
One of Saad's cousins, who requested anonymity, disputed the Interior Ministry's version of the incident. He said that the guard had used the bathroom inside the meeting hall and had come outside of the building when he exchanged a few words with Saad and shot him at close range. The bullet went completely through Saad's chest.
The building in question had been Coptic-owned for 16 years, but two days prior to the shooting, police seized it after a group of Muslims started a rumor that the owners planned to convert the hall into a church building.
Disputes over worship venues are common in Egypt. Copts and other Christians are extremely restricted in opening or even maintaining houses of worship because of complex government statutes. Anti-Christian elements within Egyptian society often use the statutes to harass Christians, Christian leaders said....
Sharia forbids dhimmis to build new houses of worship or repair old ones. Even though Egypt is not a Sharia state, that is what is behind these "complex government statutes."
Another murder that is directly attributable to islam, mohamed and the Koran, “The religion of peace and tolerance.” Exhibit #38999877790xz
Which channel and in which nation will they mention this casualty , fallen Christian in this unmentionable war which islam continues to wage across our globe?
Shame
Are there Muslims out there who are ashamed of the Islamic persecution of the Copts in Egypt? Maybe not, or those Muslims wouldn't be Muslims anymore, they'd have left Islam by now...There seems to be little shame in Egypt over this long ongoing oppression and slow-motion destruction of the Copts.
In Sahih Bukhari, the most canonical of hadith collections, Muhammad said, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him."
Meanwhile, the latest news from Pakistan, as reported in the Indian Press:
Three Sikhs beheaded by Taliban in Pak
22 Feb 2010
NEW DELHI: In what threatens to cast a shadow on the upcoming Indo-Pakistan talks scheduled for February 25, three Sikh youths were beheaded by
the Taliban in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) region after they allegedly refused to convert to Islam. Their severed heads were dumped at a gurudwara in Peshawar.
The Sikh youths — identified as Jaspal Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Baronat Singh — had gone to realise the money owed to them by some people in the FATA region adjoining Afghanistan, when they were abducted by the Taliban militia. They were allegedly told by the Taliban to embrace Islam or face death. When the Sikh youth refused, their heads were chopped and sent to the Bhai Joga Singh Gurudwara in Peshawar.
A sizeable number of Sikhs lived in the tribal belt, particularly Aurakzai Agency, till the Taliban imposed jiziya or religious tax on them in 2009. Most members of the community, faced with increasing pressure from the Taliban to convert to Islam, have since fled to cities across Pakistan.I once visited the central, modern Cairo synagogue. I also visited several churches. What disturbed me was the presence of soldiers outside every non-Muslim place of worship. The message was quite strong that Egypt poses danger for every non-Muslm present in the country. Maybe not from every Egyptian; but the message was strong that it's a dangerous country for al kufar.
Egypt's Christians usually have crosses tatooed on their wrists. Was this custom developed to identify those stolen as infants from Muslim "superiors"?
I met there a Copt who was visiting from Australia. He said "I am here because of people like THAT!" as he pointed to a huge, hijab-swathed Muslimah. "They make it very bad for us," he added.
I understand that Egyptian Christians can not even get a repair done to any of their places of worship without permission from the land's president. Don't even mention the erection of new churches.
Rest in peace, Malak Saad.
Disputes over worship venues are common in Egypt. Copts and other Christians are extremely restricted in opening or even maintaining houses of worship because of complex government statutes.
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Straight from the 7th-century Pact of Umar, which forbids the building and maintaining of Christian and Jewish places of worship.
Hugh wrote, citing the article from Pakistan:
The Sikh youths — identified as Jaspal Singh, Sarabjit Singh and Baronat Singh — had gone to realise the money owed to them by some people in the FATA region adjoining Afghanistan, when they were abducted by the Taliban militia.
...............
This may of course be unrelated, but how often do you hear of some non-Muslim being attacked or murdered when they ask for money that is owed them by Muslims? Many Muslims believe that they should not be liable for any money owed to Infidels—that it is their right to pillage the goods and labor of any non-Muslims.
Here's just one such case, also from Pakistan:
"Pakistan: Abuse, death of 12-year-old girl highlights plight of Christian domestic workers
...reported the case of Shazia Bashir, 12, who was employed for the past eight months as a domestic worker in the household of Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem, a lawyer and former president of the Lahore Bar Association.
Local Christians say that during that period the girl was the victim of constant harassment, and that she was raped and tortured before she was killed...the girl worked under constant stress and experienced emotional and psychological trauma. She was also denied the agreed salary (Rs 1,000 or about US$ 12 per month).
Shazia "would get insults whenever she raised the subject of payment," the Christian activist said.
Jim Foster wrote:
Egypt's Christians usually have crosses tatooed on their wrists. Was this custom developed to identify those stolen as infants from Muslim "superiors"?
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I believe you're right, Jim—here's a claim that these tattoos serve to discourage Muslim abductions:
...but as our Coptic friends explained to us, those tattoos serve another purpose. They make it harder for Muslim extremists to kidnap their children and force them to convert to Islam, including forced marriages of young Christian girls to Muslim men. It’s hard to cut those crosses out of the thin skin over the veins in a human wrist.
replied to comment from Jim Foster | February 21, 2010 8:14 PM | Reply No every Egyption will not attack a church, but remember the figure they keep trotting out? 95% of the muslims are peaceful. well the 5% are the ones you have to watch out. If egypt has a population of 100 million then 5% will be 5 millions muslims ready to cut your infidal throat at the drop of a hat. but the main problem is when these 5% violent muslims do attack the other 95% gets out the way, and ready to carry out the spoils
replied to comment from gravenimage | February 21, 2010 8:45 PM | Reply Graven, thanks for the informative response.
Here is a blurb about Iraqi Muslims' destruction of Ezekiel's tomb:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3832780,00.html
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Egyptian law is required to be "modelled" on the Shari'a. That is, the Shari'a is the unattainable ideal -- but it's the ideal.