Unpopular Arab Thoughts That All Arabs Have Thought

WASHINGTON, June 29 /Christian Newswire/ — China Aid Association learned from May 27th to 28th 2006, thirty House Church leaders from Langzhong City, Sichuan Province were arrested and forced to pay fines, fourteen received criminal detention after they were brutally abused.

Eyewitnesses and family members of the victims reported to CAA that the raid and arrests happened from 11 AM on May 27th until 9 AM on 28th as this group was attending a church coworker’s fellowship meeting. After the meeting, fifteen members of the Public Security Bureau in 6 police vehicles raided the meeting. Some of the arrested were released on the 28th. The morning of the 29th, fourteen received criminal detention notices. They are Pastors LI Ming, WANG Yuan, LI Jinbo, LI Chengxi, SHI Zhihe, GOU Yongcai, JIN Jiyun, Sister WANG Shuhua, GOU Qingju, KE Xiufang, SUN Changfen, HU Yongju, ZHANG Shulan and LIAO Zhoulan.

Among the fourteen, Pastors LI Ming, WANG Yuan, LI Jinbo and JIN Jiyun are major leaders of the Chinese House Church Alliance. The Chinese House Church Alliance was established in 2004 and is made up of approximately three hundred thousand members from various house church movements scattered across twenty-one provinces.

Eyewitnesses said that during both the arrests and interrogations, the Christians were abused inhumanely by constant heavy beatings. Pastor LI Ming, who is one of the seven top national leaders of the House Church Alliance, was observed to have been beaten and kicked by 6 policemen about his head and abdomen during his arrest.

CAA also learned that in recent weeks a number of house churches from Beijing, Shangdong and Guangdong were forced to close by the local authorities.

“These illegal arrests and detentions are a very disturbing indication of the deteriorating condition of religious freedom in China,” said Bob Fu of CAA. “We call upon the international community to demand that the Chinese government honor their international obligations to respect and protect the religious freedoms of the Chinese citizens.” CAA called for the immediate release of these innocent Christian leaders. Letters of protest and concern can be sent to the Chinese Embassy.

Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong,
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
TEL: 202-7456743
Fax:202- 588-0032 ; 202-7457473
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512

Issued by China Aid Association, Inc. on June 29, 2006

Christian Satellite Network SAT-7 Broadcasts a Series of Programs in the Middle East and North Africa about Male and Female Christian Sports Heroes

NICOSIA, Cyprus, June 26 /Christian Newswire/ — As the World Cup enters the elimination round, Arab viewers eagerly await live telecasts in coffee shops scattered from Marrakech, Morocco to Mosul, Iraq. Interest continues to grow despite the fact that two Arab national teams, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, were recently eliminated.

“Everyone is talking about it,” said Jinan Slim, Acquisitions Manager for SAT-7, the world’s only provider of Christian programming made by and for the people of the Middle East and North Africa. “Egypt recently won the Africa’s Cup so there is a great deal of interest to see how the African teams will do, how individual star players will play, and who will eventually win the World Cup.”

SAT-7 recognized months ago that many of its viewers would be focusing attention on the World Cup and prepared a number of sports programs that will air for a full month in the channel’s daily hour-long From East and West programming block. Most of these World Cup-related programs are documentaries about Christian sports heroes that SAT-7 has dubbed into Arabic. “We wanted to connect to the excitement of the World Cup by broadcasting programs that show what Christ has meant in the lives of some famous soccer players and athletes,” said Slim. SAT-7 believes these films and documentaries will also draw many new viewers to the channel because the topic is so timely.

Programs that will air on SAT-7 during the month-long competition include The Prize by Athletes in Action, which features interviews with soccer players who either currently or formally played for the national teams of Brazil, Ivory Coast, USA, or Korea. There is also a documentary on Tim Howard, goalkeeper for Manchester United and another on Michelle Akers, 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup player of the Century. Other programs include Cross Courts—The Story of Michael Chang, an international tennis player and French Open champion and a documentary about Eric Liddell, the gold medal sprinter in the 1924 Olympics— whose story was told in Chariots of Fire— and a missionary who was martyred in China.

One particularly powerful program SAT-7 will be airing is called Passion and Power, which focuses on successful female athletes in a variety of sports including soccer, golf, tennis, basketball, and horseback riding. Tim Coleman, SAT-7 Regional Director of Development for the Southeast USA was the former Executive Director of Soccer Outreach International, the soccer ministry started by Michelle Akers. Coleman says, “Over 3.5 billion people will watch this year’s World Cup, making it the most watched sporting event in the world. SAT-7 is leveraging that momentum by broadcasting these very timely sport related programs that add a very relevant chapter to our strong history of equipping Christians in the Middle East.”

SAT-7 can be viewed via satellite in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and much of Central Asia. Programming can also be watched worldwide at www.SAT7.org. Through locally-produced Arabic children’s programming, talk shows, teaching programs, music, serial dramas, and documentaries, SAT-7 provides large audiences with a unique opportunity to hear an accurate presentation of Christian truths in their own language through programming created by their own people. Launched in 1996, SAT-7 is an Arabic Christian television service by and for the people of the Middle East and North Africa, and has its U.S. headquarters in Easton, Md.

“Warren Buffett’s philanthropy aims at killing pre-born children not curing childhood disease, eliminating the poor not poverty, destroying the developing world not aiding in development,” states prominent Roman Catholic Priest.
FRONT ROYAL, Va, June 27 /Christian Newswire/ — The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President of Human Life International responds to Warren Buffett’s announcement to donate billions of dollars to the pro-abortion Gates Foundation.

“Warren Buffett’s money has gone to fund the deadly abortion causing drug RU- 486, the production and distribution of portable suction abortion devices in the developing world, organizations that push abortion on developing countries, and among many other radical organizations Buffett’s foundation gave a grant to the Center for Reproductive Rights, an organization that fought bans on partial-birth abortion…

“Warren Buffett, who is not a Roman Catholic, has also donated money to the Anti-Catholic organization Catholics for a free Choice a group that seeks to undermine the Catholic Church’s teachings on the sanctity of human life.

“Warren Buffett’s philanthropy aims at killing pre-born children not curing childhood disease, eliminating the poor not poverty, and destroying the developing world not aiding development.

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have also given millions of dollars to organizations pushing abortion around the world. The merger of Gates and Buffett may spell doom for the families of the developing world.

“Warren Buffett will be known as the Dr. Mengele of philanthropy unless he repents and ceases using tax deductible donations to promote a culture of death and desolation…,” concluded the Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer.

Founded in 1981, Human Life International is the world’s largest pro-life, pro-family organization that is dedicated to defending life, faith and the family, with branches and affiliates around the world.

Khartoum Continues to Deter Deployment of UN Peacekeepers
International Force Urgently Needed to Address Deteriorating Situation on Ground

WASHINGTON, June 26 /Christian Newswire/ — The Genocide Intervention Network today expresses serious concern over the UN’s failure to take meaningful action to end genocide in Darfur. Following the Sudanese government’s outright rejection of an international force in Darfur, the UN continues to compromise the lives of civilians by allowing Khartoum to stall indefinitely on the question of peacekeeping.

After the signing of the Abuja peace deal, the Sudanese government indicated that it might allow a UN force to enter Darfur. Yet in subsequent months, the regime has become increasingly hostile to the idea of such a force. Last Tuesday, President Omar al-Beshir made clear his intentions to renege completely on the pledge to consider an international peacekeeping mission, claiming that he would not allow the country to be “recolonized.”

“These tactics are clearly meant to delay the deployment of a meaningful protection force,” says Rajaa Shakir, Director of Education for the Genocide Intervention Network, “and it appears that the Sudanese government is succeeding.”

The UN originally stated that they intended to begin operating in Darfur this September. That timeline has now been pushed back to January 2007, because of continued posturing by the government of Sudan.

“As the Sudanese government pretends to engage in meaningful dialogue with the United Nations, they are impeding progress toward peace on all fronts,” Shakir adds.

The plans for implementing the Darfur Peace Agreement are far behind schedule, and the government continues to allow the Janjaweed to ravage the people of Darfur.

“It is irresponsible for the United Nations to continue to bend to the will of a genocidal regime,” Shakir says. “They must stop deluding themselves into thinking that they are making progress with the Sudanese government.”

Earlier this week, UN Peacekeeping Chief Jean-Marie Guehenno said, “As long as the government of Sudan does not accept a UN mission, there will not be one. It’s as simple as that.”

“While the UN continues to converse with the government of Sudan, 500 people die each day,” argues Mark Hanis, Executive Director of the Genocide Intervention Network. “The UN must begin organizing a mission for Darfur immediately.”

An international peacekeeping force is urgently needed in Darfur, as the African Union itself acknowledges. “We need to hand over the baton to the UN,” the AU Commission Chairman said following a meeting with a Security Council delegation. “The AU today does not have the resources to be [in Darfur].”

“Monitoring [the Darfur Peace] agreement with only the troops we have now will be a failure,” added another AU official.
Perhaps most outrageously, the government of Sudan yesterday said it could take over the peacekeeping mission from the African Union.

“This is the most contemptible argument yet from the government of Sudan, which has proven it has neither the will nor the ability to reign in the genocidal Janjaweed militias,” Shakir says.

The time has come for the United Nations to stand by its responsibility to protect the civilians of Darfur, the Genocide Intervention Network says. The UN must immediately declare its intention to bring peace and stability to Darfur through an international peacekeeping force, deployed without delay.

The Genocide Intervention Network works to mobilize an anti-genocide constituency in the United States and Canada to raise the costs for inaction by politicians in the face of genocide. Accessible online at www.GenocideIntervention.net, GI-Net empowers its members with the tools to support initiatives that prevent and stop genocidal violence, in particular by protecting civilians in Darfur, Sudan.
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The Genocide Intervention Network works to mobilize an anti-genocide constituency in the United States and Canada to raise the costs for inaction by politicians in the face of genocide. GI-Net empowers its members with the tools to support initiatives that prevent and stop genocidal violence, in particular by protecting civilians in Darfur, Sudan.

MEDIA ADVISORY, June 26 /Christian Newswire/ — Coptic Christian girls and women have been the targets of kidnap, rape and forced marriages by Islamic Fundamentalists in Egypt. According to the research conducted by the American Coptic Union, over 500,000 Coptic females have become victims of this tragedy since 1981. These crimes are part of the silent genocide that is destroying Egypt’s once vibrant Coptic community.

Though concerned family members have reported kidnapping incidents, the US-supported Egyptian regime, led by Hosni Mubarak, ignores the kidnapping of Coptic females while participating in its spread. Many of the victims do not return to their grieving families. Those who do, suffer long-term psychological trauma.

At a New York Council of Churches press conference, held on June 28, 1999, Kees Hulsman, a senior correspondent in Egypt, announced that approximately 15,000 to 20,000 Coptic girls have been kidnapped each year since 1980.

In “Confessions of a Former Islamist,” published by FrontPage Magazine in 2005, Ahmed Awny Shalakamy details his cruel work of drugging, kidnapping and raping Coptic females, and says he was paid by one of the Islamic proselytizing organizations to do this. Shalakamy’s account was first reported by Maria Sliwa of Freedom Now News, who says that the Egyptian Government’s silence in response to these crimes is deafening.

While Egypt has chosen to ignore its 800-year-old traditional laws, which are family laws specifically for Christians, it has opted to implement legislation based on Islamic law (Islamic Shariaa or codes), which discriminates against non-Muslims.

Another discriminatory law in Egypt is Act-290-1992. According to this law, if a female is raped the perpetrator is automatically considered married to her. Christian females have been kidnapped, raped, and forcibly married to their rapists without any government action because of this law. Although the law was slightly changed because of Hillary Clinton’s intervention during her visit to Egypt in 2000, the trend of forced marriages is still ongoing.

The Registration and Documenting Notarization Office in Egypt, legally issues false documents. Two underage Christian sisters, who were kidnapped by a Muslim Sheik, received certificates by this agency identifying them as Muslim. Another certificate that was issued, replaced the name of the sisters’ biological father with that of the Sheik. This application of the discriminatory laws in Egypt assists the perpetrators in their victimization of Coptic females.

Despite the continued requests by the American Coptic Union to U.S. representatives and human rights organizations for their help, the victimization of Coptic females continues.

The American Coptic Union is requesting that the U.S. Government reconsider its relations with Egypt based on Egypt’s escalating human rights violations against Coptic Christians. This sentiment was shared by Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Frank Wolf, and Rep. Thomas Tancredo during a Press Conference on Nov. 9, 2005. U.S. governmental agencies and advocacy organizations such as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the Office of the Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, and Freedom House must revisit and review the Coptic problem as an ongoing and silent genocide.

Imagine that a sick man is lying on an operating table: prone, silent, and doped to the gills. Various machines are beeping and whirring all over the place, and the general atmosphere isn’t the most comforting. Now imagine two doctors looming over him, one on either side, hands ready to plunder the table of glittering instruments. All of a sudden, the men begin arguing about where to make the cut.

“Start it here! We have to start it here!” says one.

“No way! Then we’ll run into all sorts of trouble! Start on the other side, and a little lower!”

“I’m TELLING you, we must start it right here, and at the top!”

The voices escalate, maybe one of them throws a punch. And the patient? He begins to shift restlessly in his “sleep.”

I don’t need to spell out the various elements of danger present here–the likelihood that the patient will come out of his anesthetic cloud too soon (since they took so long discussing what to do), the chance that his condition will actually deteriorate as time goes by, or even that, in their “communicative state,” they might knock him clean off the operating table.

Crazy thing to imagine, isn’t it? Unfortunately, we don’t need to imagine it; it’s happening today, right under our noses, in the Middle East.

Actually, the fight over Egypt’s Copts isn’t just in Egypt. Sad to say, it’s going on in “The Diaspora” (fancy way of saying “Everywhere but Egypt”) and no one seems to know how to stop it.

The Egyptian mentality, I must tell you, is very stubborn and vain. (Generally speaking.) Especially if you happen to be a man. I am sorry, but that’s the way it is.

We Egyptian men always have to be right. We always have to have our way. And if not, it’s “Goodbye Charlie.” I can honestly tell you this because it’s something I have struggled with for many years now, but I am praying to be free from such a Byzantine mentality.

Activists can sometimes go about fixing the problem the wrong way, but more common is the incidence that each one has a good idea that he thinks is the best idea and the only way. This is not the case! We all have good ideas, but we must put them into some semblance of order or else we will never get any of them done.

I want to bring your attention to something. You may or may not have heard of “The New Jersey Conference” that happened last week (The fourth international Coptic Conference of Mr Adly Abadeer and Copts United) but I have read a few accounts of the party, seen footage of the event, and spoken to some people who attended it.

Please do not think that I was pumping these people for information, or that they were spies, but in my line of work, I have to ask the correct questions that give me the best set of facts I can use. Imagine me as an investigator, trying to figure out the events of the night in question. My task was made more difficult when I found out that the accounts conflicted, and that there were the Pro-Copts United people and the totally Anti-Copts United people. This being a group of Egyptians, though, I was not surprised in the least.

From what I could gather, there were many factions present in this conference, as there were in the Washington Conference and the Zurich Conference before that. In this case, Gihad Auda told Saad Eldin Ibrahim (mid-speech) that Saad had misquoted him. They actually scuffled (verbally!) for a few moments, each accusing the other of having forgotten when happened during Auda’s speech. Also, a few hecklers kept saying “Qur’an!” every time a speaker said that the problem in Egypt was anything but Islam’s “Holy Book.” Conference Security reportedly had to come in and tell one of the guys to shut up. How I wish I had been there!!

Other things that I have heard about from other sources included Mob Boss Adly Youssef’s vitriol-laced rantings, and what I call “The Ineffective Resolutions.”

I call them “ineffective” because they never get put into effect. This is the umpteenth time that the Copts have met, and not only has the group shrunken (apparently Youssef does away with all the people he has previously worked with, for not only were Michael Meunier, Megdi Khalil, Milad Eskander, and others absent from the show, but I have it on good authority that the co-host of this years’ show has also been excommunicated by Youssef).

Of what use is it to meet up so often (this was the fourth conference in only 2 years) IF nothing gets accomplished? They should call it “The Brainstorming session” because the word “Conference resolutions” isn’t cutting it anymore, it’s actually a joke.

But I haven’t even told you the best part!! Yes, it’s true. The whole reason I even sat down to write this is because, despite the fact that I am not involved with “The Coptic Cause” in any way, shape or form, I do know what Copts are like. They are gossips. They love hurling accusations. They have to make the person in front of them look like a crook so that they will look better (this bespeaks a deep-seated insecurity in their own worth). Are they so unsure of their work? Are they so certain that their goals are less than noble? Are they afraid someone will steal the spotlight? Or are they just so disconnected from the God they are supposed to be fighting with and for?

It is with a HEAVY HEART that I tell you these things. It is with the deepest of sadnesses that I report these tales. But do not let your sadness at them overshadow the work we can accomplish if we really and truly band together. We are, after all, different limbs of the same body.

I beg you, friends, to do your work in secret, to hide what your left hand is doing from your right hand. Because then, and only then, will you gain heaven’s reward. (And curtail the War of the Egos!)

‘We Could Control This Country’: 33 Extreme Reasons to Give Bush the Boot

by Maureen Farrell

“I am deeply disturbed by the dangerous and growing influence of people like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell on our nation’s political leaders.” – Walter Cronkite, January, 2004

Last week, I wrote about how the GOP’s secret bride, the Religious Right, will be shuffled into the broom closet during next week’s Republican National Convention. And lest you think this is a case of leftist “religion bashing,” consider this: The National Council of Churches, which represents the country’s Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and 32 other denominations, has, against all tradition, been brushed aside by this President, while evangelicals have enjoyed unparalleled access.

Read the whole thing.

WASHINGTON, June 16 /Christian Newswire/ — The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC)

www.persecution.org learned earlier in the year that two Christian men in Bhutan were arrested for showing the “Jesus” film in a Buddhist home. Recently, they were given 10 days to appeal to the courts for bail to avoid serving 3.5 and 3-year-long prison sentences for showing the “Jesus” film in a Buddhist home.

We previously had been asked to keep silent on their case until appeals were exhausted. These Christians are now asking that their story be publicized to bring international pressure on the government of Bhutan to grant their release.

These two men, who were government workers, are “Benjamin” (Budhu Mani Dungana) and “John” (Purna Bahadhur Tamang). They were arrested on January 7, 2006, in the small town of Paro while they were on their way to “preach the word of God” to a small group of people. While the Chief Judge for the district court of Paro did not consider the case serious enough to keep the men in prison, it was moved to the Crime and Investigation Department of the Royal Bhutan Police in Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital. Lt. Col. Kipchu, head of the Crime and Investigation Department, is known to be violently opposed to Christianity, and has dragged the two men from Paro to Thimphu and back again multiple times and imprisoned them under wretched conditions.

Benjamin, who is married and has three children, worked as a General Nurse Midwife (GNM) at Jigme Dorji Wangchuk national referral hospital. John, who is married with one child, was an Auditor at the Royal Audit Authority. They were given 10 days to appeal for bail and fight the case with the help of a prominent lawyer. However, as one source from Bhutan said, “In Bhutan the government is always right, we are always wrong. So there is very little chance of winning the case unless there is intervention from [on] high.”

ICC urges all concerned Christians to contact the government officials listed below and politely ask them to release Benjamin and John from prison. Please do not be forceful or belligerent as such attitudes may cause the government of Bhutan to harden its stance towards these prisoners. Most Bhutanese will be able to understand and speak English.

Secretary to His Majesty the King of Bhutan
Dasho Pema Wangchen
Phone: +975-2-322962
Fax: +975-2-323232

Chief Justice of Royal Court of Justice
Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye
Phone: +975-2-322613
Fax: +975-2-322921

Prime Minister of Bhutan
Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup
Email: ngedup@druknet.bt
Phone: +975-2-322129
Fax: +975-2-323153

Minister of Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
Lyonpo Jigme Y. Thinley
Phone: +975-2-322643
Fax: +975-2-322214

MEDIA ADVISORY, June 16 /Christian Newswire/ — Dr Allan Carlson, organizer of the World Congress of Families, congratulated Australia’s national government for invalidating legislation passed by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) which would have created gay civil unions.

The Capital Territory is a self-governing area which includes the nation’s capital of Canberra. By a 32-30 vote in the Senate, Australia’s federal government succeeded Thursday in upholding its ban on the capital territory’s legislation enabling civil unions between same-sex couples.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the unions envisioned by the legislation were too similar to marriage. In 2004, Australia formalized its federal marriage laws to ensure that the incidents of marriage could only be bestowed on a man and a woman.

Carlson commented: “The ACT move was a Trojan Horse. Once all of the rights and privileges flowing from marriage are bestowed on same-sex couples, it’s illogical to withhold the name.”

“The Howard government rightly understands that creating pseudo-unions which ape traditional marriage devalues the only unions capable of producing children. It undermines the natural family – the only arrangement for successfully nurturing the next generation,” Carlson observed.

Carlson noted that, even in secular Europe, the value of traditional marriage has recently been affirmed. In March, a commission established by the President of the French National Assembly recommended against extending marriage to same-sex couples in France. Its report declared that the interests of children are paramount here, that “marriage is not merely the contractual recognition of the love between a couple; it is a framework that implies rights and duties, and is designed to provide for the care and harmonious development of the child.”

In the United States, the move for civil unions has gone hand-in-hand with the push for gay marriage. In April of 2000, Vermont’s Supreme Court forced civil unions on the state. Four years later, the judiciary in neighboring Massachusetts instituted gay marriage.

Carlson observed: “Defenders of traditional marriage and the natural family will not be intimidated by cries of bigotry. The future of the family, and ultimately civilization, is at stake in the debate over civil unions and same-sex marriage”

The World Congress of Families recently concluded a successful planning meeting in Warsaw for World Congress of Families IV. WCF IV will take place in Poland’s capital, May 9-11, 2007. Pro-family groups from around the world will converge on Warsaw to plan effective strategies for countering assaults on the family, including gay marriage.

For more information on the World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org. To schedule an interview with Dr. Carlson, contact Larry Jacobs at 815-964-5819.

What is the World Congress of Families? — In response to a militantly anti-family ethos prevalent in the ‘post modern’ West, the World Congress of Families fosters an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, and leaders that seeks to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the ‘seed bed’ of a civil society. To date, there have been three World Congresses of Families – Prague (1997), Geneva (1999) and Mexico City (2004). WCF IV will be in Warsaw, Poland, May 11- 13, 2007.

Editorial: Mubarek’s offensive against Egyptian judiciary backfires

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Egyptians are unhappy with the president’s extension of the Emergency Law, which has not helped him end the four domestic wars he has been battling
By Saad Eddin Ibrahim

Monday, Jun 05, 2006, Page 9

The decision by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s government to try two senior judges for blowing the whistle on vote rigging in last autumn’s parliamentary elections has rocked the country. Massive crowds have gathered to support the judges — and have caught Mubarak’s regime completely unaware.

Mubarak’s government now seems to be backtracking as fast as it can. Judge Mahmoud Mekki has been acquitted, and Judge Hisham al-Bastawisy, who suffered a heart attack the night before, has merely been reprimanded. Yet Cairo remains restless, and the government fears another outpouring of support for democracy, as the judges have called for renewed nationwide demonstrations.

Egyptian judges have a long-standing tradition of discretion and propriety. But they feel abused by government efforts to sugarcoat the manipulation of election after election by claiming that judges supervise the voting.

What makes their struggle loom so large for a normally quiescent Egyptian public is partly that nearly all 9,000 judges are standing fast in solidarity. Their representative body, the Judges’ Club, has long pushed for a new law to restore judicial independence. Now the judges are insisting on their independence by themselves.

The Mubarak regime is adamantly opposed, and resorts to extra-judicial means, such as emergency courts and national security and military courts, which do not observe international standards. Contrary to his campaign promises during his run for a fifth term as president, Mubarak has requested (and his rubber-stamp parliament has granted) a two-year extension of the Emergency Law by which Egypt has been ruled throughout his presidency.

It is to this law, above all, that the judges and Egypt’s civil society object. The Emergency Law has been in force since the assassination of president Anwar Sadat in October 1981, and Mubarak claims that he needs another extension to combat terrorism.

LACK OF HUMAN RIGHTS

According to a recent human-rights report, however, despite the Emergency Law, 89 people were killed and 236 wounded in terrorist attacks in Egypt during the previous 12 months. In Israel, which is still in a struggle with the Palestinians, only 18 were killed and 25 wounded in similar attacks during the same period. Yet Israelis do not live under an emergency law.

Consider, moreover, that at the height of the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1973, Egypt’s armed forces stood at 1 million troops. Now only 350,000 serve in the military, while the internal security police recently hit the 1 million mark.

Mubarak’s first internal war was with Islamic militants during his early years in power, but he now finds himself caught in three more domestic wars. The battle with the judges has incited enough popular unrest to warrant Mubarak’s deployment of thousands of black-uniformed central security forces in the heart of Cairo. This deployment, lasting three weeks so far, is already longer than the combined duration of the last two wars with Israel.

Another domestic war, with the Egyptian Bedouins of Sinai, broke out two years ago. Taking their cue from their Palestinian neighbors, if not from al-Qaeda, alienated young Bedouins apparently decided to rebel against their treatment as third-class citizens. All around them, but especially in the ebullient resorts of southern Sinai, billions are spent on roads, airports, and beaches; sizeable parcels of land are allocated generously to rich Egyptians from the Nile Valley and to foreigners, but not to Sinai natives.

Indeed, Sinai Bedouins have the right of use but not ownership of land, because a lethargic, occasionally corrupt bureaucracy still deems the Sinai a military zone and its natives’ loyalty questionable. Two years ago, on the anniversary of the war of October 1973, young Sinai militants bombed the Taba Hilton. Last July, on another national holiday, they hit three tourist spots not far from the Mubarak family compound in Sharm el-Sheikh. These symbolic as well as lethal warnings to a family that has grown Pharaonic in scale, style, and power have gone unheeded.

The third recent domestic war, this one over Christian Coptic citizenship rights, has been brewing for years. Copts are the original Egyptians, and they were the majority population until the 10th century. As Egypt was Arabized and Islamized, the Copts became a minority in their original homeland.

LEGAL RIGHTS IGNORED

In Mubarak’s Egypt, citizens’ legal equality, while stipulated in the Constitution, is not respected or observed, especially with regard to the construction and protection of Coptic churches. Last November, when Muslim zealots attacked a Coptic church in Alexandria, several Copts were injured. Six months later, a fanatic targeted three churches during Sunday services, killing a few worshippers and injuring many. Copts marched in the streets of Alexandria for the next three days, protesting the security authorities’ leniency toward the culprits, the scapegoating of their community, or even an official hand in the attacks to justify an extension of the Emergency Law.

Mubaraks’ four domestic wars are fueled by Egypt’s excluded, who are increasingly in rebellion against a regime that has long outlived its legitimate mandate. The battle with the judges may well prove to be Mubarak’s Achilles’ heel. Justice is a central value for Egyptians, and its absence is at the core of all protests. There can be no evidence more compelling than the unprecedented numbers of people who have rallied peacefully in solidarity with the judges.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim is professor of political sociology at the American University in Cairo and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies.
Copyright: Project Syndicate

The Defenders Launch Nation-Wide Campaign on Fathers Day - ‘She Has A Name’

WASHINGTON, June 15 /Christian Newswire/ — In an effort to help prevent commercial sexual exploitation of children in America, The Defenders, organized by Shared Hope International (SHI) has launched a national effort by men for men to combat the use of child pornography and prostitution.

“She Has A Name,” an ad created by The Defenders, advances the first offensive in the battle against sexual exploitation of children by the sex industry and its buyers. The ad, calling on men to join The Defenders, airs nation-wide beginning this Friday, June 16th. The ad specifically challenges men to be defenders and protectors of children, not abusers. Alyn Waller of Philadelphia concludes the ad stating, “Real men defend women and children no matter whose daughters they are.” To view the PSA, please visit www.thedefendersusa.org.

Researchers estimate that the sale of child pornography alone has become a $3 billion dollar a year industry, and 55% of that industry is based in the United States. Men are the primary consumers in this marketplace of victimization in America.

Linda Smith, Founder of Shared Hope International said, “Sexual slavery is rampant around the world, but God forbid we should attack the problem in every nation on earth and allow our own children here in North America to be taken, used, and destroyed by the predators. We need men to take a stand against the commercial sexual exploitation of children in America.”

The Defenders will specifically focus on raising public awareness of the harms of buying sex and using pornography to both the victim and the buyer or user; encourage public debate on the normalization of buying younger and younger children, as evidenced by the growing number of children being drawn into prostitution at age 11 and younger; challenge civil society groups including faith-based organizations and churches to provide refuge and services to the victims and the victimizers, many of whom believe they are now unacceptable to society; provide resources through The Defenders website to men to help educate each other and access help.

Over the course of the past several years, SHI has researched and investigated the sex industry markets around the world where women and children have been exploited. SHI recently hosted the “United States Mid-Term Review on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in America” in Washington, DC, which gathered grassroots organizations from around the country along with top-level government officials to discuss an agenda for action to combat this issue within our borders.

For more information on The Defenders, please visit www.thedefendersusa.org

——

About Shared Hope International
Shared Hope International exists to rescue and restore women and children in crisis. We are leaders in a worldwide effort to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking and slavery through education and public awareness.

For almost a decade, Shared Hope International has served the worlds most destitute. We work diligently across the world, partnering with local groups to help women and children enslaved in the sex trade by providing them with shelter, healthcare, education and vocational training opportunities. Our three- pronged strategy—prevent, rescue and restore—is producing hope. We will not give up. We will continue going into the darkness, rescuing and restoring young women and precious children—one life at a time.

To my loyal friends, readers, brothers, I have a request: I need more people to visit my site and learn the TRUTH. I need more people to spread the articles here, whether I wrote them or did not. These thoughts and words need to be heard.

TO THIS END: I ask you to forward this site to any of your friends that may be interested.

Suggest the site (or an article) to whatever site you think would be interested. You can even post my link on your blog or republish my articles (Not sure about the other articles I post on here, but I can’t imagine they’d mind, since they send me these articles!) in other forums, sites, or wherever.

Your supportive and constructive comments here are always appreciated, and so are the wonderful emails I receive daily.

Thank you again for your interest in my site, and may you be blessed today!

Salib

MIDLAND, Texas, June 14 /Christian Newswire/ — China Aid Association learned that a well-known disabled Chinese House church pastor was formally arrested May 26, 2006. Forty- Three-year-old Pastor Wang Zaiqing was accused of illegally printing and distributing Bibles and other Christian literature.

According to a reliable source, May 26, Pastor Wang’s wife, Zhang Hongyan, received the formal arrest warrant issued by the Domestic Security Protection Squad of the Public Security Bureau of Huainan City, Anhui Province. The arrest warrant said Pastor Wang was suspected of “being involved in illegal business practices.” He is now being held at No. 1 Detention Center of Huainan City.

According to Pastor Wang’s wife, she and Pastor Wang were summoned for questioning April 25 for one day by the PSB of Huainan City. According to the summons paper which contained both of their fingerprints, (a copy of which was obtained by China Aid) Pastor Wang and his wife were accused of “illegally printing, editing, and distributing Christian propaganda material. Thus, they were summoned for questioning according to an internal document entitled “Notice on Preventing and Dealing with Illegal Activities by Using Christianity.” [88 Zong Fa Zi No. 385]. According to a website on which a copy of the document was posted, ( http://www.hebmzt.gov.cn/law/matter.jsp? id=3) that secret document was issued and took effect October 18, 1988 by the national Department of Public Security and the State Administration on Religious Affairs (SARA which was formally known as RAB Religious Affairs Bureau).

April 25 and 26, Pastor Wang’s house was searched twice and a number of items were confiscated including Christian literature such as Hymnals, Christian Life Quarterly magazine, Why Believe Jesus, Chinese Church History, Pauline Epistles and bank cards as well as an electronic piano used by Pastor Wang’s daughter.

At 12 noon on April 28, Pastor Wang was taken from his home and declared under ‘criminal detention’ by the PSB of Huainan City.

Pastor Wang was crippled at the age of five from an illness. He became a Christian in 1993 and later became a very well-known House Church planter and preacher in several provinces around Anhui province.

He has been printing and distributing Bibles and other Christian literature to fellow believers free of charge to meet the rapid growth of believers. Legal experts say this is the third such case in which the Chinese government used a criminal business related charge against a house church pastor. April 26, 2006 Pastor Liu Yuhua from Shandong Province was arrested on the same charge. Beijing Pastor Cai Zhuohua was sentenced in 2005 to three years imprisonment for printing Christian literature. The Chinese government tries to persecute religious leaders by criminalizing their religious activities. Dr. Li Baiguang, a prominent legal scholar on constitutional law has volunteered to be Pastor Wang’s lawyer. Dr Li met with President Bush on May 11 in the White House along with two other house church members.

(Read the whole story at www.ChinaAid.org)

“It’s totally unacceptable for the Chinese authority to arrest this pious crippled pastor simply for printing Bibles,” said Rev. Bob Fu of CAA, “This action certainly reveals the hypocritical nature of the so- called Bible Exhibition tour in the US sponsored by the Chinese government.” CAA urges the Chinese government to immediately release Pastor Wang and return the property confiscated from his house.

Communicate your concern to the Chinese authority at the following address:
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong,
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
http://www.china-embassy.org/
TEL: 202-7456743
Fax: 202- 588-0032; 202-7457473
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512

Ms. Wu Aiying, minister of Ministry of Justice of PRC
Tel: +86-10-65205114
Fax: +86-10-64729863
Email: pufamaster@legalinfo.gov.cn
Address：No. 10, Nan Da Jie, Chaoyangmen, Beijing City (Zip Code: 100020)

WASHINGTON, June 8 /Christian Newswire/ — A Washington, D.C. Department of Transportation official was discovered taking pictures of garden displays on Capitol Hill to fight potential federal civil rights lawsuit by Rev. Rob Schenck and Faith and Action after their public display of the Ten Commandments.

The DOT official explained they were taking the pictures to issue compliance letters to all homeowners who have not applied for permits for their garden displays.

The District of Columbia’s actions confirm that Rev. Schenck and Faith and Action have been singled out for heavy fines and possible loss of property for the religious nature of their garden display. It is clear the city is now scrambling to protect itself from a potential civil rights lawsuit.

The Department of Transportation official was discovered taking pictures of a garden display at the exact same time and the exact same location where the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney was taking a picture in preparation for potential litigation.

The Rev. Rob Schenck, President of Faith and Action, states, “It’s outrageous that the District of Columbia would try to cover their tracks by blanketing Capitol Hill with compliance letters only after they had singled me out because of the religious nature of my Ten Commandments display. It is clear no one had bothered about any of this until I placed the Ten Commandments in my garden. Now, everyone will be punished for it. This is unfair, unconstitutional and simply out of control!”

The Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition and a spokesman for Rev. Schenck, adds, “This encounter clearly demonstrates what we have known all along. That is, the District of Columbia has singled out this Ten Commandments monument because of the religious nature of the display. That is clearly religious bigotry and discrimination. The city is now attempting to cover their unconstitutional actions against Rev. Schenck by issuing compliance letters to other Capitol Hill homeowners after the fact. This charade by the District will not work.”

I thought this was amusing, and wanted to share it with you. Not that I am anti-Jew or Anti-Zionist, but I think Dubya should stop giving Mobarak that $1.7 Billion Dollar Bribe to keep him in line, since all he does is buy golden toilets and diamond headlights for his Mercedez, while millions go hungry or die at the hands of his Baltageya (mercenaries masquerading as police, “Amn el Dawla,” which should really be “AmL el Dawla!” or poLICE.) Sorry for nonsequiturs, but hope you enjoy!Salib

By Charley Reese of The Sentinel Staff

Published in The Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, February 8, 1998

Question: Which country in the Middle East has nuclear weapons?

Answer: Israel.

Q: Which country in the Middle East refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars internationalinspections?

A: Israel.

Q: Which country in the Middle East seized the sovereign territory of other nations by military force and continues to occupy it in defiance of UnitedNations Security Council resolutions?

A: Israel.

Q: Which country in the Middle East routinely violates the international borders of another sovereign state with warplanes and artillery and naval gunfire?

A: Israel.

Q: What American ally in the Middle East has for years sent assassins into other countries to kill its political enemies (a practice sometimes calledexporting terrorism)?

A: Israel.

Q: In which country in the Middle East have high-ranking military officers admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war were executed?

A: Israel.

Q: What country in the Middle East refuses to prosecute its soldiers who have acknowledged executing prisoners of war?

A: Israel.

Q: What country in the Middle East created 762,000 refugees and refuses to allow them to return to their homes, farms and businesses?

A: Israel.

Q: What country in the Middle East refuses to pay compensation to people whose land, bank accounts and businesses it confiscated?

A: Israel.

Q: In what country in the Middle East was a high-ranking United Nations diplomat assassinated?
A: Israel.

Q: In what country in the Middle East did the man who ordered the assassination of a high-ranking U.N. diplomat become prime minister?

A: Israel.

Q: What country in the Middle East blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt and attacked a U.S. ship in international waters, killing 33 and wounding 177 American sailors?

A: Israel.

Q: What country in the Middle East em-ployed a spy, Jonathan Pollard, to steal classified documents and then gave some of them to the Soviet Union?

A: Israel.

Q: What country at first denied any official connection to Pollard, then voted to make him a citizen and has continuously demanded that the American president grant Pollard a full pardon?

A: Israel.

Q: What country on Planet Earth has the second most powerful lobby in the United States, according to a recent Fortune magazine survey of Washington insiders?

A: Israel.

Q: Which country in the Middle East is in defiance of 69 United Nations Security Council resolutions and has been protected from 29 more by U.S. vetoes?

A: Israel.

Q: What country is the United States threatening to bomb because “U.N.Security Council resolutions must be obeyed?”

A: Iraq.

===========

The preceding document was posted on AMILAnet - a service of American Muslims Intent on Learning and Activism (AMILA) San Francisco Bay Area - http://www.mpac.org/amila

Original Link

When Western politicians keep saying “Islam is a peaceful religion”, they prove repeatedly that they are hypocrites or mentally challenged fools.

By George Elmasri

When one says that Muslims are terrorists, the Muslims say, “Why are you calling us terrorists?” When you ask one of them to identify his or her self, the answer is , “I am a Muslim” and whatever nationality comes next. They love to walk in groups and show off their Islamic identities; beards, peculiar attires and you name it. They never condemn terrorism, they only tell you that they do not approve of their acts! After all, they say, “Islam is a peaceful religion” ! Sometimes, out of embarrassment, they say that terrorists are not true Muslims”!

Show us in your ‘Noble book’, the Quran or in Mohamed’s Hadith, the word ‘peace’ or the word ‘love’.

These two words do not exist in your religion; ‘fight’ and ‘kill’ are the most repeated and common words in the Muslims books. In fact there exist ‘186’ verse in the Quran which urge Muslims to fight and kill. This constitutes almost 1% of the Quranic verses. I challenge the Muslim world to prove otherwise.

I am sick and tired from interviews with parents or families of the captured terrorists who say, “We are peaceful people”!.

This morning I heard a debate on the radio with one of the so-called Muslim community leaders who claimed that Islam is a peaceful religion. I phoned the Radio station and asked, “Why do you not make your reporters ask those community leaders to tell us where can we find some verses in the Quran that promote love and peace. When you do not read nor write Arabic and you keep repeating that Islam is peaceful, I am afraid that you are one of two characters. You are either a willingly deceived fool and mentally challenged, or a western politician who is bought by the dirty oil money. “

Egypt has never really been a haven for freedom of speech, especially for the Christians there. Recently, however, things have taken a turn for the worst, as State Security Officials (AKA “Hired Thugs”) have been plucking people off the street, left and right. Even Moslems.

That’s right, now any Moslems who stink of Islamic “moderation,” or who have been infected with the “free-thinking” disease have been detained, arrested, or outright kidnapped off the Cairo streets.

This is in addition to the “sectarian” clashes that have been going on, either in protest of something the government did, or else against people belonging to a religion other than one’s own.

This is a long article, I know it. But half of the rich details here are not in my own words, but in the words of those who lived them. Furthermore, I have provided small snips of material that may shed further light on the happenings. A resource list follows.

But let us begin at the beginning, at one of the first big resistances in the past few years:

22nd February, 2005
Lawyer Ahmed Seif El Islam Hamad (Alaa’s father) tells us what’s what in the following excerpt from his courageous declaration:

“Yes, I refuse the oppression and dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.

Yes, I refuse a renewal of his mandate as president.

Yes, I refuse being passed as a piece of heritage to his son.

Yes, I shall not stop criticizing the president, no matter who he is.

Yes, I want a democratic constitution that grants all human rights, without exception to all citizens with no discrimination on any ground, which provides an effective role of the legislative and judiciary authorities, restricts the malignant infiltration and spread of the executive authorities, and grants the right to elect the president of the republic from among more than one candidate and for no loner than two terms.

Yes, I shall continue to expose human rights violations in this country, foremost torture and arbitrary detentions, persistence of emergency state and all forms of discrimination between citizens especially those based on religion and gender.

Yes, I shall continue to struggle with all involved to liberate civil society organizations from the many restrictions that control them and limit their freedom of organization.

Yes, I shall continue to struggle with all those who believe that foreign occupation is itself a flagrant violation of human rights.

I shall not be intimidated or silenced by the red lines of the tyrants, no matter who draws them..

I shall not submit to the silence imposed on us by the power of oppression or even by the power of the law.

Do not believe them when you read in their newspapers or watch or listen in their mass media that we are charged of criminal charges (debauchery, drugs, rigging) in an attempt to defame the reputation of the opposition. Do not believe them no matter how grave the charges.

They say, the fish starts rotting from its head. Don_t you smell the rot of our fish?!
Lawyer Ahmed Seif El Islam Hamad

22 February 2005”
(Posted in May, 2005 at http://www.manalaa.net/the_anti_mubarak_laptops )

25th May, 2005 “Black Wednesday.” Hired thugs beat peaceful protestors and grabbed women, doing very bad things to them. Alaa (son of lawyer Ahmed Seif from above) was among the first to write about this infamous and horrible day. This post is purportedly the one that marked Alaa’s worldwide fame. (http://www.manalaa.net/the_bastards_stole_my_laptop )

Other accounts include one from Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/05/26/egypt11036.htm) and BBC News UK (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4582469.stm ).

October 14th 2005
The first of the week-long rioting sprees in Alexandria, where Christians were stabbed, surrounded, beaten, and other things. Much property damage occurred during this orgy of hatred.

October 21st, 2005
The mother of all riots to this date (in Alexandria). Set off because of a DVD (“I was blind but now I can see”), this night set off a chain of events that is still being felt months later. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/145/43.0.html )

October 23rd, 2005
Egyptian blogger Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman writes his earth-shattering article, “The Naked Truth of Islam As I Saw It In Maharam Bey Riots.” It said:

“The Muslims have taken the mask off to show their true hateful face, and they have shown the world that they are at the top of their brutality, inhumanity, and thievery.
They have clearly shown their worst features and have shown that in dealing with others they are not governed by any moral codes.

From what I have seen yesterday of the events at Maharram Beh, which were quite shameful, and have shown me more facts that they have tried to cover over the centuries.

They have indicated that Islam is a religion of peace and forgiveness, but their true face has been uncovered to show barbarism and thievery and fanaticism and not acknowledging others, and attempting to remove them from existence.

Some may think that the actions of the Moslems does not represent Islam and has no relationship with the teachings of Islam that was brought by Mohamed 14 centuries ago, but the truth is that their actions is not different from the Islamic teachings in its original form when it has urged people to deny others and hate them and kill them and take their property, things that they know well but they try to deceive people by falsely defending the teachings of Islam by extremists and they are hiding from the truth and they prefer living a lie.

I have seen with my own eyes the thugs as they break into our Christian brothers’ stores after the whole area of Maharram Beh was completely out of control of the government authorities, and I saw them as they ransack the contents of the store right and left, amidst cheering and shouting extremist Islamic slogans, and I saw them stealing the money from inside the drawers of the cash registers and splitting it among themselves as if it is justified by being owned by what they call the infidels and the worshippers of the cross.

I saw them break into a liquor store owned by a Coptic merchant Labib Lotfy and I saw them smash everything they can get their dirty hands on, including the refrigerator and the scale and the boxes and liquor bottles. I saw some of them stealing liquor bottles so they can get drunk after a hard day’s work against the Coptic infidels.

It is worth mentioning that although some people may think that this Christian-owned liquor store was particularly targeted because the owner is selling the forbidden alcoholic beverages that is forbidden in Islam, but another liquor store in front of the Christian-owned store happens to be owned by a Moslem merchant, and none of the thugs dared to attack, as they did with the Christian-owned store. Now you can see the hateful sectarian actions.

What the Moslems did yesterday in a very vulgar and criminal and horrible way proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that they don’t acknowledge others or their rights of existence or their rights to live with the freedom of expression and also consider them less than them, and these actions should be fought and exterminated for is it right to leave these horrible human beings to do what they want and kill, destroy, steal, and burn??!!

The Islamic teachings that was brought by Mohammed 14 centuries ago should be faced with courage and boldness, we should expose and show its faults and warn humanity of its dangers. We should, even though we are different –look with reason to these teachings that urges people, human beings, to become monsters that don’t know anything in life except killing and looting and plundering and raping and pillaging.

We should stand courageously and boldly against these teachings that became a plague on humanity and is not supported except by extremists like bin Laden and al Zarqawi and al Zawaheeri and the thugs that assaulted our Coptic brothers and burned their homes and stole their properties, and tried to assault their religious men and destroy their churches.

We should take off the religious and sectarian gown and look at matters in a more humane way. We should hold trials to all the acts of terrorism and extremism, that our Islamic history have kept their names and their criminal actions starting with Mohamed ibn Abdullah and his company of murderers like Khalid ibn el Waled and Omar ibn el Khattab and Saad ibn Abbi Waqqas and Moiizah Bin Shaabah and Samra bin Gandab and the kings of Beni Ummaya and Beni al Abbass and al Osman, and ending with the Moslem criminals of the modern day that became more famous than movie stars and singers.
We should show the world the truth of these criminals that unfortunately have become role models for our youth and our children and our women. We should expose their false teachings and show the world that they are a big danger that should be exterminated and removed from its roots.

Before you put on trial the people that are responsible for the crimes that occurred on Black Friday in Maharram Beh, you should first put on trial the dirty teachings that caused them to go on a rampage of stealing and plundering and looting.. put Islam on trial and sentence it and its symbols with a figurative execution so that you can be sure that what happened yesterday will never be repeated again.

For as long as Islam exists on this planet all your efforts to end wars and disputes and upheavals will fail because Islam’s dirty finger will be found behind every catastrophic event to humanity.”

October 26th, 2005Abdelkareem’s article leads to his arrest today, and his 18-day detention in prison.
(http://www.annaqed.com/english/under/expelled_from_al_azhar_for_exposing_the_truth.html )

Mid-November, 2005In response to Egypt’s “Emergency Law,” which prevented this meeting from taking place there, several Coptic and Egyptian organizations came together for the famous “Washington Conference,” which was endorsed and attended by several organizations such as Copts United, American Copts, U.S. Copts Association, Ibn Khaldun Center, USCRIV, Freedom House, Leadership Council of Human Rights, as well as many other freedom fighters and free-thinkers such as Ahmad Abaza (ex-Islamic author), Dr. Saad El Din Ibrahim and Dr. Wafaa Sultan (both Moslem but supportive of the Copts), Egyptian-American journalists Mona El Tahawy, Dr. Sally Bishai, and Magdi Khaleel, Engineer Adly Abadeer, Michael Meunier, Milad Eskander, Mounier Dawoud, Senator Rothman from NJ, as well as many human rights activists from around the globe. The conference was covered by al-Jazeera, along with many other media outlets.

The End of 2005—The Birth of 2006
The Moslem Brotherhood wins 88 (of 454) seats in the Parliamentary Election. (http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/773/eg5.htm). Hosny Mobarak appoints a Christian to be one of his 26 Egyptian governors, and appears to ease up on the Hamayouni Decree, by allowing governors to deal with church requests. Several riots occurred, however, some even in the very village governed by the Christian governor.

January 18th, 2006
The village of Udaysat is the site for clashes over church-building, and over 5,000 Moslems storm a Coptic mass, attacking the church and those inside it. (http://americandaily.com/article/11479 )

Mid-February, 2006
Journalist Atwar Bahjat brutally murdered in an attempt to “shut our eyes and minds and silence the media.” (http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=3946 )

February 26th 2006
Dr. Wafaa Sultan engages in a big debate with Moslem Cleric Ibrahim el Khouly on al Jazeera’s program “The Opposite Direction.” The clip gets downloaded over a million times, and is covered on such non-Arab blogs as writer Michelle Malkin’s (http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004716.htm ). The topic was Islam and the “clash of civilizations” that it was seen to cause. At one point, el Khouly, an Azhar lecturer, asked Dr Sultan—point blank:

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: “Are you a heretic?”

Wafa Sultan: “You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural…”

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: “If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran…”

March 17th, 2006
Egyptian blogger Abdelkareem is expelled from Al Azhar University Law School for his “radical” views.

April 14th, 2006
Three men simultaneously attack three Christian churches in Alexandria, using knives. Many have tried to make it seem like one insane man did everything, but this article discusses a discrepancy in the police’s official stance on the matter.
(http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article357766.ece )

April 16th, 2006
Moslem blogger Jar el Amar (http://jarelkamar.manalaa.net/node/273 ) has the following to say about the riot at a murdered Christian’s funeral in Alexandria. (Translation by “The Skeptic” blog, http://elijahzarwan.net/blog/?p=95 ):

“Yesterday we were a minority, and today I am a minority. Yesterday, [Alexandrian blogger] Solo and I were the only Muslims in a crowd of dozens of friends. We would laugh from our hearts, share cigarettes, split the bill after dinner, and walk in the streets of Ibrahamiya and Sporting with Imad, Gamaloon, and Mark. Mark made a joke about the way you write the name of the Protestant church in Ibrahamiya. Then he told us about this man who would always refer to anyone he met as “our third brother.” We laughed so hard it hurt.
We said goodbye to them, then I said goodbye to Solo. I decided not to go home straight away. On my way to the seaside, I passed a church next a mosque. I was amazed at how tall the mosque had become, as if it were in competition with the church.
When I returned from the Corniche, I was astonished for the thousandth time by the drawing of a snake curling around an apple, biting it from the opposite direction. One day I had told my friend Socrates about this drawing and she explained it to me.
I remembered two friends who worked 24 hours a day in the church hospital. I used to love how quiet Khalil Hamada Street was, dozing peacefully in the heart of Alexandria. I crossed the street and walked about 50 meters to my home. I burrowed under the covers and went to sleep.
My mother woke me up the next morning. I rose grudgingly, washed my face, got dressed, and went off to pray the Friday prayers. I make a habit of doing this only because I meet my friends there once a week. I always pray in the Al-Shahid mosque. My great friend owns the Naggar Laundry across the street from the mosque. I’d stopped going to pray in Al-Sharq al-Medina Mosque ever since they got a sheikh whose sermons–irritatingly–never seemed to end.
As the prayers ended, I heard shouting and angry babble coming from the length and breadth of the street. I crossed the square toward two buildings side by side: the Al-Qadisine Church and the Al-Sharq al-Medina mosque. As far as the eye could see, people were gathered and a number of women were screaming.
Then things became clear: A youth had stabbed a man who was waiting for his family outside the church after the Friday morning service. Lots of people said that he was wearing a ragged, white t-shirt and track pants and carrying a large knife. This he had plunged into the man’s stomach, shouting “There is no god but God.” The trail of blood led from the church door to the steps of the Mar Marcus hospital attached to the church.
He also attacked two young men who tried to stop him. One of them was taken to intensive care. They say the other is seriously injured.
I know the sweet old security soldier who’s always found living in his small wooden hut next to the two buildings, reading his Quran. “He was in league with the killer and didn’t lift his weapon to stop him. Instead he threatened anyone who tried to stop the killer and told them to let him go, so they did.” This is the story every Christian I met at the scene told me. I heard it from the wife of the victim’s brother, who stood there screaming until she fainted. Even the fruit-sellers, who were waiting until the end of the service to sell their goods, said the same thing.
What is certain is that the killer took refuge in flight. As for where he had come from, some said he had been seen coming out of the mosque. Others said he arrived and left by car. The official story, at least as the government told it early on, was that the young man was a noted criminal and was mentally unstable.
Unfortunately, the story of mental derangement did nothing to assuage people’s anger this time. The main reason was that people started getting news that the same thing had happened in a number of churches in Alexandria at the same time. In his laughable announcement, the governor [of Alexandria] confirmed that there was only one criminal, a young man who worked in a supermarket, involved. He wounded two people in Al-Hadra, then made his way to Sidi Bishr to kill one man and wound two more (you have to go more than halfway across town to get from one neighborhood to the other). At times like this, people don’t like to be lied to or told silly stories. And so it’s only natural that the once sleepy street of Khalil Hamada is now afflicted by bigotry and hatred.
In the twinkling of an eye, Central Security trucks appeared and closed off the street from all directions. The chief complaint was about Security’s statement, which contradicted tens of eyewitness reports and the blood of the victim himself.
A senior figure in the NDP called Mohamed as-Saadani (of course) started talking about national unity, Egypt, and the usual bulls**t. The crowd stopped him short, shouting “Persecuted! Persecuted!”
He tried to calm them, saying, “The government is investigating the matter.”
“The government? Tell the government I say ‘hello.’ What has the government ever done for us? Al-Kosha, Qarqas, and Muharram Bik [sites of previous sectarian violence in Egypt]. Where was the government then?”
The bystanders cheered. A youth raised an old, white-haired man on to his shoulders so he could face as-Saadani. He looked like he was a man of the church. He shouted at As-Saadani, “I’ve been teaching for 30 years now. I’m not happy with what’s in the curriculum. I have to calm the students down and stop them from being angry while I myself am not happy with it. And I know that they’re not happy with it. What’s happening here is wrong. The time of the martyrs has come again. We’re like dogs in this country.”
The people applauded vigorously. They seemed to have a lot of respect for the man. As-Saadani, having lost control of the situation, left. A number of thoughts hit me, and I was beset by contradictory feelings: religious anger, anger at the government, anger at the passivity of its leaders, and anger at the privileging of one group over another. The anger of the crowd reminded me of a similar anger I’d seen among Kifaya protesters, with the exception of the religious element. Some were demanding that the governor come forward. Others demanded that the Interior Minister himself should come forward. A woman told me of her frustration at the lack of justice: “If only they’d just get hold of him, and we knew that he’d be held to account, then I could relax.”
Their numbers increased, and so did their rage. One man didn’t like what another had said about calming down and controlling himself so he and his friends started beating him up.
A man called “Engineer Samir” arrived, who seemed to be very popular. He asked them to be calm so they wouldn’t lose their rights. Then he warned them against paying heed to the voice of Satan.
A woman interrupted him, shouting, “It’s you and your type who’ll ruin us all!”
Someone else backed up what she said: “It’s our passivity that’s going to ruin us!”
Samir failed to make any headway. I started hearing calls for everyone to sit down. People refused. Then a man shouted, “Who ever loves Jesus, sit!” Some sat down and some ignored him.
One of the bystanders screamed, pointing toward the mosque.
I couldn’t help but be astonished by the logic that both sides in this seemed to be using. I caught some of what the man next to me was saying: “Your enemy is the enemy of your religion. Everyone knows that.”
We all sat down and I felt a powerful sense of brotherhood with those who were sitting next to me. Two of them put their hands on my shoulders and patted me supportively. A man asked what my name was, and I said “Mina, Mina Ibrahim.” It’s the name of one of my friends.
I suddenly realized I was the only Muslim in the circle and that I was sitting the midst of an angry group who were attacking anyone who asked them to keep calm. So what do you think they would have done if they had found an enemy in their ranks? Perhaps I should have gone, but something compelled me to stay and follow the events to their conclusion.
As if fate were conspiring to terrify me, one of them suddenly shouted, “There are Muslims in your midst!”
I surreptitiously pulled down my rolled-up sleeves to hide the fact that I didn’t have a cross tattooed on my arm like everyone else around me did. For the first time, I felt as though I was a minority in a group that wouldn’t accept me on principle. I forced myself to talk to the man next to me to give the appearance of normality.
Suddenly I saw Ibram, an old friend of mine. We were together at school and we took part in lots of activities together at university. He’s my neighbor, and his father owns one of the biggest gold dealerships in the area. Ibram was carrying a gilt wooden cross and shouting at the top his voice, “Kyrie Eleison.” I never imagined Ibram amongst people like this. He was always one of the gentlest people I knew and one of the most respectful of others.
So now I have a problem. On my right is someone who’s calling on people to uncover the Muslims hidden among them, and on my left is Ibram, who’s leading a group of his friends in a chant. He was riding on one of his friends shoulders. He knows me well. Any indication from him about my true identity would make me a dead man.
As luck would have it, at that moment, one of the bishops came out with a priest who was a member of the local Coptic Council. People saw them and fell completely silent. I seized my chance and left the circle to stand by one of the walls of the church.
I watched the bishop as he talked with people and called for calm and civilized behavior. He spoke vehemently. “Don’t forget yourselves! If you really love the church and the people who pray there, then don’t strike in the street, strike inside the church.”
I have no experience of how Coptic churches work, but the calm and respect that descended on the street the moment these men appeared left me totally unprepared for the crowd’s response. The minute the father had finished speaking to the demonstrators, I was astonished to hear accusations of betrayal and treason fill the air. People were shouting that the man was an agent of the government, and that he was selling the blood of the martyr and their rights cheaply, that it was people like him who were putting the Copts of Egypt through these troubled times.
The authority of the bishop seemed terribly weak. Even when he tried to read out a prayer, “Deliver us, Lord,” only a very few repeated the words with him. The rest started screaming insults against him and against those who collaborated with the government and Muslims to persecute Copts.
Now banners tied to wooden polls were brought of the church, with “No to persecution of the Copts” written on them in English and Arabic. Drawn underneath these words, in the blood of the victim that still covered the church floor, was a small cross.
They started carrying each other on their shoulders and shouting together, “Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison! Hosni Mubarak, O pilot, Coptic security is up in flames! Hosni Mubarak, where are you? State Security is between us and you! The age of martyrs has returned again!”
As I leaned against the wall of the church, I heard people talking. A hysterical woman screamed, “It’s a religion of bloodletting. We don’t kill or do anything. They’re all criminals.”
Another lady shouted “Our God will take revenge on them. They die on the pilgrimage and die in the sea.”
I heard someone else say, “This country is ours, they’re the newcomers. We have to practice our religion in secret, while they’re just for show.”
A middle-aged man said, “They’re the police, they’re all a gang together. What are we meant to do?”
The first woman spoke of the weakness and the stupidity of the Quran and things like that. “If only they could explain just one verse. Just find us one Muslim who could tell us that he’s satisfied and understands the rubbish they fill their ears with day and night.”
Men shouted for them to ring the church bells, and a woman said to her daughter, “Yeah, just as they do to us day and night [with the call to prayer].” Her neighbor asked her about the nearby mosque, and asked what would the Muslims who couldn’t pray their afternoon and evening prayers do.
“Let it stay closed, then.”
I could almost cry. I’m not embarrassed to say that here. This religious bigotry was torture. Seeing Ibram shouting about burning the mosque hurt me deeply. Seeing a woman hit a small Muslim boy, the son of one of the neighboring bawabs, hurt me deeply. “Get out of here, you son of a dog!” she told him. “You’ve destroyed it and now you’re coming to sit on the ruins. [a proverb].”
On the pavement opposite the church, police colonels were sitting and sipping tea and fizzy water. One of them opened the door of the mosque. This incensed the demonstrators. A group of security troops surrounded the door.
Suddenly, Hussein Abd al-Ghani, the Al-Jazeera correspondent, turned up. People rushed toward him in terrifying numbers. He backed off and Security interposed themselves between him and the crowd. People calmed down when they were satisfied Al-Jazeera’s cameras were filming everything: the shouts, the banners, and the numbers.
I heard a man talking on the phone asking that all the Christians from Al-Hadra, Al-Falming, and Abu Qir return to their churches because the media had turned up in Sidi Bishr. Abd al-Ghani returned with his cameraman and tried to enter the church, but the crowd stopped him from entering. “No Muslim is getting in here,” some shouted, before the church custodians succeeded in getting him in by force.
The demonstrators got even angrier and carried on shouting. As they were trying to prevent Abd al-Ghani from entering the church, the demonstrators failed to notice that the police were going to the mosque and taking off their shoes. They ordered the imam to perform the afternoon prayers.
After 100 soldiers had lined up outside the mosque, the imam began the call to prayer and everyone turned around. A sudden silence descended, the silence that precedes the storm. The demonstrators started singing hymns to compete with the call to prayer. It was a terrifying situation… At any moment I feared the mosque could come under attack from Molotov cocktails or even gunshots. But the demonstrators just raised their voices until their throats burned. They tried to stop people from performing their prayers. Some of them asked the church custodians to ring the bells, but the church workers refused. Some tried to lay in wait for those praying inside the mosque, but Security lay in wait for them.
I suddenly felt weak and wanted to leave. Before I collapsed from exhaustion, I found an American journalist trying unsuccessfully to make herself understood. I offered to translate. And while the American lady was asking a young Coptic man about his views, I heard dozens of sick views about how the Muslims were planning to corrupt the joy of Christians this coming Christmas, other theories about Mossad and its role, and a third theory about Mubarak and his vested interests in causing civil strife.
Magdi Girgis, an accountant, insisted that the American journalist write the truth for the world. She must understand, he said, that Pope Shenouda didn’t want to let people know that there was a persecution going on to prevent a real explosion. More than once he said, “We don’t want America to intervene like in Iraq, we just want a fair deal, this is our country after all, and we’re far more worried about it than they are.”
I translated the slogans and the chants for her and then I immediately went to the nearest Internet cafe, where I am sitting now, writing what happened. I still don’t know how it all ended. As I’ve been sitting here, I received the pictures that you see above [he’s inserted some photos from BBC Arabic of the murdered man]. Everything I’ve written here hasn’t been edited or looked over. It’s just impressions of what I saw and I record of what I heard. I might fill you in later on the details, or I might not.
A final word: This country is far more beset by meanness, racism, and hatred than I’d imagined. Of course I understand the Copts’ response. But just because a criminal comes from one religion doesn’t mean you should criminalize all his coreligionists. All this does is foster resentment, persecution, and bigotry—and more importantly, charges of betrayal.
As one of the demonstrators hysterically told me: “For more than 1,400 years we’ve been treated like s**t. It’s enough. We’ve had enough of burying our heads in the sand like ostriches.”
And to Mark: There’s no brotherhood in this country, not a third brother, not a second brother, not a tenth brother. Nothing.”

April 18th, 2006
A sit-in is planned (until a hearing on the 27th) by the Judges Club. This is an excellent primer on the matter. ( http://baheyya.blogspot.com/2006/04/tribulations-of-self-determination_20.html ) and here is a great video of the disbanding of the protest (http://www.zippyvideos.com/7498406264945506/amn ).

April 24th 2006
12 Activists detained in Cairo, and (in an unrelated matter) 23 dead and over 150 injured in the Sinai bombings at Dahab. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1760781,00.html )

April 26th 2006
16 activists detained, including Ahmed el Droubi. (http://freedroubi.blogspot.com/2006_04_26_freedroubi_archive.html )

Says Droubi, “Time; seems so very valuable, all that that has been lost, yet seems equally worthless as at times it seems to pass ever so slowly. Every minute drilling frustration into my spirit as I remain locked in a box. The concept of being so helpless, unable to even stand up and walk out of the “room” is simply frustrating.I [have] reached a level of acceptance. Not thinking about what I’m missing or the simple things like picking up the phone and talking, like sitting down on a chair, like the choice not to leave your home and walking in the street.” (From http://freedroubi.blogspot.com/ )

April 27th 2006
On the eve of the hearing… (http://baheyya.blogspot.com/2006/04/on-eve-of-hearing.html )
A further 12 activists taken in, including blogger Malek Mostafa (http://malek-x.net ).

May 6th, 2006
The detainees—including the diabetic Droubi—begin a hunger strike. (http://freedroubi.blogspot.com/2006/05/update-on-detainee-hunger-strike.html )

May 7th, 2006
The most famous Egyptian blogger and activist, Alaa Abd el Fattah/Alaa Ahmed Seif El Islam, is detained. Read an excellent excellent account of it here: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/05/digging_deeperblogs_wiki_googl.html

May 8th 2006
The s*** hits the fan, with Cairo clamping down on dissenters, both official (like the judges) and nonofficial-but-wildly-popular, like Alaa and Droubi and Malek, but also hundreds of unnamed others who are beaten in the streets.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1770311,00.html )

May 10th 2006
Alaa blogs from prison. He is said to have written in English to keep others from understanding, and allegedly smuggled the handwritten post to a visitor. (http://www.manalaa.net/alaa_blogs_from_prison)

He eventually inspires a huge internet campaign, including this petition from HAMSA (http://www.hamsaweb.com/alaa ), not to mention devoted comments (http://saraghorab.wordpress.com/2006/05/18/dear-alaa-and-the-other-freedom-fighters-in-egypt-and-elsewhere/ ) from other bloggers.

May 18th 2006
Alleging that they were only following their orders in making sure the “Emergency Law” against gathering was followed, “Egyptian security forces beat up pro-democracy protesters.” The Guardian tells us that “police and security forces cracked down on demonstrators in Cairo… beating up pro-reform activists and arresting at least 240 members of the Muslim Brotherhood during protests in support of two judges who had complained about fraud in last year’s parliamentary elections. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1778426,00.html ).

Despite the ban, however, protests did occur in Cairo. “This is what is means to live in a police state under emergency law! Ministry of Interior issued a statement 2 days ago warning that any gathering in Cairo will be illegal. However, activists did protest in various places in Cairo today to support Judges, Ayman Nour, and to stress their right to freedom of expression and demonstrations.” (http://www.manalaa.net/node/31544)

May 19th 2006
Mohamed Salmawi’s controversial article, “What are the Copts Doing in Egypt?” is run in El-Masry Elyoom. Many people are upset by it, feeling it is a dig at the Copts, while others call it “satire” and poking fun at Salmawi’s fellow Moslems who really feel this way. The article says:

“There is a devil who says that the victim is the cause of
the crime, not the person who committed the crime. And along came the incidents
in Alexandria last week to prove the truth of his statement. Why would Copts
meet to pray in more than one church at the same time other than to incite anger
in Muslims who are protective of their religion?
That’s why when a devout Muslim saw Christians openly
praying in a church in Hadra, he was overcome with patriotic feelings and
attacked them. Then he went to another church on the other side of the city and
found more Christians praying, so he attacked them too. And he went to a third
church and found exactly the same thing. But why should we blame him for what he
did?
We know from declarations made through the years by our
religious leaders and the media that Egypt is a Muslim country. In 1971, didn’t
Sadat find that the Constitution says Egypt is a Muslim country? And then,
finding that was not strong enough for him, didn’t he add that Sharia should be
the principal source of law? Isn’t it true that anyone who does not believe in
Islam is an infidel, as is being broadcast from mosques day and night? Then what
did this good Muslim, who was merely protecting his religion and his country, do
wrong? He just did what the government told him to do – to purify the country of
all non-Muslims.
It is not enough to secretly make obstacles for Copts when
they want to build or repair churches or to apply for a sensitive – or
insensitive – job in the government. If that’s all that is being done, then the
government is not doing its duty. And so a good citizen, in order to safeguard
his religion and his country, decided to take matters into his own hands
according to his religious instruction, which directed him to right a serious
wrong. He did it not with his heart and his tongue, but with his hands. And in
that way, this good citizen proved that he is a patriotic Egyptian – I mean
Muslim, of course. For it is the Copts who are causing the problems in Egypt. If
they weren’t here, there would be no sectarian fighting.
The Church says that there are 12 million Copts in Egypt.
But the government, which is always trying to minimize the size of problems,
claims there are no more than 5 million. The question we have to ask frankly is,
no matter what their numbers, what are the Copts doing in Egypt? Is it enough
that their ancestors built the pyramids? And some temples in Upper Egypt? Does
that give them the right to live here with us in this great land? Egypt doesn’t
have room for all of them. And the Copts had plenty of time – many, many years –
to immigrate with their dignity in tact. Some did and achieved high-ranking
positions in Canada, the United States, Australia and Europe, where they became
so famous that people started to address them as Egyptians. We have no problem
with that. The problem we have is that we don’t understand why the rest of the
Copts didn’t go too. Then we wouldn’t have all of these problems.
The disappearance of the Copts would free up so many
segments of the economy that we are in dire need of. Look at how many jobs would
open up and how many housing units we could seize! It would be just like the
Israelis seizing the homes and belongings of the Arabs in Palestine. Israel,
too, is a religious country whose constitution specifies that it is a Jewish
nation. If Israel still has not succeeded in uprooting the invading Arabs from
their land, we cannot accuse the Israeli government of not putting forth its
best effort to do so.
In the meantime the Egyptian government has been so nice
that it has not seized housing, but merely discriminates against the foreigners – that is to say the Copts – without kicking them out of the country, putting
them in jail or killing them like Israel does to the Palestinians. For this
reason the government should not object to this loyal, patriotic citizen doing
what needs to be done, and it certainly shouldn’t accuse him of being insane
when he does it.”

May 22nd, 2006
A top leader of the banned Moslem Brotherhood is arrested. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4570421.stm )

Arab journalist writes great op-ed on Arabs and blogging (http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=5035 ).

May 25th 2006
One year after Black Wednesday, we see that “Security forces have put press syndicate under siege, banning reporters and protestors from leaving. LA Times journalist Hossam el Hamalawy was attacked by plainclothes police who pepper-sprayed his face. Plainclothes police kidnapped Mohamed el Sharkawy, Youth for Change activist, following his release from Tora prison few days ago. Sharkawy took part in the pro-democracy demo at press syndicate this afternoon.” (http://www.manalaa.net/node/32668 )

Rallies ‘evidence of democracy’—The Arabist reports that “President Hosni Mubarak lashed out at coverage of Cairo street protests in which more than 600 Egyptians were beaten and arrested, calling the rallies “evidence of democracy” and coverage of them “libel and blasphemy”. Mubarak said: “Continuation (of the protests) is evidence of democracy”, adding that he was surprised by some media coverage,” some of which depicted “young activists being beaten in downtown Cairo in broad daylight by plainclothes police.” (http://arabist.net/archives/2006/05/25/mubarak-says-protests-evidence-of-democracy/ )

May 26th, 2006
Droubi released, Malek released. Alaa still imprisoned.
One day after the one-year anniversary of “Black Wednesday,” one journalist gives his thoughts. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1783602,00.html )

It is ironic that so much of what we hear about the goings-on is brought to us through the work of a man who is locked in a cell. It is not surprising in the least, however, and it has been said that Alaa’s imprisonment was designed to try and suppress these cries and shouts to the world, from a few very brave people in what was once—and will again be—The Middle East’s, Africa’s and the world’s greatest country.

Assorted links that can give you more information on these happenings:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/bfffff82b3e4109ab4b57489e9ae2d9f.htm
http://newsblaze.com/story/20060510100122nnnn.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Story.html
http://politics.slashdot.org/politics/06/05/08/1054237.shtml
http://interviews.slashdot.org/interviews/04/05/13/1346237.shtml?tid=190
http://www.xculturemag.com/manalaa.html
http://freealaa.blogspot.com
http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1770311,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1771472,00.html
http://www.wechange.org/node/104
http://www.thebobs.com/thebobs05/bob.php?site=winner_kat&katid=18
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaa_Abd_El-Fatah
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001773.html
http://www.sandmonkey.org/2006/05/09/help-us-free-alaa/
http://www.sandmonkey.org/2006/05/24/some-bloggers-released-alaa-and-droubi-still-detained/
http://www.manalaa.net/alaa_detained_15_days
http://www.manalaa.net/alaa_blogs_from_prison
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/05/07/prominent-egyptian-blogger-arrested-and-several-other-activists/
http://tomanbay.blogspot.com/2006/05/its-25th-of-may.html
http://blog.apc.org/en/index.shtml?x=5003840
http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/05/vlogging_for_alaa.html
http://www.andycarvin.com/video/freealaa3.mov
http://www.savetheinternet.com
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/05/06/egypt13319.htm
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6467988025807238754

I am just adding them here in case you did not scroll to the bottom of the last article!

“Quite honestly, after having read the page below, I have concluded that this bunch is paranoid and hatemongering.

I believe that this group, together with such haters as Magdi Khalil, are the reason there is so much infighting in the American Coptic Movement.

We can not help Copts if the only Copts in a position to help are fighting, and we cannot change Egypt and the Middle East if we do not follow the Holy Scripture!

Do bitter and sweet water come from the same well? NO, and so, too, can’t backbiting and Egypt-saving words come from the same mouth.

WISE UP, PEOPLE!!!

Read The Paranoia At ACU For Yourself

Salib”

Well, DUH!
–Salib
(MORE COMMENTS TO FOLLOW, BE PATIENT!)

The U.S. Congress recently approved $1.7 billion in aid to Egypt. The reason given is that Egypt is a U.S. ally in the Middle East. While human rights violations, the genocide, and persecution of Coptic Christians and other minority groups, the imprisonment of pro-democratic reformers, and the imprisonment and torture of protestors has been aired in the media, the U.S. has chosen to ignore these violations and grant aid to Egypt.

Though the American Coptic Union (ACU) agrees with some of the reasons for approving this aid, we believe that the withholding of U.S. aid along with other means of pressure should be used as leverage to strongly encourage the Egyptian government to stop abusing Coptic Christians and other minority groups in Egypt. This leverage could also be used by the U.S. to help mediate peace between Israel and the Palestinians and provide support for the U.S. military in the region.

In addition to asking for U.S. aid, and silence, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has asked for additional paid services for his personal and family interests. The blackmail price is the U.S. silence, and endorsement of the Egyptian government’s increased persecution of the Copts, and the intensification of repression against all opposition. This blackmail is also responsible for the increased hatred against the U.S.

Since the Camp David Peace Accord agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1979, Egypt has received more than $50 billion in military and economic aid. According to analysts, these funds barely benefit the welfare of the people.

Many Egyptians do not see U.S. aid as a way to improve their quality of life, but rather see it as a bribe(1) to the Egyptian government’s influential and corrupt members, as most of the aid has gone into the deep pockets of the Mubarak family and not to the impoverished sources where it was originally slated. The U.S. Middle East policy has given even more leverage to the Mubarak family, which is using American interest for their personal benefit(2) and not for the needs of the people of Egypt.

The continued support of the U.S. for the Mubarak family will only generate more hatred and terrorism. It will cost America the support of at least 25% of Egypt’s population, who admire American values and principals.

The International community (and America in particular), should understand that Mubarak and his two sons, Allaa and Gamal, are responsible for corrupting and sabotaging the life of Coptic Christians and most of the moderate Muslims who disagree with Mubarak’s policies. Mubarak’s older son Allaa(3), for example, has spoiled, extorted and looted billions of dollars during his father’s reign. Currently, Allaa has become an Islamist and is suspiciously responsible for financing some radical Islamic factions. Mubarak’s other son, Gamal(4), is being prepared to hijack the country’s political infrastructure against the will of most Egyptians. Unfortunately, Mubarak and his sons would not be able to do all of this without the blind eye of tacit U.S. consent.

America’s explanation for its disadvantageous position is that there is no one in Egypt’s entire population of 72 million, (including those who support America’s policy), who is qualified to rule the country. If true, this would indeed be a humiliation for Egypt whose civilization spans seven thousand years.

Ironically, in 2005, and in the name of democracy and reform, the U.S. added even more repressive strength to Mubarak’s regime by allowing Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood to join the Parliament. This support has not only fortified the Islamization of Egypt, but has consequently stepped up efforts to eradicate Coptic Christians.

Another reason for America’s position is given by Mubarak himself, who says that the regime is still helping the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. He also claims responsibility for the peace process in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Sudan. This is not true because it is the Mubarak regime, and not Egypt, that has been rejected from playing a valuable role in assisting American policy in these countries.

The American Coptic Union contends that it is the US government’s continued support for the Mubarak family, which will result in the escalating hatred and declining support of Egyptians for the U.S. Therefore, America’s support for the Mubarak family is a mistake similar to the previous acknowledged mistakes the U.S. has made in Iran in 1979 and in Iraq in 2003.

It is now up to those Congress members who have opposed the passage of U.S. aid to Egypt and are playing an important role in seeking to save not only America’s interest, but also Egypt from the American- Mubarak foreign policy to push their agenda forward, before it is too late.

—————————————-

1.) US Ambassador in Egypt, Francis J. Ricciardone on May 19, 2006. “The US Aid to Egypt actually is a charity fund, or donation”, Ricciardone said in a meeting with NGO, and businessmen. Publish in Al-Massrioun Newspaper, 5-19-06.

2.) Colonel Muhammad Al Ghanam, Former director of legal research, Egyptian Interior Ministry. Geneva, Switzerland. Corruption in Egypt, 4 June 2006, http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/12823_E gypt.html.

3.) As Alaa left the picture around the year 2000, Mubarak’s second son Gamal started rising in the National Democratic Party and succeeded in getting a newer generation of neo-liberals into the party, and eventually the government. Due to Gamal’s increasing visibility and influence). rumours about his being groomed for the presidency became common. Nevertheless, this was publicly refuted by the president several times. Many believe that his succession would mean a hereditary pseudo- monarchy.

4.) Mubarak and corruption :A dramatic drop in support for Mubarak occurred with news that his son Alaa was favoured in government tenders and privatization. Transparency International (TI) is an international organisation addressing corruption, including, but not limited to, political corruption. The Index of perception of corruption rates Egypt as follows: index:3.4 and ranks 70/159 countries.
———————————–

Quite honestly, after having read the page below, I have concluded that this bunch is paranoid and hatemongering.

I believe that this group, together with such haters as Magdi Khalil, are the reason there is so much infighting in the American Coptic Movement.

We can not help Copts if the only Copts in a position to help are fighting, and we cannot change Egypt and the Middle East if we do not follow the Holy Scripture!

Do bitter and sweet water come from the same well? NO, and so, too, can’t backbiting and Egypt-saving words come from the same mouth.

WISE UP, PEOPLE!!!

Read The Paranoia At ACU For Yourself

Salib