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From Sliwa News: Read Maria Sliwa Comment on these Horrible Crimes: Egyptian
Police Obstruct Search for Missing Christian Woman September
13, 2005 Attallah
said his daughter, Marianna Rezk Shafik Attallah, left work May 30 at the Al-Raay
medical laboratory in El-Fayoum, 60 miles south of Cairo, to pick up a
patient’s blood sample from a residential address. Neither her family nor
her fiancé have heard from her since. When
she failed to return home, her fiance, Bishoy Hosni, went searching for her at
her workplace. Mohammed Salah Noman, owner of the Noman Computer Center
neighboring the Al-Raay lab, told him that a Muslim employee of his, Ali
Mahmoud Abdel Rasoul, had kidnapped the young woman. Reportedly Rasoul, who
had been maintaining the Al-Raay laboratory computers, had previously been
fired from the police force for bad behavior. Police
Obstruction
After
hearing this, Attallah filed a report with the police on the day of his
daughters disappearance, naming Rasoul as her suspected kidnapper. But the
officials on duty refused to give him the case number. At
the same time, a State Security Investigation (SSI) officer declared that
Rasoul had packed up his household goods and moved 250 miles further south to
Sohag, taking Attallahs daughter with him. But he warned the young womans
father and fiance to stop looking for her, declaring she had left of her own
free will. The
woman’s fiance remained skeptical. If she went of her own free will, Hosni
told Compass, then why didn’t she come to say that [to us]? Soon afterwards,
rumors spread in their district of El-Fayoum that Marianna Attallah had left
her Christian faith and converted to Islam. But Hosni dismissed the claims,
saying that during their courtship, it had been her close relationship with
God and active involvement in the church that had helped bring him to a deeper
understanding of his Christian faith. Employer
Involvement in Abduction
It also became evident to him that Marianna Attallah’s employer, a Coptic
woman named Ivon Asaad was involved somehow in the young woman’s
disappearance. But
the young woman’s parents realized that something at work was disturbing
her, causing her to spend long hours alone crying. So despite their financial
straits to provide for her and her four siblings, they encouraged Marianna
Attallah to quit her job. Relieved, she resigned on May 28. The next day
Asa’ad visited her at the family’s house, offering to more than double her
salary if she would return. The
offer was too good to turn down, and she returned to the lab on May 30. But
when Hosni later telephoned Asa’ad, questioning the circumstances of his
fiance’s errand and disappearance, within an hour police summoned him and
the young woman’s father. Cruel
Joke on Desperate Father The
SSI has continued to stonewall the Attallah family’s attempts to recover
their daughter. On August 11, a security officer called the father, suggesting
that he buy a cell phone so that the police could contact him whenever they
learned his daughter’s whereabouts. Burning
with hope, the father traveled the 200 miles north to Alexandria, where the
officer called him again. Your daughter is across the street from you he was
told. Although
Attallah sent faxed petitions about his daughter’s case to the interior
minister, SSI headquarters in El-Fayoum and Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenoudah
III, he has received no reply. Hundreds
of young Coptic women disappear and are reported kidnapped each year in Egypt,
but their families claims are difficult to prove. At
the same time, security officials frequently prevent Christian parents from
having contact or private access to their daughters once they have been
located, instead leaving them in the custody of the Muslim protector who
abducted them.
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Coptic Christians: Even In Israel Are Persecuted!! Two Coptic Christian families live in Israel left to Canada, last week. According to Mr. Gamil Ibrahim, one of two families household, the reason was the persecution against him and his Palestinian Christian wife. Facing persecution and harassment by Palestinians Muslim, and Coptic Church Priests, who followed the Egyptian Embassy's orders. Mr. Gamil had lived in Israel for 11 years and was granted Israeli's citizenship through his wife, a Christian Palestinians. Both lived in Nazareth with their kids under Israeli control. the trouble with Gimil's family started few years ago by the Coptic Church, then spread to be from all Muslims in the City. The family has been treated harshly by order of the Egyptian Embassy in Israel, and Coptic Church instructions in Egypt, as told by Church members and clergy. The reason is his Israeli citizenship. As a part of systematic persecution that is conducted and organized by, the Egyptian government, Palestinian authority, and Islamic terror organizations, such as Hamas, and Islamic Jihad and alike, pose threats, severe pressure, and humiliation to Coptic Egyptians-Israeli citizens. Unfortunately, the Coptic Churches taking part of this systemic persecutions. American Coptic Union-ACU, has called Mr. Gamil, in his new residence in Canada, seeking more information of this case. ACU asked him, if he and others complaint to Israelis officials, he said " they ( Isralis) can not do anything, because they focus on fighting Islamic terrorism against Jewish communities, and Army, also there is no intention to interfere in Arab problems. We asked him why didn't he move to other area where the majority is Jews? he said " same problem 1948's Arab-Muslims pursuing same policy even against their own Palestinian Christians , and other Christian too. The second case is clear example of the Arab Islamic regime of Egypt aggression against Coptic Christians, even with those who fled their land. Mr. Kamal Yunan, a Coptic Christian , who fled the terrorism in Upper Egypt to Sinai in 1990. In Sinai he befriend to an Israeli family , who regularly visiting the Holy Sites in Sinai. The authority represented in the State Security Investigation arrested Kamal, and tortured him and told that he would be allowed to stay in Sinai if he converted to Islam, otherwise he should move to Cairo. He refused to convert and opted to live in Cairo. Kamal requested the help of the Coptic Church, but rejected, and called SSI to arrest him again. Then, persecution, and repeated detention followed him until , he decided to flee to Ethiopia leaving the family back in Cairo. From Ethiopia he contacted Mr. Morris Sadek, President of National Coptic American Assembly for help. Mr. Morris wrote to a number of Jewish organizations in the US, and Israeli Cabinet, that resulted the relocation of Mr. Kamal in Israel, and given asylum to stay in Israel. Because of the coordinated plan between the Arab government of Egypt, PA, and Hamas, Kamal was not able settle in Israel due to the same persecution he had faced in Egypt. Kamal now in the process to leave for Canada.
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Coptic
Christians: From Fire to Inferno
By:
Rafique Iscandar American
Coptic Union , President. May 26, 2005 In
the Op-Ed section New York Times, of May 21,05, has published an interesting
article by Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim,” Islam Can Vote, if We Let It”, and a
candidate for president of Egypt. First, We would like to express our strong
support for him as a candidate, and for his achievements as a chairman of the
Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. Dr.
Ibrahim, perfectly
analyzed the relation between the Arab Islamic regime of Egypt, and what he
called Islamists, in his article Dr. Ibrahim avoid to use Muslim Brotherhood
instead , he used the term Islamists. What’s important for us was his vision
regarding the non-Muslim in the upcoming reform and democracy in Egypt. He set
some principals for Muslim Brotherhood in case of ruling Egypt, to agreed
upon. First, non-Muslim won’t
accept the falling bread crump's from Islamists’ table. Second we denounce
all parties, Islamists and government overlooking non-Muslims, specifically
Egypt’s Christians, full civil and human rights. Thus, we would like to
introduce our vision in the upcoming political reforms in Egypt.
All
parties should agree to guarantee the full civil and human rights of
non-Muslims through a new written constitution in Egypt. These rights includes
the full citizenship, cultural, and religious rights. Since the Coptic
Christians have suffered a huge campaign of ethnic cleansing and displacing,
by both Islamists and the Arab Islamic government , made competing for elected
offices, is very hard, and even
close to impossible. Therefore, writing a new law similar to the “Iraqi
State Law” , would be a good start for all parties to agree on.
Saying
that non-Muslims speak their languages- something we fight for it and we all
welcome such a support from the
writer- but this would make them isolated, and foreigners in their own lands.
For instance , the native language of Coptic Christians is the Egyptian
Language, a language for all who called themselves Egyptians, and should be
constitutionally equivalent to Arabic language.
Islamists
including Muslim Brotherhood should not insisting on imposing Islamic Laws on
non-Muslims, and the new constitution must guarantee the separation of
religion from the state. If
we agree that Islamists are entitled to the same basic rights as others, why
non-Muslims should be deprived,
and excluded from these rights?
Claiming
that Islamists and particularly Muslim Brotherhood’s
popularity remains untested, is not accurate, because a similar version
of Islamists has been ruling Egypt since 1952. Corruption, wars, terrorism,
and persecution are their undisputed deeds.
Instead
of finding a “formula that includes Islamists in the system”, we should
find a wider formula for all parties include Coptic Christians who form more
than 20% of the population. The Egyptian government claim 6% of Coptic
Christian of a population of 69.5 million- July 2001, NYT Almanac 2003. Democracy
should not be based on exception
or exclusion to satisfy one party at the expense of the others. Jordan
and Morocco are good examples, but do not have 20% of their population as
Christians, and never have an “ ethnic, religious, civil war against them,
as described by CNN on the year of 2000" as the case of Egypt. Finally; United States of America, European Union, and UN should help writing , protecting and guaranteeing a fair and just a new constitution for Egypt. In addition to send an international delegation to monitor the next President ional election, Sept. 2005.
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