Tag: Egypt

Copt arrested for distributing Bibles

August 11, 2015 Egypt Bibles, Copts, Egypt, Minya, Proselytism, Upper Egypt, Wahhabism

Egyptian Christian Medhat Ishaq was arrested in a satellite town of Cairo on Sunday (9 August) for giving away Bibles to passersby. According to the weekly Watani newspaper, the 35-year-old Copt was standing in front of the Arabia shopping mall in 6 October town when passersby stopped him and summoned . . . Read More

Egyptian solider, the only Christian in his unit, found dead

July 1, 2015 Egypt Conscripts, Copts, Egypt, Suez

The facts are these: Bahaa Gamal Mikhail Silvanus, 23 and a conscript in the Egyptian Army, was found dead June 24 in a chair in the office of the military base where he was stationed. There were two bullet wounds in his chest, and a gun at his feet. One . . . Read More

Muslims must ‘face up’ to Quran’s violence

June 23, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Prophet Muhammad, Quran

Egyptian President al-Sisi’s New Year’s Day speech asking how belief in Islam could make Muslim nations “a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction” ought to have triggered a worldwide theological debate amongst Muslims asking where the mechanism for restraining Islamic violence lies, according to Canon Dr. Gavin Ashenden, writing . . . Read More

Egyptian convert still in jail having served his time

June 22, 2015 Egypt Apostasy, Converts, Egypt, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Mohammed Hegazy

Having spent most of his adult life either harassed, in hiding, or in jail, former Muslim now Christian Mohamed Hegazy can expect more of the same. Hegazy, who has been in prison since December 2, 2013, is known to be the first Egyptian to openly seek a change from Muslim . . . Read More

Community ‘justice’ expels Copts from their homes

June 17, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Gad Younan, Islamic State, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

Forgive Emad Youssef if he and his extended family felt quite confused. The crowd welcoming them back to the village had only a few days earlier demanded they leave. “They said this is the first time something like this has happened in our village,” he told private satellite channel, OnTV “and that, . . . Read More

Libya: ‘a country where Christians shouldn’t come’

May 14, 2015 Libya Algeria, Ansar al-Sharia, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Libya, Migrants, Muammar Gaddafi, Refugees, Tripoli, Tunisia

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been engulfed by conflicts between various coalitions of armed groups.Photo courtesy Open Doors International Migrants and refugees in Libya are increasingly facing widespread abuse and persecution on religious grounds, a report by Amnesty International has revealed. Foreign nationals travelling irregularly . . . Read More

2014: A year of particular concern

April 30, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-balaka, Bashar al-Assad, BJP, Boko Haram, Central African Republic, Chibok girls, Chin, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Iran, Iraq, Islamic State, Kachin, Kano, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Potiskum, Rohingya, Saudi Arabia, Seleka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

If ever there were a year that made plain the importance of religious freedom, 2014 was it, according to the just-released annual report by an American government advisory group. “By any measure, the horrors of the past year speak volumes about how and why religious freedom and the protection of the . . . Read More

71 life sentences for burning Egyptian church

April 30, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Islamic extremism, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

An Egyptian court has sentenced 71 people to life in prison for attacking and burning a Coptic church in reaction to the 2013 removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Ahram Online reports. The Virgin Mary Church in Giza province’s Kafr Hakim village was torched and looted by a mob on . . . Read More

Copts aid Egyptians’ evacuation from Libya

February 24, 2015 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Libya

The Coptic Church has set up a “crisis unit” in order to facilitate rapid evacuation and repatriation of Egyptians still present in Libya – starting with those most affected by the fighting. Families of the expatriates have been urged to provide information to the Crisis Committee before Feb. 28. According . . . Read More

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