Tag: Egypt

Coptic barber dies after ‘fainting’ at police station; family say he was killed

July 24, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Police

The family of a Coptic barber, who died at a police station where he had gone to report threats, say they believe he was beaten to death. Maher Girgis Tawfiq, a 43-year-old father-of-four from the city of Beni Suef, had gone to the local police station on Friday 20 July . . . Read More

Egypt: Copts celebrate first Mass in new church, seven years since closure of previous building

July 23, 2018 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Kom El-Loufy, Minya

Copts in Kom El-Loufy celebrate the first mass in their new church. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Seven years after their previous church was closed by local authorities because of “security reasons”, the Coptic community in the Egyptian village of Kom El-Loufy, 250km south of Cairo, held a first Mass in their new church yesterday, 22 July. The 1,600 Copts from the village in Minya governorate were marking the completion of the first stage . . . Read More

Egypt: Mob attack encouraged by police promise ‘No church will be allowed here’

July 17, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya

A mob attacked a church in Minya, Egypt, on 13 July protesting against its legalisation and received a police officer’s approval, World Watch Monitor has learnt from local sources. The only church in Ezbet Sultan Pasha village, where about 20 percent of the population is Christian, was built in September . . . Read More

Egypt: Copts attacked after Facebook post ‘showing contempt of Islam’

July 11, 2018 Egypt Blasphemy, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya, Prophet Muhammad

Following Adel's facebook post in July an attempt by a mob to attack the Coptic Saint Tadros Church in Menbal village was prevented by security guards. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An attack by a Muslim mob on Copts in a village in the Egyptian governorate of Minya on Monday (9 July) has left the Coptic community holed up in their houses, while security forces patrol the streets. A local source told World Watch Monitor the situation is still very tense . . . Read More

Copt’s fields torched after rumours he was turning his house into a church

June 26, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Children, Churches, Copts, Egypt

A Coptic Christian from Beni Suef governorate in Egypt saw his wheat fields set on fire, just four days after he was accused of planning to turn his house into a church. On 2 June, Ibrahim Sadeq Ayad from Ezbed Ragy village, near the city of El-Fashn, informed the police . . . Read More

Egypt to pay for Coptic bomb attack victim’s surgery in Germany

June 21, 2018 Egypt Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Pope Tawadros II, Women

It’s been 18 months since Coptic Christian Samiha Tawfiq was badly injured in the bomb attack on Cairo’s St. Peter and Paul church, which claimed 27 lives and injured 49. It also took away one side of Samiha’s face. Samiha and her husband Koleny were sitting in the respective women’s . . . Read More

Egypt’s Christians face ‘insurmountable barrier’ in pursuit of football career

June 19, 2018 Egypt Alexandria, Copts, Egypt, Football, Youth

As Egypt’s national football team prepares for its second match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup tonight – against hosts Russia in St. Petersburg – long-standing discrimination issues in Egyptian football have surfaced, with the country’s sizeable Christian minority largely excluded. AFP last month spoke with Mina Bendary, 22, who . . . Read More

Tunisians protest against closure of cafes and restaurants during Ramadan

June 15, 2018 Tunisia Ahmed Shaheed, Converts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Ramadan, Religious freedom, Tunisia

People walking in Medina in Sfax, a city on Tunisia's east coast. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Non-Muslims in Tunisia have taken to the streets during this year’s Ramadan to protest the closure of many cafés and restaurants, saying they can’t be forced to fast, reports the New York Times (NYT). Around 100 protestors began Ramadan this year by drinking water and eating sandwiches in central Tunis in . . . Read More

Copts’ homes attacked after they protest Muslim men swimming naked in front of them

June 15, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Upper Egypt

Coptic houses were attacked in a village in Upper Egypt last week, after Copts objected to a group of young Muslim men swimming naked in a canal in front of their homes, as Coptic women sat outside. The incident took place on 4 June in the village of Tarshoub, in . . . Read More

Coptic Christians harassed for drinking water during Ramadan fasting hours

June 13, 2018 Egypt Asyut, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Helwan, Islamic extremism, Ramadan, Sharia

In one of three incidents reported to World Watch Monitor, an Egyptian photographer was detained by police for carrying a bottle of water during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are required not to eat or drink anything from the first light of dawn until sunset. He claims . . . Read More

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