An Attorney and his Sons Hire a Mob of Thugs to Destroy an Historical Church in Rasheed, Egypt

An attorney of law and his two sons who are public prosecutors, accompanied by a mob of about 50 thugs attacked an historical Roman Orthodox church in Rasheed, Egypt. The attack took place on the 19th September 2008 directly after the early morning Muslim prayers.

The attorney, Mohammed Moustafa Kamel and his sons Mohammed and Mahmoud and their mob destroyed the fences around the church and ransacked the church itself destroying invaluable icons and the remains of saints that were kept in the historic building. The church gatekeeper, Ashraf Fahmy Abdalla was injured in the attack, and many shops owned by Christians next to the church were broken into and looted
In spite of the church being in close proximity to the local police station, there was no attempt made by the police to stop the attacks.


Father Luca Assaad Awad from St Mark’s church in Rasheed, and who leads prayers in the attacked Roman Orthodox church also, says he doesn’t understand the reason for the barbaric actions taken by the attackers. Mr. Mohammed Moustafa Kamel claims that he bought the almost 1300 year old church and the shops next to it from the previous Roman Orthodox bishop. The current Patriarch denies any knowledge of this sale.

It is worth noting that there has been an agreement between the Coptic Orthodox church and the Roman Orthodox church that the Copts may use the Roman Orthodox churches for prayers. Hence Father Luca has been holding mass celebrations in the historic church.


Dr. Naguib Gobrail, president of the Egyptian Association for Human Rights condemned the attacks especially that the perpetrators are law professionals whose responsibility is to uphold the law and ensure justice for all citizens. He also condemned the lack of action on the part of the police who failed to prevent this barbaric attack on a place of worship. Dr. Gobrail wonders if the attack was on a Muslim place of worship, that we would have seen such inaction.

Sources:

Copts-United

Free Copts

Muslim Extremists Call for Violence against Christian Monasteries in Egypt

O people of Islam come to martyrdom in Ramadan…the month of repentance and forgiveness

Groups of Islamic extremists have published a call for jihad against the monasteries of Wadi-El-Natrun on their websites.Their call comes soon after the rumor spread by the prominent Islamic figure Dr. Zaghloul El Naggar claiming that a Christian convert to Islam has been detained in a Wadi-El-Natrun monastery and subsequently murdered by the Coptic church after refusing to denounce Islam. It is worth noting that the woman in question had declared four years ago that she never converted to Islam and that she was “born a Christian and will die a Christian”

El Naggar made his accusation in an interview with Egyptian newspaper “Al-Khamis” and failed to provide any evidence to support his claims. Unfortunately this isn’t the first instance where Dr. El Naggar makes unsubstantiated accusations against the church and Christian community of Egypt. Last year he claimed that the church is secretly proselytizing to Muslims and converting them to Christianity in large numbers. He also claimed that he knows of the hideouts where these christenings take place and that he has documentations to support his claims.

To this date he has not provided any evidence to support either claim. It seems that there is no need for providing evidence to incite extremists to demand revenge especially during the month of Ramadan “the month of repentance and forgiveness” according to the extremist website. The emotive call to jihad is demanding of Muslims to wake up and strike the infidel Jews and Christians with a fist of iron. As well as blowing up the monasteries of the “murderous Christians” and reducing them to ashes, they are demanding Egyptian Muslims rise up and attack the Israeli embassy and also the building that houses the office of State Security.An

excerpt of the text published on the website:

“Blow up the monasteries with the worshippers of the crucifix inside them
Do not leave them a safe means of escape

O people of Islam come to martyrdom in Ramadan…the month of repentance and forgiveness

Tear up Egyptian Christians and shed their blood
Burn the ground under their feet and let bombs rain on them from the sky

Let the volcano of anger explode in the face of the office of Infidel Security”