A Church Burns in Egypt

Yesterday I posted a list of the fifty-eight churches and Christian schools that have been torched and looted by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in the past three days.

Here’s some footage of one such building going up in flames:

Below are excerpts from a related news report:

Egypt: Islamists Hit Christian Churches

CAIRO (AP) — After torching a Franciscan school, Islamists paraded three nuns on the streets like “prisoners of war” before a Muslim woman offered them refuge. Two other women working at the school were sexually harassed and abused as they fought their way through a mob.

In the four days since security forces cleared two sit-in camps by supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Islamists have attacked dozens of Coptic churches along with homes and businesses owned by the Christian minority. The campaign of intimidation appears to be a warning to Christians outside Cairo to stand down from political activism.

Christians have long suffered from discrimination and violence in Muslim majority Egypt, where they make up 10 percent of the population of 90 million. Attacks increased after the Islamists rose to power in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that drove Hosni Mubarak from power, emboldening extremists. But Christians have come further under fire since President Mohammed Morsi was ousted on July 3, sparking a wave of Islamist anger led by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Nearly 40 churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged since Wednesday, when chaos erupted after Egypt’s military-backed interim administration moved in to clear two camps packed with protesters calling for Morsi’s reinstatement, killing scores of protesters and sparking deadly clashes nationwide.

One of the world’s oldest Christian communities has generally kept a low-profile, but has become more politically active since Mubarak was ousted and Christians sought to ensure fair treatment in the aftermath.

Many Morsi supporters say Christians played a disproportionately large role in the days of mass rallies, with millions demanding that he step down ahead of the coup.

Despite the violence, Egypt’s Coptic Christian church renewed its commitment to the new political order Friday, saying in a statement that it stood by the army and the police in their fight against “the armed violent groups and black terrorism.”

Hat tip: Vlad Tepes.

5 thoughts on “A Church Burns in Egypt

  1. I can’t say anything intelligent. This just so makes me sick on several levels…

    American foreign policy and EU foreign policy

    American foreign policy as it pertains to genuine refugee policy and,
    EU foreign policy. ( what is American foreign policy> I have yet to decode it…)

    Wow! I am so tired of talking about this. Let’s just watch every
    Christian facility in Egypt burn and talk about it later…

    My heart bleeds.

    amer

  2. I dont think any European country has bothered to make a statement on the matter, I know that Barrack Hussein Obama hasnt bothered. He is too busy making statements in support of the Muslim Brotherhood, either himself or through the State department….and golfing.

  3. The burning of these churches by the MB demonstrates the majority’s case against Morsi: He’s not the president of ALL THE PEOPLE.
    As such, he is illegitimate.
    The only democracy in the region is the tyranny of the majority.
    And our president supports a tyranny of the majority in Egypt.
    Why is this point missing from ALL news analysis?

  4. In the coverage on the BBC one woman said she wished Mubarak was still there; perhaps she was a Christian. Are there any coptic churches left in Egypt? Nothing from the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the Pope. I wonder whether they would bother if Canterbury Cathedral or St Peter’s were set on fire?

Comments are closed.