Tel-Chai Nation

Reuters (via Jihad/Dhimmi Watch) reports of an attack by Islamists on a Coptic church in Alexandria because of a play they despised:

CAIRO (Reuters) - Three demonstrators were killed when thousands of people protested on Friday near a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria over the staging of a play they said was offensive to Islam, security sources said.

The demonstrators were killed during clashes between police and the more than 5,000-strong crowd which had gathered near St. George's Coptic church in the Mediterranean port city after Muslim prayers, the sources said.

Police used teargas to try to disperse the crowd, which had pelted police with stones and which regrouped on several occasions after prayer times through the day and evening, the sources said. They said protests continued late into the night.

Police formed a cordon to prevent the crowd approaching St. George's church, prompting some of the demonstrators to try to storm another church nearby, the sources said, adding that dozens of police and protesters were injured in the clashes.

Coptic Bishop Armia denied accusations the play insulted Islam, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported, as monitored by the BBC.

"Copts would never tolerate anyone insulting Islam," Bishop Armia was quoted as saying.

He did not give details about the play or what it was about. Coptic officials could not be independently reached for comment.

I don't know about this particular article, but the one from CNN (Hat tip: The Dread Pundit Bluto) certainly tells what the play was about, and why the monsters attacked:

The riot was sparked by the distribution of a DVD of a play that was performed at the church two years ago. The play, "I Was Blind But Now I Can See," tells the story of a young Christian who converts to Islam and becomes disillusioned.

The Sixth Column and Meryl Yourish also discuss the subject, and the latter gives even more details about what exactly the Islamists objected to. From AFP:

The play, performed by amateur actors, tells the story of a young Christian who converts to Islam and is exhorted by a sheikh to kill priests and destroy churches, according to the independent Al-Dustur paper.

Performances of the play had to be abandoned after it sparked a public outcry.

Church authorities have distanced themselves from the new recordings of the play.

So because the play focuses on Islamic sponsered terrorism, that's why they've got a problem with it. Now I get it.

See also this topic from Jihad/Dhimmi Watch for something the AP Wire didn't bother to report on, but the AFP (and Reuters) did, that being the injuring of a nun at the same church by a knifer, who also stabbed another man trying to help out in the back:

The protests came three days after a man lightly wounded a nun with a knife at the entrance to the same church, and a man who came to her aid was stabbed in the back.

This is something that otherwise cannot be expected to be spoken about seriously in the MSM.

Update: see also these postings from The Free Copts weblog for more.

Labels: Christianity, Egypt, islam, jihad, racism