Christians pushed to the edge in Egypt
Following another attack on a church in Egypt, riots broke out:
Update: now comes the word from Walid Phares that many of the dead were Copts, slaughtered by Egyptian forces:
Update 2: here's some commentary from One Jerusalem.
CAIRO - Twenty-three people were killed in Cairo on Sunday when Christians, some carrying crosses and pictures of Jesus, clashed with military police, medical and security sources said, in the latest sectarian flare-up in a country in political turmoil.How do we know it won't be fixed if it happens? There's a dark hell coming in Egypt and it'll be very soon, and I fear things will become much worse for Christianity in Egypt.
Christians protesting against an attack on a church threw rocks and petrol bombs and set cars on fire, as thick smoke wafted through the streets in some of the most violent scenes since an uprising ousted ex-president Hosni Mubarak in February.
Hundreds from both sides fought with sticks on a Cairo bridge. Protests later spread to the central Tahrir Square, the focal point of the February uprising. Witnesses said the army had moved into the area.
State television and sources said 150 people were injured, without saying how many of them were protesters. It had previously said three of those killed were soldiers.
Tensions between Christians and Muslims have increased since the February uprising. The latest violence comes just weeks before a parliamentary election on Nov. 28, the first such vote since Mubarak was ousted. [...]
Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's roughly 80 million people, took to the streets after blaming Muslim radicals for partially demolishing a church in Aswan province last week.
They also demanded the sacking of the province's governor for failing to protect the building.
Update: now comes the word from Walid Phares that many of the dead were Copts, slaughtered by Egyptian forces:
The credibility of the Arab Spring took a bloody hit today (Sunday October 9th) when Egyptian Army forces shot dead more than twenty Christian Copts and wounded scores of them. In addition, the action by the Army was paralleled by armed men, described as Jihadists by Coptic sources, seen also shooting and hitting demonstrators. At a few weeks from the legislative elections in Egypt, this violence impacts the debate about the Spring of Egypt but also challenges US and European policies towards the current and perhaps the forthcoming Government. Can the West support – and fund – a regime that kills members of the weakest community in Egypt, months after the fall of Mubarak?The answer is a sound NO. It would be a waste of taxpayers' money and only serve to fund terrorism by extension.
Update 2: here's some commentary from One Jerusalem.
Labels: Christianity, Egypt, islam, racism
