Copts As Persecuted: Seen as Perpetrators

Dott. Arch. Ashraf Ramelah – Voice of the Copts’ founder and president

By Dr. Ashraf Ramelah
Voice of the Copts founder and president

Speech given by Ashraf Ramelah on 10/26/10 in Washington, D.C. as part of a panel on “The Plight of Minorities in Arab and Muslim Countries: What Should the U.S. Do?”

Good afternoon and thank you for coming to this important event organized by the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia.

The dilemma of the Christian Copts of Egypt is greater than you can imagine and, for the most part, the entire world has ignored it. I can better define this by saying that the Islamic supremacists have been able to mask it successfully so the world is unable to realize its full dimension.

Copts are the inheritors of the land of Egypt, and in the year 651AD, their land was invaded by Arab-Muslims. In reality, such an invasion was not new to the Egyptian. Egypt was always vulnerable to invading armies and always under occupation due to its geographic location between Asia and Africa.

The narrative that Copts living in Egypt today are free to worship and treated equally under the law is enhanced by the Arab-Muslim interpretation of their own whitewashed role in the invasion of Egypt.

Such is illustrated by the following quote from an Arab historian, Al-Makrezi, writing about the Arab invasion of Egypt, “of those suffering under Roman occupation, we voluntarily went to free them (the Egyptian) from Roman aggression and persecution.”

Why then did we see no end to the oppression and persecution of Copts after the Arab-Muslim victory over the Romans? The Arabs were not liberators, but oppressors who began to erase the Coptic identity, force Copts to choose between death and conversion to Islam and force Copts to abandon their own language for Arabic. Coptic churches and monasteries were destroyed. The demoralized and humiliated Copts remained oppressed and persecuted.

However, many Arab-Muslim history books read that the Egyptian Copts were grateful to Arabs for liberating them from Roman occupation and pleased with the outcome. Arabs claim that Copts requested Arab-Muslim help by requesting them to come into the land of Egypt to free them from Roman occupation. Could this have been true? The answer is no, when you consider the threatening message sent years earlier by Mohammad, the prophet of Islam, to the rulers of the countries Arabs were planning to invade. The following is the prophet’s words in Arabic and translated: 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم : من محمد بن عبد الله ورسوله إلى هرقل عظيم الروم ، سلام على من أتبعالهدى ، أما بعد فإني أدعوك بدعاية الإسلام أسلم تسلم ، أسلم يؤتك الله أجرك مرتين ، فإن توليت فإنما عليك أثم الأريسيين {2} ويا أهل الكتاب تعالوا إلى كلمة سواء بيننا وبينكم ألا نعبد إلا الله ولا نشرك به شيئا ولا يتخذ بعضنا أربابا من دون الله ، فإن تولوا فقولوا اشهدوا بأنا مسلمون

Translation: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, from Muhammad ibn Abd Allah and His Messenger to Heraclius The Great of Byzantium, peace to those who follow true guidance, herewith, I invite you with the Islamic invitation – become a Muslim to save your life [convert to keep from being killed]. Allah of Islam will reward you twice. If you follow him your sin will be taken away. Oh people of the Book, come to a word to both of us that you and us that will worship no god but Allah that has no partner with him and we do not take other gods besides Allah, and say that we confirm that Nazarenes and Muslims.
[Editor's note: the correct translation of the last sentence should have been "..we confirm that we are Muslims". The word "Nazarenes" is not present in the arabic text]

Time does not allow me to describe the immense destruction of Egypt by the Arab occupiers 1400 years ago, but this is the legacy of dhimmitude and the precedent for today’s problem in Egypt where Copts continue to be tormented and oppressed. In Egypt today, the Omrani and Hamyoni decrees regulate (unofficially) the lives of Copts just as it did hundreds of years ago. Everyday in Egypt justice is denied the Copts such as in cases where Copts are murdered and their property destroyed by thugs who carry out these crimes knowing they will never be punished.

The Egyptian regime and law enforcement create major obstacles to building churches – sometimes taking thirty to thirty-five years to process a permit and begin construction. Copts are denied government jobs upon revealing their Christian names on an application. This pertains also to their omission from low and high ranking positions in the military, law enforcement, state university and international scholarship grants. Thus, Copts are confined to the private sector which has recently suffered tremendous economic damage at the hand of the Egyptian regime during the pig slaughter across the country.

Historically speaking, political and economic oppression of the Copts today are a direct result of the moment of Islamic invasion and occupation of Egypt, the consequences of which were bloodshed and brutality toward a broken Coptic people.

In Egypt’s current environment the psychological damage Copts suffer as well comes from being regarded as traitors and treated as untrustworthy to hold positions in government either as elected representatives or as appointees. This includes the Islamic claim that Copts are spies for Israel, which in fact is readily disproved, most notably by the near total absence of Coptic names on the Arab-Muslim list of Islamic enemies of state worldwide.

The reason why my review of Coptic history is both important and urgent is not because I think my audience does not know it, but rather, it is to emphasize and illustrate a pattern of Islamic behavior which I believe serves as the blueprint being used today worldwide by Arab-Muslims immigrating to Western democratic nations, the basis of a modern-day Gazwa (invasion).

Therefore, in conclusion, I strongly suggest to the U.S. that when we overlook or dismiss the Coptic reality inside Egypt today as a “thing of the past” or as a situation where “Christians are equally as guilty,” we are refusing to grasp the actions and accomplishments of an Islamic supremacist regime exercising full control. In doing so, the U.S. commits a grave injustice to the whole world. If the U.S. were to look deeply into the conditions inside Egypt, cutting through the deceptions of the regime, we would find values incompatible with the West and perhaps re-evaluate the direction of our foreign aid.

In our approach to Egypt and in our own domestic affairs, the U.S. further ignores the fact that the Muslim religion is not just a religion but a political ideological movement determined to ravage and capture the world’s landscape as stated in their doctrine and played out in my country of Egypt.

Our organization, Voice of the Copts, gathers headlines from around the world every day indicating Islamic entrenchment in many countries around the world. The presence of Muslim Shariah law inflicting disruptions and challenges to civil society, fueled by the deceptive practices of Islamic-funded enterprises, wreak havoc in societies across the globe and seem to have no end.

When Muslims swear allegiance to a government of a new host country and they remain loyal to the principles of Islam toward the Islamic Omma (nation) as part of Islamic doctrine there is often dire consequences for the host country. In the U.S. alone, the Fort Hood massacre, the Times Square car bomber and the Ground Zero mosque perpetrators are all examples of Islamic loyalty.

However, it is the simple everyday things that very significantly demonstrate Islamic loyalty, as in certain areas of the U.S. where Muslim taxi drivers are forbidding American citizens to board their taxis while carrying alcohol, infringing upon their rights to privacy. A similar incident occurred to an Italian friend of mine visiting Cairo with his wife who while riding a taxi was instructed by the driver to sit apart and not touch each other.

Where does the U.S. legal system stand in such matters? What has come to be normal in Cairo must not become acceptable in NYC or Boston or any other American city. Therefore we highly recommend that local courts rule appropriately on such cases and uphold the American constitution regardless of who abuses it in the name of any religion.

The persecution of Egypt’s Coptic minority is taking an ironic, and dangerous, turn: Islamist leaders are now projecting the worst traits of radical Islam onto Egypt’s Christians.

A psychological phenomenon first described by Sigmund Freud, “projection,” is defined as “the attribution of one’s own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people.” As such, consider the following excerpt from this recent report:

In the last month various fundamentalist groups held ten demonstrations [in Egypt], each after coming out of mosques following Friday prayers, against the 86-year-old ailing Coptic Pontiff, in which he was accused of being a US agent, an abductor and torturer of female Muslim converts from Christianity, of stockpiling weapons in monasteries and churches to carry out war against Muslims, and of plans to divide Egypt to create a Coptic State.

All of these accusations are as inapplicable to the Coptic Church as they are applicable to Islamists. Let us first examine the context of these charges:

“Abducting and torturing female Muslim converts from Christianity.” Context: The wife of a Coptic priest, Camelia Shehata, was reportedly kidnapped by Islamists, but then returned to her family. In response, Islamist leaders began saying that she had willingly run away and converted to Islam, and, in fact, has been “re-kidnapped” by the Coptic Church, which has trapped her in a monastery where she is being “tortured” and “re-indoctrinated” to Christianity.

In fact, the opposite scenario — kidnapping Christian women and forcing them to convert to Islam — is a well documented and a notorious phenomenon in Egypt. So now the Coptic Church is being accused of behaving identically — not just kidnapping, but torturing, brainwashing, and forcing women to convert. Moreover, the fact that Camelia has appeared on video fervently affirming her Christian faith and denying that she ever converted to Islam has been ignored, no doubt because Islam’s ingrained notion of taqiyya, or dissimulation, is also being projected onto the Copts. Finally, Muslims’ own sharia law mandates that Muslim women who try to leave the faith must be incarcerated and tormented until they return to Islam, such as in the recent case of Nagla Imam.

“Stockpiling weapons in monasteries and churches to carry out war against Muslims.” Context: On September 15, leading Islamic figure Dr. Muhammad Salim al-Awwa appeared on Al Jazeera, and, in a wild tirade, accused the Copts of “stocking arms and ammunition in their churches and monasteries”— imported from Israel, no less, as “Israel is in the heart of the Coptic Cause” — and “preparing to wage war against Muslims.” He warned that if nothing is done, the “country will burn,” inciting Muslims to “counteract the strength of the [Coptic] Church.” Awwa further charged that Egypt’s security forces cannot enter the monasteries to investigate for weapons (an amazing assertion, considering that Coptic monasteries are not only at the mercy of the state, but easy prey to Islamist attacks, with monks tortured and crucifixes spat on).

Needless to say, such charges are unjustified: in a nation and society where Islam is supreme; where sharia law (which mandates subjugation for non-Muslims via Koran 9:29) is part of the Constitution; where Copts have been conditioned over centuries to be happy just being left alone — is it reasonable to believe that these selfsame, downtrodden Christians, who make up 12%-15% of the population, are planning a violent takeover of Egypt? It is easy to see, however, why such charges resonate with Muslims; after all, Islamists are constantly arming and stockpiling weapons — a Koranic charge — including in mosques, as they prepare to violently seize power across the nations, with Egypt being an especially coveted target. Ironically, Awwa himself ceded that “Muslims are arrested every day [in Egypt] for extremism and the possession of arms.”

“Planning to divide Egypt to create a Coptic State.” Context: In a closed conference, Coptic Bishop Bishoy had the temerity to acknowledge history: “Muslims are guests in this country, Christians are the original residents. Prior to the Arab invasion of Egypt, which took place in the seventh century, the majority of Egypt’s population was Christian.” As usual, this otherwise historically accurate observation has enraged Muslims, been denounced by Al Azhar, and cited as “proof” that the Copts seek to divide Egypt and establish their own state.

It is actually Muslim minorities who habitually try to secede from non-Muslim countries, whether by creating their own nations (Pakistan), or creating enclaves in the West. The notion of separating from the infidel is commanded in the Koran (e.g., 3:28, 4:89, 4:144, 5:54, 6:40, 9:23, and 58:22), codified in the doctrine of wala wa bara, and imprinted on the Muslim psyche. Unsurprisingly, then, Muslims have come to project this divisive impulse onto the Copts as well.

There is perhaps no clearer example of Muslim projection than when Bishop Bishoy, in response to the recent upsurge in Coptic persecutions, declared that the Copts are reaching the point of martyrdom: amazingly, this, too, has been thoroughly “Islamicized” as a declaration of war-to-the-death, including by Awwa, who, during his Al Jazeera declaration, asserted that “Father Bishoy declared that they would reach the point of martyrdom, which can only mean war. He said, ‘If you talk about our churches, we will reach the point of martyrdom.’ This means war.”

Of course, the notion that a martyr is someone who wages and dies in jihad [holy war] is intrinsic to Islam (e.g., Koran 9:111). Even the authoritative Hans Wehr Arabic-English Dictionary translates shahid (“martyr”) as “one killed in battle with infidels.” On the other hand, Christian martyrdom has always meant being persecuted and killed for refusing to recant Christianity — and this is precisely the definition that has for centuries applied to Egypt’s Copts, and the definition that Bishop Bishoy clearly intended. (See this article for the pivotal differences between Christian and Muslim martyrdom.)

Islamists regularly abduct, abuse, brainwash, and compel Coptic girls to convert — and now Copts are accused of doing the exact same thing; Islamists regularly smuggle and stockpile weapons, including in their holy places — and now Copts are accused of doing the exact same thing; Islamists are constantly either trying to break away or conquer infidel nations — and now Copts are accused of doing the exact same thing; Islamic martyrdom means participating and dying in jihad — and now Christian martyrdom is defined as the exact same thing.

While anti-Copt sentiment is as old as the Muslim conquest of Egypt, this recent batch of false accusations is making Muslims more irate and paranoid, and foretells greater harm for Egypt’s beleaguered Christians. According to sharia’s dhimmi pact, the necessary condition for Copts to be tolerated is that they live as subordinate, second-class “citizens.” The Islamist psyche — and Egypt is increasingly Islamicizing — expects this.

Yet these recent charges portray the Copts as violent antagonists bent on war and conquest. If the Muslim popular mind accepts this new interpretation, far from subjugated dhimmis, or even co-equals, the Copts will be perceived as little better than infidel terrorists, and treated accordingly: that is, barbarously.

http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/persecution-by-islam/copts-as-persecuted-seen-as-perpetrators/

Pakistan and Islamization: stoning women to death for Allah

 

Islamic justice in Pakistan

 If we close our eyes we can imagine part of the land of India which was partitioned and became Pakistan.  If we think about this area before the onset of Islam it is easy to imagine Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians, and many faiths throughout the land which would become Pakistan.  However, countless Islamic invasions and then the partition of India led to the creation of modern day Pakistan.

 The creation of East and West Pakistan did not lead to unity or peace but instead led to more religious persecution of non-Muslim minorities, ethnic tensions, language issues, and other important factors. In time Bangladesh and Pakistan would emerge after a bitter and brutal war which erupted in 1971 and during this brutal war the Pakistan army was involved in brutal massacres and the Hindu community was especially targeted.

 Therefore, just like past Islamic conquests which enslaved and killed millions of Hindus in past Islamic jihads of India the same also happened during 1971.  The eastern part of Dhaka was dominated by Hindus therefore Pakistan military units were involved in major pogroms of Hindus.  Time magazine reported on 2 August 1971, that “The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Pakistani military hatred.”

 After the brutal conflict in 1971 it is clear that Pakistan learnt nothing apart from more hatred because General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq would consolidate his power base during 1977 and 1978 and the new President of Pakistan was intent on installing more Islamization. 

 General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq introduced many draconian laws in which non-Muslims and minority Muslims would suffer alongside women who also bore the brunt of Islamization.  Laws he introduced in the Pakistan Penal Code include the following: 

 

Source of information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zia-ul-Haq’s_Islamization

 Therefore, modern day Pakistan is a land of Islamic hatred whereby Islamists stone women to death, persecute minorities, and keep women in the shadows in many parts of this land and honour killings are a daily reality.  At the same time you have institutional Islamic hatred whereby the government, police force, judiciary, local government leaders, and other areas of power install or maintain institutional hatred by allowing systematic persecution of minorities and women.

 Ahmadiyya Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and other minorities, now reside in fear because of the draconian blasphemy law and other laws which discriminate against non-Muslims and Ahmadiyya Muslims.

 The nightmare of what Pakistan is can be seen by the recent murder of another woman which was highlighted in an article written by S Iftikhar Murshed. He states the following:

 “The woman’s head was covered with a sack, her hands were tied and she was tethered to the ground – while a group of turbaned, bearded men hurled rocks at her, breaking her bones and then crushing her skull. According to reports in the press, she had been walking unescorted and was presumed guilty of adultery. The barbarity, allegedly perpetrated by the Taliban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), was shown on Dubai’s Al Aan television. The same footage was televised by a private Pakistani channel on Sept 28 and the story also featured that day in the local print media.”

 “There was no reaction from civil society, no politician demanded that the government bring the criminals to justice, no resolution was passed by parliament expressing concern over the outrage, no statement emanated from the president or the prime minister condemning the incident, and the atrocity faded from public memory because the woman was a nonentity and did not matter.”

(Article http://www.thenews.com.pk/24-10-2010/opinion/11689.htm)

 This article highlights the complete brutality of Sunni Islam under the Taliban; the institutions of Pakistan which are enabling hatred to prosper via draconian laws and ineptness when dealing with brutal murders like this; and the utter brutality of Mohammed himself who not only did adultery with female concubines but who then supported the stoning to death of people who did adultery.

 The mass media in the West which highlighted an insignificant Christian pastor with a flock which is very small about burning the Koran remains largely silent about daily murders of women and minorities in Pakistan.  Or if information is provided then it is not advertised so much because it would break the “Islamic mantra of peace” which is being sold in many media outlets or by national leaders like President Obama who is following the party line of ex-President Bush.

 In truth the brutal murder of this woman shames the appeasers of Islam and shames the multi-religionists who are closing their eyes to the reality of Islamic Sharia law and the tenets of Islam which were espoused by Mohammed.

 It should also be remembered that America and the United Kingdom both supported General Zia-ul-Haq and little was said about the draconian Islamic laws which he put in motion, in full accordance with the Koran and the Hadiths.  Therefore, silence is both a Democratic and Republican issue in America and an issue for nations like the United Kingdom who have turned a blind eye to brutal laws and institutional hatred in Pakistan.

The author, S Iftikhar Murshed, continues by stating the adage “justice delayed is justice denied” is not necessarily true. In the case of the unknown woman in Fata, as in other instances, the skewed Taliban concept of Islamic justice was as swift as it was brutal. The stringent Quranic evidentiary requirements for proving adultery were set aside and the accused was condemned for a crime she had never committed.”

 This comment clearly shows you that the article by S Iftikhar Murshed does not condemn the Koran and the Hadiths because he states “The stringent Quranic evidentiary requirements for proving adultery were set aside.”  However, why do people deserve to be killed for adultery, apostasy, or have your hands and feet chopped off for minor crimes in accordance with what Mohammed stated?

Returning back to this article it is clear that Pakistan is in crisis and this crisis is based on the religion of Islam. The complicity of nations who continue to prop-up this nation also must be rebuked because General Zia-ul-Haq created an even more vengeful Pakistan and the global Sunni Islamic jihadist movement obtained major funding and backing under his rule.

 Ex-President Jimmy Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski fell into line and supported the motives of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in 1979 after the Siege of Mecca by forces loyal to Juhayman ibn Muhammad ibn Sayf al-Otaibi created mayhem for the House of Saud.

http://leejaywalker.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/the-siege-of-mecca-to-pro-islamic-policies-in-bosnia/

In an earlier article I wrote called “USA, CIA, created Sunni Islamic Terrorism” I comment that “The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) implemented Operation Cyclone and this policy was aimed at supporting the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Jimmy Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski began a new policy whereby America would support radical Islam in the full knowledge that this meant supporting terrorism and a movement which supported killing all apostates from Islam and persecuting women.”
 
“Therefore, both political parties in America were involved in the funding of radical Sunni Islam and Michael G. Vickers, a Special Forces NCO, was commissioned by the CIA to support radical Islamic forces. Of major importance was coordination and launching attacks against the Soviet Union which would prove to be successful. Given this, Vickers, and other covert operatives, would train terrorists and in time they would unleash a force that could not be contained.”
 
The CIA’s regional head, Gustav Avrakotos, alongside people like Charlie Wilson, Gordan Humphrey, Fred Ikle, William Casey, Joanne Herring, and a host of others, were all responsible in spreading radical Islam in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Therefore, the “dark forces” of radical Sunni Islam were being unified via enormous funding and military training…………… the CIA, political leaders, and the people mentioned above, would all play their role in the future destabilization of Afghanistan and Pakistan and in making September 11th happen.
 
“Of instrumental importance were Pakistan and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) unit which would work hand-in-hand with the CIA and other covert networks. Other nations were also involved, including the British, because MI6 and the SAS, would help to train Islamic terrorists and of course Saudi Arabia would provide ample funds in order to spread radical Sunni Islam.”
 
However, the mistakes of America and the United Kingdom can’t be exonerated nor can Mohammed who is the prophet of Islam because history tells us the reality of Mohammed and Islamic jihad. 
 
The defeat of communism was a serious issue during the Cold War but it is clear that Islamic jihad was an instrument of power and control. This began under the founding father of Islam because Mohammed simply sat by and watched the beheadings of the Banu Qurayza who were followers of Judaism.  More than 600 men over puberty were beheaded one after the other in full accordance with the wishes of Mohammed.
 
The fate that befell the Banu Qurayza clearly shows you the mindset of Mohammed and Islam. Jihad, jizya, dhimmitude, and the destruction of other faiths and systems is part and parcel of Islam and only fools would have ignored the reality of Islam and its bloody past and continuity in the modern world.
 
Therefore, the stoning to death of this lady may have been done by the Taliban but the “hands which are dripping in blood belong to Prophet Mohammed.”
In America and other nations people are now waking up despite media bias which is trying to distort the reality of Islam.  President Obama may not be on board and his eyes may be closed but forces within America are gradually waking up.
 
If only America, the UK, and others, had turned to India and the history of this nation because Islamic jihad, enslavement, brute force, dhimmitude, and so forth, was not only a past tragedy but is also a living tragedy.  After all, Hindus and other minorities still continue to suffer in the House of Islam in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and within Kashmir.
 
Also, the teachings of the Koran and the Hadiths clearly support Islamization via stealth jihad and jihad. In time this leads to dhimmitude and the destruction of the host culture and traditions.
 
Therefore, while Islamists were shouting “Allah Akbar” while killing a woman in such a brutal method let us not forget that the evil they did was in the name of Allah because Mohammed supported stoning to death.
 
Western nations have no excuse for their ignorance and if Islam is allowed to grow at any cost or if Western nations keep on supporting nations like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan without any modernization strings; then the “final Rome” called “world civilization” will be faced by an Islamic monoculture which devours the non-Muslims first and then like in Pakistan they turn on each other and backwardness becomes the norm.
 
Lee Jay Walker
 
http://leejaywalker.wordpress.com

 

http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/op-ed/pakistan-and-islamization-stoning-women-to-death-for-allah/

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