{"id":6324,"date":"2013-08-09T12:05:53","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T19:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=6324"},"modified":"2013-08-09T12:05:53","modified_gmt":"2013-08-09T19:05:53","slug":"al-qaeda-flag-flies-high-above-christian-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/al-qaeda-flag-flies-high-above-christian-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Qaeda Flag Flies High Above Christian Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Institute<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Days ago, al-Qaeda\u2019s Egyptian leader, Ayman Zawahiri,\u00a0portrayed\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0the overthrow of Muhammad Morsi and the Brotherhood as a \u201cCrusader\u201d campaign led by Coptic Pope Tawadros II who, according to Zawahiri and other terrorists, is trying to create a Coptic state in Egypt.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot_2353\"Since then, not only are Egypt\u2019s Christians and churches now being attacked in ways unprecedented in the modern era, but new reports indicate that al-Qaeda\u2019s black flag has been raised on some of them, specifically\u00a0St. George Church<\/a>\u00a0in Sohag.\u00a0 Considering that it was al-Qaeda linked terrorists who\u00a0 initiated one of the bloodiest church attacks in recent history, the 2010 Baghdad church attack where nearly 60 Christians were slaughtered (click here<\/a>\u00a0for graphic images), that al-Qaeda is singling out Egypt\u2019s Christians bodes ill.<\/p>\n

The Islamic terrorist organization\u2019s incitements against the Copts are just the latest to emanate from Islamists\u2014from the top of the Brotherhood leadership to the bottom of the \u201cMuslim street\u201d\u2014creating something of an \u201copen season\u201d on Egypt\u2019s Christians.<\/p>\n

Days after the overthrow of Morsi, the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Muhammad Badie, was first to attack by name Coptic Pope Tawadros for supporting the popular June 30 Revolution, which saw tens of millions of Egyptians take to the streets.\u00a0 After Badie\u2019s demonization of the Copts, assaults on Christians began in earnest.\u00a0 Many churches were attacked and burned and several Christians were murdered in Upper Egypt; over in the Sinai, a young\u00a0Coptic priest was shot dead<\/a>, while the body of Magdy Lam\u2018i Habib, a Christian, was found mutilated and beheaded.\u00a0 Due to the many death threats to Pope Tawadros, he has left the papal residence at the St. Mark Cathedral\u2014which was earlier\u00a0savagely attacked<\/a>, when Morsi was\u00a0still<\/em>\u00a0president.<\/p>\n

This anti-Christian fury is far from sated and has taken on genocidal proportions.\u00a0 While Al Jazeera was covering (and distorting) events in Egypt, a Libyan man named Tamar Rashad\u00a0called in<\/a>\u00a0and said \u201cI want to offer the good news to [Pope] Tawadros that, Allah willing, the day is coming when no Copt will ever again tread the ground of Egypt\u2014and no churches.\u00a0 We will no longer allow churches to exist.\u201d\u00a0 When the TV host appeared to protest, Rashad interrupted him saying, \u201cIt\u2019s already decided, take your cameras and go to the churches and you\u2019ll see what\u2019s going to happen soon, Allah willing.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, Sheikh Yusif al-Qaradawi, one of the Islamic world\u2019s leading preachers and spiritual father of the Muslim Brotherhood, has given his formal stamp of approval to persecute Copts, recently posting a video saying that \u201cChristians\u201d and others \u201cwere recruited [by Egypt\u2019s military] to kill innocent Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n

As expected, all these incitements against the Copts issued by several top Islamist leaders have so upped anti-Copt sentiment that it has become difficult in the last few days to keep up with the attacks on them\u2014so many and nonstop are the reports emanating from Egypt. \u00a0All throughout Upper Egypt\u2014in Minya, Asyut, Sohag\u2014Christians and their churches are under attack; dozens of Coptic homes and businesses have been set on fire.\u00a0 Due to the risk to Christian lives, many churches are no longer holding regular worship services.<\/p>\n

The situation has gotten so dire that\u00a0Ibrahim Eissa<\/a>, a popular Egyptian journalist and TV personality, apparently unable to keep silent over the plight of the Copts, recently said on live TV: \u201cThe Christians have suffered in Egypt, over the course of 2 \u00bd years.\u00a0 Their churches have been burned, their children killed.\u00a0 The\u00a0Maspero Massacre<\/a>\u00a0occurred, where several Copts were slain.\u00a0 Catastrophic fatwas appeared, calling them infidels and inciting against them\u2026.\u00a0 No one has suffered as much as they.\u00a0 Today, if any Christian attempts to join a protest, he does so at the risk of defying dozens of fatwas calling for his death and decapitation and the burning of churches, especially in Upper Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the ouster of Muhammad Morsi, Egypt\u2019s Islamists have finally gotten the pretext they need to cleanse the nation of its Christian minority, the Copt\u2019s\u2014ironically, Egypt\u2019s most native sons.<\/p>\n

The unprecedented hate currently being visited on them is fueled by Islam\u2019s \u201cHow Dare You?<\/a>\u201d phenomenon: As conquered non-Muslims, Christians must live as\u00a0dhimmis<\/em>, that is, according to traditional Islamic teaching, barely tolerated \u201cinfidels\u201d who must be humble and submissive\u2014to the point that they are not permitted to raise their hands to Muslims even when attacked.<\/p>\n

Far from assuming their \u201cproper place,\u201d Egypt\u2019s Christians supported the June 30 Revolution against the\u00a0will and threats of the Brotherhood<\/a>. \u00a0Thus, to Egypt\u2019s disenfranchised and bitter Brotherhood and its supporters, Egypt\u2019s Christians, beginning with their pope, are all now free game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Institute   Days ago, al-Qaeda\u2019s Egyptian leader, Ayman Zawahiri,\u00a0portrayed\u00a0\u00a0the overthrow of Muhammad Morsi and the Brotherhood as a \u201cCrusader\u201d campaign led by Coptic Pope Tawadros II who, according to Zawahiri and other terrorists, is trying to create a Coptic state in Egypt. Since then, not only are Egypt\u2019s Christians and churches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[118,225,227],"tags":[366,192,1017,239,139,1043,478],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/screenshot_2353.jpg?fit=484%2C312&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1E0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6357,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/in-egypt-media-sympathizes-with-muslim-brotherhood-persecution-of-christians-ignored\/","url_meta":{"origin":6324,"position":0},"title":"In Egypt, Media Sympathizes with Muslim Brotherhood, Persecution of Christians Ignored","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0NRO's The Corner While Western media, following the lead of pro-Brotherhood Al Jazeera, continue demonizing the Egyptian military\u2019s attempts to neutralize the Muslim Brotherhood terror bases \u2013\u00a0where people have been tortured, raped, and killed, all according to Islamist fatwas (yes, including the rape, more on this later)\u00a0the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Muslim Brotherhood"","block_context":{"text":"Muslim Brotherhood","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/muslim-brotherhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6973,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/al-qaeda-the-defender-of-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":6324,"position":1},"title":"Al Qaeda: The Defender of Christians?","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 Muslim persecution of Christians is the \u201cAchilles Heel\u201d of the global Islamic movement\u2019s image\u2014the surest way of exposing its supremacist and intolerant elements and one of the main reasons the major media and establishment rarely report or address it. 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