Egypt Christians flee Sinai as sixth of their kin killed
El-Arisha - Suspected Islamic militants gunned down a Coptic Christian inside his home in northern Sinai, the sixth such killing in a month's time in the restive region, officials said on Friday, prompting some Christian families to flee from the area for fear of being targeted next.
The militants stormed the home of Kamel Youssef, a plumber, on Thursday and shot him to death in front of his wife and children in the town of el-Arish, said two officials.
A spate of killings by suspected militants have spread fears among the Coptic community in el-Arish as families left their homes after reportedly receiving threats on their cellphones.
A day before Youssef's killings, militants killed a Coptic Christian man and burned his son alive, then dumped their bodies on a roadside in el-Arish.
Note: "Copts" are indigenous peoples of Egypt who adopted Christianity-- long before the first invaders from Arabia introduced Islam. In recent decdes they made up over 10% of Egypts popuation, but their numbers have decreased due to attempts and genocide. many have ben lucky enough to emigrate...
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Blaming the stepped-up militancy on Gaza's ruling Hamas group, which uses underground tunnels for smuggling contraband, the Egyptian military razed hundreds of houses in the border area to create a buffer zone and stop what it described as the infiltration of extremists from Gaza.
Since 2013, Islamic militants have carried out several suicide bombings across Egypt, mainly against the police and the army.
Which partially explains the Egyptian blockade of Gaza (unlike the Israeli blockade, which frequently allows goods to enter Gaza, the Egyptian blockade is much, much tougher).
However, in December, an ISIS-affiliated suicide bomber blew himself up inside a landmark Cairo church, killing around 30 worshippers, mostly women.
That attack marked a turn in the Sunni militant group's strategy as Christians became its top targets.
The Islamic State group's video, released on Monday, showed the bomber behind the December church attack and described the Christians as "infidels" who are empowering the West against Muslim nations.
Important article here actually.
It is easy to lose track of all the players in the conflicts of the ME, and this one has been ongoing for such a long time; but, most recently, it appears to be inevitable that the oldest sect of Christianity in the world is going to be expunged.
;~(
When I was in Egypt I actually met some Copts-- although at first I didn't realize they were Christians.
One of the things I did was take a boatride down the Nile-- probably the most interesting thing I did in Egypt. We stopped at various spots and went ashore to view ancient ruins, etc. ( HERE are some photos of the boatride someone took that I found on the 'net).
BTW-- Luxor was much mre impressive than the Pyramids:
(Cont'd in next comment)
The boats touring the Nile are quite luxurious. In this boats' gift shop, there were 2 Egyptian kids running it. (Late teens-- maybe early 20's). I noticed they both had a strange tattoo. On the inside of their wrist. It was a cross but I didn't associate it with Christianity because it was an equal-arm cross-- not the typical Christian cross.
They told me they were Copts (indigenous Egyptians who practiced an early form of Christianity) & many Copts had this tattoo.
But the point of this story-- once they found out I was an American they wouldn't leave me alone-- they kept asking me if I could help get them out of Egypt and into America. The stories they told of the sort of persecution Christians faced in Egypt were pretty terrible.
Poor people!
I've always wanted to see Luxor, but will likely never have the opportunity.... Great picture, Krish!
Agreed. We here in the US can't really know how this type of persecution feels.
It's kind of odd that some of our members cry "persecution" when this is going on...
It's kind of odd that some of our members cry "persecution" when this is going on...
And many seem to have no idea what people in Iraq-- and Syria (!) are going through....
Poor people!
I've always wanted to see Luxor, but will likely never have the opportunity.... Great picture, Krish!
Of all the things I saw in Egypt-- nothing can compare with Luxor. If anyone ever gets a chance to go to Egypt-- visiting Luxor is a must! Also, the boatride down the Nile....
Note in the picts of the Nile: The river is bordered by a narrow strip of green-- then it looks like the surface of the Moon! Much of the Middle East & North Africa is like this. Its all barren desert, except where there is a river. In this case, there are irrigation troughs from the river for maybe a few hundred feet. Where the irrigation stops, nothing grows. Its pretty amazing to walk through those areas & see it first hand. Populous areas are near rivers-- Nile in Egypt, Tigris/Euphrates in Iraq.
Or: Where there are mountains, prevailing winds off Meditteranean carry moisture which they drop over mountains (esp. Lebanon, northern Israel (Galilee), Turkey... in the west Atlas mtns in Morrocco.
Or: Oases that spring up in a few desert areas.
(In parts of the Middle East water is actually more valuable than oil.)
IT will be everywhere, if we don't stop ruining our drinking water supplies...
I've always wanted to see Luxor, but will likely never have the opportunity.... Great picture, Krish!
Probably not-- at least for a long time. Much of th Arab world still hasn't forgiven us for 911-- its a dangerous area. (I actually visited the summer just before Sept 11! I flew from Israel to Egypt and back.I don't even know if those flights exist today. And going through Israeli customs entering from Egypt was an interesting experience, to say the least!).
BTW those aren't my pictures. I found them on the 'net by googling. I took lots of pictures in Egypt-- in those days on actual film in an "old fashioned" camera. But most didn't come out-- I think my film may have been ruined by the heat-- I went to Upper (Southern) Egypt in August (Not recommended-- its a whole 'nother type of intense heat!!!)
One thing I can't deal with is heat... It leaves me gasping, so I doubt I ever get to go. I will have to make do with pictures...
Thanks, dear Krish! I'm glad to see you back!
One thing I can't deal with is heat... It leaves me gasping, so I doubt I ever get to go. I will have to make do with pictures...
I don't like heat either! And its really bad in Egypt in the summer. Apparently the climate is nice there in the winter. But IMO events in recent years (the so-called "Arab-Spring", political changes in Egypt, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and terrorists from Gaza murdering people in Egypt, the rise ISIS, etc.) makes Egypt too dangerous to visit.
It's been too dangerous my whole life, or as long as I remember... Thank heavens for pictures!
The irony is that if I'd seeded an article about the persecution of the Copts by radical Islamic extremist/terrorists the progressives here would have posted to defend Islam and say why the Christians deserved it.
These are indigenous peoples of Egypt-- they were there long before Muslims-- in fact, long before Islam was even invented!
The same is true of many Christians in Iraq and some in Syria.
It's also ironic they they imply that there can be no persecution here because it's worse there. However, they are quick to pretend we live in a fascist police state while laughably ignoring the real truth abroad. Typical logical inconsistency.
Jeff, can you cite examples of where any member here said Christians deserve to be persecuted by radical extremists? Fascinating accusation.
I didn't think so.
It was because of the exremist crazies infiltrating from Gaza that Egypt had to institute their harsh blockade of Gaza. (More information re: Egypt's blockade of Gaza here: Egypt's Blockade Of Gaza )
Egypt and Israel are doing the right thing by blockading Gaza.