Posted on 01/30/2005 10:08:28 AM PST by Mr. Silverback
A week ago, Jersey City police, responding to calls from anxious friends and relatives, came upon a horrific scene: a family of four stabbed to death.
What made this murder even more disturbing was its possible motive and the authorities’ attempts to downplay that motive.
The victims were Hossam and Amal Armanious and their daughters, Sylvia and Monica. They were Coptic Christians who had emigrated from Egypt“in part to escape religious persecution.” As the wife’s uncle told the Bergen Record (NJ), Hossam Armanious “had sensed a rise in anti-Christian extremism” in their native land.
After their arrival, the family, especially Hossam and Sylvia, became outspoken about their faith. According to her classmates, Sylvia would “debate people [about her faith] in class” and even had a Coptic Cross tattooed on her wrist.
Her father was, according to the New York Post, “well known for expressing his Coptic beliefs and engaging in [a] fiery back-and-forth [dialogue] with Muslims” in Internet chat rooms. This earned him a reputation for being “one of the most outspoken Egyptian Christians.”
It also got him a warning. One of his correspondents told Hossam that he better shut up or “we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you . . . ”
So, when Hossam and his family were found stabbed to death, with Sylvia’s tattoo singled out for special attention, it seemed reasonable to ask if religion played a role in the killings—especially since, according to their relatives, their jewelry was not taken.
Reasonable, but not politically correct. Prosecutors publicly called speculation about a religious motive “unfortunate,” despite the fact that investigators were “coming to terms with the possibility that the family had been targeted for death” for religious reasons.
The one million Coptic Christians in the United States can be excused for wondering if they are experiencing a sense of “déjà vu.” Back in Egypt, they were second-class citizens whose claims of mistreatment and persecution were ignored, or worse, by a government intent on appeasing Islamists.
Now their concerns about Islamist violence are being downplayed by American officials intent on not offending Islamic groups. And they are not the only Middle Eastern Christians with this problem: Nina Shea of Freedom House recently wrote about our government’s “indifference to the fate” of Iraq’s Christian minority.
But even if the people being killed were not Christians, there would still be a reason to be concerned about the government’s attitude: America is at war with a worldview that may have produced these murders.
Remember that both the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center were either planned or carried out by Islamists living in this same part of New Jersey. Now, that doesn’t implicate every or even most of the Islamic immigrants living there, but it does mean that some in this community have been radicalized. If nothing else, public safety demands that possible links to Islamist violence be treated as more than “unfortunate” speculation.
Especially is that true when that violence is directed at those who exercise a right that every American takes for granted: the right to be outspoken about one’s beliefs.
If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.
BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!
If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.
This sort of thing happens all the time in the UK, Gavin Hopley, attacked and killed by Muslims in Oldham, Kriss Donald, attacked, stabbed and burned alive in Glasgow, the list goes on.
Have a look at www.unitedbritish.com.
We know what the problem is, we need people to join in discussions and help too.
What Islamic militancy over here there is usually linked to Islamic extremists in the US too.
We need help to stop it over here as the government and the security forces are more interested in us than the Muslims who are collecting fertiliser.
There is a danger that Britain will fall to Islam, that will be extremely dangerous to the US.
Regards, MrMoor.
Frightened bigots are going to be deeply disappointed in Mr. Colson. They want to blame not only all Moslem immigrants, but all Moslem Americans too.
My wife just got a tiny Cross of Lorainne tattoo after this....and she used to loathe tattoos.
She said she wants our enemies to have no confusion about her faith. I have my Celtic Cross shoulder patch already.
The majority of people in hell are women. Mohammed said, "I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers are women. -Qu'ran-SURAH..Vol. 1:28, 301; & Vol. 2:161; & Vol. 7:124
Mohammed said,"After me I have not left any affliction more harmful to men than women." Qu'ran 7:33
Ping
Didn't a character in one of the Indiana Jones movies have that tattoed on his chest?
From John Marks Ministries.
Sylvia, who had been known amongst her friends as ‘very religious and very opinionated’, seemed to family members to have taken more savage wounds than the others. She had a large gash across her chest and also stab wounds on her wrist. Though the slash on her wrist was near her tattoo of the Coptic cross, which all the family had, police have stated that it looks more like a defensive wound than an attempt to cut the tattoo.
>>>>Remember that both the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center were either planned or carried out by Islamists living in this same part of New Jersey.
And let's keep in mind that a cousin of this family has been a translator working for the prosecution in the trial of Lynne Stewart. She is the radical lawyer accused of smuggling messages from imprisoned Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, to terrorist cell members and associates.
Sheik Rahman is now in prison for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
ping
Thanks for the ping!
Please add me to your ping list. I've been wondering what had happened with this story.
MrMoor....you say this type of thing goes on in the UK also? Why aren't people outraged over this?
In thinking about it....never mind. MSM hasn't reported on this story from Jersey, why in the world would I think I would hear of things happening in UK?
Thank you for that site, I'll certainly give it a look.
And thank you Britain, for standing with us again. You were with us from the first, we are with you to the last.
I'd also like to note for the record that I don't think the damage to the crosses had to be real for this to be a persecution murder. Unless other reported facts of the case (no theft at the scen, for example) are untrue, this looks just like the sort of hit that goes on in Egypt...or Holland...or Britain.
You're added!
You are welcome! We need all the members who can join so please get the word out. Discussions are lively and enthusiastic, there are many people from the US who regularly contribute.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.