Posted on 04/08/2013 6:36:30 PM PDT by markomalley
Cairo’s Copts are experiencing a tough “morning after”. Yesterday’s violence around the Coptic Cathedral of St. Mark’s in the Abbasyia neighbourhood escalated in today’s attack on the Christian community’s landmark building.
According to latest estimates, two have been left dead and about 80 injured. This adds to Saturday’s death toll in the Khusous neighbourhood, in the north-Eastern part of the Egyptian capital. Yesterday’s clashes were even more serious because they took place after the funerals of the four Copts that had fallen victim to the violence the day before (seven people died).
It all started when a Swastika symbol was found drawn on the external wall of Khusous mosque: According to Coptic website Watani, which quotes local police as sources, it was not Christians who drew the Swastika on the wall. But before the truth could be revealed, Salafists took their anger out directly on the Copts. The message which came booming out of the mosque’s loudspeakers was that the area needed to be “cleansed” of Christians, with the consequent attack on the local Coptic Church of Saint George.
The Copts retaliated and a battle began, lasting several hours and leaving seven dead. The discovery that the autopsy revealed the four Copts died from afire-arm wounds, was particularly serious.
In is not surprising then that the tension during the funeral held for the four Coptic victims in St. Mark’s Cathedral yesterday was so high. Witnesses state that during the service, the crowd of faithful shouted out slogans against Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Mursi. But the real problem came later, when the coffins were being carried out of the Cathedral: The Copts had stones pelted at them from nearby buildings. An unbelievable scene which demonstrated the incompetence (or the connivance?) of Cairo’s police force and led to an explosion of rage among the Copts.
The police had not taken steps to guarantee security at the funeral and when they arrived at the scene of violence, they started setting off tear gas in the Cathedral complex, where faithful had taken refuge to escape the hail of stones. The conflict lasted several hours and resumed again later, in the Khusous neighbourhood. Yesterday evening – when tensions were at their peak – President Mursi telephoned Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II (who was in Alexandria yesterday), to express his solidarity and declare that “any attack against a religious site is like an attack against me personally.”
Tawadros had already sent out an appeal before this, urging everyone to remain calm. Despite the clear intention to lower tensions, there is still serious concern among the Copts. At the same time, Egypt’s Council of Churches issued a statement stressing that an attack on a place of worship is a red line that should not have been crossed. It also calls on leaders to act immediately to stop the violence.
Today, the attack on St. Mark’s Cathedral was also condemned by the Muslim Brotherhood and by the Salafi Al-Nour party, who made a general accusation against “dark forces” who spread hatred among the religions in Egypt. But ever since the arm wrestle between President Mursi and the liberal opposition began over the new constitution, anti-Christian messages sent out by Egyptian Islamist satellite channels have multiplied. Only a few days ago, despite the decision being contested, the two parties in question managed to get the Shura Council to approve an amendment to the electoral law which abolishes the ban on the use of religious slogans for political propaganda purposes.
“I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts... but I think it’s fair to say that the Copts acted stupidly...” — Pres. Obama
Source please.
I think he’s quoting O when he made that statement about the Boston cop and his friend the prof.
It’s a fake quote, and a damn good pun.
Cambridge cop.
Youtube’s fault again?
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.