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ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 131 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 214th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED JANUARY 10, 2011 Sponsored by: Assemblywoman AMY H. HANDLIN District 13 (Middlesex and Monmouth) SYNOPSIS Condemns the religious persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced. An Assembly Resolution condemning the religious persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt. Whereas, In the early morning hours of January 1, 2011, a bomb exploded in a Coptic Christian church, killing 21 and wounding nearly 100 worshippers attending a New Year’s Mass in Alexandria, Egypt; and Whereas, The bombing, which left the church bloodstained and scarred with shrapnel from...

ELCA Presiding Bishop Addresses Coptic Church Bombing In Egypt 11-002-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), assured the bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles of the ELCA's "heartfelt desire" to stand in solidarity with Coptic Christians in the United States and the world in the wake of the New Year's Day bombing in a Coptic congregation in Egypt. At least 22 people were killed and 79 injured as a result of the car bombing that occurred as worshipers were leaving a Mass at the Church...

On January 1, 2011, a hugely important terror attack took place in Egypt that you probably were not told about. A terrorist bomb went off at the al-Qiddissin (Saints) Church in Alexandria, Egypt, killing innocent civilians in the usual ruthless and bloodthirsty manner. The Western media hardly noticed, but the shock waves rippled through the Muslim and Christian Orthodox world. The Coptic Church in Egypt traces its origins back to the Apostle Mark in A.D. 42. It is one of the earliest churches with a continuous history from the beginnings of Christianity, which rose several centuries before Mohammed and Islam....

Bombing opens vein of Christian anger in Egypt By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press Paul Schemm, Associated Press – Mon Jan 3, 4:54 pm ET CAIRO – The New Year's Day suicide bombing of a church that killed 21 people has opened up a vein of fury among Egypt's Christians, built up over years of what they call government failure to address persistent discrimination and violence against their community. [...] Christian anger, says rights activist Hossam Bahgat, stems in large part because they feel attacks against them can be carried out with impunity, something borne out by evidence of past incidents,...

Over the past few days, Christian churches have been attacked in at least two countries - Nigeria and Egypt - while small packages containing improvised explosive devices were placed on the doorsteps of Christian families in Iraq. Attacks against Christians are not uncommon in the Islamic world, driven by local issues and groups, and it is unclear whether these latest attacks were simply coincidental and do not raise the threat to a new level or whether they indicate the existence of a new, coordinated, international initiative. There is a strong case to be made for the idea that there is...

<p>CAIRO — A court in Egypt has ordered the Coptic church to allow its faithful to remarry, quashing an appeal by the head of the church, local media reported on Sunday.</p> <p>"By law, a Christian can remarry and the constitution guarantees his rights to have a (new) family. The appeal by Pope Shenuda III to prevent Copts from remarrying is rejected," Egypt's High Administrative Court said in its judgement, which can not be appealed.</p>

"Egypt's State Council issues report stating Christians are infidels, and apostates from Islam should die" SNIPPET: "CAIRO, Egypt, May 12 (Compass Direct News) – In the dilapidated office here of three lawyers representing one of Egypt’s “most wanted” Christian converts, the mood was hopeful in spite of a barrage of death threats against them and their client." SNIPPET: " Expressing outrage at El-Gohary’s “audacity” to request a change in the religious designation on his ID, the report claims the case is a threat to societal order and violates sharia (Islamic law). “This [report] is bombarding freedom of religion in Egypt,”...

The Holy Virgin’s church at the mid-Delta town of Mehalla was the scene of Coptic demonstrations this week in the aftermath of the disappearance of 18-year-old Amal Zaki Nessim. Amal went to work as usual last Sunday but never came back. Her colleagues at the Mehalla Spinning and Weaving Company said she left work early that day with a friend who is a fully-veiled Muslim woman named Samah. Amal’s family reported her missing and Samah was questioned by the police but claimed she knew nothing about Amal’s disappearance. The Copts demonstrated in wrath, demanding that the police find Amal and...

An Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity has gone into hiding, facing death threats after he launched an attempt to get official recognition of his change of religion, an unprecedented step in this conservative Islamic nation. An Islamist cleric has vowed to seek Mohammed Hegazy's execution as an apostate, his family has shunned him, and Hegazy raised a storm of controversy when pictures of him posing for journalists with a poster of the Virgin Mary were published in the newspapers. Hegazy said he received death threats ... he lives with his wife, who is also a convert from Islam and...

Several hundred worshippers from Western Pennsylvania and surrounding states watched Friday as Coptic Christianity's spiritual leader consecrated the region's only Coptic church in a rite dating from the 1st century. Pope Shenouda III conducted a ceremony filled with pomp, as well as a very personal touch, at St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Ambridge, Beaver County. The 83-year-old pope, who arrived in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, is beloved by followers for his warmth and for his success in expanding the church. When he became the patriarch in Alexandria, Egypt -- the center of the Coptic faith -- in 1971, the...

Fearing a repeat of the recent riots against the Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, which left four dead, more than 80 wounded and seven churches defaced, leaders of the Coptic church in the United States are calling on the U.S. government and the United Nations to take immediate action to stop the bloodshed and destruction of churches. Exclusive video footage released by the International Christian Union and American Coptic Association, or ICU/ACA, yesterday reveals the destruction of the Assemblies of God Church for Evangelical Copts in Moharam Bek on Friday, Oct. 21. An e-mail report from Dr. Monir Dawoud, president...

Standing outside a Mubarak campaign rally in the industrial delta town of Mahala Al Kubra, Metropolitan Bishoy, the number-two man in the Coptic Orthodox Church, denounced a Coptic priest who joined forces with Al Ghad Party. “In the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, it is written that whosoever resists the power of the authorities, is resisting the power of God,” Bishoy said. Just days after Pope Shenouda, head of the Coptic Church, professed his support for President Mubarak, Flobatir Jamil was suspended from the priesthood for six weeks for supporting Al Ghad party, while Kifaya leader George Ishaq...

The distinctive way in which a New Jersey Coptic Christian and his family were murdered resembled executions by radical Islamists shown on the Arab sattelite channel al-Jazeera, according to relatives and a close friend. Hossam Armanious, an immigrant from Egypt, was found Jan. 14 with his wife Amal Garas and two daughters, bound and gagged with their throats slashed. Authorities have not determined whether the murders are tied to Islamic radicals, but they say Armanious received a death threat from a Muslim through an Internet chat service.

Four family members slain in their Jersey City home JERSEY CITY, N.J.— Four family members were found slain in their home Friday morning. All were bound and gagged, and their throats were slashed, First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Gaetano T. Gregory said. Jersey City police broke down the door to the home about 4 a.m. after concerned relatives said they had not heard from the family for several days, authorities said. The victims were Hossam Armanious, 46; his wife, Amal Garas, 36; and their daughters, Sylvia Armanious, 16, and Monica Armanious, 8. No arrests had been made as of...

The wife of a Coptic priest in Egypt whose alleged abduction and forced conversion to Islam sparked four days of mass protests by Christian Copts and whose return was announced last night is still being held captive, Coptic sources told WorldNetDaily. The announcement of the woman's return had helped to end the protests.

Muslim extremists have allegedly abducted a Coptic priest's wife in Egypt and forced her to convert to Islam, prompting demonstrations today by thousands of Christian Copts in various parts of the nation against what they say is the government's failure to protect them against anti-Christian crimes. Foreign journalists have been barred from the protest areas, the U.S. Copt Association told WorldNetDaily.

Christians around the globe may be forgiven for feeling somewhat less than festive this Christmas season. Persecution of Christians is becoming an increasingly familiar feature of the global landscape, and shows no signs of letting up. Terror also looms on a global scale – according to the World Evangelical Alliance, several radical Muslim groups have let it be known that they're planning attacks around Christmastime this year: Tensions are high in Indonesia, where police are guarding over 240 churches in and around Jakarta this Christmas: Jemaah Islamiya, the radical Muslim group that hopes to create an Islamic megastate in Southeast...

WASHINGTON – Egyptian state and central security officers and soldiers attacked a small historic Coptic church in Assiut during Mass, arresting several deacons and others, throwing communion bread on the floor and stepping on it with their boots, according to reports received by the U.S. Copts Association. According to the group, the attack on St. George Coptic Orthodox Church occurred Friday. The officer in charge of the raid reportedly ordered the church priest to evacuate and close down the church. The priest refused, as did the parishioners. When their orders were not obeyed, the police officers attacked the priest, according...