A powerful explosion took place outside a church in Alexandria during a New Year’s Eve mass, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 90. It came just as some of the worshipers, which numbered about 1,000, had begun to leave. Wrecked cars and debris were left scattered in the street.
President Hosni Mubarak and his government officials were quick to blame the attack on “foreign hands.” Trying to evade all responsibility, the state-owned media ventured to point at Al-Qaeda or… the Israeli Mossad.
In recent months, groups of Islamic ‘Salafists’ held weekly rampant
demonstrations after the Friday Prayers, under the watchful eyes of the police.
Virulent insults and threats to the Copts, coupled with preposterous accusations – normally punishable by law – were pronounced.
Also, the terrorist group ‘the Islamic State of Iraq’ has repeatedly threatened to attack Coptic Christians following the recent massacre against the Christians of Iraq.
Yet, no protective measures were taken. Such threats come within a
pervasive hate culture resulting from the Islamization of Egypt over the past few decades. Moreover, the institutionalized discrimination and the acts of vexation make the daily lives of Copts a nightmare
The Egyptian government is responsible and accountable for these repeated and increasing massacres with total impunity.
This is a plea to your conscience: Please do whatever you can to help save the Copts and all Christian minorities in the Middle East, who demand nothing more (or less) than their basic rights
We at Coptic Solidarity call upon the Free World to exert pressure on the Egyptian Government to protect the Copts, and to respect its commitments under international Conventions of Human Rights.
