Date: Monday 14 November 2005
Subj: Guinea: Future in the balance.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
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GUINEA: FUTURE IN THE BALANCE
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Nzerekore is located in the Forest Region of southeastern Guinea, West Africa, close to where the borders of Liberia, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire meet. In the words of Major Algassimou Barry, the Prefect (government administrator) of Nzerekore and the surrounding district, "We're at the heart of a region in turmoil." (July 2004, Link 1)
BAPTISM SERVICE ATTACKED IN NZEREKORE
On Wednesday 19 October, a Christian baptism ceremony in the Gonia neighbourhood of Nzerekore was attacked by Muslims who were complaining that music from the church was disturbing their prayers in a nearby mosque. Ten people were injured, two seriously, and several houses were sacked. The Muslims rioted again on the Friday evening and razed a local video store. Elite soldiers, known as Rangers, had to be deployed to restore calm. Several guns were confiscated and a curfew was imposed. Over the weekend (22-23 October) some 100 people were arrested, with 56 still detained. (Link 2)
The Christians belong to the Guerze ethnic group which has a long history in the Forest Region of southeastern Guinea. Most Guerze practise Christianity or African Traditional Religion (ATR). The Muslims are Konianke, a sub-group of the Mandingo (also known as Malinki or Mandinki) people who have been Muslim since the 13th Century. The Konianke, who are traditionally nomadic traders, migrated south from northern Guinea during the late nineteenth century when Guinea was under French rule and the French had established a colonial administration in the Forest Region.
Ethnic-religious violence had previously erupted in Nzerekore on 16 June 2004 when, according to the US Department of State Human Rights Report 2004, "a Guerze youth on a motorcycle collided with a crowd leaving a mosque". Of the 238 people arrested, 234 were Konianke and 90 percent were Liberian. Two people died in that clash, but the toll would have been much higher had the Guinean security forces not moved so quickly to quell the fighting. (Link 1)
The incidents in Nzerekore arise out of several much larger issues: the ethnic tensions created by Mandingo southward migration; the religious tensions created by Muslim migration into regions historically populated by settled Christian and Animist tribes; the ethnic and religious superiority complex of many of the Mandingo Muslims, and the proliferation of weapons, bored ex-combatants and entrepreneurial criminals and soldiers for whom "war is more lucrative than peace".
Clearly, the Forest Region of southeastern Guinea must be viewed as a potential flash-point for future, major ethnic-religious conflict. Attention must be given to this region now, before disaster strikes and spreads like shock-waves.
ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS TENSIONS
The ethnic and religious tensions in the Forest Region of Guinea are similar in many ways to the ethnic and religious tensions that have manifest themselves around the wider region and all along Africa's ethnic-religious fault-line. Migration by Muslim tribes, into regions long inhabited and farmed by non-Muslim tribes, has created competition for land and resources. Increasingly over the past decade, religious tension has been exacerbated by the revival of Islamic zeal and orthodoxy. This has caused Muslim intolerance and anger to escalate in proportion to Muslim feelings of both superiority and victimhood. Once violence erupts it is virtually impossible to prevent it taking on a religious dimension. The main threats to peace come from Islamists stirring up feelings of Muslim supremacy and inciting conflict; and provocation by those who profit (financially or politically) from conflict. The primary needs are good governance, justice and disarmament.
Twelve months ago WEA RLC released a News & Analysis posting on ethnic-religious violence in Monrovia, in neighbouring Liberia, which touched on many of the same issues. Likewise, many of the WEA RLC posting concerning neigbouring Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) over the past 3 years, and on the religious violence in Plateau state, central Nigeria, have dealt with the same issues.
The main difference in Guinea, when compared to the above mentioned nations, is that in Guinea, Christians are a very small minority (less than 5 percent) in a country that is more than 85 percent Muslim, making the Christians even more vulnerable.
"LIBERIA, THE LURD AND GUINEA'S FOREST REGION" (ICG)
Thrown recently into this pot of simmering ethnic-religious tension is the most dangerous ingredient of all: a large quantity of armed, bored, exiled Muslim Liberian ex-rebel fighters. Guinea's support for Liberian rebel groups has come back to bite it.
In an excellent report entitled "Stopping Guinea's Slide" (June 2005), International Crisis Group (ICG) looks at the Forest Region as a potential flash-point where conflict could have dire consequences. ICG warns: "For some time, both Guineans and Guinea-watchers have been worried that a conflagration in the Forest Region could spark a generalised meltdown throughout the country." (ICG report: Link 4)
There is considerable documentary evidence that the government of President Conte in Guinea trained, armed, funded and gave refuge to Liberian rebels fighting against the government of Liberian President Charles Taylor during the Liberian War. ICG maintains "LURD fighters trained at the Kankan and Macenta military bases and were armed by the government from 1999 if not 1998." (ICG report, p 21)
ICG notes that 80 percent of Liberian refugees are Mandingos who are unwilling to return to Liberia where they feel they are not accepted and are regarded as 'foreigners'. But as ICG also notes, "A similar dynamic exists in Guinea, primarily in Macenta and N'Zerekore prefectures, where tensions between Forestier peoples, who consider themselves the original settlers, and Mandingoes, who are considered strangers, as in Liberia, are very high." (p 21)
The tension has been stretched to crisis levels in recent years because, since peace was brokered in Liberia in August 2003, many hundreds of LURD rebels have moved across the border into the Forest Region of Guinea where they can blend in amongst the thousands of Liberian refugees and find protection amidst their fellow Konianke Muslim brothers and sisters. Tension is further exacerbated by the fact that Taylor was from the same ethnic group as the non-Muslim peoples of Guinea's Forest Region.
The UN's Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported in July 2004, "Residents in Nzerekore said the town was packed with hundreds of Liberian gunmen made idle by a peace agreement which ended 14 years of civil war in their own country in August last year. 'The town is full of them, everybody knows that,' a local human rights activist in Nzerekore told IRIN. '...we know that they're still carrying their weapons and that they help their brothers the Konianke when the disputes explode between the two [Konianke and Guerze] communities,' he said." (Link 1)
The ICG adds a further layer to this situation. Under the sub-heading "LURD and the lost Mande Empire" (p 21), ICG explains that between 1905 and 1915, African warriors menaced the Manenta and Nzerekore prefectures and the wider region, preventing the French, English and American-Liberians from claiming control of the region.
LURD emerged in the Forest Region and is made up primarily of Mandingoes. The Mandingo fighters have a strong sense of history. They not only remember the warriors' dominance of the region in the early 20th Century, but they also remember and long for the days of the great Mali (or Mande) Empire (14th to 17th Centuries), when the Mandingoes, the founding fathers of Mali, controlled trans-Saharic trade from the Middle East to West Africa. According to ICG, "These [LURD] fighters sometimes talk about their longer-term mission being the restitution of a glorious Mandingo empire."(p 21)
ICG also notes that for many, "war is more lucrative than peace" (p 15). According to ICG, the military "has entrenched interests in pillage". ICG claims the military is involved in cross-border trade and in regional arms flows, including to the rebel "Forces Nouvelles" in Cote d'Ivoire (p 19). But as ICG notes, what usually starts out as a simple economic interest, can develop into serious security problems.
FUTURE IN THE BALANCE
Only months after the Liberian war ended, ICG released a report on the possible consequences for Guinea. It was entitled, "Guinea: Uncertainties at the End of an Era". (Africa Report No 74. 19 December 2003). ICG commented, "The large number of weapons and irregular combatants circulating in this region is one of the principal elements of concern. These armed groups with their unpredictable allegiances could serve the interests of politico-military elites who seek to create disorder and or to take power by force."
The June 2005 ICG report claims that today many LURD former combatants in Guinea are angry, believing that Conte has abandoned them. Also, in Liberia there are both pro- and anti-Guinean forces actively recruiting ex-combatants. ICG even comments that it is difficult to understand why no attacks have yet materialised. (p 21,22)
In the midst of this, Guinea is approaching a period of political uncertainty. President Conte is critically ill, there is no obvious successor, and the nation is soon to hold its first local elections for 10 years. On Sunday 18 December, Guineans will be able to vote for majors and rural councils in an election that will be seen as a test of the country's democratic reform process.
IRIN reports, "Guinea, where more than half the population lives on less than a dollar a day, has been ruled by Lansana Conte since he came to power in a 1984 coup. But his ill health and the lack of a clear successor in either the government or the opposition have led to worries that a dangerous power vacuum is looming.
"In its [June 2005] report, [International] Crisis Group said that disaster could only be averted if both the opposition and the international community engaged fully in the reform process, starting with these critical municipal elections. They will largely determine the quality of Guinean democracy. If they fail, the presidential succession will likely be disastrous." (Link 5)
After decades of Marxist, pro-Islamic persecution of the Church, there is now religious freedom in Guinea, which is 85.4 percent Muslim, 9.7 percent African Traditional Religion (ATR), and 4.7 percent Christian. Operation World reports that the Guinean Church has embraced mission and in the past decade indigenous workers have begun witnessing cross-culturally to previously unreached people groups. The Guinean Church is growing. But many analysts fear that Guinea is "primed for instability" (IRIN), and heading for a crisis. IRIN reports that diplomats and aid workers have long worried that the Forest Region is "a powder keg waiting to explode". For Guinea, and especially for the Church in Guinea, the future is truly in the balance.
Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) GUINEA: Ethnic tensions threaten to explode in southeast.
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) 7 July 2004
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=42067
2) GUINEA: Dozens arrested after ethnic clashes in south-east.
IRIN 24 October 2005
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=49722
ALSO
WEA Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin - No. 351 - Wed 02 Nov 2005
GUINEA: BAPTISM SERVICE VIOLENTLY ATTACKED
3)
4) ICG Stopping Guinea's Slide.
Crisis Group Africa Report No 94, 14 June 2005
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3509&l=1
5) GUINEA: Opposition throws hat into ring for local elections
CONAKRY, 31 Oct 2005 (IRIN)
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=49850
Monday, November 14, 2005
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Guinea: Baptism service violently attacked
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin - No. 351 - Wed 02 Nov 2005
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GUINEA: BAPTISM SERVICE VIOLENTLY ATTACKED
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Nzerekore is located in the Forest Region of southeastern Guinea, close to where the borders of Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea meet. The region is awash with bored ex-soldiers, illegal weapons and illegal immigrants. The wider region, especially neighbouring Ivory Coast, is simmering with ethnic and religious tensions. Guinea is 85.4 percent Muslim, 9.7 percent African Traditional Religion (ATR), and 4.7 percent Christian. After decades of Marxist, pro-
Islamic persecution of the Church, there is now religious freedom in Guinea. The Guinean Church has embraced mission and in the past decade indigenous workers have begun witnessing cross-culturally to previously unreached people groups. The Guinean Church is growing. But in recent years, as Islam has radicalised worldwide, the Christian minority in Guinea have found themselves increasingly on the painful end of a revived Islamic intolerance.
On Wednesday 19 October, a baptism ceremony in Nzerekore was attacked by Muslims complaining about the music from the service disturbing their prayers at a nearby mosque. Ten people were injured, two seriously, and several houses were sacked. The Muslims rioted again on the Friday evening and razed a local video store. Elite soldiers had to be deployed to restore calm. Several guns were confiscated and a curfew was imposed. Over the weekend some 100 people were arrested, with 56 still detained.
The Christians belong to the Guerze ethnic group which has a long history in the Forest Region of southeastern Guinea. Most Guerze practise Christianity or ATR. The Muslims are Konianke, a sub- group of the strongly Muslim Mandingo (or Malinki) people. The Konianke migrated south from northern Guinea during the late nineteenth century when Guinea was under French rule. There has been ethnic tension ever since, as the tribes compete for land and resources. Religious tension, stemming from ethnic tension, has escalated further as Islam has radicalised and revived its historic intolerance. The ethnic-religious tension has grown to crisis levels since the end of the Liberian War in August 2003, when many hundreds of Liberian Konianke rebels fled into southeastern Guinea, blending there with the thousands of Liberian refugees and protected by their fellow Konianke.
Ethnic-religious violence erupted in Nzerekore on 16 June 2004 when a Guerze youth on a motorcycle accidentally ran into a crowd leaving a mosque. Of the 238 people arrested, 234 were Konianke and 90 percent were Liberian. Two people died in that clash, but the toll would have been much higher had the Guinean security forces not moved so quickly to quell the fighting. The most recent incident - Muslims attacking a baptism ceremony because they could hear church music - has all the hallmarks of intolerant Muslims wanting to establish dominance and even reject religious liberty.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT:
* God will protect, comfort and preserve the minority Christians of Guinea, especially those in the southeast Forest Region amidst volatile tensions and erupting violence; may he renew their strength and bless their witness, for his glory and Kingdom.
* Christ, supreme over all powers and authorities and sovereign over all creation, will bring a spirit of peace to Nzerekore, severing the spiritual shackles of those bound to darkness while light is in their midst. 'So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.' (John 8:36 NIV)
* pastors, evangelists and all believers will have great spiritual understanding to respond with wisdom and grace to the escalating Muslim presence, dominance and intolerance.
* the government and authorities will continue to protect the security of Christians and uphold justice and religious liberty in Guinea, and especially that God will use President Conte to do his will; may God open his heart to receive the gospel.
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GUINEA: BAPTISM SERVICE VIOLENTLY ATTACKED
------------------------------------------
Nzerekore is located in the Forest Region of southeastern Guinea, close to where the borders of Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea meet. The region is awash with bored ex-soldiers, illegal weapons and illegal immigrants. The wider region, especially neighbouring Ivory Coast, is simmering with ethnic and religious tensions. Guinea is 85.4 percent Muslim, 9.7 percent African Traditional Religion (ATR), and 4.7 percent Christian. After decades of Marxist, pro-
Islamic persecution of the Church, there is now religious freedom in Guinea. The Guinean Church has embraced mission and in the past decade indigenous workers have begun witnessing cross-culturally to previously unreached people groups. The Guinean Church is growing. But in recent years, as Islam has radicalised worldwide, the Christian minority in Guinea have found themselves increasingly on the painful end of a revived Islamic intolerance.
On Wednesday 19 October, a baptism ceremony in Nzerekore was attacked by Muslims complaining about the music from the service disturbing their prayers at a nearby mosque. Ten people were injured, two seriously, and several houses were sacked. The Muslims rioted again on the Friday evening and razed a local video store. Elite soldiers had to be deployed to restore calm. Several guns were confiscated and a curfew was imposed. Over the weekend some 100 people were arrested, with 56 still detained.
The Christians belong to the Guerze ethnic group which has a long history in the Forest Region of southeastern Guinea. Most Guerze practise Christianity or ATR. The Muslims are Konianke, a sub- group of the strongly Muslim Mandingo (or Malinki) people. The Konianke migrated south from northern Guinea during the late nineteenth century when Guinea was under French rule. There has been ethnic tension ever since, as the tribes compete for land and resources. Religious tension, stemming from ethnic tension, has escalated further as Islam has radicalised and revived its historic intolerance. The ethnic-religious tension has grown to crisis levels since the end of the Liberian War in August 2003, when many hundreds of Liberian Konianke rebels fled into southeastern Guinea, blending there with the thousands of Liberian refugees and protected by their fellow Konianke.
Ethnic-religious violence erupted in Nzerekore on 16 June 2004 when a Guerze youth on a motorcycle accidentally ran into a crowd leaving a mosque. Of the 238 people arrested, 234 were Konianke and 90 percent were Liberian. Two people died in that clash, but the toll would have been much higher had the Guinean security forces not moved so quickly to quell the fighting. The most recent incident - Muslims attacking a baptism ceremony because they could hear church music - has all the hallmarks of intolerant Muslims wanting to establish dominance and even reject religious liberty.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT:
* God will protect, comfort and preserve the minority Christians of Guinea, especially those in the southeast Forest Region amidst volatile tensions and erupting violence; may he renew their strength and bless their witness, for his glory and Kingdom.
* Christ, supreme over all powers and authorities and sovereign over all creation, will bring a spirit of peace to Nzerekore, severing the spiritual shackles of those bound to darkness while light is in their midst. 'So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.' (John 8:36 NIV)
* pastors, evangelists and all believers will have great spiritual understanding to respond with wisdom and grace to the escalating Muslim presence, dominance and intolerance.
* the government and authorities will continue to protect the security of Christians and uphold justice and religious liberty in Guinea, and especially that God will use President Conte to do his will; may God open his heart to receive the gospel.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Egypt: Riots, threats and a stabbing in Alexandria.
Date: Wednesday 26 October 2005
Subj: Egypt: Riots, threats and a stabbing in Alexandria.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
Massive Muslim riots, Islamist web threats, and the stabbing of a Coptic nun have forced Egyptian authorities to place an armed guard around St George (St Girgis) Coptic Orthodox Church in Muharram Bik, Alexandria on the Egyptian Mediterranean coast. The sudden eruption of aggression against the Church demonstrates the extremely fragile nature of religious harmony in Egypt where Muslim hostility and contempt towards the Christian minority simmers just below the surface and very little provocation is required to make the volcano blow. In this case, the provocation consisted of totally unsubstantiated reports that a theatrical production performed in St George Coptic Orthodox Church had defamed Islam.
As the Egyptian weekly 'Al-Ahram' explains, "...the sectarian tension in Alexandria began in much the same way previous Muslim-Christian disputes had: with the publication of a tabloid story. This time, the newspaper in question -- Al-Midan -- published an article about a church play that defamed Islam." (Link 1)
According to Al-Ahram, "Waleed Orabi, the journalist who wrote the Al-Midan story, said he had obtained a CD of the performance from a source inside the Alexandria church where the play took place. He refused to provide any other details on the matter." Orabi goes on to describe Muharram Bek, where the protests took place, as "a hotbed of Islamism".
INCITEMENT
On Friday 14 October, the day after the article was published, a group of Muslims allegedly from Cairo entered the neighbouring mosque with copies of the article and incited the worshippers to protest. Al-Ahram describes what happened: "An angry crowd of about 100 people promptly marched towards the neighbouring church. As word spread around, the crowd got bigger, with some 3,000 people eventually taking part. Some were there to support the demonstrators' demands, while others were just curious about the goings on. Local police were quickly deployed in the hundreds; and by three in the morning, had dispersed the angry demonstrators."
Adnkronos International (AKI) reports that the protesters shouted slogans such as, "Oh Islam, we will defend you with our body and soul!", and "Christians and Jews, the army of Mohammed will return". Jihad groups linked to al-Qaeda posted video footage of the protest on their websites along with exhortations to follow this example and attack Christians. (Link 2)
On 18 October, the Islamist group "mujahadeen of Egypt", which claimed responsibility for the Sharm el-Sheikh bombings, posted a notice on the Internet inciting Muslims to take action against Christians in revenge for the alleged offence against Mohammed.
AKI reports, the mujadadeen described their posting on the Internet as, "an urgent message to the followers of the cross living in Egypt". The message made specific reference to the "crusaders' church", which it deemed guilty of staging a theatre performance offending the Prophet Muhammed. According to AKI, the "mujahadeen of Egypt" decided to destroy the church, but found the security too tight to perpetrate an attack. As the militants explain in their Internet statement: "After hearing this news, we had decided without hesitation to destroy that church. The mujahadeen prepared themselves but found what they were expecting. The ... police, secret services and internal security forces had surrounded the area of Muharram Bik, protecting the church. If those responsible for the offence do not admit their guilt, then every Christian holding a sermon in the incriminated church will become a target of the mujahadeen." (Link 3)
NUN STABBED
On 19 October, the day after the incitement from "mujahadeen of Egypt", a Muslim student in his early 20s entered St George Church as a prayer service was finishing. He shouted "Allah akbar" (God is great) and stabbed a novitiate nun in the chest with a knife. The nun, aged in her mid-40s, required surgery for her wounds. One other worshipper, Ali al-Jani, was wounded as he intervened to protect the nun. Father Augustinous, head of St George Church was not present during the attack. However, it was reported to him by eye witnesses that after stabbing the nun, the attacker knelt and prayed "as if he was thanking God for finishing a task". (Link 4)
MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION AND MOUNTING ANGER
Following Friday prayers on 21 October, after the ultimatum demanding an apology from Coptic Pope Shenouda III had expired, more than 5,000 angry Muslims demonstrated outside the front of St George Church. They brandished sticks and threw rocks. Around 90 people were injured as police fired tear gas and fought to disperse the angry crowd. Twenty police officers were amongst those injured. Two protesters and two policemen died in the violence – one protester being trampled to death. Nine cars and seven Christian-owned businesses were torched and a gold store was looted. (Link 5)
Seven churches in Alexandria were attacked by a violent mob of Muslim youths that Friday evening. Reports are coming from Alexandria that tell of significant damage to church property, including broken gates, doors, windows, and furniture. Pews were reportedly burned and Bibles were thrown into the street to be trampled by angry crowds. Families, especially pastoral families who live in the churches, have been traumatised. Many from the congregations were too afraid to meet on Sunday.
New York Times (NYT) reports, "In Alexandria, several shopkeepers and pedestrians spoke of their waning patience for their Christian neighbors, and of a sense that their tolerance has been taken for granted and abused." (Link 6)
Ahmed Ali Mahmoud, 25, a pharmacist whose shop is opposite St George's Coptic Orthodox Church told the NYT , "People are very, very provoked. They are boiling. Did we make plays that insult the Christians? They will pay the price in terms of their security, comfort, and now no priest will be able to walk in the streets."
NYT also spoke to a shoemaker who said his name was Muhammad Abdo. He said that police first fired tear gas into the crowd, which only served to anger those in the streets. They then went wild, turning over cars and setting them on fire, smashing storefronts and looting a gold shop. " 'No one will stop until they give a formal apology,' Mr. Abdo said, adding that he heard the play denied a central tenet of the Islamic faith - that Muhammad was God's prophet."
THE PLAY
The play which Muslims allege defamed Islam is called, "I Was Blind but Now I See". It was based on a 1990s movie called The Terrorist, which starred Egyptian comedian Adel Imam. It is the story of a poor Coptic University student who converts to Islam after a group of Muslim men offer him money to do so. However, the young convert becomes disillusioned after the local sheikh exhorts him to kill priests and destroy churches. Abused and maltreated by the sheikh and his group, the young man eventually abandons Islam and returns to Christianity. His apostasy enrages the Islamists who then seek to kill him. His life, however, is ultimately saved by his faithful Muslim friend.
According to Coptic leaders, the play was a statement against extremism and radicalism. However, Islamic voices are claiming that the play "defamed" Islam. Osama Gado, of the Muslim Brotherhood claimed the play "clearly harms the image of Islam". Tamer Harfush also lambasted the play saying, "The play compares Islam and Christianity, Jesus and Prophet Muhammad, presenting the first as a man who sacrificed his life and the second as more preoccupied with earthly pleasures." (Link 7)
The most critical thing about this play is that it was performed once, TWO YEARS AGO!
QUESTIONS
Apart from the standard questions: "Does this defame Islam?" (the dictionary defines "defame" as: To damage the reputation, character, or good name of by slander or libel), and "Why riot?", the most obvious question is: Why now? Considering the play was performed once, TWO YEARS AGO, why is this sectarian hatred, specifically anti-Copt hatred, being whipped up now?
1) ELECTIONS
Legislative elections commence on 9 November. Already the trouble in Alexandria has driven Maher Khella, the local Coptic candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), to withdraw from the parliamentary race "to defuse tensions". Maher Khella was one of only two Copts amongst the 444 candidates fielded by the ruling NDP. (Link 7)
According to Al-Ahram, Al-Midan is not the only newspaper inflaming Islamic sentiments. Al-Ahram reports, "Sameh Fawzi, the editor of Watani (My Nation), a prominent Coptic newspaper, says that 'reading a number of tabloid newspapers will clearly reveal how a sensitive topic like religion is often manipulated to pit Muslims and Christians against each other.' Several newspapers, for instance, have recently been running stories claiming that churches are doing intensive missionary work among university students across the country."
On Thursday 20 October, supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood marched in Cairo in an effort to encourage Egyptians to vote for their Islamist candidates in next month's parliamentary elections. As noted by Reuters, the Muslim Brotherhood sidesteps its ban by fielding candidates as independents. As they marched they chanted "Islam is the Solution" as well as other slogans such as "We make the pledge and guard the dhimma...".(Link 8)
2) COPTIC CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON
Al Ahram reports, "A US-government sponsored conference on Coptic grievances in Egypt is scheduled for 16 November in Washington. Participants will reportedly press for the Egyptian government to provide more freedoms for Copts. They will also demand the amendment of a constitutional article that considers Islam 'Egypt's official religion and main source of legislation'. The meeting is seen as a means for Washington to exercise more pressure on the Egyptian government, and for Copts to extract more concessions at home."
Some analysts believe that State Security Forces have orchestrated the Alexandria protests in order to embarrass and discredit the Copts at home and abroad before the Washington Conference so as to limit, or even cripple, its effectiveness.
INCENDIARY SITUATION
Even though more than one hundred rioters have been detained for 15 days pending investigations, Christians in Alexandria are afraid and are staying home indoors.
Several facts indicate that this situation has potential to escalate and spread like wildfire:
Elizabeth Kendal
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For an excellent and most insightful comment, see:
Alexandria, Yesterday and Today
By Mona Eltahawy, 25 October 2005
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Links
1) One step forward, two steps back
Mustafa El-Menshawy, in Alexandria
Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 October 2005. Issue No. 765
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/765/eg6.htm
2) Web video incites attacks against Christians. 21 October 2005.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.221749664&par=0
3) New Threats Against Coptic Community. Cairo, 18 October 2005.
(AKI)http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.220123440&par=0
4) Stabbing of nun sparks tension in Alexandria
By Maamoun Youssef, 20 October 2005
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=85&art_id=qw1129782066324B221
5) Christian DVD sparks riot. Saturday, 22 October 2005
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/10/21/egypt.church.riot.ap/index.html
ALSO
Three killed in Egypt church riot. Saturday, 22 October 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4366232.stm
6) Egyptian Police Guard Coptic Church Attacked by Muslims
By. Michael Slackman in Alexandria, Egypt. 22 October 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/international/africa/23egypt.html
7) Coptic Play Shadows Egypt’s Legislative Polls
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, 23 October 2005
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2005-10/23/article05.shtml
SEE ALSO
Deadly protest adds to grievances of Egypt's
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19561
8) Islamists hit streets in Egypt election campaign
By Tom Perry in Cairo. REUTERS. 24 October 2005
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=2348
Subj: Egypt: Riots, threats and a stabbing in Alexandria.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
Massive Muslim riots, Islamist web threats, and the stabbing of a Coptic nun have forced Egyptian authorities to place an armed guard around St George (St Girgis) Coptic Orthodox Church in Muharram Bik, Alexandria on the Egyptian Mediterranean coast. The sudden eruption of aggression against the Church demonstrates the extremely fragile nature of religious harmony in Egypt where Muslim hostility and contempt towards the Christian minority simmers just below the surface and very little provocation is required to make the volcano blow. In this case, the provocation consisted of totally unsubstantiated reports that a theatrical production performed in St George Coptic Orthodox Church had defamed Islam.
As the Egyptian weekly 'Al-Ahram' explains, "...the sectarian tension in Alexandria began in much the same way previous Muslim-Christian disputes had: with the publication of a tabloid story. This time, the newspaper in question -- Al-Midan -- published an article about a church play that defamed Islam." (Link 1)
According to Al-Ahram, "Waleed Orabi, the journalist who wrote the Al-Midan story, said he had obtained a CD of the performance from a source inside the Alexandria church where the play took place. He refused to provide any other details on the matter." Orabi goes on to describe Muharram Bek, where the protests took place, as "a hotbed of Islamism".
INCITEMENT
On Friday 14 October, the day after the article was published, a group of Muslims allegedly from Cairo entered the neighbouring mosque with copies of the article and incited the worshippers to protest. Al-Ahram describes what happened: "An angry crowd of about 100 people promptly marched towards the neighbouring church. As word spread around, the crowd got bigger, with some 3,000 people eventually taking part. Some were there to support the demonstrators' demands, while others were just curious about the goings on. Local police were quickly deployed in the hundreds; and by three in the morning, had dispersed the angry demonstrators."
Adnkronos International (AKI) reports that the protesters shouted slogans such as, "Oh Islam, we will defend you with our body and soul!", and "Christians and Jews, the army of Mohammed will return". Jihad groups linked to al-Qaeda posted video footage of the protest on their websites along with exhortations to follow this example and attack Christians. (Link 2)
On 18 October, the Islamist group "mujahadeen of Egypt", which claimed responsibility for the Sharm el-Sheikh bombings, posted a notice on the Internet inciting Muslims to take action against Christians in revenge for the alleged offence against Mohammed.
AKI reports, the mujadadeen described their posting on the Internet as, "an urgent message to the followers of the cross living in Egypt". The message made specific reference to the "crusaders' church", which it deemed guilty of staging a theatre performance offending the Prophet Muhammed. According to AKI, the "mujahadeen of Egypt" decided to destroy the church, but found the security too tight to perpetrate an attack. As the militants explain in their Internet statement: "After hearing this news, we had decided without hesitation to destroy that church. The mujahadeen prepared themselves but found what they were expecting. The ... police, secret services and internal security forces had surrounded the area of Muharram Bik, protecting the church. If those responsible for the offence do not admit their guilt, then every Christian holding a sermon in the incriminated church will become a target of the mujahadeen." (Link 3)
NUN STABBED
On 19 October, the day after the incitement from "mujahadeen of Egypt", a Muslim student in his early 20s entered St George Church as a prayer service was finishing. He shouted "Allah akbar" (God is great) and stabbed a novitiate nun in the chest with a knife. The nun, aged in her mid-40s, required surgery for her wounds. One other worshipper, Ali al-Jani, was wounded as he intervened to protect the nun. Father Augustinous, head of St George Church was not present during the attack. However, it was reported to him by eye witnesses that after stabbing the nun, the attacker knelt and prayed "as if he was thanking God for finishing a task". (Link 4)
MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION AND MOUNTING ANGER
Following Friday prayers on 21 October, after the ultimatum demanding an apology from Coptic Pope Shenouda III had expired, more than 5,000 angry Muslims demonstrated outside the front of St George Church. They brandished sticks and threw rocks. Around 90 people were injured as police fired tear gas and fought to disperse the angry crowd. Twenty police officers were amongst those injured. Two protesters and two policemen died in the violence – one protester being trampled to death. Nine cars and seven Christian-owned businesses were torched and a gold store was looted. (Link 5)
Seven churches in Alexandria were attacked by a violent mob of Muslim youths that Friday evening. Reports are coming from Alexandria that tell of significant damage to church property, including broken gates, doors, windows, and furniture. Pews were reportedly burned and Bibles were thrown into the street to be trampled by angry crowds. Families, especially pastoral families who live in the churches, have been traumatised. Many from the congregations were too afraid to meet on Sunday.
New York Times (NYT) reports, "In Alexandria, several shopkeepers and pedestrians spoke of their waning patience for their Christian neighbors, and of a sense that their tolerance has been taken for granted and abused." (Link 6)
Ahmed Ali Mahmoud, 25, a pharmacist whose shop is opposite St George's Coptic Orthodox Church told the NYT , "People are very, very provoked. They are boiling. Did we make plays that insult the Christians? They will pay the price in terms of their security, comfort, and now no priest will be able to walk in the streets."
NYT also spoke to a shoemaker who said his name was Muhammad Abdo. He said that police first fired tear gas into the crowd, which only served to anger those in the streets. They then went wild, turning over cars and setting them on fire, smashing storefronts and looting a gold shop. " 'No one will stop until they give a formal apology,' Mr. Abdo said, adding that he heard the play denied a central tenet of the Islamic faith - that Muhammad was God's prophet."
THE PLAY
The play which Muslims allege defamed Islam is called, "I Was Blind but Now I See". It was based on a 1990s movie called The Terrorist, which starred Egyptian comedian Adel Imam. It is the story of a poor Coptic University student who converts to Islam after a group of Muslim men offer him money to do so. However, the young convert becomes disillusioned after the local sheikh exhorts him to kill priests and destroy churches. Abused and maltreated by the sheikh and his group, the young man eventually abandons Islam and returns to Christianity. His apostasy enrages the Islamists who then seek to kill him. His life, however, is ultimately saved by his faithful Muslim friend.
According to Coptic leaders, the play was a statement against extremism and radicalism. However, Islamic voices are claiming that the play "defamed" Islam. Osama Gado, of the Muslim Brotherhood claimed the play "clearly harms the image of Islam". Tamer Harfush also lambasted the play saying, "The play compares Islam and Christianity, Jesus and Prophet Muhammad, presenting the first as a man who sacrificed his life and the second as more preoccupied with earthly pleasures." (Link 7)
The most critical thing about this play is that it was performed once, TWO YEARS AGO!
QUESTIONS
Apart from the standard questions: "Does this defame Islam?" (the dictionary defines "defame" as: To damage the reputation, character, or good name of by slander or libel), and "Why riot?", the most obvious question is: Why now? Considering the play was performed once, TWO YEARS AGO, why is this sectarian hatred, specifically anti-Copt hatred, being whipped up now?
1) ELECTIONS
Legislative elections commence on 9 November. Already the trouble in Alexandria has driven Maher Khella, the local Coptic candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), to withdraw from the parliamentary race "to defuse tensions". Maher Khella was one of only two Copts amongst the 444 candidates fielded by the ruling NDP. (Link 7)
According to Al-Ahram, Al-Midan is not the only newspaper inflaming Islamic sentiments. Al-Ahram reports, "Sameh Fawzi, the editor of Watani (My Nation), a prominent Coptic newspaper, says that 'reading a number of tabloid newspapers will clearly reveal how a sensitive topic like religion is often manipulated to pit Muslims and Christians against each other.' Several newspapers, for instance, have recently been running stories claiming that churches are doing intensive missionary work among university students across the country."
On Thursday 20 October, supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood marched in Cairo in an effort to encourage Egyptians to vote for their Islamist candidates in next month's parliamentary elections. As noted by Reuters, the Muslim Brotherhood sidesteps its ban by fielding candidates as independents. As they marched they chanted "Islam is the Solution" as well as other slogans such as "We make the pledge and guard the dhimma...".(Link 8)
- (Dhimmis are second-class citizens in historic, orthodox Islam, with limited rights and no equality before the law. Dhimmitude (see http://www.dhimmitude.org/ ) is based on Islamic theology and is an Islamic form of religious apartheid. Historically, in the context of Islamic imperialism, it has permitted the preservation of Jews and Christians for the purpose of exploitation. To receive and maintain "protection"/right to life, dhimmis must live in subjugation and submission, eternally grateful for and humbled by the "protection" afforded them.)
2) COPTIC CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON
Al Ahram reports, "A US-government sponsored conference on Coptic grievances in Egypt is scheduled for 16 November in Washington. Participants will reportedly press for the Egyptian government to provide more freedoms for Copts. They will also demand the amendment of a constitutional article that considers Islam 'Egypt's official religion and main source of legislation'. The meeting is seen as a means for Washington to exercise more pressure on the Egyptian government, and for Copts to extract more concessions at home."
Some analysts believe that State Security Forces have orchestrated the Alexandria protests in order to embarrass and discredit the Copts at home and abroad before the Washington Conference so as to limit, or even cripple, its effectiveness.
INCENDIARY SITUATION
Even though more than one hundred rioters have been detained for 15 days pending investigations, Christians in Alexandria are afraid and are staying home indoors.
Several facts indicate that this situation has potential to escalate and spread like wildfire:
- The approaching legislative elections will arouse further sectarian zeal and tension, especially as media provocation and the Alexandria riots have already ignited hostility and fractured unity.
- In the light of the troubles and controversies in Alexandria, the Washington Conference on Coptic grievances will doubtless now receive more attention on the street in Egypt than it otherwise might have, and the Muslim response will probably be further anger and resentment.
- The involvement of al-Qaeda linked organisations with their calls for jihad against Christians and churches is extremely worrying.
- and Ramadan, which because of the fasting and restrictions required can tend to raise Islamic zeal and cause frustration and irritability to overpower tolerance, is not over yet!
Elizabeth Kendal
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For an excellent and most insightful comment, see:
Alexandria, Yesterday and Today
By Mona Eltahawy, 25 October 2005
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Links
1) One step forward, two steps back
Mustafa El-Menshawy, in Alexandria
Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 October 2005. Issue No. 765
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/765/eg6.htm
2) Web video incites attacks against Christians. 21 October 2005.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.221749664&par=0
3) New Threats Against Coptic Community. Cairo, 18 October 2005.
(AKI)http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Religion&loid=8.0.220123440&par=0
4) Stabbing of nun sparks tension in Alexandria
By Maamoun Youssef, 20 October 2005
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=85&art_id=qw1129782066324B221
5) Christian DVD sparks riot. Saturday, 22 October 2005
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/10/21/egypt.church.riot.ap/index.html
ALSO
Three killed in Egypt church riot. Saturday, 22 October 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4366232.stm
6) Egyptian Police Guard Coptic Church Attacked by Muslims
By. Michael Slackman in Alexandria, Egypt. 22 October 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/international/africa/23egypt.html
7) Coptic Play Shadows Egypt’s Legislative Polls
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, 23 October 2005
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2005-10/23/article05.shtml
SEE ALSO
Deadly protest adds to grievances of Egypt's
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=19561
8) Islamists hit streets in Egypt election campaign
By Tom Perry in Cairo. REUTERS. 24 October 2005
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=2348