Egypt: Islamists hit Christian churches

Associated Press
via Yahoo! News
8/17/2013

CAIRO (AP) — After torching a Franciscan school, Islamists paraded three nuns on the streets like “prisoners of war” before a Muslim woman offered them refuge. Two other women working at the school were sexually harassed and abused as they fought their way through a mob.

In the four days since security forces cleared two sit-in camps by supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Islamists have attacked dozens of Coptic churches along with homes and businesses owned by the Christian minority. The campaign of intimidation appears to be a warning to Christians outside Cairo to stand down from political activism.

Christians have long suffered from discrimination and violence in Muslim majority Egypt, where they make up 10 percent of the population of 90 million. Attacks increased after the Islamists rose to power in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that drove Hosni Mubarak from power, emboldening extremists. But Christians have come further under fire since President Mohammed Morsi was ousted on July 3, sparking a wave of Islamist anger led by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

Nearly 40 churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged since Wednesday, when chaos erupted after Egypt’s military-backed interim administration moved in to clear two camps packed with protesters calling for Morsi’s reinstatement, killing scores of protesters and sparking deadly clashes nationwide.

One of the world’s oldest Christian communities has generally kept a low-profile, but has become more politically active since Mubarak was ousted and Christians sought to ensure fair treatment in the aftermath…

The article continues at the Associated Press. Photos of the damages to churches and museums are here.

 


video H/T The Gateway Pundit 

 

Related: Walid Phares: Muslim Brotherhood has moved from protests to jihadi insurgency 

Walid Phares says the strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood has moved from demonstrations to an ‘urban jihadi insurgency’ in order to try and destabilize Cairo. But he says the bigger story is that the Brotherhood is trying to create pockets across Egypt and we see that through the 62 churches that have been destroyed and police states that have also been attacked…

Damaged pharaonic objects lie on the floor of the Malawi Antiquities Museum after it was ransacked between the evening of 8/15 and the morning of 8/16 (Photo/Roger Anis, El Shorouk Newpaper)

Damaged pharaonic objects lie on the floor of the Malawi Antiquities Museum after it was ransacked between the evening of 8/15 and the morning of 8/16 (Photo/Roger Anis, El Shorouk Newpaper)

 

 

 

Update:   Media Downplays Muslim Brotherhood Killing Christians in Egypt

 

Update 2: ‘Animals’: More attacks on Christians and churches in Egypt [pics]

 

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