"Myrna was abducted 10 months ago, forced to convert to Islam and married by a 'customary marriage contract' by Osama Hefnawy to his son Mohammad. Being 19 years old at the time, Myrna was under-age for a girl to be married. According to Islamic Sharia a woman cannot get married before she reaches the age of 21 years; she can only get married before through a mandate from her father or uncles alone. Those requirements can be waived for the benefit of a non-relative only through a court ruling, which was not obtained in Myrna's case.

On their way to free his daughter, the father, together with his brother and brother-in-law, passed by a cafe near St. George's Church, Sidi Bishr, where Rafaat Girges Habib, a plumber who has done jobs in the father's home, volunteered to accompany them to bring Myrna back.

As they went to the apartment where Myrna was held, they were met by Osama Hefnawy, father of Mohamed and five other Muslims, who threatened them. A struggle ensued, and Myrna left with her father. She was taken away to an establishment dealing with abduction cases like hers, especially that it was found out that she was six months pregnant.

Osama Hefnawy immediately filed a report with the police and the State Security Headquarters in Al-Farana, Alexndri downtown. Myrna's paternal uncles were arrested and charged with abduction, together with her father. Myrna's family apartment was broken into and the shop of Rafaat Girges Habib was completely demolished by the police.

Myrna's father was forced to go to the police station to negotiate the release of his relatives and "for matters to be resolved amicably" as he was told by Lieutenant Ahmed Mekki, of the Police Department of Investigation, who contacted him on his cell phone.

Myrna's uncles were forced to go and bring her back to the police station, where she was handed over to Osama Hefnawy. In addition the police took the necessary commitments from her relatives not to harass him. Coptic father Labib was released Friday morning.

Lawyers reported to Egypt4Christ that the arrested Copts were tortured and their clothes were smeared with blood, especially Romany, brother of Rafaat Girges Habib."

...Considering the citizenship rights Copts enjoyed in the early-to-mid-20^th century, how did things come to this pass? Much of this reversion can be traced to Mubarak's predecessor, Anwar Sadat, who altered Egypt's Constitution — by adding Article 2, "sharia is the principle source of legislation" — only to be rewarded, ironically, with assassination by the Islamist "Frankenstein monster" he had empowered. Since then, there has been a tacit agreement between the government and the Islamists. As Youssef Ibrahim puts it, the agreement "turned over to Islamists control in media, education, and government administrations in return for allowing Mr. Mubarak's rule to go on unchallenged, setting the stage … for his son, Gamal, to succeed him. As part of the deal, [Mubarak] agreed to feed Egypt's Christians to the growing Islamic beast."

The Copts now find themselves in a dire situation. Magdi Khalil, a human rights activist at the forefront of the "Coptic question," states that "Egypt is on the verge of chaos and change of regime, and there is a plan for Copts to pay the price of this predicted chaos, by directing the surplus violence, hate and barbarism towards them." This redirection onto the Copts is obvious even in subtle things: aside from the habitual anti-Copt indoctrination that goes on in mosques — all of the demonstrations occurred immediately after Friday's mosque prayers. Egypt's state-run public education system also marginalizes, if not ostracizes, the Copts (see, for example, Adel Guindy's "The Talibanization of Education in Egypt.")

More obvious proof of the government's complicity is the fact that, not only has it not prevented or dispersed the increasingly rabid demonstrations against the Copts — the way it viciously and unequivocally does whenever any protests are directed against itself — but Egyptian security, as Magdi Khalil affirmed in a phone conversation, actually facilitates, and sometimes participates, in these mass demonstrations. After all, Islamists who publicly call for the death of the Pope do so, writes Ibrahim Eissa, "knowing quite well that State Security will not touch them, since demonstrations are directed against the Pope and not the President, the Church and not the inheritance issue [Gamal Mubarak as successor of his father]. Those who go out in Jihad against 'inheritance,' democracy and election fraud are beaten mercilessly by security forces, but those who go out to incite sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians believe …that they are the friends and 'buddies' of the police and the State Security."

A group of Egyptian citizens have filed a complaint to the office of the attorney-general demanding the cancelation of a Salafi preacher’s television program after he issued a fatwa (a religious edict) on the sale of antiquities.

A Facebook group has been set up by those concerned on which they say that they have filed a complaint to attorney general Abdel Maguid Mahmoud to ban the live television program presented by Sheikh Mohamed Hassan.

Hassan, a prominent preacher, currently presents a program on the Salafi-affiliated al-Rahma channel. The program, which is aired live, features inquiries via phone calls and he answers them on the spot.

In response to a telephone call regarding Islam’s position on selling antiquities, Hassan said, “If it is found on land that you own, or in your house, then it is yours by right and you are not doing anything wrong.”

As for antiquities which are found on a public land, Hassan explained, a Muslim is prohibited from selling them, advising that he should re-bury them.

The people who filed the complaint argue that this fatwa means that all antiquities discovered on private land are the possessions of the owner of that land, and that he has the right to sell and profit from them. This contradicts the law, which punishes any private circulation of antiquities.

On Friday, September 24, thousands of Islamists demonstrated in front of Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria demanding the detainment of Bishop Bishoy and insulting Pope Shenouda and throwing shoes at his photos.

Members of al-Azhar's Islamic Research Council held an emergency meeting led by the institution's head, Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (right), repudiating Bishop Bishoy's comments and accusing him of provoking sectarian tension.

A "Statement to the Nation" was released by the Council on Saturday, September 25 in which al-Tayeb said "This kind of behavior is irresponsible and threatens national unity at a time when it is vital to protect it." He also warned against repercussions these sorts of statements can have among Muslims in Egypt and abroad.

The Statement went on to say the Council stresses the fact that Egypt is an "Islamic State" according to the text of its Constitution, which represents the social contract between its people. "From this stems the rights of citizenship, as taught to us by the Messenger of Allah in his pact with the Christians of Najran, in which he decided that they were to enjoy rights and duties as the Muslims. However, these rights are conditional to respect for the Islamic Identity and the citizenship rights as set by the Constitution."

Magdy Khalil, head of the Middle East Freedom Forum, issued a press release on September 27, saying the Al-Azhar's "Statement to the Nation" brings us back to the era of Dhimmitude. He thinks this statement, which is addressed to the Islamic nation and Muslims in Egypt and abroad, undermines completely the concept of modern citizenship, replacing it with their perception of an alternative Islamic citizenship, which corresponds to that promoted by various groups of political Islam. "citizenship in the traditions of the Islamic Research Council is conditional to non-Muslims in the Egyptian State by their acceptance of the Islamic State, respecting the Islamic identity and accepting the rule of Sharia," said Khalil, "meaning that the Council has reproduced the unfortunate Dhimmi status as a condition for the Copt to being a citizens in his own country."

He believes the "Statement to the Nation" does not strengthens national unity in Egypt but rather contributes to the increased agitation of the Islamized people, increases the feeling of religious superiority towards the Coptic minority and contributes to the destruction of what remains of the pillars of the civil state.

The Amereya police deportment in Alexandria arrested three men from the same family and accused them of murdering two of the mens’ sister and dumping the body in the sewage after hearing rumors about her.

The two brothers and the girl’s uncle dragged her in a car along with her three-year-old child and drove to an isolated area where they strangled her with her head scarf in front of her baby, media and police reports stated.

Police said that they stabbed her in the chest and the stomach with a knife to make sure she was dead. Later that night, they dumped the body in the sewer system where it was found and taken to the corner’s office.

The deceased, Karima Metawe, 20, was married to a butcher who works in Libya and her brother and uncle allegedly had heard rumors about her leaving the house and going out, leaving her child behind, so they decided to take her life to ‘restore’ their family’s honor.

Sa’d Arafat: Allah honored wives by instating the punishment of beatings.

Interviewer: Honored them with beatings? How is this possible?!

Sa’d Arafat: The prophet Muhammad said: “Don’t beat her in the face, and do not make her ugly.” See how she is honored. If the husband beats his wife, he must not beat her in the face. Even when he beats her, he must not curse her. This is incredible! He beats her in order to discipline her.

In addition, there must not be more than ten beatings, and he must not break her bones, injure her, break her teeth, or poke her in the eye. There is a beating etiquette. If he beats to discipline her, he must not raise his hand high. He must beat her from chest level. All these things honor the woman.

A senior official of the Coptic Church caused an uproar in religious circles in Egypt after suggesting that some verses of the Koran, have been inserted after the death of the Prophet Mohammed, reported the press.

Muslims believe the Koran contains the words that God has revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel, over 23 years until his death. If someone says that some verses were added a posteriori, he is then putting into question their validity.

At a recent meeting with the Egyptian ambassador to Cyprus, Bishop Bishoy, secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Church (Egyptian Christians), said he believed that some verses contradict Christian faith, had been added after Muhammad's death, by one of his successors. These remarks have provoked strong reactions in Muslim communities and Christian leaders have expressed fear of communal tensions. But last Wednesday Bishoy said he was misunderstood.

"My question was whether the verses of the Koran were inserted after the death of the prophet, not a criticism," he said. "It's just a question about a certain verse, which I believe is at odds with the Christian faith," Bishop said, quoted by the daily al-Masri al-Youm. "I do not understand how this could turn into a criticism against Islam," he said.

But in Islam is such a proposition a real blasphemy: the Quran is uncreated word of God.

Sources in the prestigious institution Sunni Al Azhar in Cairo, told the newspaper that the comments had made its, chief Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb "very angry".

The government itself became involved, through the voice of Salem Abdel Geleel, Vice-Minister of Awqaf, who said in a statement: "The faith of Muslims is a red line and in no case can it be discussed by a non-Muslim".

AINA.org:

On September 15, Qatar-owned Al-Jezirah TV broadcast a program called Without Limits, presented by moderator Ahmad Mansour, who hosted the Islamist Dr. Selim el-Awah, former Secretary-General of the World Council of Muslim Scholars, which has stunned and enraged Copts inside and outside of Egypt. "El-Awah is simply threatening Copts that the forthcoming chaos after Mubarak dies will see mass violence against the Copts," says Magdy Khalil, Coptic activist and head of Middle East Freedom Forum.

The program alleged the Church has its own militia and hides weapons and ammunition in monasteries and churches, preparing for a war "against the Muslims." el-Awah said that "Israel is in the heart of the Coptic Cause," and the Church gets weapons from Israel. He cited as evidence an incident in mid-August, in which the son of a priest in Port Said, Mr. Joseph El-Gabalawy, was falsely accused of importing weapons from Israel. Although he was cleared of charges and released, as the imported goods were children's fireworks from China and did not belong to him, he is still detained by State Security.

Image via Wikipedia

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has called on Egypt's government to ensure the resumption of the trial of three men charged with the Christmas Eve murders of seven people in a small southern Egypt town.
Since February, court proceedings have been postponed numerous times, and USCIRF is pressing the government to ensure that Saturday's scheduled trial go on as planned.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," remarked USCIRF chair Leonard Leo, whose agency makes policy recommendations to the U.S. president, secretary of state, and congress with respect to matters involving international religious freedom.
"Is it possible for Coptic Orthodox Christians to get justice in the Egyptian court system?" he asked.
On Jan. 6, as Coptic Christians prepared to observe Christmas Day, gunmen traveling in a car opened fire in a shopping district in the town of Nagaa Hammadi and later in front of the southern Egyptian town's main church as worshipers emerged from midnight mass.
The shooting resulted in the deaths of six Christians and one Muslim security guard, who was assigned to protect the church.

Ahmad Sani Yerima. Image from Wikipedia.

The quiet marriage of former Zamfara State governor and Senate Minority Whip, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima to a 13-year old Egyptian girl, has continued to attract condemnation by the womenfolk.
A coalition of women groups yesterday took its protest to the Senate, urging the Senate President, David Mark leadership of the Upper House to suspend him for marrying an underaged girl.  

The coalition, led by Dr. Mma Nkwocha, comprised the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Women Rights Advancement and Pro-tection Alternative (WRAPA) and the Global Association of Women Attorneys (GAFA).
In a swift reaction to the protest, Senators Chris Anyanwu, Emem Uffot Ekaette, Nkechi Nwaogu and Patricia Akwashiki pledged to provide support to the group in its advocacy against the act.

In addition to the call on the Senate leadership to suspend Yerima, the coalition urged his constituents in Zamafara Central Senatorial District to recall him from the Senate.
But Chair of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, said at a briefing session yesterday that those opposed to Yerima’s marriage should go to court.

On March 30 an administrative judicial court in Egypt dismissed a lawsuit filed by Mrs. Camilia Lutfi, mother of the Coptic Christian twins boys Mario and Andrew (right), against the Interior Minister, and the director of the Civil Status Department for refusing to re-instate the Christian religion on their birth certificates, and invalidate those which were forcefully changed to "Islam" in 2005 by their father Medhat Ramsis Labib, who had converted to Islam.

After his conversion, Andrew and Mario became Muslims in what is called "Islamization by dependence," by which children follow the religion of a converted parent (to Islam only) until they reach the age of puberty (fifteen), because Islam is "the best among all religions," according to Egyptian Court rulings.

The purpose of Lutfi's litigation was to restore back to her twins their identity as Christians, before reaching the age of 16 in June, when they will have their national ID cards issued. Camilia said that because of the developments in their case, her worst nightmares would materialize, in which they would have Islam as religious affiliation on their ID cards. "If they change to Christianity after that, they will be considered apostates," she told Freecopts advocacy. She expressed her surprise at the intransigence of the judiciary in dealing with the issue of her sons, especially after they have already reached the legal age of 15-years, when they can choose their own religion. "The boys have lived this tragedy for the last ten years, through no fault of their own."

ElYoum 7 Newspaper reported that 15-years-old Mario and Andrew were extremely disappointed with the court verdict, saying "faith is not by force, we want to remain Christians and we do not wish to become Muslims." Both boys are practicing Christians and were consecrated last year as deacons in their regular church in Alexandria.

The court explained in its verdict, which was issued on April 14, that Camilia Lutfi has not presented a verdict from a relevant court (it did not say which court) proving the change of her sons' religion from Islam to Christianity. "How come that when their father changed their religion from Christianity to Islam, he required no court verdict, and now that they want to revert back to Christianity, the court requires a verdict?" she told Freecopts.

Although the mother's lawyers presented to the court a portfolio containing 15 different certificates proving they are Christians, contradicting what was written on their birth certificates, the court said in its reasoning that it does not recognize the validity of a certificate issued by the Church as a document of change of religion from Islam to Christianity, as "churches by law are not competent to issue such certificates." The courts only accept certificates of religion change from Al-Azhar (the Muslim theology school in Cairo). Moreover the Court said that there is no law to force the Interior minister and the Civil Status Department chief to change the religion of the boys on their documents without a court ruling to this effect.

Media and NGOs report on a further delay of the trial of three suspects are charged with murder in the January 6, 2010 attack in Naga Hammadi on Coptic Christmas Eve, after their Christian worship services. The trial has been postponed to May 16, 2010. This is the second trial delay, the last trial delay postponed the trial to mid-April.

Dina el-Gowhary, the 15-year-old Egyptian Muslim-born girl who converted to Christianity, was subjected to an acid attack, the latest in a string of failed attempts by Muslim fanatics against her and her father, 57-year-old Peter Athanasius (Maher el-Gowhary), who converted to Christianity 35 years ago. Several Fatwa's were issued calling for the "spilling of his blood," which makes their lives in constant danger in the face of the reactionaries and advocates for the enforcement of Islamic apostasy laws, which call for the death of a convert.

Dina said that three weeks ago as she ventured out from their hiding place in Alexandria with her father to get some bottled water, her jacket was set on fire due to acid being thrown at her. "My father quickly took my jacket off before the fire reached my arms. Ever since then I am terrorized to go out in the street, with or without my father."

Through an aired interview with Freecopts advocacy Dina addressed an open letter to President Mubarak of Egypt begging him to save her and her father and allow them to leave Egypt.

She said that she had written previously to President Obama, who got her message and responded to it (AINA 11-17-2009). It was reported that the el-Gowharys met with the US Committee on International Religious Freedom on their last visit to Egypt in January 2010, and that they have asked for asylum in the United States (Fox News video).

Using stories from the early days of Islam to support his argument (complete video inside), Al-Sawsawi said that when there are marital problems, ‘the solution is to give the man a free hand to discipline his family members and to control them. By no means can a woman be the head [of the family].’”

– “In the sermon, aired January 7, 2010 on the Egyptian Islamic channel Al-Nas TV, Al-Sawsawi recounted the story of Said Ibn Al-Musayyib, a 7th-century Muslim scholar known for his piety, who married off his daughter to his student, Abu Wada’. Al-Musayyib imparted to his son-in-law advice on how to deal with his new wife: ‘If she bothers you – if something annoys you, or if you suspect anything – beat her on the spot with the rod. Break her head.’”

– “He continued with another story – that of Asmaa, the daughter of the Caliph Abu Bakr, whose husband Zubeir would tie her to his other wife by their hair and beat them both. When Asmaa complained to her father about this unfairness, (’he beat me black and blue, even though I didn’t do a thing”), Abu Bakr’s response was: ‘Go back to Zubeir. He is a good man, and he may become your husband in Paradise.’”

– “Al-Sarsawi blamed modern media  – television and the movies – for fomenting ‘a revolution in domestic leadership,’ such that today ‘in many homes, the woman is the man. She tells her husband what to do, and he says: ‘Yes, ma’am.’” He warned that handing over the leadership to women, who “cannot drive a car, let alone head a home, or anything beyond that,’ is destroying Muslim homes.”

– “Al-Sarsawi also lashed out at women’s rights supporters, saying that they hate women and “bring them down to sin.” He said that women who go out to work expect equality and want to discuss everything – with the result that the home is turned “into a parliament.” “Women’s rights supporters in Europe and America are all swindlers,’ he said.”

Image via Wikipedia

According to the rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), present at the Re:publica digital media conference in Berlin, about 120 bloggers and online reporters are currently in jail because of their work.

More than half of them are imprisoned in China, one of the countries most criticized for its rigid online censorship. Last month, RSF welcomed Google's decision to stop censoring its Chinese language search engine and to move its operations to Hong Kong.

"Companies who obey the demands of oppressive regimes are accomplices to censorship," said Lucie Morillon, the head of Reporters Without Borders' new media desk. "They are helping to silence basically those people who want to express dissident views. They are helping regimes to stay in place."

Lucie Morillon, head of the New Media desk at Reporters Without Borders talks about internet censorship at Re:publica conference Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Reporters Without Borders' Lucie Morillon, says many companies help state censorsMorillon hopes that other major international players follow Google's lead, especially Yahoo, which has a history of collaborating with the Chinese authorities. In 2005 it handed over information that resulted in the imprisonment of a Chinese activist for 10 years.

In recent weeks more allegations against Yahoo have surfaced. Morillon said the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China reported "13 cases of foreign reporters whose accounts have been hacked."

...In 2009, more than 60 countries experienced some form of internet censorship, according to Reporters without Borders. In March, RSF published a list of 12 so-called "enemies of the Internet," which are countries that seriously violate their citizens' free speech online.

Apart from China and Iran, the list also includes Saudi Arabia, Burma, Iran, Uzbekistan, Syria, Cuba and Egypt, who use a range of measures from Internet filtering and blocking Web sites, to imprisoning bloggers and journalists.

With 70 million people writing over 700,000 blogs, Iran has a strong Internet presence. Twenty-seven-year-old Farnaz Seifi, was one of the first Iranian women to start her own blog seven years ago. She worked for many years as a women's rights activist and journalist in reformist newspapers, which were shut down. Seifi now lives in the Netherlands.

"Iranian cyber army" hacked Twitter last year

Seifi has noticed the Iranian government's increasingly sophisticated range of strategies to suppress freedom of speech, including using blogs.

"Three years ago suddenly we had this huge wave of Muslim bloggers, very religious ones, very loyal to the Islamic Republic. And they are working for spreading the propaganda of the Islamic Republic regime," she said. "So it shows that the government of Iran thought, 'If we want to control them, we need to be active in what we are doing as well and spreading our own propaganda'."

Notice the list, don't you? Islamic theocracies or communist/socialist dictatorships.I miss North Korea, but for the rest, not really surprising at all!!

A young man in Egypt goes to a party seeking drugs and prostitutes, discovers his sister there. He later beats her to death with his younger brother, then stabs and burns her. The brothers were sentenced to a year in jail.

Clashes between Muslims and Christian Copts recently spurred Egyptian security forces to impose curfews on two towns in the governorates of Bani Swaif and Dakahlia.
In Kafr El Barbari in Dakahlia, mayhem broke out Tuesday after 18-year-old Mohamed Ramadan Ezzat, a Muslim, was apparently stabbed to death by John Emile Gerges, a Christian grocer, in a dispute over the price of a carbonated drink. (the Muslim was opposed to pay all that to a filthy Christian pig, wasn't he?).
After Ezzat's burial later that same day, 25 people were injured as hundreds of angry Muslims attacked Gerges' and other Coptic residents' houses, throwing stones and trying to set the homes on fire. The violence spurred many to flee the town, which is inhabited by about 1,000 Copts and 3,000 Muslims.
Most Copts are staying at home in fear of other possible attacks. After the incident, dozens of security vehicles, firefighters and ambulance personnel formed a security barrier around the town as police forces tried to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the village. Security forces attempted to intervene to bring peace between the town's Muslim and Coptic leaders, and financially compensating Ezzat's family was being suggested as a possible resolution to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, six people were injured and 15 others were detained by police in the wake of similar confrontations between Muslims and Copts in the Bani Swaif village of Ezbet Gerges on Friday.