Escalating violence against Egyptian Coptic Christians coincides with a hardening of lines inside Egypt’s banned Muslim fundamentalist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas is officially the Gaza branch of the MB).
From a poster at this blog’s Forum:
Egypt (AINA) — Egyptian security forces have intensified their presence in the Upper Egyptian town of Dairout, in anticipation of a recurrence of Muslim violence against Christians. Copts expressed their fear over leaflets entitled “These have to Die!” which are being distributed to all Muslims in Dairout and neighborhoods, enticing them to “burn, vandalize and clean the country of these evil immoral infidels.”
Reports from Dairout, 313 km south of Cairo, confirm that Christian Copts are afraid to leave their homes and have stayed indoors since violence against them erupted on October 24, 2009. This collective punishment of Copts was caused by an illicit sexual relationship between a Muslim girl, Hagger Hassouna, and the Christian Romany Farouk Attallah. It was rumored that he sent videos of them intimately together to cell phones in Dairout before fleeing. This prompted the Hassouna family to kill his father, Farouk Attallah, on October 19, 2009, in revenge. Four of the Hassouna killers were detained by prosecution, leading to Muslim riots against the Copts (AINA 10-27-2009) .
According to Wagih Yacoub of the Middle East Christian Assosiation (MECA), Muslim-owned businesses are now displaying stickers with ‘Allah Akbar’ (Allah is Great) to differentiate between them and Coptic-owned businesses, as a form of pre-planning for a forthcoming wave of Muslim violence.
Handwritten leaflets (Arabic) have been circulated among Muslims in Dairout for the last two days; they call on Muslims to unite to take revenge for their religion and honor, claiming that Hagger Hassouna is innocent and that she was forced into vice, and “all Jews and Christians should come to learn that Muslim honor is precious.” The fliers state that Muslims are the masters of the world since beginning of times until the present day, and entices them to “burn and vandalize and clean the country of the evil immoral infidels.”
It also calls on Muslims to take revenge for the “rings of prostitution” which are the churches and in particular the church in the village of Ezbet Hanna. Those specifically named to be killed are Reverend Pavlos of the Church of the Virgin Mary, Coptic lawyer Gamal Youssef, two brothers who own an optometry practice, and a Copt who owns a beauty saloon and photography shop.
Muslims are asked to die for their honor and they will be rewarded with eternal paradise. “Do not say it is a matter of just a girl, no, it is a public and a serious issue, it is the biggest issue, it is Islam’s issue.” A transcript of the the leaflet (in Arabic) is published on Copts United website.
On Saturday, October, 31 the four Muslims accused of killing Farouk Attallah are expected appear in court again. A repeat of the Muslim mob violence which took place on October 24 is anticipated should prosecution extend their detainment once again.
Something deeper, and more ominous, appears to be at work here.
According to the English-language weekly edition of Al-Ahram, the leading Egyptian newspaper, a major shakeup inside the Muslim Brotherhood will harden ideological lines against Egypt’s Christian minority:
It would be no exaggeration to say that the resignation of the Muslim Brotherhood’s (MB) supreme guide (or more accurately his delegation of his responsibilities to his deputy) has ushered in the worst leadership crisis the Islamist organisation has experienced in over half a century.
SnipThe deeper effect of the crisis will be seen in greater organisational and ideological rigidity. The hardliners will probably engage in sweeping disciplinary measures, introduce stricter criteria for promotion, and continue their campaign to isolate and permanently sideline the reformist trend. The MB is thus on the threshold of another of its McCarthyist phases, such as that in 1996 targeting the sponsors of the Wasat Party, when a systematic campaign was launched to purge liberal-minded thinkers from the MB’s rank and file.
At an ideological level, the impending witch hunt may lead to a long-term setback for reformist ideas within the group, especially given the unfavourable external circumstances. This may not translate into major ideological U-turns on such central issues as the renunciation of violence; instead, there will be a greater shift to more fundamentalist ideas, made manifest in the MB’s official positions on such sensitive issues as the rights and status of women and Copts, as well as issues related to the arts, censorship, dress (the veil) and personal freedoms. This ideological direction will become clear after the conservatives and increasingly influential fundamentalists in the MB consolidate their alliance.
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