by Emerson Vermaat
Pipe Line News
January 20, 2011 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – In December 2010 I reported that Christian asylum seekers in three thirds of the asylum seekers centers in Holland (so-called “AZC’s”) are seriously intimidated by Muslim asylum seekers. Too many Muslim converts to Christianity – often refugees from totalitarian Muslim societies – live in fear. However, the problem of harassing or attacking Christians is much more widespread. Many Christians in Iraq are persecuted by radical Muslims who bomb their churches, kill their pastors and priests. Many of them flee to the West. (Some them end up in Dutch asylum seekers centers where they once again face harassment by militant Muslims.) Coptic churches in Egypt have also been bombed. There was a major terror attack on a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt, on New Year’s day, when 25 Coptic Christians were killed.
Iran’s “Press TV”, Lebanon’s Grand Mufti, a Muslim Brotherhood official and an Egyptian lawyers group suggested that agents of the Israeli Mossad – “zionist fingerpints” – were behind the church blast. In a recent essay Raymond Ibrahim, author of the noteworthy book “The Al Qaeda Reader,” points out that “Islamists accuse Egypt’s Christians of behaving like… Islamists.” “Islamists regularly abduct, abuse, brainwash, and compel Coptic girls to convert – and now Copts are accused of doing the exact same thing; Islamists regularly smuggle and stockpile weapons, including in their holy places – and now Copts are accused of doing the exact same thing. Islamists are constantly either trying to break away or conquer infidel nations – and now Copts are accused of doing the exact same thing; Islamic martyrdom means participating and dying in jihad – and now Christian martyrdom is defined as the exact same thing.” “This recent batch of bizarre accusations is making Muslims more irate and paranoid, and bodes greater evil for Egypt’s beleaguered Christians.”
Just one day before the new year’s day bombing in Alexandria a radical Salafi cleric named Abu Mundhir Al-Shinqiti posted a fatwa (religious decree) permitting the targeting Christians in Islamic countries. He “says that the decision whether to attack Christians is up to the jihad commanders in each country. If they decide to do so, it is obligatory to assist them.” “An Egyptian police officer opened fire on a crowded train, targeting only the Christian passengers,” IPT news reported recently.
Terror threats against Coptic churches in Europe and Australia have also been issued. Germany’s Coptic Christians have received threats of attack by radical Muslims and asked for protection, Coptic bishop Anba Damian told a German newspaper early January. “The internet is full of threats against us,” he said. “The police have alerted us several times against attacks by radical Muslims. I have written to the Interior Minister to ask for protection.”
There were similar reports in Holland. The Dutch newspaper “Trouw,” for example, reported on January 4, that Coptic Christians in the Netherlands fear terrorist attacks by Muslims. About one hundred Coptic churches have been mentioned on a black list – the Coptic church that was bombed by radical Islamic terrorists in Alexandria was on that list, too. What alarmed many Coptic Christians in Europe was the fact the Al-Qaeda linked website “Shumuk Al-Islam” praised the Alexandria attack, announcing that (many) other attacks would follow.
Thirty Coptic churches outside of Egypt are mentioned on the same black list. Three of these churches are located in the Dutch cities of Eindhoven, Utrecht and Amsterdam. Their addresses and telephone numbers are mentioned as well. “We ask the Dutch government to protect us,” an anonymous Coptic church member from Eindhoven was quoted in “Trouw.” There are about 6000 Coptic believers in Holland. Coptic archpriest Youssef Rizkalla, also from Eindhoven, said: “We will not be intimidated.” Similarly, Miriam Yakob from Amsterdam’s Coptic Church, told the Dutch press: “We are a close-knit community. We will not be chased away.” They know that the Dutch anti-terror police are vigilant and alert. Fortunately, no attacks occurred during the Coptic Christmas festivities on January 7. (Two weeks after the Catholics and Protestants celebrate their Christmas, that is.) The three Coptic churches in the Netherlands received police protection that day. Three Dutch Muslim organizations distanced themselves from the threats isssued by Al-Qaeda against Coptic Christians in Egypt and the Netherlands. Last October, Coptic Pope Shenouda III paid a visit to the Netherlands. It was after that visit that militant Muslims began to issue threats against the Coptic community, a prominent member of the Coptic church in Amsterdam claimed.
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