Thousands of Egyptian Muslims Act as Human Shields to Defend Coptic Christians

[Stealth Hunter]

On New Year’s Day, a devastating terrorist bombing at a Coptic church in Egypt killed 21 people and injured 79 others. Although the identity of the culprits was not known, it was assumed that they were Muslim extremists, intent on targeting those they saw as heretics. Religious tensions immediately rose in the country, and angry Copts stormed streets, battled with police, and even vandalized a nearby mosque. The riots and heightened tensions between the Muslim and Coptic communities was likely what the terrorists wanted — to divide the Egyptian community and create sectarian strife between different religious groups.

Yet by Coptic Christmas Eve, which took place Thursday night in Egypt, things had changed completely. As Egyptian Copts attended mass at churches across the country, thousands” of Muslims, including the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak, joined them, acting as human shields to protect from terrorist attacks by extremists. The Muslims organized under the slogan “We either live together, or we die together,” inspired by Mohamed El-Sawy, an Egyptian artist.http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/08/thousands-muslims-human-shields

This article is a few days old, but I just found out about it. Very touching. Kudos to these folks.:salute:

[Takeda Shingen]

That is indeed very moving. :up:

[Penguin]

thanks for the link, haven't heart this story yet. Good to hear a good story from this part of the world. Our media seems to have done more reporting on the fact that the kopts here have been under police protection, than an interest in painting a non b/w picture.

That being said, I still think that Egypt has way too many ties to the wankers of the Muslim Brotherhood.

[Jimbuna]

News to me but nice to see religious obstacles taken down.

[kiwi_2005]

wow! +1 for the Muslims. :up:

[antikristuseke]

I wonder if Skybird or someone else will be along to decree these to be not true muslims.

[frau kaleun]

I wonder if Skybird or someone else will be along to decree these to be not true muslims.

In my book they are true and decent human beings and that's all that counts. :yeah:

[Oberon]

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/1389/800xy.jpg

An Egyptian Christian holds a banner next to a Muslim holding a Koran as they protest against what they say is the failure of authorities to protect them, in Cairo January 3, 2011 after a suspected suicide bomber killed 21 people and wounded 97 outside a Coptic church in the Nile delta city of Alexandria during a New Year's midnight service. Egypt is screening people who arrived recently from countries where al-Qaeda is known to recruit after early findings suggested the militant network was behind the bombing, security sources said. The banner reads, "No to terrorism". Picture taken January 3, 2011.

[jumpy]

The world should see much more of this kind of thing, perhaps the emphasis should be upon the media to focus more on the things everyone has in common, rather than that which is divisive?

[tater]

Wow. Awesome.

[antikristuseke]

In my book they are true and decent human beings and that's all that counts. :yeah:

Agreed.

[Castout]

Awesome but no picture in the article?

[Skybird]

Just one year ago it was the same Muslim population that hailed the killing of all swines that in Egypt almost completely were owend by Coptic Christians, by blaiming them for swine flu, which the scientific community already knew to be a nonsense thesis, and a staged accusation. The swine is dirty in Islam, like dogs. When Coptic Christains over the past years got hunted in progroms, or were assassinated individually, the Muslim population did not care. World media were silent and did not make a big story of it. It is business as usual that these things happen. And as long as the world doe snot care, everything is fine fore Egypt.

But the attack on the Christians at New Years Eve caused an echo in world media. And this time the media did look a bit closer. And so - well.

the swine thing ironmcially backfired on the capital of Egypt. The Coptic swines were a massive factor to reduce the rubble in the city, and with all swines being killed (to redcue the existential basis for the Christians and make them giving up - swine flu had nothing to do with it), the garbage heaps grew and grew and turned parts of the city into stinking slums. Those who applauded the sanction, now had the filthy smell in their noses. Nice! :up:

The number of Coptan Chriostians in egypt is constantly falling since all years. They are being dircriminated by the Islamic ideology as well as the state authorities. Sometimes local progroms take place. Many Christians hzave given up and fled the country, like in so many other Muslim countries as well: Iran Iraq, Turkey, Lybia, Nigeria, Indonesia.

Take this into consideration when dosing your applaus. In our value system, they are currently demonstrating what is the most natural thing for a human to do: to stand together and help each other in the face of injustice. It is a moral imperative. In that way, it is a human duty. Must the fulfilling of a duty really be applauded spectacularly? This event does not chnage the fact that Christains get prosecuted and reduced in numbers and discriminated in ALL Muslim coutries there are. ALWAYS.

So dose your applaus carefully. You run the risk of being compared to the sheep that applauds the butcher for his sharp knife and his clean and white shirt.

Some Muslims there may indeed mean it well, not all people can be indoctrinated by sick ideology. I just want to put it into relation. While the focus of the media now make it appear to be a big and representative event, it is anything but that, but is a rare exception from the rule.

The events in Tunisia may or may not have much more threatening meaning - for the autocratic regimes in the region. On Iunisia I already heared left "thinkers" expressing expectation that now the great move toweards
Western democracy will come. These idiots I can only say: wait, watch, and then learn it better.

[gimpy117]

It goes to show how much the moderates of islam can accomplish. this is hope for this world.

[Jimbuna]

The world should see much more of this kind of thing, perhaps the emphasis should be upon the media to focus more on the things everyone has in common, rather than that which is divisive?

Agreed.

Great picture Oberon.

[Skybird]

The world should see much more of this kind of thing, perhaps the emphasis should be upon the media to focus more on the things everyone has in common, rather than that which is divisive?

With events like described here being an exception from the rule, but Isalmic terror and local Islamic assassins in 2010 alone having killed 9175 people, having injured 17436, and having carried out 1987 attacks against members of other religions in 46 different countries, I dare say that what you recommend borders whitewashing reality.

Let's call things by their real names instead of deceiving ourselves about them.

Rockstar makes a correct reference to the different levels of "jihad" (I so far only knew four of the five meanings he separately listed). The last three in his list are those that characterise Islam as the political movement and ideology that it is in the main - the religious dimension as indicated in the first two is just the attempt of giving as self-justification for the political violence Islam intends. I always said that Islam is more a political ideology than a religious one, didn't I. This also is the characterisation and background of all passages in t he Auran that all for violence against everybody who does not submit to Islam's dogma and rules, including corrupted moderates and apostates, the killing of both is perfectly legal in Islam, and is being called for by the Quran and Hadith.

Sura 2.256 says "There is no compulsion in religion". This is often misunderstood and misinterpreted as that it says nobody is forced to beolieve in Islam. Buit when seeing it in context, it means something totally different, only expressing that a Muslim shall volunatrily believe in Islam, so that indeed he feels no pressure to do so. If looking beind the immediate sentence and seeing the context of that Sura 2, and others, you realise that the meaning of it comparees more to what Mr. Ford said when assembling his Model-T, being quoted with: "You can order it in any colour you want, as long as it is black."

The Quran cannot be correctly understood if atomistically and opportunistically picking just the smallest possible piece of micro-details and single sentences. That's why it is often said that it is "monolithic", both the book and the ideology it expresses. You need to reflect the whole thing together, and understand any quote in the context of the whole thing. And you need to understand that from a Muslim point of view the Quran, different to the Bible, is not the work of man reflecting aboiut history and poast events and God'S will, but is understood to be the revealed word of God himself. And who is man to want to "correct" and "interprete" God's very own words?