[Egypt parliament expels lawmaker over meeting with Israeli]
By Elliott Abrams, ISRAEL HAYOM
There are a lot of fans of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi nowadays in Washington who argue that he is fighting terrorism and deserves American support.
Those fans ought to be aware of the ongoing persecution of Christians, which el-Sissi could act strongly to prevent — but does not. A very good example is the case of four Christian teenagers who have just been convicted under Egypt’s “blasphemy” laws — and sentenced to five years in prison, the maximum penalty.
Their crime? They made a 30-second video, never meant to become public, mocking ISIS. The video satirizes a group saying (Muslim) prayers and then going off to behead people — and was made soon after ISIS beheaded a group of Copts. The full details are available at a good summary article published by the Atlantic Council. Apparently the video was taken to be an insult to Islam, and rioting and destruction of Christian property and homes followed. No one was ever punished for those crimes, of course.
In fact, blasphemy laws are in Egypt as elsewhere used mostly against Christians. The daily insults of Christianity, mocking Christian beliefs and calling Christians “infidels” continue in Egypt. It is possible for el-Sissi to tell the prosecutor general to appeal these sentences, or to pardon these four teens himself. That is exactly what supporters of el-Sissi in Congress and the Obama administration should be asking him to do. And if he will not, they ought to be asking themselves what kind of Egypt he is creating, and why we want to support him in those efforts.
From “Pressure Points” by Elliott Abrams. Reprinted with permission from the Council on Foreign Relations.
bernard ross Said:
keelie Said:
until it is recognized that the enemy of civilization and tolerance is Islam and Muslims….. there will be no peace anywhere. Ultimately Islam should be banned as a dangerous mind cult used to manipulate people by those with nefarious agenda.
wherever they go is violence and intolerance….. the USA has a chance to nip the mess in the bud…. but all the leadership is promoting lies that will end in the opposite.
@ bernard ross:
Which leaves the world few alternatives. When dealing with wild beasts one has to seal them off from mankind. With luck they will tear each other apart without outside intervention. With less luck, the alternative is somewhat grimmer.
Since Christians are indifferent to the suffering of Christians, Jews should be circumspect about attributing anti-Semitism to the Christian indifference towards the suffering of Jews. It could just represent the moral torpor that accompanies an absence of virtue. Obama is actively anti-Semitic, but most of his followers are merely clueless green leafy vegetables.
Sisi is not “creating” egypt…. he is merely a herder of wild rabid beasts.
the peace treaties with Jordan and egypt are unstable and depend on an authoritarian thwarting the people and their reps in parliament. The people and their reps are anti semitic muslims which wont change for generations if at all under Islam.