The Price of not Evangelizing: Forced Islam: Abductions & Forced conversions
Persecution, Kidnapping and Forced Conversions of Orthodox Christians in Egypt
Dec 9/04 - HEO - The latest outrage in Egypt has been, like all the others, almost universally ignored by the international media and human rights groups. Wafaa Constantine Messiha, wife of a Coptic priest in Egypt, was abducted by jihadist Muslims and forced to convert to Islam. The Mubarak regime has done nothing. This is no isolated incident: Wilfred Wong of the Jubilee Campaign, a Christian human rights group, notes that "the attempts to force Christians to convert to Islam in Egypt are on the increase and the methods are getting increasingly varied and well organized. Some of these forced conversions are carried out by Muslim individuals, with the help of their friends, while others are being conducted by well funded groups."
The situation has gotten so bad for Copts in Egypt that Pope Shenouda III, the leader of the Coptic Church, recently spoke out boldly about one common method of abduction and forced conversion:
"I have received so many letters about what's happening to the Christian girls who go to supermarket stores to shop. At the store they tell them that they have won and have to go upstairs to receive their award or prize. After that we don't know what's happening to these girls upstairs. There is a lot of talking going on about this matter, and I see that what's happening will create a religious clash in the country. I'm urging the police to take a serious action against what's
happening."
But the police did nothing, and the Copts are getting increasingly fed up. According to Emil Zaki of the U.S. Copts Association, "The situation in Egypt is exploding every minute for the last three days. Muslims are regularly attacking Copts, and they kidnapped the wife of a priest to force her to convert to Islam." Three thousand demonstrators gathered last Sunday and Monday in four Egyptian provinces to protest the Mubarak regime's inaction in the Wafaa Constantine Messiha case and its general indifference to the persecution of the Copts. Says Michael Meunier, president of the U.S. Copts Association: "Mubarak's regime has not only ignored, but in many cases contributed to the alarming increase in anti-Coptic violence."
Actions against Christians not only in Egypt, but all over the Middle East, are usually ascribed these days to anti-U.S. sentiment in the wake of the invasion of Iraq -- when they're reported at all. But such incidents are far older than the U.S. presence in Iraq; they have been going on for decades, even centuries. According to the Jubilee Campaign, in the late 1990s Coptic Christians uncovered evidence of houses in which "different teams of Muslims were working to pressure or force Christians to convert to Islam." They found "a very organized and systematic approach by these Muslims to waylaying and forcing Egyptian Christians to convert to Islam."
This is just one manifestation of the discrimination and harassment that Christians and other non-Muslims still face all over the Islamic world.
Note: AMERICAN Eastern Orthodox could put a LOT of pressure on Egypt both through its Embassy AND through their U.S. Legislators
EASTERN ORTHODOX COPTIC GIRL ABDUCTED AND FORCED TO CONVERT TO ISLAM
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
EASTERN ORTHODOX COPTIC GIRL ABDUCTED AND FORCED
TO CONVERT TO ISLAM
Police Cooperate With Girl's Abductor
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ANS
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) -- Eighteen year-old Ingy
Helmy Georgy Labibe was abducted January 4 while shopping in her hometown,
Mahala el Kobra, Egypt, according to reports received from the U.S. Copts
Association.
When they failed to locate her themselves, Ingy's family turned to local police
officers who refused to file a missing person report. Shortly thereafter, the
family was notified that Ingy was in the custody of Fahmy Taha Mahmoud and would
officially convert to Islam.
The Copts Association reports that at 18 years of age, Ingy is considered a
juvenile under Egyptian law, which prohibits the conversion of minors.
The report says: "She is also vulnerable to episodes of depression and has
been medically diagnosed with a psychological condition. Proof of her medical
condition is outlined in Dr. Hosam Al Sawees' physician report dated December
15, 2003." A copy of that report is available at www.copts.com.
Ingy's disappearance on January 4 prompted her family's frantic search for her,
the association says.
"Despite the family's desperate pleas, police officials refused to report
on Ingy's missing status. The following day, the family received a telephone
call notifying them that their daughter was presently in the custody of Fahmy
Mahmoud; her return would be contingent upon payment of a sum of money,"
says a US Copts report.
"Despite their readiness to pay, their daughter was not returned. Mahmoud
made several other offers to have Ingy returned in exchange for payment;
however, all his offers failed to materialize. After several other attempts to
retrieve their daughter, the family once again sought police assistance. Police
Chief Mahmoud Mohammed Hamid repeatedly refused to file a report on Ingy's
disappearance. Moreover, police officers refused the family's requests to have
their daughter physically examined to assess whether she had been sexually
violated."
A report with police was finally filed (#904, Year 2004). However, the police
also asserted Ingy's imminent conversion to Islam. The family was told that on
January 19, 2004 Ingy would be officially declared a convert to Islam. Her
frenzied parents struggled to postpone the official confirmation of her forced
conversion to Islam and the date was pushed back to March 1, 2004.
During this time, the family received reports that Ingy's abductor is a civilian
advisor to Police Chief Hamid and his unit. In light of Mahmoud's close ties
with local police, Ingy's parents face the overwhelming task of challenging the
wiles of both their daughter's abductor and the forces of the local security
forces.
"Vulnerable Coptic young women have repeatedly been the targets of Muslim
extremists, intent on converting them to Islam. These manipulated conversions to
Islam are further complicated by the polices unacceptable lack of cooperation,
and must be brought to an end. It is utterly appalling that vulnerable Coptic
girls are exposed to the aggression of thugs whose acts of rape and violence are
protected by Egypt's law enforcement officials," stated Michael Meunier,
president of the U.S. Copts Association.
"This conduct is a complete violation of the law, which prohibits the
conversion of minors, and reveals the complicity of the local police in masking
the offense as a conversion to Islam," Meunier said
"The U.S. Copts Association will bring Ingy's case before Egypts newly
established National Human Rights Council, whose duties include promoting a
human rights agenda within the nation. We await the Councils investigation of
and response to the forced conversion of Coptic girls," Meunier stated.
The U.S. Copts Association, founded in 1996, is based in Washington D.C., and
advocates for democracy, religious freedom, and human rights in Egypt. The
Association represents over 700,000 Egyptian Christians in the United States.
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