| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 09:19 - Apr 10 with 1082 views | GlasgowBlue |
Awful stuff.
Chrustina you is being slowly wiped out in the Middle East. Less than one hundred years ago Christian's made up 20% of the population in the Middle East. Now it's down to 4%. |  |
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| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 10:48 - Apr 10 with 1046 views | Guthrum |
Attacks on Egyptian Coptic churches are quite a regular occurrance.
And states of emergency are pretty de rigeur for the Egyptian (military-dominated) government.
They are battling a pretty serious insurgency based in the Sinai. While it might be badged as IS, in reality it has more to do with very long running issues between Cairo and frequently rebellious bedouin tribes in the peninsula's interior.
There may well also be elements of stirring from outside, foreign backers of the previous Muslim Brotherhood government seeking to embarrass and tie up the present Egyptian regime. [Post edited 10 Apr 2017 10:53]
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| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 11:17 - Apr 10 with 1020 views | WeWereZombies |
| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 10:48 - Apr 10 by Guthrum |
Attacks on Egyptian Coptic churches are quite a regular occurrance.
And states of emergency are pretty de rigeur for the Egyptian (military-dominated) government.
They are battling a pretty serious insurgency based in the Sinai. While it might be badged as IS, in reality it has more to do with very long running issues between Cairo and frequently rebellious bedouin tribes in the peninsula's interior.
There may well also be elements of stirring from outside, foreign backers of the previous Muslim Brotherhood government seeking to embarrass and tie up the present Egyptian regime. [Post edited 10 Apr 2017 10:53]
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I think these latest two attacks are an order of magnitude greater than what has gone on in the last decade (although the major news events will mask an increase or decrease in beating-ups and general unease about going on ones daily business). I really flagged this up as travel advice to anyone going to Egypt in the next few months, either to Sharm and Hurgadah (you may well not be affected by it) or as an independent traveller - I spent six night under curfew in Tunisia in 2011, the last two from five in the afternoon until seven the next morning, it's grim (although not as grim as the situation is for locals). Three months is excessive even for Egypt and the mission creep to police state (some will say they are already there) can be fairly certain in my opinion.
Not sure how much the Bedouin have to do with this (but I was last in Egypt and Sinai in 2004 so I am well out of date), they have always been a law unto themselves so any authoritarian state will see what they do in their daily lives as a problem. |  |
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| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 11:37 - Apr 10 with 1001 views | Guthrum |
| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 11:17 - Apr 10 by WeWereZombies |
I think these latest two attacks are an order of magnitude greater than what has gone on in the last decade (although the major news events will mask an increase or decrease in beating-ups and general unease about going on ones daily business). I really flagged this up as travel advice to anyone going to Egypt in the next few months, either to Sharm and Hurgadah (you may well not be affected by it) or as an independent traveller - I spent six night under curfew in Tunisia in 2011, the last two from five in the afternoon until seven the next morning, it's grim (although not as grim as the situation is for locals). Three months is excessive even for Egypt and the mission creep to police state (some will say they are already there) can be fairly certain in my opinion.
Not sure how much the Bedouin have to do with this (but I was last in Egypt and Sinai in 2004 so I am well out of date), they have always been a law unto themselves so any authoritarian state will see what they do in their daily lives as a problem. |
That is the problem with the bedouin. Classic nomad friction with settled communities and their governments. Becoming an IS franchise not only lines up with their religious viewpoint, but also attracts funding and support from outside.
As to previous Egyptian church attacks: 29 killed in December 2016, several dead following the siege of St Marks Cathedral in April 2013, 21 killed in January 2011, several other smaller incidents, many resulting in deaths. | |
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| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 13:52 - Apr 10 with 952 views | WeWereZombies |
| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 11:37 - Apr 10 by Guthrum |
That is the problem with the bedouin. Classic nomad friction with settled communities and their governments. Becoming an IS franchise not only lines up with their religious viewpoint, but also attracts funding and support from outside.
As to previous Egyptian church attacks: 29 killed in December 2016, several dead following the siege of St Marks Cathedral in April 2013, 21 killed in January 2011, several other smaller incidents, many resulting in deaths. |
Sorry, until we have a more exact figure than dozens I'm not going to agree or disagree with your last paragraph. I would have to be amongst them to know whether the Bedouin could be called an IS franchise, maybe I am still a bit under the spell of 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom' (even more out of date than 2004, I know). I would hope that they could be a difficult but valuable ally rather than an enemy but most of all they want their own patch and to be left to live the way they always have. And, granted, if IS pay the best price and look like they will be a long standing customer than I suspect that the Bedouin will trade.
And after I typed the above paragraph I thought I had better have a look at wikipedia to see what the latest on them was. No mention of IS franchise but, disappointingly, curried favour with Assad from the start. And shipped guns into Gaza for attacks on Israel (although this could be understood in the light of Israeli claims on land used by the Bedouin - not sure on the chronology of events here). And I realised I have spent time with the Bedouin in Jordan when i did my footsteps of T.E. Lawrence bucket list thing - I got on reasonably well with them but they do like taking the piss out of foreigners.
I did spend a small amount of time with Tuaregs when I was in Mali in 2008 and I think they have suffered as much as anyone from IS occupation (although they did not help themselves with an uprising shortly before IS moved in and probably facilitated IS gathering a stronghold in Northern Mali). And, yes, I realise that Gaddafi courted the Tuaregs , really had to bite my lip as one proudly waved his arm towards an isolated lump of concrete (the new docks, connected to...nothing, just some concrete in the desert) and said 'Gaddafi built that for us'. In contrast, during my time in Tunisia our Berber driver went on a detailed rant about what a prat Gaddafi was for piping water across the desert from sulphurous springs without treating it at either end. [Post edited 10 Apr 2017 13:59]
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| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 15:36 - Apr 10 with 915 views | Bluesquid |
| IS attack Coptic Christians, dozens dead on 09:19 - Apr 10 by GlasgowBlue |
Awful stuff.
Chrustina you is being slowly wiped out in the Middle East. Less than one hundred years ago Christian's made up 20% of the population in the Middle East. Now it's down to 4%. |
Indeed it is.
Christians in Syria...
“I think,” Bishop Audo added, “that those who control the information in the West have a political agenda. We must, as Christians, as honest people, ask who is behind this manipulation, this exploitation of the media."
On October 4 Bishop Tobij spoke before the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Italian Senate: “In Syria there is neither a revolution, nor a civil war,” he said, “but a third world war by proxy. And the international media continue to be biased and trample on the truth.”
"This war has made us Christians the target of a fanatical Islam which has been literally imported from abroad...
"Just stop selling arms to the terrorists, don’t let the terrorists come into Syria, it would cost you less."
Another voice from Christian Syria comes from Bishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo’s Maronite community, who in a September 29 interview with Italian daily Il Giornale, pointed to the senseless international sanctions, which “kill more people than the missiles and the bombs.” “The Christians of Aleppo are surviving in a condition of extreme suffering because of the silly and immoral sanctions imposed on Syria by Europe.”
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/5143/christians_in_syria_help_us_pull_ou |  | | |
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