I wonder how many Americans have any concept of the unrelenting persecution that Christians (not to mention Jews), face in Egypt. Fortunately, Moheb Zaki has written an article in the Wall Street Journal that I hope will generate wide readership. It is subtitled,"Violence against Copts is on the rise and all but ignored by the state." It begins --
A few weeks ago in the coastal city of Marsa Matrouh, an enraged mob of some 3,000 angry Muslims gathered after Friday prayers. After the mosque's imam exhorted them to cleanse the city of its infidel Christians, called Copts, they went on a rampage.
The toll was heavy: 18 homes, 23 shops and 16 cars were completely destroyed, while 400 Copts barricaded themselves in their church for 10 hours until the frenzy died out.
This was only the latest of more than a dozen such attacks during the past year. . .
Things have gotten steadily worse, it seems.
Although the Copts have long been the target of sporadic attacks, the violence of the last few years is more like a purge, as waves of mob assaults have forced hundreds, sometimes thousands of Christian citizens to flee their homes. In each incident the police, despite frantic appeals, invariably arrive after the violence is over. Later the injured are coerced by the special security police forces into accepting "reconciliation" with their attackers, in order to avoid the prosecution of the guilty. No Muslim to date has been convicted for any of these crimes.
The state's lack of regard for the Copts has encouraged anti-Christian feelings among many Muslims in all walks of life. (more . . .)