The position of the high clergy of the Coptic Church of Egypt became known during the conference on rendering assistance to Palestinians, which was organized by the head of the Coptic Church Pope Shenuda III. The conference participants expressed the support for the Shaheeds by �acknowledging it as a method of fight for the liberation of their land�. A parallel was drawn between the Shaheeds and Disciples of Jesus, who stood up for their convictions and their faith just as the Shaheeds are defending their land today. Coptic clergy expressed a common support for the kamikaze actions against the Jewish military as well as against the Jewish civilian population. Then the question of appropriateness of Shaheeds' actions against the civilian population caused a discussion between Sheikh of Al-Azkhar Muhammed Said Tantawi and a number of other Muslim Ulems (Councils). On his own behalf, the representative of Catholic Archbishop in Egypt expressed an opinion that the US President George W.Bush not only fails to define the history, but he does not understand that the actions of the Palestinians, who sacrifice their lives, will be able to build up Palestinian State anew. He also added that the actions of the Shaheeds remind of the events described in the book titled �The City of Allah�, where any war is Jihad during which any means to defend your homeland and your faith are allowed. Coptic Church Abbot and Archpriest Marcus Aziz expressed an opinion that the US President is not a Christian at all, and neither is Sharon a Judaist. He stressed that �the definition of a Zionist (whether a male or a female) does not mean belonging to certain beliefs�. He also stated that the actions of the Shaheeds cannot be considered terrorism for the simple fact that �the term was imposed on us, and the Shaheeds are real heroes�. Another priest openly called the actions of Palestinian Shaheeds a �manifestation of love for God�. He stressed that the real reasons of the explosion of a Shaheed in public are sacrificing his own life for the sake of others and for the sake of the liberation of his homeland. When a Palestinian Shaheed blows himself up, he knows that he is doing that for the sake of a principle of justice. He also added that he does not consider the actions by the Shaheeds against civilian and military population of Israel terrorism or crime, because a Palestinian who blows himself up in an Israeli city understands that he cannot resist them with a weapon in his hand. Egyptian observers believe that the position of the local clergy may become one of the decisive factors in putting pressure on the American Administration to make them stop rendering unlimited aid to �Israel�, while the Administration depicts Muslims as nothing but terrorists in order to please that same �Israel�. Besides, the position of the Egyptian clergy, that the US Embassy in Cairo got acquainted with, will become for the US a sort of an indication of Egypt's solidarity with the Palestinians and other opponents of the Zionist state, whose number is constantly growing. From the text of the �Eastern Politics�. The material has been prepared by the group of Egyptian journalists �Arabia-2000�. �Kavkaz-Center� 2002-04-28 00:18:13 |
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