Islam itu sinonim dengan kerusuhan dan kekacauan.

Teror.

--


http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/15/world/meast/egypt-church-attacks/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Kafr Hakim, Egypt (CNN) -- For 67 years, the Virgin Mary Church has been a 
peaceful refuge for Shenouda El Sayeh, much like the Giza province village of 
Hafr Hakim where it rests and where he has lived all those years.

But, as he swept its floors on Thursday, it was painfully obvious things had 
changed.

The night before, a mob -- chanting against Coptic Christians such as El Sayeh 
and calling for Egypt to become an "Islamic state" -- had torched and looted 
the Virgin Mary Church.

"I didn't expect this to happen," El Sayeh said.
Photos: Egypt protests Photos: Egypt protests
Christians targeted in Egypt
Obama on Egypt: Violence needs to stop
Emam mosque becomes temporary morgue

He's not alone. Christians all around Egypt are cleaning up in the aftermath of 
a spate of attacks, which not coincidentally came on the county's deadliest day 
since the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

Bishop Angaelos, the Cairo-born head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the 
United Kingdom, said he was told by colleagues in Egypt that 52 churches were 
attacked in a 24-hour span that started Wednesday, as well as numerous 
Christians' homes and businesses.

Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, 
told CNN he had confirmed attacks on at least 30 churches so far, in addition 
to the targeting of church-related facilities, including schools and cultural 
centers.

Those churches reportedly set ablaze Wednesday included St. George Church in 
Sohag, a city south of Cairo on the Nile River.

And the new day brought new attacks. Prince Tadros Church in Fayoum, which is 
southwest of Cairo, was stormed and burned Thursday night, according to the 
official Middle East News Agency.

This and other attacks have been blamed by some on supporters of the Muslim 
Brotherhood, the Islamist group once led by more recently deposed President 
Mohamed Morsy. They, too, have reportedly been caught up in the violence: 
Egypt's health ministry says that at least 580 people were killed and more than 
4,000 injured amidst clashes involving security forces and Morsy supporters.

What group, if any, is behind the church attacks, and how coordinated this 
violence has been might not been be sorted out definitely for some time.

Until then, Christians in Egypt are left to try to put things back together, as 
well as to try to make sense of what's transpired.

As Dalia Ziada of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies told CNN: 
"This is horrible to happen in only one day."

'A very dangerous game to play'

Egypt will have much to deal with if, and when, things do settle down. Should 
that happen, Angaelos says that a proper investigation of the church attacks 
should be part of that -- especially since, he feels, the sheer scale of 
incidents suggests they were orchestrated, rather than a byproduct of chaotic 
unrest.

"We would want the people who have done it to be brought to justice because I 
think they are trying to do something which is much more dangerous," he said.

"It's not just about burning churches, it's about burning churches to initiate 
a response that then spirals into even greater violence -- and that is a very, 
very dangerous game to play."

The targeting of churches and Christian properties was not unexpected, Angaelos 
said, given the tensions in Cairo and elsewhere and in light of escalating 
attacks on Coptic Christians in recent weeks.

The growing threat led him last week to issue a statement warning of "a very 
real risk upon the life of every Christian." Pope Tawadros II, the church's 
leader in Egypt, also suspended weekly public events for fear of attacks on 
Christian congregations.

But the warnings didn't prevent the violence, nor did security efforts to 
protect churches and Christian communities, according to Ibrahim.

Said Angaelos, "The ferocity and the speed with which it all happened... was 
quite surprising."

Burning of books

A Bible Society of Egypt statement posted online Wednesday reported the 
"complete burning and destruction" of its bookshops in the cities of Assiut and 
Minia, in southern Egypt.

"Fortunately we were closed today, fearing such an attack, so none of our staff 
were injured," said the statement by Ramez Atallah, the society's general 
director. "The attackers demolished the metal doors protecting the bookshops, 
broke the store windows behind them and set the bookshops on fire."

Other stores and parked cars on those streets were also destroyed, he wrote.

"It is important to underline that -- while some Christian properties have been 
the victim of this violence -- they are by no means the only ones targeted," 
Atallah said.

"This is an attack against the state by a violent minority in an attempt to 
destabilize the nation."

CNN iReporter Amir Beshay, from Cairo, helped draw up a list of Christian 
churches and properties reportedly targeted.

On it are sites in Alexandria, Arish, Assiut, Beni Suef, Cairo, Fayoum, 
Gharbiya, Giza, Minya, Qena, Sohag and Suez. They include churches and schools, 
as well as homes and businesses belonging to Coptic Christians. CNN has not 
been able independently to verify the reports.

Asked about the attacks on churches Wednesday, U.S. State Department 
Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States was deeply concerned. "We will 
continue speaking out against this and continue talking to all parties and all 
sides about renouncing this violence, about moving forward with a democratic 
process."

Daniel Sinclair, director of communications at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 
said the group was "deeply concerned at the unwarranted and continuing 
targeting of the Coptic community. We urge the government to ensure 
comprehensive security to all Egyptians, regardless of their religion."

Long history in Egypt

Egypt's Christian minority has been the target of a number of attacks in recent 
years. The bombing of a major church in Alexandria in January 2011 killed 21 
people and sparked worldwide condemnation.

The situation has only gotten worse since Egypt's popular revolution overthrew 
former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, said Angaelos.

"In the past two-and-a-half years, we've had more deaths of people just because 
they are Christians than in the last 20 years," he said, adding that this had 
not triggered violent retaliation.

He hopes for forgiveness and reconciliation among all Egyptians going forward, 
to help build a unified country.

Christians have been in Egypt since the 1st century and were, for centuries, 
the majority. Some 90% of Coptic Christians still live in the country, he said, 
making up the largest Christian community in the Middle East.

Angaelos puts the proportion of Christians in Egypt at 15 to 20% of the 
population.

The CIA World Factbook says 10% of Egypt's population is Christian, while the 
Pew Research Center, which says firm numbers are hard to come by, puts the 
figure at about 5%.

The Coptic church also has adherents in Europe, Canada, the United States, 
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.

Father Boktor Saad, of Kafr Hakim's Virgin Mary Church, said he believes that a 
small group of extremists were responsible for inciting groups to attack his 
church.

But not everyone participated, and some non-Christians prevented the situation 
in that village from getting worse, church staff said. They credited moderate 
Muslims with putting out the fire at Virgin Mary, and further halting attacks 
on Coptic Christians' homes and shops.





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