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Egypt Copts to protest against 'Islam insult' film
The film at the centre of the controversy was made by an Israeli-American, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The film at the centre of the controversy was made by an Israeli-American, according to the Wall Street Journal. PHOTO: REUTERS
CAIRO: Coptic activists in Egypt are to stage a vigil on Wednesday in protest against a film deemed offensive to Islam that sparked violence outside US missions in Egypt and Libya, they said in a statement.
The Maspero Youth Union (MYU) and the Coalition of Coptic Egypt condemned “all sorts of contempt or disdain against any religion, as well as to the sowing of sedition between people who embrace different religions,” the statement said.
The MYU said it would be “holding a vigil tonight (Wednesday) in front of the US embassy in Cairo to protest against the film that insults Islam and the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).”
The film at the centre of the controversy, which sparked the attack in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi that left one US State Department employee dead, was made by an Israeli-American, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In Egypt, however, the perception in the media inflamed by some Muslim preachers on satellite channels is that the film was made by Egyptian Copts living in the United States.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the MYU said that “the Copts who took part in the production of the film in question are not representative of mainstream Coptic patriotism… these Copts neither represent Christianity or the Church, nor the Copts of the diaspora.”
Father Hani Bakhoum, secretary of the Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church Anba Antonius Nagib, told the weekly al Watani newspaper that members of the Patriarchs and Bishops Council of the Catholic Church “totally denounce all forms of disdain to religious symbols, a practice that contradicts the teachings of the Holy Bible which advocates love and respect for all.”
The film is likely to put pressure on Egypt’s Christian community, which makes up about 10 percent of the country’s 82-million population.
Copts, who have regularly complained of discrimination and have been the targets of numerous sectarian attacks, have been nervous since a popular uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak and brought Islamic leaders to power.
The film at the centre of Tuesday’s anti-US protests prompted an armed mob to attack the US mission in Benghazi, killing an official and wounding another.
The incident came after thousands of demonstrators tore down the flag at the American embassy in Cairo and replaced it with a black Islamic flag, similar to one adopted by several militant groups.
Reader Comments (16)
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Now those advocating release and innocence of Rimsha Msih will understand that these christians and jews as well as other non-muslims will never let us live in peace.They are bent on committing blasphemy as a matter of art since they don’t fear God.Recommend
@Haroon Usman:
Prosecuting 11- years old Rimsha Masih will not make the world fearful of God; They become fearful and disdained by Paksitani Muslims only.
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@Harron Usman Wow I am dumbfounded by your comment. There will be a day where you and your ilk will pay for the crimes and hypocrisy here on this Planet itself. Mark my words, your ignorance is only making that day come nearer to you.
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@Haroon Usman:
I never understand why God is to be feared. ?
I love God who is so merciful.
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Now those advocating release and innocence of Rimsha Msih will understand that these christians and jews as well as other non-muslims will never let us live in peace.They are bent on committing blasphemy as a matter of art since they don’t fear God.
No, YOU MUSLIMS will never let yourselves live in peace. It’s an absurd film. If it offends you, don’t watch it. It has no affect on you unless you let it. Ignore it. People like you are the ones destroying your own peace. Really, how does a non-muslim committing blasphemy (and besides that, in a country thousands of miles away) affect you. Why do you have to act against blasphemy, can’t your Allah punish those blasphemers himself? A normal, sane, intelligent person, would just ignore it and go about living their peaceful lives. I honestly don’t understand why so many Muslims react with violence over some stupid crap that they could just ignore, not let it affect them, and get on with their lives. It’s utter insanity. Why do you wonder why so many people think Muslims are crazy, violent savages? It’s because of things like this, where someone does something to “hurt Muslim feelings”, and they react by rioting, destroying property, and killing people. It’s a terrible disservice to the peaceful and tolerant Muslims out there, who end up being associated with Muslims like that.
Have you ever even thought that one of the basic tenants of Islam – that Jesus was not divine, and not the son of God, and didn’t die on the cross – is basically blasphemy to a Christian? So, using the reasoning that the Muslims who riot and kill over blasphemy/insults to Islam/Muhammad use, it should be perfectly fine for a Christian to go riot and kill you if you said aloud that Jesus was only a prophet, and not divine/son of god, and did not die on the cross. What do you say? No? If so, you’re being a hypocrite. Recommend
@Nayla:
First go and ask someone to teach you the meaning of divine.We do believe in the holiness of Christ as far as Him being the prophet of Allah.That’s being divine enough.Now for trinity,that’s a man made philiposphy which even some sects among christians acknowledge.The bible which existed a 1000 years back is lot different from what exists today in shape of what you call your bible.Check your facts before you choose to comment.Recommend
Firstly the word ‘Muslim’ means ‘Totally Obedient’. It has nothing to do with Islam. In the Holy Quran Allah has called the Apostles/Disciples of Jesus Christ ‘Muslim’. Damned are these Islamists who call themselves Muslims and don’t even know the meaning of the word.
Secondly God says in the Holy Quran that you should turn away from those who talk against Allah and his Prophets as they are ignorant people.
These Islamists who do not even know their own religion should be ashamed of themselves. Certainly, the film should be banned across the World, and those who made it should apologize for their behavior. Remember who call yourselves Muslims, Allah hates those who create Violence in the Earth ! Recommend
I think our enemies rightfully think we are a foolish and uneducated lot and if they can produce any material that is offensive to Muslims we will become famous millionaires. Look at Rushdi the murtad he was nobody and no one would have read his book unless we publicized him in our foolishness and now he is famous millionaire. Instead of living as a destitute he is the living the life of luxury.
Same can be said of nobody known as Terry Jones nobody cared to know this fool until he started publicizing burning of Koran? Now he is in Newspapers every day.
Now we witnessing a conniving unsuccessful and broke developer Sam Bacile who will become rich and famous for his $50 dollar cheap crap. No-one would have heard of him and would have watched his crude stupidity except when he made the trailer in Arabic. I guess we all fall for every trap setup by our enemies. It isn’t about that we started ignoring these people and didn’t pay attention to what they are doing like Christian and Jews when someone attacks their religions. Our best revenge would have been to ignore this fool and we should let him die poor and broke but now we have made him a celebrity.
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I am also appalled the actions in Libya where they killed an Ambassador and three other innocents who don’t even know who this Sam Bacile? In the west people of think Muslims nothing more then an uneducated mob who just needs to be provoked to start killing innocents? Is this what Islam teaches us that we go and kill innocents? Now who is going to feed those families who fathers are gone they are humans too. For Heavens what Rimsha has anything to do with this? She is poor girl from a slum in Pindi an Loves Pakistan to death.
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@Ahmed:
” In the west people of think Muslims nothing more then an uneducated mob who just needs to be provoked to start killing innocents?”
In the East, too and the North and the South!
The world has located the King nerve of Muslims and is pinching it at will, sitting back and enjoying the spectacle.
You don’t get respect from people – especially thinking people- if they think you don’t deserve it. But, you are intent on getting it by pointing a dagger at their jugular – the same way you always did and “spread” Islam.
Well, times have changed! These days a man sitting thousands of miles away presses a button, a missile shoots off of a drone, a dozen or more spines are shattered instantly. Have you a dagger which is a 1000 miles long?
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In West, if somebody raise figure towards so called deaths of Jews by Great Germans, that is crime.
But when the matter of Islam is come, all West is united against Islam. This is real ignorance. Where the laws go in matter of ISlam and Allah’s last Messenger?
Haroon Usman, the scale of opposition you got on your comments, is proof that you are “RIGHT”
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I’m not surprised by the actions of illiterate Muslims, was it not already said by the Holy Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad SAW that some of his followers will do exactly what Jews did in the past. But unfortunately they did not learn from it and still following the Jews.
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Egyptian Copts have no obligation to protest against Islam, because the practitioners of Islam in Egypt (or elsewhere) did not defend the rights of copts or others when they needed most.
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No one in the US is “united” for or against ANYTHING. While the country has many faults and problems, that is the one thing of beauty about it. Most folks in most places are allowed to be who they are and believe what they want to believe and say what they want to say. Of course there are places where this isn’t true, but activists are working to make it true everywhere.
The tradeoff, of course, is if you want to be able to say what you want to say, you have to allow other people to say what they want to say, even if you don’t like it. We do have rules that protect against hatespeech, but that can’t prevent ignorant and hateful people from speaking. The US is certainly not united behind the hateful products of people bent on inciting conflict, most people see actions like that and are upset that ONE PERSON has the capacity to characterize our entire country and culture as hateful and anti-muslim and that person isn’t chosen (by election, for example, or by a rise to celebrity) to represent ANYTHING ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. That’s like saying that we are going to hate all Norwegians and the STATE OF NORWAY because we don’t like Anders Breivik.
Summarizing our entire country based on the actions of a few obnoxious individuals that most Americans (especially the educated ones) are ashamed of is no less ignorant than those Americans who perpetrate the hatred.
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sighs
Religion is an antedated tool mankind has used for thousands of years to explain what it can’t understand. Religion has caused many wars over different ideologies on imaginary gods/deities/supernatural beings and omnipotent beings. Ignorance occurs when people that practise religion become intolerable to other religions and begin to preach their ideologies to convince said religions that their religion is the true religion. Assuming there is a god (which I don’t because I am atheist), I feel he would be laughing his head off right now from seeing so many civilisations fight each other over who practises the correct religion.
I believe that every religion is correct and every religion has the right to exist so long as its followers do not preach, try to convert others and wage war. No religion should be insulted by another but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have harmless “banter” so to speak. If those following a particular religion are true believers then they will only focus on themselves and their god and nothing else no matter what other religions may do to try and “insult” their religion.
All religions speak of the same god but through different languages and different customs. Mankind has become too obsessed with trying to prove which religion and which custom is the correct one. If it were up to me (which it’s not fortunately for all religious followers) I would ban religion and replace it with science, philosophy, morality and spirituality. At the end of the day, whatever religion you believe in, you should keep it to yourself and leave the rest of the non followers of that religion alone. It’s silly, here we are, one species fighting over religious ideologies which are so dogmatic that we’re missing the big picture; we’re all one family and one nation, we belong to the same planet and have so much cultural richness and those that believe in a god all believe in the same god.
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Over the past few days I have all I have seen on the internet is hatred towards Muslims or hatred towards Christians. I know I am lucky that I live in a country that has tolerance for every citizens beliefs, and I have never taken it for granted. I have come to tears many times this weekend over the deaths, pain and insults that followers of both religions have endured.
I have also spent many moments remembering an incident last year that always gives me hope for all of our futures. When Muslims of Egypt clasped their hands together and created a shield of love and support for their Christian neighbors—that—-that selfless act, speaks for all of us. Christian, Muslim, Jew or what-have-you. What I have noticed about all religions is that the base belief in all of them is love. Love one another and respect one another even if you disagree on certain things.
I am sorry for the hurt this horrible film has caused any of you who practice the Islamic faith. Please know that there are many of us Christians who are the first to come to your defense when we hear a derogatory remark on your faith and your people. I am also sorry to other Christians that have felt anger directed towards them. I apologize for having gone on so long, but if I could just leave all of you with one thought. It might not mean much to you and may not make sense as I have never met any of you but here it goes…
I love you.
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