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.


Afp September 12, 2012

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.

COMMENTS (16)

Natasha | 11 years ago | Reply

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.

The Atheist | 11 years ago | Reply

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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