Egyptian Ad Angers Canadian Copts: Newspaper Ads Deny Christian Persecution By Kevin Heinrichs, ChristianWeek 1 December 1998 Full-page advertisements which appeared in Canadian newspapers including The Globe and Mail and newspapers around the world are leaving some Canadian Christians confused, others angered. The ads, sponsored by an organization claiming to represent the Christians of Egypt, deny that Coptic Christians in Egypt are persecuted for their faith. But The Sunday Telegraph, a British newspaper, reports that the full-page ads placed in early November were actually sponsored by the Egyptian government. The ad claims that Muslims and Christians live in harmony in Egypt, denying "false claims of persecution." In one segment the ad reads "The Christians of Egypt denounce the continuous attempts of hostile dark forces against Egypt that play on the religious sentiments of foreign communities outside Egypt." Reaction The publicity offensive, which also included a lobbying campaign on the internet, is widely viewed to be in response to news reports in late October that Egyptian Christians were subjected to horrific crucifixion rituals, raped and tortured by Egyptian security forces during a crackdown on the Coptic community. The government refuses to recognize Coptic Christians as an official minority. Various sources reported that 1,000-1,200 Coptic Christians were detained in the village of Al-Kosheh, near Luxor in Upper Egypt. Christina Lamb of the Sunday Telegraph reported that "many were nailed to crosses or manacled to doors with their legs tied together, then beaten and tortured with electric shock to their genitals, while police denounced them as ‘infidels.’" She further wrote that young girls were raped and mothers were forced to watch their babies being beaten. A bishop and two priests who reported the incidents were detained by police and charged on five counts including "using religion for the purpose of inciting strife and damaging national unity," charges punishable by death or life imprisonment. The reports sparked outrage among Christian and human rights groups. Hundreds of members of the Canadian Coptic community from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa demonstrated on Parliament Hill October 24, calling on Prime Minister Chretien to appeal to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to stop the persecution. There are an estimated 250,000 Coptic Christians in Canada. "Make no mistake—[persecution] is happening to Christians and all non-Muslims because of the teachings of Islam," says controversial Ontario evangelist to Muslims Mark Harding. He was convicted earlier this year of inciting hatred against Muslims through aggressive evangelism techniques. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January and intends to appeal immediately. |
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