“An Attack against the Egyptian Society”: The Case for Egypt, Part II

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Dear Friends and Partners, As the situation in Egypt continues to unfold, we would like to provide a follow-up to our earlier alert about the removal of President Morsi from office (in case you missed it, that alert is available on our website if you click here).

The evening news continues to bring you stories of how hundreds of people have been killed over the past few days by Egyptian security forces firing live rounds against “peaceful demonstrators”. We cannot stress enough that we are against killing – we do not rejoice in the killing of any human being and certainly not innocent civilians. Moreover, we are not against Muslims – we are opposed to extremists. With this in mind, the news reports require some context and background.

As we have said before, despite the common refrain that President Morsi was the first democratically elected president of Egypt, Morsi does not represent democracy. The electoral process was formally democratic but, not merely flawed, it lacked the fundamental substance of truly democratic elections. Yet even if Morsi was democratically elected, his actions once in office disqualify him from continuing in that office and demand immediate and forceful action on the part of the Egyptian military, which is the only institution capable of taking the necessary steps. Finally, seven weeks ago an estimated 30 million Egyptians flooded the streets or signed petitions in peaceful protests demanding the military fulfill its responsibility and remove Morsi.

On the other hand, the demonstrations by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Morsi supporters have been far from peaceful. For several weeks the military leaders and international negotiators have tried to negotiate the peaceful removal of the protest camps. As we write this alert, the media are finally giving some attention to the casualties suffered by police after an incident in which 25 police were killed execution-style. But even before this incident, over 70 security personnel had been killed, from the very first minutes of the authorities’ action to remove the “peaceful” camps only a few days ago to just before the attack on police in the Sinai.

The Muslim Brotherhood and other extremists have also taken the Christian community’s support for the army’s removal of Morsi as an excuse to justify unprecedented attacks on Christian targets. Over 40 churches and Christian institutions and countless homes and businesses have been burnt and destroyed in these past days. Three nuns were paraded in the streets like prisoners of war by a Muslim mob that burned their Christian school and attacks such as these are happening daily across Egypt.

The media have covered most of these points in some degree, but the tone and focus of most of the coverage seems to be intended to condemn the actions of the military and promote support for Morsi. We at OFWI are saddened by the deaths and do not condone violence on either side. However, we are deeply concerned about the situation as a whole and about any possible resolution and would like to ask some burning questions:

• Why does the international media ignore or downplay the estimated 30 million Egyptians who filled the streets of Egypt a few weeks ago, demonstrating peacefully and demanding that Morsi step down? In a country of a little over 80 million people, this is nothing short of true democracy in action but we hear very little about it.

• The media focus on the large number of women and children among the hundreds of dead – but why don’t they ask why the Muslim Brotherhood would bring women and children to a demonstration which they know and fully intend will turn violent?

• President Obama has cancelled joint military exercises with the Egyptian army to protest its actions. Will he stand for the will of the people, even if it requires the army to enforce it? Or will he and our other western leaders stand with an Islamist despot determined to make Egypt into an Islamic theocracy where non-Muslims have no place, simply because the man won an election? Not all Muslims involved in these demonstrations, or even everyone involved in the Muslim Brotherhood, are terrorists. However, the Muslim Brotherhood as an organization is a terrorist organization and its leadership is driving a terrorist agenda. There is no question that the Middle East will collapse if the Muslim Brotherhood wins in Egypt. As pro-Morsi demonstrations spread to Turkey and other Muslim countries and the West debates supporting the “democratically-elected” Morsi, the future of the Christians and peace in all of the Middle East hangs on the outcome of this battle.

On Sunday Rev. El Shafie spoke at a rally organized by the Egyptian-Canadian community in Toronto. We would like to thank Ghada Melek, one of the organizers, who stressed that the Muslim Brotherhood’s battle “is not an attack on Christianity, but rather an attack on the Egyptian society as a whole”. Rev. El Shafie has also been interviewed by Canada’s SunTV several times about the situation in Egypt. You can watch some of his interviews and hear more about these issues by clicking these links for The Arena with Michael Coren and The Source with Ezra Levant.

Finally, the Christians in Egypt desperately need medical supplies and we are trying to help meet this need –please help us send medical supplies to Egyptian Christians by sending your donation today. Please see below for donation information.

 

Please pray:

• for peace and security for all Egyptian people, and especially for the Christians and other minorities, at this time of unrest and violence; and,

• that democracy, human rights, and religious freedom would win the day over all forms of tyranny and intolerance in Egypt, and that the military and interim leaders would be guided by the best interests of all the Egyptian people and succeed in defeating religious extremism.

ACTION:

The Bible teaches that faith without action is dead, so please take action urgently and write (contact details are included below):

• to your Prime Minister and Foreign Minister or your President and Secretary of State, demanding that they support the principles of true democracy and not just the appearance of democracy; urge them to stand behind the Egyptian people as they did two years ago and to support the actions the Egyptian army has taken to try to restore democracy and support the will of the people; demand that they use every means possible to support the Christians and other minorities who are under attack; and,

• to the ambassador of Egypt in your country, expressing your support for the people of Egypt and for the army’s efforts to support the will of the people; ask them to ensure protection for Christians and other minorities in light of the threats from the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic extremists; and,

• help us provide medical supplies and other humanitarian aid for Egyptian Christians by sending your donation today.

Please remember to send us a copy of your correspondence at:

info@onefreeworldinternational.org

Remember that the persecuted Christians are dying every day, but they are still smiling.  They are in a very deep dark night, but they have the candle of the Lord. The enemy can have a very strong weapon and a very strong army, but we have the Lord Almighty.

"They can kill the dreamer, but they cannot kill the dream" in the Lord’s name.

Be with God and may God be with you.

One Free World International El Shafie Ministries

CONTACT:

In Canada: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON   K1A 0A2 Fax: (613) 941-6900 Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

The Honourable John Baird Minister for Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Canada 125 Sussex Drive Ottawa, ON   K1A 0G2 Tel.: (613) 996-0984; Fax: (613) 996-9880 Email: john.baird@parl.gc.ca

His Excellency Wael Aboul-Magd Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt 454 Laurier Avenue East Ottawa, ON   K1N 6R3 Tel.: (613) 234-4931; Fax: (613) 234-4398 Email: egyptemb@sympatico.ca

In the United States: President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Tel.: 202-456-1111; Fax: (202) 456-2461 Webform: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Secretary John Kerry U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC  20520 Tel.: (202) 647-4000 (Main switchboard) http://contact-us.state.gov/app/ask

His Excellency Mohamed M. Tawfik Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt 3521 International Ct. NW Washington DC  20008 Tel.: (202) 895-5400; Fax: (202) 244-5131 Email: embassy@egyptembassy.net