Egyptian Cleric Threatens Egypt's Copts with Genocide
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3518/egypt-cleric-threatens-copts-genocide
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"The day Egyptians…feel you are against them, you will be wiped off the face of the Earth." — Dr. Wagdi GoneimIslamic leaders continue to portray the popular protests against President Morsi and his recently passed Sharia-heavy constitution as products of Egypt's Christians. Recently, Muslim Brotherhood leader Safwat Hegazy said in an open rally, as captured on video:
A message to the church of Egypt, from an Egyptian Muslim: I tell the church — by Allah, and again, by Allah — if you conspire and unite with the remnants [opposition] to bring Morsi down, that will be another matter…. our red line is the legitimacy of Dr. Muhammad Morsi. Whoever splashes water on it, we will splash blood on him."More recently, Dr. Wagdi Ghoneim — who earlier praised Allah for the death of the late Coptic Pope Shenouda, cursing him to hell and damnation on video — made another video, entitled, "A Notice and Warning to the Crusaders in Egypt," a reference to the nation's Copts, which he began by saying, "You are playing with fire in Egypt, I swear, the first people to be burned by the fire are you [Copts]." The video was made in the context of the Tahrir protests against Morsi: Islamic leaders, such as Hegazy and Ghoneim, seek to portray the Copts as dominant elements in those protests; according to them, no real Muslim would participate. Ghoneim even went on to say that most of the people at the protests were Copts, "and we know you hid your [wrist] crosses by lowering your sleeves."
The heart of Ghoneim's message was genocidal: "The day Egyptians — and I don't even mean the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafis, regular Egyptians — feel that you are against them, you will be wiped off the face of the earth. I'm warning you now: do not play with fire!"
Along with trying to incite Egypt's Muslims against the Copts, and threatening them with annihilation, Ghoneim made other telling assertions, including:
- Addressing the Christians of Egypt as "Crusaders," once again
showing Islam's simplistic, black-and-white vision, which clumps all
Christians — of all nations, past and present, regardless of historical
context and denomination — as one, in accordance with an Islamic tradition that states "All infidels are one religion."
- Comparing Christian Copts to animals: "Respect yourselves and
live with us and we will protect you... Why?... because Allah has
forbidden me to be cruel to animals. I'm not trying to compare you to
animals … but if I am not cruel to animals or plants, shall I be cruel
to a soul created by Allah? You are an infidel in Allah's sight — and it
is for him to judge you. However, when you live in my country, it is
forbidden for me to be unjust to you — but that doesn't mean we are
equal. No, oh no."
- Telling Copts: "I want to remind you that Egypt is a Muslim
country.... if you don't like the Muslim Sharia, you have eight
countries that have a Cross on their flag [in Europe], so go to them.
However, if you want to stay here in Egypt with us, know your place and
be respectful. You already have all your rights — by Allah, even more
than Muslims... No one investigates your homes, no one investigates your
churches. In fact, in the past, the Islamic groups used to fake their
IDs and put Christian names on them when they would go out for [jihadi]
operations, so that when the police would catch them, they would see
they are Christians and be left alone." Ghoneim misses the irony of what
he says: Police know that Egyptian Christians are not going to engage
in terror; Egyptian Muslims are suspect.
- Saying, in mocking tones, towards the end: "What do you think —
that America will protect you? Let's be very clear, America will not
protect you. If so, it would have protected the Christians of Iraq when
they were being butchered!" — a reference to the fact that, after the
U.S. ousted Saddam Hussein, half of Iraq's Christian population has
either been butchered or fled the nation, and all under U.S. auspices.
- Claiming that the Copts are only four million while the Muslims
are 85 million — even as Coptic Orthodox Church registries maintain that
there are more than 15 million Copts, and most outside analysts say 10
million— and adding that Morsi was only being nice by saying, as he did
during one of his speeches: "There are no minorities in Egypt." Ghoneim
fails to explain, if Copts are so few — four million compared to 85
million — how could they be so influential, and flood the Tahrir
protests with such large numbers?
- Mocking new Coptic Pope Tawadros—not surprising considering his
great hate for the former Pope—by claiming that the new Pope urged Copts
to protest; that the new Pope wants to see Morsi and Sharia law fall,
and by adding, "Is it not enough that you have all those monasteries?"
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