Tag: Egypt

Egypt Update: “Eat less.” – David Goldman Re-Blog

Peanut Gallery: Egypt has a huge food shortage problem – it imports about half its food and is rapidly running out of money.

breadline in Egypt
TO HAVE IT IS TO LIVE: The Government sent shockwaves across the nation when a Cabinet minister disclosed a plan to offer every Egyptian just three loaves of the baladi (round) bread every day at the state-subsidised price.

A state that can’t feed its people is a failed state, and that’s why the Egyptian state is at the brink of collapse, as Egypt’s defense minister warned last week.

The Islamists didn’t cause the problem… it’s been coming on for years (as David Goldman has documented). But now they own it because they’re in charge.  And it’s not going away any time in the forseeable future.

Goldman’s latest article brings us up to date. It’s a sad state of affairs for the 40+ million Egyptians living on less than $2 a day.
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“Eat Less, Egypt’s Government Tells Its People” by David P. Goldman

“Even Islamists have to eat,” I wrote under the headline “Food and Failed Arab States” in February 2011. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government takes a different view, the Washington Post reported yesterday. The trouble, the government says, is that Egyptians are eating too much. In a separate report, the government proposed to cut back its bread subsidy to three hand-sized loaves of pita bread per person per day, about 400 calories’ worth. A state that can’t feed its people is a failed state, and that’s why the Egyptian state is at the brink of collapse, as Egypt’s defense minister warned last week.

According to the Post report, the government is telling Egyptians (almost half of whom live on less than $2 a day) to eat less. You can’t make this sort of thing up. Egypt lost another $1.4 billion in foreign exchange reserves in January, and probably is flat broke after figuring in arrears to oil and food suppliers, and it imports half its food, so something had to give. In response, Egypt’s Islamist government is emulating North Korea’s approach to food shortages: Continue reading “Egypt Update: “Eat less.” – David Goldman Re-Blog” →

“Dhimmitude” – a word you should understand

Peanut Gallery: As events unfold in the Middle East, “dhimmitude” is a word you should understand- it directly affects Christians living in Islamic countries and explains why they are so often mistreated (see earlier post “Muslim Persecution of Christians”). islam for dhimmis

“dhimmitude […] represents a behavior dictated by fear (terrorism), pacifism when aggressed, rather than resistance, servility because of cowardice and vulnerability. […] By their peaceful surrender to the Islamic army, they obtained the security for their life, belongings and religion, but they had to accept a condition of inferiority, spoliation (plundering) and humiliation. As they were forbidden to possess weapons and give testimony against a Muslim, they were put in a position of vulnerability and humility.”[9] (Wikipedia)

To put it simply, non-muslims (dhimmis) living in Islamic countries are second-class citizens with little, or no, protection under Sharia law. They are essentially at the mercy of the enforcing religious authority.

If you read the entire Wikipedia article you will find that my characterization of “dhimmitude” and “dhimmis” is disputed by some scholars as “past history” and could be described as Islamophobic.  But disputed or not, there is growing evidence that Western observers of Islamic countries have turned a blind eye to the current wide-spread reality of “dhimmitude,” particularly in rural, or lawless, areas that are outside normal Western scrutiny. (I refer you again to “Muslim Persecuton of Christians.”)

This current post, however, was prompted by an article by Andrew G. Bostom posted on pjmedia.com, “Muhammad Morsi’s Islamic Jew-Hatred, Bernard Lewis’ Islamic Negationism” – asking the question: “Why do the media’s Middle East pundits ignore the Jew-hatred intrinsic to Islamic doctrine?”

The answer lies in the willful denial of the historic realities (past and present) of “dhimmitude.” Jew-hatred (and Christian persecution) are intrinsic to Muhammad Morsi’s Sharia inspired worldview. But it simply doesn’t fit the Western pundits’ “Arab Spring” narrative.

Continue reading ““Dhimmitude” – a word you should understand” →

Muslim Persecution of Christians: November, 2012 (Re-Blog)

Peanut Gallery: Persecution of Christians is wide-spread around the world… the most egregious country being North Korea, as documented by the Open Doors World Watch List. I am  highlighting one country each Monday here on the Peanut Gallery.

Muslim Persecution of Christians is more focused – documenting accounts of Christian persecution in the Muslim world on a monthly basis. I have cross referenced the countries cited in the Open Doors World Watch List. The same bad actors keep showing up wherever Christians are being persecuted. Each of the accounts are documented in the original post… they are too numerous to include here.

I encourage you to read through these accounts – here or at the original post. It is sobering, to say the least. Please pray for those whom God places on your heart.

Muslim Persecution of Christians – About This Series.

Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is on its way to reaching pandemic proportions, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month.

It serves two purposes:

  1. To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, Muslim persecution of Christians.
  2. To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Sharia.

Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; apostasy and blasphemy laws that criminalize and punish with death those who “offend” Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like dhimmis, or second-class, “tolerated” citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination.

Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to India in the East, and throughout the West wherever there are Muslims—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.

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Muslim Persecution of Christians: November, 2012

by findalis, maggiesnotebook.com

Christian-PersecutionReports of Christian persecution by Muslims around the world during the month of November include (but are not limited to) the following accounts. They are listed by form of persecution, and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:

Church Attacks

Egypt: Following Friday afternoon prayers in northern Cairo, Salafi Muslims went to the construction site of a Coptic Orthodox Church service center, hanging a sign that read, “Masjed El Rahman,” or “Mosque of the Merciful.” They claimed that the church did not have the necessary permits to exist, even though local officials confirmed the church did have them. The Salafis occupied the construction center for some 24 hours. One of them reportedly said: “We have a small mosque at the end of the street and the presence of a church here will offend us.” Continue reading “Muslim Persecution of Christians: November, 2012 (Re-Blog)” →

“Freedom of Religion” – not in Sharia Egypt

Peanut Gallery: “Freedom of Religion” in America is considered a basic human right guaranteed by the US Constitution’s First Ammendment.

As Americans, we take for granted our right to believe or not, to share our faith with others or not, to change our religious affiliation or not… in other words, freedom of religion includes freedom of religious choice. Proclamation and persuasion are the means for religious proselytizing. Discrimination of any kind based on religious affiliation is illegal.

Wikipedia notes that this understanding of regious freedom is not limited to the United States, but is an essential Human Right as decribed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights –

Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any religion. The freedom to leave or discontinue membership in a religion or religious group — in religious terms called “apostasy” — is also a fundamental part of religious freedom, covered by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Wikipedia)

However, the Islamic world has apparently not received the “Universal Human Rights” memo… and why would they care anyways – since Sharia Law trumps all other human considerations, as this Fox News report from Egypt demonstrates.

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Nadia Mohamed Ali and her seven children have been jailed for 15 years in Egypt after converting back to Christianity from Islam. (dailymail.co.uk)

Under Egypt’s new regressive government, the only religious conversion allowed is to Islam… and there’s no going back… as Nadia Mohamed Ali and her 7 children discovered. Her motivation to return to her Christian origins, apparently, was more monetary than religious… it involved an inheritance. But that’s really beside the point. Only God truly knows why people do what they do… and in this case the State’s job was simply to record the change.

But that’s by American standards, not by Egypt’s new Sharia-friendly Constitution. The future does not bode well for Christians in Egypt. The new government only embolden’s the religious zealots to act out their worst impulses.

“Now that Sharia law has become an integral part of Egypt’s new constitution, Christians in that country are at greater risk than ever,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice.

Sadly, Coptic Christians can expect little help from our current American administration. Please read the original story here at Fox News –

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“Egyptian court sentences Christian family to 15 years for converting from Islam” – By Benjamin Weinthal | Published January 16, 2013

The 15-year prison sentence given to a woman and her seven children by an Egyptian court for converting to Christianity is a sign of things to come, according to alarmed human rights advocates who say the nation’s Islamist government is bad news for Christians in the North African country.

Continue reading ““Freedom of Religion” – not in Sharia Egypt” →

Christmas in Egypt: “Exclusive: Coptic pope speaks to Al Jazeera” on YouTube

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Pope Tawadros II celebrated midnight Christmas Mass on January 6, 2013

Peanut Gallery: The Coptic Church is celebrating its 1st Christmas under the leadership of its new Pope – Tawadros II. Coptic Christmas is celebrated with midnight mass on January 6… Christmas Day falling on January 7 by the Julian calender.

The celebrations are marred by bombing threats to churches, street protests and clashes with Egyptian security forces.

In this environment, Pope Tawadros II was interviewed by Al Jazeera TV. Please pray for Egypt and its minority Coptic people.