Egypt: When are Muslims most violent?

10/3/2011

If you answered with “After the Jum’a (Friday) prayer”, you are correct. This time the news is from Egypt. Please read on

Egypt – Muslims demolish church and torch homes The century-old church of St George in the village of Elmarinab in Edfu, Aswan province, Egypt, has been attacked by a mob of Muslims following a dispute over the building’s renovation. After Friday prayers on 30 September, the mob took matters into their own hands and descended on the church, demolishing a dome, walls and columns. They then moved to the church depot, where the wood that was to be used for construction was stored, and set fire to it.
The church was rebuilt with permission from the Aswan governor because its dilapidated state made it unsafe to use for services. Local Muslims had made no complaint about the rebuilding until the work was nearly complete and services were being held there. Christians had conceded to demands made at a “reconciliation” meeting on 2 September for the sake of harmony with their Muslim neighbours, but four days later further demands were made, including removal of the domes. The Christians refused, saying that this would cause the building to collapse. Following this disagreement, Muslims barricaded the village, preventing Christians from leaving their homes, even to buy food, until the domes were removed. Security forces were called to intervene and two tanks arrived to protect villagers from violence early on the morning of 9 September. But the Muslims were undeterred by the military presence, chanting “Allahu Akhbar” (“god is great”) and calling for the church to be razed. Three weeks later their threat was carried out.
The latest incident also saw four homes and a shop belonging to Christians torched.

Source Barnabas Fund

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Short URL: http://www.archive2012.faithfreedom.org/?p=30201

Posted by FFI Editor on Oct 4 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.