I am humbled to send you this first letter as the new president of Coptic Solidarity, after your board elected me during its last meeting following our Sixth Annual Conference which was held in Washington, DC during the period June 11-13, 2015.
My appointment follows that of Adel Guindy, founder of the organization and a man who served it with dedication and commitment for the first five years of its existence; Adel is indeed a hard act to follow, but with your support and the support of a dedicated board, I am certain that we shall succeed together. I agreed to assume this position, which as per most positions within Coptic Solidarity is done on a purely volunteer, non-pay basis, because of my passion for promoting the vision of a modern, progressive and tolerant Egypt in which Copts and all Egyptians can prosper.
By way of introduction, I am a retired Egyptian-American telecommunications executive now living with my wife Magda in the greater Washington area, after years of international assignments in many countries and in different parts of the Unites States. Since our immigration to America in 1969, we counted as our home San Jose, CA, Riyadh, Dhahran, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Cairo, and Potomac, MD. Our grown daughter and son live in Cairo and Rome respectively.
Our last Annual Conference was undoubtedly the most successful to-date, including two full program days and a banquet dinner attended by senior diplomats from Armenia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Russia, and Slovenia, as well as representations from the offices of members of Congress and other key policymakers. We received strong support from some ten members of the House of Representatives and Senate, both Democrat and Republican, who spoke during our Policy Day on Capitol Hill. Additionally, we heard from both the Chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Dr. Katrina Lantos-Swett, and the Ambassador-at- Large for International Religious Freedom at the State Department, Rabbi David Saperstein, in addition to Canadian and European Parliamentarians. To learn more about the event, view our press release and photos.
We were privileged to be presented with the thoughts and perspectives of persons in key positions of influence who have taken the Coptic cause to heart, as well as to receive the leaders of other indigenous Christian minorities from the Middle East and a Yazidi representative about what is currently happening to their devastated communities. One of our guest speakers shared a powerful film with us called “Sing a Little Louder”, which forcefully demonstrates the evil of silence in the face of tyranny, an especially moving reminder on this centennial anniversary of the genocide of Christian Armenians.
I anticipate sharing this film with you when it becomes available online and hope you will consider how you might become more involved on behalf of the persecuted Copts and other minorities in Egypt and neighboring countries. This important film captures the need for those of us with freedom, time, and means to work on behalf people who are systematically facing discrimination and persecution for their faith.
I look forward to your continued partnership and support, which are essential to sustaining our cause. If you have not yet become a member of Coptic Solidarity, please consider joining today!
Sincerely,
Mr. Alex Shalaby
President, Coptic Solidarity