WASHINGTON, April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Coptic Solidarity strongly condemns the latest attack on Egypt’s Copts by the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies—and calls on the U.S. government to do likewise.
On Friday, March 28, in Ain Shams, a suburb of Cairo, demonstrating Brotherhood supporters, many of them armed, exchanged fire with Security forces and set parked cars aflame. Three people died in the crossfire, including a young-woman journalist.
A fourth victim, a 24-year old Coptic woman, was savagely mauled and molested before being murdered—simply because her cross identified her as a Christian to the Brotherhood rioters.
According to a Muslim eyewitness who discussed the event on the Egyptian program, 90 Minutes, Mary Sameh George was driving out of an adjacent Coptic Orthodox Church in order to deliver medicine to a sickly, elderly woman:
Once they saw that she was a Christian [because of the cross hanging on her rear view mirror], they jumped on top of the car, to the point that the vehicle was no longer visible. The roof of the car collapsed in. When they realized that she was starting to die, they pulled her out of the car and started pounding on her and pulling her hair—to the point that portions of her hair and scalp came off. They kept beating her, kicking her, stabbing her with any object or weapon they could find…. Throughout [her ordeal] she tried to protect her face, giving her back to the attackers, till one of them came and stabbed her right in the back, near the heart, finishing her off… Another pulled her pants off, to the point that she was totally naked.
Forensics found that she was also shot by gun at blank point. The eyewitness, as well as many others who have since appeared on videos, complain about Egyptian State Security and how it did not intervene, and how one of Mary’s murderers, whom “everyone reported to State Security,” was simply relaxing in his home, not even hiding.
A Coptic man added: “Here in Ain Shams, we know that every Friday is a day of death..”
A video of Mary’s family members has one woman screaming out the following words:
“A message to [U.S. President Barack] Obama, who is calling for the Brotherhood to return to power again. I want to tell him (..) enough is enough! Why do you want to destroy Egypt? “
The rest of the video portrays some of Mary’s other family members—many in tears and near hysteria—prompting us to wonder about the absence of the U.S and Western media. We have not seen a word on this latest Islamist attack on BBC, CNN, or any of the so-called “mainstream media.”
Incidents such as Friday’s have become regular occurrences in Egypt. Indeed, only a few months ago, two other Coptic Christian girls—both also named “Mary”—were slain when Brotherhood supporters opened fire on a church. Kidnapping, and sometimes killing, of Copts is almost routine.
Coptic Solidarity calls on all Western media and governments to condemn and advocate against the ongoing suffering of Copts in their homeland.
Coptic Solidarity is non-profit organization dedicated to leading efforts to achieve equal citizenship for the Copts in Egypt. For more information, contact Sandy 202-695-0506, Hal 240-644-5153 or [email protected]“>[email protected]
______________________________________________
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/01/coptic-solidarity-wmn-idUSnPnbRrY78+94+PRN20140401
SOURCE Coptic Solidarity