Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Tuesday 10 May 2011

The Pogroms Against the Copts

The latest bloody outrages against Egypt's Copts, which have left a dozen people dead and 232 injured, are described in harrowing detail here: http://www.aina.org/news/20110508144114.htm (hat tip: Assad Elepty)


Even Al Beeb, which in that perverse way of the left-liberal "intelligentsia" so frequently turns a blind eye to the distress of Christians under Islam, has reported, if more cursorily, on them.

But it's so reprehensibly typical of the BBC that the continuing persecution of the Copts is presented as a sort-of evenhanded tit-for-tat feud between Muslims and Christians, rather than of a deliberate campaign of violence and extirpation by members of the former group against a small and essentially defenceless minority.

Al Beeb, in acknowledging the threat to secular democracy and to non-Muslims from fanatical, homicidal Salafists, downplays that from the Muslim Brotherhood; it's in keeping with their take on the situation in Gaza - Salafists dangerous extremists, Hamas misunderstood by the West, and in reality relatively benign.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13331628

Professor Barry Rubin observes:
"The remaining Christians in most of the Arabic-speaking world may be on the edge of flight or extinction. All of the Christians have left the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip which is, in effect, an Islamist republic. They are leaving the West Bank. Half have departed from an increasingly Islamist-oriented Iraq where they are under terrorist attack. Within a few years they might all be gone....
Egypt has more Christians than Israel's entire population. There have been numerous attacks, with the latest in Cairo leaving 12 dead, 220 wounded, and two churches burned. The Western media generally attributes this to inter-religious battles. Yet Egypt's Christians, so totally outnumbered and not having any access to the power of the state, have generally kept a low profile....
The Christians cannot depend on any support from Western churches or governments. Will there be a massive flight of tens or even hundreds of thousands of Christians from Egypt in the next few years?
The U.S. government has just announced that it will forgive about $1 billion of Egyptian debt at a time when the American economy isn't doing so well. You can just bet that there are no political strings attacked: no pressure over Egyptian backing of Hamas, growing anti-Israel policy, cutting off natural gas supplies, the increasingly difficult situation of Christians, opposing Iran's ambitions and nuclear weapons' drive, or anything else.
What will happen if and when an Islamist-dominated regime is in power in Egypt - which could happen as early as September? Will U.S. aid and support continue?
Up until now, the strength of the Muslim Brotherhood has been badly underestimated in the West. But increasingly it is also apparent that the strength of anti-Islamist forces has been overestimated.
I have noted that even Amr Moussa, likely to be Egypt's next president and a radical nationalist, has predicted an Islamist majority in parliament....
He is not creating his own party, meaning that a President Moussa will be dependent on the Muslim Brotherhood in parliament. Rather than the radical nationalists battling the Islamists these two forces might well work together.
And who will they be working against? Just guess." Entire article: http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/05/09/egypt-situation-deteriorating-badly-and-rapidly/

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