ICC Note:
“Alarmingly, as an Egyptian American of Christian faith, I cannot overlook the fact that there is rapid shift towards Islamization sweeping [across Egypt],” Sherif Meleka writes in The Washington Post.
By Sherif Meleka
11/22/2011 Egypt (Washington Post) – Following the recent news in Egypt, one cannot help being baffled by disturbing reports. And it was not surprising to many observers to see Field Marshal Tantawi stand Tuesday in the shoes of the former president Mubarak, just nine months later, accepting the resignation of the current government, appointing a new one, and vowing to step down in six or seven months.
Alarmingly, as an Egyptian American of Christian faith, I cannot overlook the fact that there is rapid shift towards Islamization sweeping the country, without any hint of a substantial opposition. Despite an Islamic majority, Egypt managed over her recent history to maintain a fairly secular government, although there has historically been documented discrimination against Christians.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has been ruling the country since the fall of Mubarak on February 11, 2011, has freed prominent Islamist figures from jail and allowed exiled ones to return as soon as they took office. SCAF appointed a committee to change the Egyptian Constitution headed by an overtly Islamist thinker, Judge Tariq el-Bishri, writer of many books detailing Islamic ways of ruling the nation, and including leading Muslim Brotherhood (MB) figures. SCAF went on to authorize a general referendum on the new temporary constitution, even when opposed by revolutionary and key secular forces.
When the government chose a Christian governor in Upper Egypt, the Islamists refused to accept the appointment. They closed the railroad tracks and blocked the highways to the province for two weeks. Even while the current constitution forbids the formation of political parties based on religion, there exist today close to a dozen Islamic parties, and thousands of candidates ready to take on parliamentary elections due to start this month. Muslim leaders announced that they expect the Muslim Brotherhood to vie for 50 percent of the seats with an additional 30 percent of the parliamentary seats going to a coalition of other Islamic parties. The Muslim Brotherhood’s newly established Freedom and Justice Party “rejects the candidacy of women or Copts for Egypt’s presidency.”
Since the Jan 25 revolution, Christians have been killed all over Egypt at an alarming frequency. After the latest massacre of Christians in front of the Maspiro building, where more than 24 were killed and 250 injured, SCAF is said to be investigating the military’s involvement while denying any wrongdoing. Video shows the military taking part in this massacre, using armored vehicles to crush Christians.
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