Copt activist arrested for 'terrorism' in Egypt

[Yorgo]

Coptic activist arrested on 'preposterous charges' in Egypt; UN agency demands release


The international community is condemning Egypt’s imprisonment of a prominent Coptic Christian activist who they say has been jailed on “preposterous charges” despite the government’s promises to promote religious coexistence.

Activist Ramy Kamel was arrested from his home in late November by seven plainclothes police officers. According to media reports, Kamel was questioned and accused of not only joining a terror group but also broadcasting false information and receiving foreign funding.

Kamel is a prominent member of the Maspero Youth Union, an activist group fighting for equality and civil rights for the long-persecuted Coptic community in Egypt. The organization formed in the wake of weeks for protest in 2011 against the Mubarak government.

Kamel has also written on the mistreatment of Copts in Egypt as well as their displacement from homes by the Egyptian government, according to the nonprofit watchdog group Coptic Solidarity.

“These shocking if not absurd charges appear to be designed to silence Kamel — a leading member and one of the most vocal activists of the Maspero Youth Union,” Coptic Solidarity stressed in a press release. “Kamel is at the forefront of reporting on and sharing footage of the persecution of Copts in Egypt — which many observers believe to be his real crime.”

Security officers are said to have stormed Kamel’s home on Nov. 23 and confiscated his computer, phone, and other items related to his advocacy work. It marked the second time in the month that Kamel had been arrested.

The charges that the Supreme State Security Prosecution announced against Kamel are “spurious,” according to the congressionally mandated commission responsible for promoting religious freedom and making recommendations to the U.S. State Department and White House.

“USCIRF calls on the Egyptian government to immediately release Mr. Kamel from detention and dismiss the preposterous charges against him,” USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza said in a statement.

“His arrest casts doubt on the sincerity of Egypt’s promises of working toward greater religious freedom,” she added. “Egypt cannot pledge improved rights and freedoms for Copts and other non-Muslim communities, while at the same time bringing false charges against its own citizens who are advocating for those same reforms.”

The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) has also called for Kamel’s release. The OHCHR reports that Kamel was allegedly tortured following his arrests on Nov. 4 and Nov. 23.

“Mr. Kamel’s alleged arbitrary detention and torture fall into a pattern of raids, arrests and travel bans against human rights defenders, journalists, dissidents and their family members,” the OHCHR statement reads. “Individuals who have cooperated or tried to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms have been repeatedly the target of reprisals.”

Kamel’s arrest drew a response from others in the Coptic community and elicited the social media hashtag movement #Free_Ramy.

It was initially reported that Kamel was to be kept in temporary custody at Tora prison in Southeast Cairo for 15 days. However, Coptic Solidarity reported that Kamel's detention was extended for another 15 days on Monday.

“Evidence of his innocence against spurious charges was ignored,” Coptic Solidarity wrote in a tweet. “He is suffering from acute respiratory distress.”

Coptic Solidarity claims that the “crackdown on Egyptian journalists and human rights activists has reached new levels under President Sisi.”

The nonprofit reports that over 4,000 people — including dozens of journalists and writers — have been arrested for participating in anti-government protests since last September.

The day after Kamel was arrested, Egypt arrested three more journalists.

Amnesty International voiced concern last month that Egypt’s government is using a judicial agency responsible for combating terrorism to prosecute protesters, journalists and critics on false charges without a trial.

“In Egypt today, the Supreme State Security Prosecution has stretched the definition of ‘terrorism’ to encompass peaceful protests, social media posts and legitimate political activities, resulting in peaceful government critics being treated as enemies of the state,” Amnesty International research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa Philip Luther said in a statement.

“The SSSP has become a central tool of repression whose primary goal appears to be arbitrarily detaining and intimidating critics, all in the name of counter-terrorism.”

In her statement, USCIRF’s Maenza called on the Egyptian government to cease the harassment of activists, journalists and others advocating for all of Egypt’s citizens.

Egypt ranks as the 16th worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors 2019 World Watch List.

[Yorgo]

The audacity of these Muslims to call a Christian 'terrorist'. The government is awful for Christians, but the local Egyptian Muslims are truly one of the most hateful of all Muslims. They really hate Copts. They even say on live TV that Copts smell bad, and a few weeks ago there was footage of Muslim teachers harassing and bullying small Copt children.

[Yorgo]

//

[Kamal900]

The audacity of these Muslims to call a Christian 'terrorist'. The government is awful for Christians, but the local Egyptian Muslims are truly one of the most hateful of all Muslims. They really hate Copts. They even say on live TV that Copts smell bad, and a few weeks ago there was footage of Muslim teachers harassing and bullying small Copt children.

Blame the Zionist controlled government of Egypt for that. Sisi is basically a puppet to the Zionist west, so..yeah. We have Copts here in the UAE and they're doing just fine.

[Yorgo]

Blame the Zionist controlled government of Egypt for that. Sisi is basically a puppet to the Zionist west, so..yeah. We have Copts here in the UAE and they're doing just fine.

Stop blaming everything on Jews. Copts have been persecuted for much longer than that. Like I said, the government is awful for Christians but it's really the general Muslim population who really hates Christians.

Young Copt women are kidnapped everyday in areas like upper Egypt and forced to marry the Muslim kidnapper and never allowed to see their Christian family again.

The government seldomly allows the construction of new Churches, but when they do, hordes of Muslims mobilize themselves to 'protest' and attack Christians. These people are so evil they won't even tolerate Copts to congregate and pray together in a private home because it's still considered a form of Church.

[samario]

Egypt should free itself from Muslim rule and go back to its Pharaonic roots.

Long live the Copts.

[Nazarene]

Terrible how persecuted they are, still they are the toughest Christian group in the MENA region. They are still mainly in their homeland.

[samario]

I don't get how Coptic Egyptians differ from plain Egyptians from a genetic standpoint?

Maybe the answer is endogamy?

Not all of non-Coptic Egyptians are interbred with Arabs.

[dark-mysterio]

Egypt should free itself from Muslim rule and go back to its Pharaonic roots.

Long live the Copts.

and so technically then the Copts should worship ancient Egyptian religion not Islam neither Christianity ? and return to ancient Egyptian custom/culture not modern Egyptian/Coptic culture/custom ?

[Crn Volk]

America should be more interested in the plight of MENA Christians, including those suppressed by Israel.

[Teutone]

Blame the Zionist controlled government of Egypt for that. Sisi is basically a puppet to the Zionist west, so..yeah. We have Copts here in the UAE and they're doing just fine.

Topkek when Mursi was in power it was even worse, you have a funny loser worldview, you simply blame jews for EVERYTHING

[samario]

and so technically then the Copts should worship ancient Egyptian religion not Islam neither Christianity ? and return to ancient Egyptian custom/culture not modern Egyptian/Coptic culture/custom ?

Copts, as far as I know, claim some Pharaonic culture. Their language is close to the ancient Egyptian language. Either way, I think Egypt should establish a Pharaonic state and provide protection for Christianism and other religions. It should promote Pharaonic culture. Nowadays, Copts are being persecuted by Muslims, this wouldn't happen in a Pharaonic state.

[dark-mysterio]

Copts, as far as I know, claim some Pharaonic culture. Their language is close to the ancient Egyptian language. Either way, I think Egypt should establish a Pharaonic state and provide protection for Christianism and other religions. It should promote Pharaonic culture. Nowadays, Copts are being persecuted by Muslims, this wouldn't happen in a Pharaonic state.

ok

[Kamal900]

Topkek when Mursi was in power it was even worse, you have a funny loser worldview, you simply blame jews for EVERYTHING

I wasn't saying that Morsi was a good guy or anything, and Copts did suffer a lot of persecutions during his reign. However, Sisi is a Zionist dictator who is just as bad if not worse than his predecessors. In fact, Mubarak is far better than his later peers ever were. I know that as a German you have this cuck views on them and etc due to your people's own guilt on what your people did to the Jews during WW2 and all, but the truth is that it doesn't change the facts around here. If you have this infantile way of thinking then be my guest, but don't try to push it in, okay?

[Kamal900]

America should be more interested in the plight of MENA Christians, including those suppressed by Israel.

Not going to happen. The US has a very hypocritical stance with Israel.

[Kamal900]

Stop blaming everything on Jews. Copts have been persecuted for much longer than that. Like I said, the government is awful for Christians but it's really the general Muslim population who really hates Christians.

Young Copt women are kidnapped everyday in areas like upper Egypt and forced to marry the Muslim kidnapper and never allowed to see their Christian family again.

The government seldomly allows the construction of new Churches, but when they do, hordes of Muslims mobilize themselves to 'protest' and attack Christians. These people are so evil they won't even tolerate Copts to congregate and pray together in a private home because it's still considered a form of Church.

I don't care about what Muslims do in their own nations and etc since I'm neither a Muslim or a Christian for that matter. Yes, they have been doing such things for many decades and centuries now, and Sisi isn't doing anything to bring down such attacks and discrimination in Egypt against my Coptic cousins. In fact, he's adding more fuel to the hate against them which I think it's best for Copts to have their own independent state.

[Kamal900]

Terrible how persecuted they are, still they are the toughest Christian group in the MENA region. They are still mainly in their homeland.

They are the largest Christian group in the MENA region as well :)

[Kamal900]

I don't get how Coptic Egyptians differ from plain Egyptians from a genetic standpoint?

Maybe the answer is endogamy?

Not all of non-Coptic Egyptians are interbred with Arabs.

Not much which is true for the Muslims as well. The closest peoples to the ancient Egyptians besides their modern day descendants are their Southern Levantine neighbors like the Palestinians, Jordanians and even Samaritans and Arabians as well.

[Marmara]

Egypt is really fucked up.

[Kamal900]

Egypt is really fucked up.

As it has been since Jamal Abdul Nasser took over the country.

[Teutone]

I wasn't saying that Morsi was a good guy or anything, and Copts did suffer a lot of persecutions during his reign. However, Sisi is a Zionist dictator who is just as bad if not worse than his predecessors. In fact, Mubarak is far better than his later peers ever were. I know that as a German you have this cuck views on them and etc due to your people's own guilt on what your people did to the Jews during WW2 and all, but the truth is that it doesn't change the facts around here. If you have this infantile way of thinking then be my guest, but don't try to push it in, okay?

Who is the cuck here? You jerk off top ponies.

You draw lines where there is no connection at all. Sisis stance or action on Coptics has nothing to do with his view on Israel, N O T H I N G.

You are mentally ill cause you draw a line to Israel and Jews on every topic like the obsessed maniac you are.

The jews humihilated you Arabs, Arabs are a weak race.

[Kamal900]

Who is the cuck here? You jerk off top ponies.

You draw lines where there is no connection at all. Sisis stance or action on Coptics has nothing to do with his view on Israel, N O T H I N G.

You are mentally ill cause you draw a line to Israel and Jews on every topic like the obsessed maniac you are.

The jews humihilated you Arabs, Arabs are a weak race.

Blah blah. I stated clearly that Sisi is a Zionist, not a Jew. You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist, you god damn cromagnon. On every topic? Just fuck off, you fucking homunculus. I haven't said anything bad to Jews recently. No, but his stance pretty much said it all that he doesn't care much for his fellow Egyptians really since he is very corrupt and etc, and he gets direct support from the US despite his abuses against human rights in Egypt. Honestly, Germans are very cuckish to the core, so don't pretend that you guys have some sort of pride left after your defeat in WW2, especially since you Germans are full of guilt on what you guys did to the Jews.

[Teutone]

Blah blah. I stated clearly that Sisi is a Zionist, not a Jew. On every topic? Just fuck off, you fucking homunculus. No, but his stance pretty much said it all that he doesn't care much for his fellow Egyptians really since he is very corrupt and etc, and he gets direct support from the US despite his abuses against human rights in Egypt. Honestly, Germans are very cuckish to the core, so don't pretend that you guys have some sort of pride left after your defeat in WW2, especially since you Germans are full of guilt on what you guys did to the Jews.

Im not full of guilt, stop projecting.

You can state the obvious facts that Jews are superior to Arabs without feeling any guilt, but be real.

[Kamal900]

Im not full of guilt, stop projecting.

You can state the obvious facts that Jews are superior to Arabs without feeling any guilt, but be real.

Projecting? That's the truth, you idiot. Hezbullah already had beaten Israel in 2006. Again, Germans are very full of guilt on what they did to the Jews back then to the point that it had plummeted the German birth rates way below the replacement level. If we Arabs are weak then you guys are weaker because the US hold you guys on a leash with humiliation and etc(the Persian gulf states are like that as well). At least we Levantine Arabs fight against the Jews while you guys prostate yourselves to them. You can act as a brave monkey all you want in the internet, but that doesn't mean you guys are brave in real life.

[Teutone]

Projecting? That's the truth, you idiot. Hezbullah already had beaten Israel in 2006. Again, Germans are very full of guilt on what they did to the Jews back then to the point that it had plummeted the German birth rates way below the replacement level. If we Arabs are weak then you guys are weaker because the US hold you guys on a leash with humiliation and etc(the Persian gulf states are like that as well). At least we Levantine Arabs fight against the Jews while you guys prostate yourselves to them. You can act as a brave monkey all you want in the internet, but that doesn't mean you guys are brave in real life.

Hezbollah was just able to defend against Israel with the help of the most superior islamized ethnicity the Persians.

Every developed nation has a low birthrate completly isolated from their past or stance on israel.

You can fight insurgencies till the end of time against eachother, you stay cavemen unable to create stability or any form of innovation. The muslim arabs were the ones butchering coptics and take over egypt, not the jews.

[Kamal900]

Hezbollah was just able to defend against Israel with the help of the most superior islamized ethnicity the Persians.

Every developed nation has a low birthrate completly isolated from their past or stance on israel.

You can fight insurgencies till the end of time against eachother, you stay cavemen unable to create stability or any form of innovation. The muslim arabs were the ones butchering coptics and take over egypt, not the jews.

And? What does that have anything to do with Germans and Germany, hmm? Yes, I am aware that the Muslim Egyptians are killing innocent Copts and etc, and Sisi isn't doing much if anything to stop it. He cares more about money and for his fellow goons in the military than for his fellow Egyptians. That's the whole point. And? Israel gets much of it's military equipment from the US and other western countries like Germany and etc which is true for the Saudis as well who are also pro-Israel. Hezbullah - which is a Shi3a Arab militant organization - managed to beat Israel in 2006, and they're not so incomponent in doing so as their Egyptian and Jordanian counetparts who are under the US thumb.

[samario]

Not going to happen. The US has a very hypocritical stance with Israel.

Something tells me Christians and Jewish in Israel and Palestine would get along better if they all spoke Hebrew. There are a lot of secular Israelis and they go on with their lives just fine. Muslims on the other hand...

They are really from another world. The Christians in Palestine used to speak Aramaic which isn't too different from Hebrew. Maybe they should switch back to speaking a Semitic language and integrate better with their Jewish brothers. I love the idea of Israel, Toppo. An independent Palestine would be a backwards Muslim-run gigantic slum.

:)

[samario]

As it has been since Jamal Abdul Nasser took over the country.

It's a shame how the Muslims overthrew centuries of history and tradition. The Egyptian civilisation was fascinating as it was. Egypt should rediscover its roots and adopt a constitution where all people have freedom of thought, belief and regligion. It was like that before 1980 apparently. Egypt should go back to that and stop persecuting Copts.

Also, should consider having Coptic as their sole official language.

[Yorgo]

It's a shame how the Muslims overthrew centuries of history and tradition. The Egyptian civilisation was fascinating as it was. Egypt should rediscover its roots and adopt a constitution where all people have freedom of thought, belief and regligion. It was like that before 1980 apparently. Egypt should go back to that and stop persecuting Copts.

Also, should consider having Coptic as their sole official language.

Even if the government changed, your average Egyptian Muslim HATES Christians. They call Copts parasites, say they are smelly and impure etc. You have sheiks and imans on live tv everyday fueling the hate against Christians.

Just so you have an idea, Copts are so persecuted that they all have a small Cross tattooed on their wrists at an early age which they have to show to prove they are real Christians in order to be able to enter Church to attend Mass.

[Kamal900]

Something tells me Christians and Jewish in Israel and Palestine would get along better if they all spoke Hebrew. There are a lot of secular Israelis and they go on with their lives just fine. Muslims on the other hand...

They are really from another world. The Christians in Palestine used to speak Aramaic which isn't too different from Hebrew. Maybe they should switch back to speaking a Semitic language and integrate better with their Jewish brothers. I love the idea of Israel, Toppo. An independent Palestine would be a backwards Muslim-run gigantic slum.

:)

So did we as well. Don't dream about it so much, kid. Jews in Israel, especially by nationalists, hate Christians as well which is why many Israeli settlers were caught countless times burning up churches and graffiti with anti-Christian and anti-Arab slogans. Btw, the Christians and the Copts here(UAE) are treated far more better than in Israel and Egypt put together, so stop trying to make this fictitious idea that Israel is the best country for Christians to live in when is a country that is very ethnocentric(racist) to the core. Bitch please.

[Kamal900]

It's a shame how the Muslims overthrew centuries of history and tradition. The Egyptian civilisation was fascinating as it was. Egypt should rediscover its roots and adopt a constitution where all people have freedom of thought, belief and regligion. It was like that before 1980 apparently. Egypt should go back to that and stop persecuting Copts.

Also, should consider having Coptic as their sole official language.

Not going to happen, kid. Sisi doesn't give a flying shit for his people, and he cares more about America and Israel than anything which is also true for most Arab leaders in the Arabian peninsula and beyond.

[samario]

So did we as well. Don't dream about it so much, kid. Jews in Israel, especially by nationalists, hate Christians as well which is why many Israeli settlers were caught countless times burning up churches and graffiti with anti-Christian and anti-Arab slogans. Btw, the Christians and the Copts here(UAE) are treated far more better than in Israel and Egypt put together, so stop trying to make this fictitious idea that Israel is the best country for Christians to live in when is a country that is very ethnocentric(racist) to the core. Bitch please.

I think it might be because of the Arabic language and culture and amongst Ultra-Orthodox Jews, secular Jews or laid-back Jews are not as stringent. I'm referring to their spiteful behaviour towards Christian Levantines and Copts. I'm not saying Israel is the best country for Christians. I take it some are even weary of Christians as they themselves suffered persecution raids from Christians in Europe, etc.

Tel Aviv, for instance, seems to be a very secular city. I bet Christians wouldn't have it hard living there if they spoke Hebrew.

The United Arab Emirates seems fairly Western-friendly, open to free trade ideas, etc. English is largely spoken too and they have a sizeable English expats community. Offers freedom of religion as far as I'm concerned. Are non-Muslims really not persecuted there? It'd be amazing if it could turn into a secular state. I've been doing my research and Muslims can't convert to any other religion in the UAE. This doesn't scream freedom. Flogging and stoning legal, as well as laws preventing anyone from showing any shred of disapproval towards the royals.

This is what makes Israel so unique amongst Middle Easterns nations. It's a democratic state. The UAE is not, despite its gleaming new cities, economic growth and diverse population.

Israel itself is very ethnoreligiously centered, that I am aware of, but I think Christians would have a chance to integrate or assimilate if they didn't speak Arabic, that's what I'm saying. Non-religious people would have a higher chance, too, wouldn't they?

[samario]

Even if the government changed, your average Egyptian Muslim HATES Christians. They call Copts parasites, say they are smelly and impure etc. You have sheiks and imans on live tv everyday fueling the hate against Christians.

Just so you have an idea, Copts are so persecuted that they all have a small Cross tattooed on their wrists at an early age which they have to show to prove they are real Christians in order to be able to enter Church to attend Mass.

That's sad and the creation of a Coptic State doesn't seem very plausible. Something has got to be done. Maybe under the rule of a truly secular leader, things could change for the better and Copts be protected from hate crimes. Egyptian identity needs to be rescued.

[Kamal900]

I think it might be because of the Arabic language and culture and amongst Ultra-Orthodox Jews, secular Jews or laid-back Jews are not as stringent. I'm referring to their spiteful behaviour towards Christian Levantines and Copts. I'm not saying Israel is the best country for Christians. I take it some are even weary of Christians as they themselves suffered persecution raids from Christians in Europe, etc.

Tel Aviv, for instance, seems to be a very secular city. I bet Christians wouldn't have it hard living there if they spoke Hebrew.

The United Arab Emirates seems fairly Western-friendly, open to free trade ideas, etc. English is largely spoken too and they have a sizeable English expats community. Offers freedom of religion as far as I'm concerned. Are non-Muslims really not persecuted there? It'd be amazing if it could turn into a secular state. I've been doing my research and Muslims can't convert to any other religion in the UAE. This doesn't scream freedom. Flogging and stoning legal, as well as laws preventing anyone from showing any shred of disapproval towards the royals.

This is what makes Israel so unique amongst Middle Easterns nations. It's a democratic state. The UAE is not, despite its gleaming new cities, economic growth and diverse population.

Israel itself is very ethnoreligiously centered, that I am aware of, but I think Christians would have a chance to integrate or assimilate if they didn't speak Arabic, that's what I'm saying. Non-religious people would have a higher chance, too, wouldn't they?

Israel is ethnocentric while the UAE isn't. Yeah, it is but democracy doesn't mean that it's based on civic nationalism like the US, so they wouldn't be able to assimilate unless they fully converted to Judaism and join the Jewish tribe so to speak. Arabic is a Semitic language btw very closely related to Aramaic and Hebrew(Canaanite). UAE isn't fully secular or shari3a for that matter but rather in between, but things are getting more and more better here. We have a lot of Coptic churches here and so on, and they're living in peace with the Muslims here. Not to mention that it's very illegal for hate speech against religion, race and etc to the point that you'd be fined for over 1 million dirhams on that. I'm not even joking. Israel doesn't have such laws against hate speech, especially under the rule of the Likud party that is very racist to the core.

[Yorgo]

That's sad and the creation of a Coptic State doesn't seem very plausible. Something has got to be done. Maybe under the rule of a truly secular leader, things could change for the better and Copts be protected from hate crimes. Egyptian identity needs to be rescued.

Egypt likes to keep Copts really poor and impoverished so they don't have self-determination and seek autonomy. We're talking about at least 15 million Christians who are systematically suppressed. They are by far one of the largest ethnic groups worldwide who don't have their own autonomy.

The only solution would be if the Sinai is given to the Copts so they can form their own country. As a Levantine Christian I wouldn't mind living in a Copt country, they are my brothers.

[Pine]

So did we as well. Don't dream about it so much, kid. Jews in Israel, especially by nationalists, hate Christians as well which is why many Israeli settlers were caught countless times burning up churches and graffiti with anti-Christian and anti-Arab slogans. Btw, the Christians and the Copts here(UAE) are treated far more better than in Israel and Egypt put together, so stop trying to make this fictitious idea that Israel is the best country for Christians to live in when is a country that is very ethnocentric(racist) to the core. Bitch please.

This is such bullshit. The shit by Israeli settlers is a rare event. They total 50 people at max.

[Synapsid]

Egypt likes to keep Copts really poor and impoverished so they don't have self-determination and seek autonomy. We're talking about at least 15 million Christians who are systematically suppressed. They are by far one of the largest ethnic groups worldwide who don't have their own autonomy.

The only solution would be if the Sinai is given to the Copts so they can form their own country. As a Levantine Christian I wouldn't mind living in a Copt country, they are my brothers.

Leventines are distinct from Egyptians. They have West Asian (chalcolithic Iranian) and low level Steppe_MLBA ancestry compared Ancient Egyptians

[Kamal900]

This is such bullshit. The shit by Israeli settlers is a rare event. They total 50 people at max.

I'm not saying all of Israel is like that which is usually done by religious settlers anyway. I was just saying that the Likud ruling party of Israel is a racist party by default which even Longbowman agrees on the whole thing as well. While Zionism in the past used to be based on civic nationalism for both Jews and Arabs, the ideology changed to mixed with Jewish nationalism and etc not much differently than say Baathism which is an Arab nationalistic party against non-Arabs like Kurds, Persians and etc. Palestinians also do bad things too, so I'm no longer the person that sees things in black-and-white.

[Kamal900]

Egypt likes to keep Copts really poor and impoverished so they don't have self-determination and seek autonomy. We're talking about at least 15 million Christians who are systematically suppressed. They are by far one of the largest ethnic groups worldwide who don't have their own autonomy.

The only solution would be if the Sinai is given to the Copts so they can form their own country. As a Levantine Christian I wouldn't mind living in a Copt country, they are my brothers.

They're not your "brothers" since Copts don't cluster with any Levantine groups besides Palestinians and Jordanians as well as to other Egyptians and even to Arabians as well. The same's true for the ancient Egyptians btw. Sectarianism is pretty much the norm in the Levant and Egypt, that's for sure. The Copts here in the UAE are doing just fine.

Ancient Egyptians from New Kingdom period:

Distance to: EGY_Late_Period
0.04819656 Yemenite_Dhamar
0.04939434 Yemenite_Amran
0.05178746 Yemenite_Ma'rib
0.05512937 Yemenite_Jew
0.05694519 Yemenite_Al_Bayda
0.05723044 BedouinA
0.05875959 Yemenite_Al_Jawf
0.06219038 Palestinian
0.06348335 BedouinB
0.06664471 Saudi
0.06669452 Samaritan
0.06981400 Yemenite_Mahra
0.07289655 Tunisian_Jew
0.07623195 Libyan_Jew
0.07838259 Egyptian
0.07898094 Palestinian_Beit_Sahour
0.08070070 Lebanese_Christian
0.08497977 Karaite_Egypt
0.08757410 Lebanese_Muslim
0.08947886 Lebanese_Druze
0.09099972 Druze
0.09159035 Syrian_Jew
0.09175144 Moroccan_Jew
0.09280638 Syrian
0.09339946 Romaniote_Jew

Ancient Egyptians from Ptolemy period:

Distance to: EGY_Hellenistic
0.05517412 Yemenite_Dhamar
0.05914018 Yemenite_Amran
0.06050051 Yemenite_Ma'rib
0.06198049 Yemenite_Al_Bayda
0.06254366 Yemenite_Jew
0.06465316 Yemenite_Al_Jawf
0.06918032 BedouinA
0.07241956 BedouinB
0.07441549 Saudi
0.07570574 Palestinian
0.07657475 Yemenite_Mahra
0.07802007 Samaritan
0.08271892 Egyptian
0.08690035 Tunisian_Jew
0.09057689 Libyan_Jew
0.09497840 Lebanese_Christian
0.09498329 Karaite_Egypt
0.09722658 Palestinian_Beit_Sahour
0.09990951 Lebanese_Muslim
0.10160428 Lebanese_Druze
0.10372098 Syrian
0.10414060 Druze
0.10470074 Syrian_Jew
0.10583212 Moroccan_Jew
0.10742706 Romaniote_Jew

Oh, and don't pretend you care about them considering that the Maronite Christians in countries like Canada and other western countries even bully Copts just to please their White masters. Bitch please. Take your christ-tard beliefs somewhere else. Most Euro members here don't give a flying fuck about your kind.

Oh, and one last thing. I'm not a Muslim either as what you claimed in the other thread before Loki closed the thread down. I'm an atheist, and all of the Abrahamic religions are bad :)

[Pine]

I'm not saying all of Israel is like that which is usually done by religious settlers anyway. I was just saying that the Likud ruling party of Israel is a racist party by default which even Longbowman agrees on the whole thing as well. While Zionism in the past used to be based on civic nationalism for both Jews and Arabs, the ideology changed to mixed with Jewish nationalism and etc not much differently than say Baathism which is an Arab nationalistic party against non-Arabs like Kurds, Persians and etc. Palestinians also do bad things too, so I'm no longer the person that sees things in black-and-white.

To put it in perspective, there are probably more hate crimes against reform and conservative synagogues in Israel than against churches. Why is Likud racist?

[Kamal900]

To put it in perspective, there are probably more hate crimes against reform and conservative synagogues in Israel than against churches. Why is Likud racist?

It's a far-right nationalist party, and many of it's members including Netanyahu are very racist to the core.

[Teutone]

It's a far-right nationalist party, and many of it's members including Netanyahu are very racist to the core.

Thats what the left is saying about Trump and the GOP.

I think who really is dangerous and similar to isis, is hamas.

[Yorgo]

They're not your "brothers" since Copts don't cluster with any Levantine groups besides Palestinians and Jordanians as well as to other Egyptians and even to Arabians as well. The same's true for the ancient Egyptians btw. Sectarianism is pretty much the norm in the Levant and Egypt, that's for sure. The Copts here in the UAE are doing just fine.

Ancient Egyptians from New Kingdom period:

Distance to: EGY_Late_Period
0.04819656 Yemenite_Dhamar
0.04939434 Yemenite_Amran
0.05178746 Yemenite_Ma'rib
0.05512937 Yemenite_Jew
0.05694519 Yemenite_Al_Bayda
0.05723044 BedouinA
0.05875959 Yemenite_Al_Jawf
0.06219038 Palestinian
0.06348335 BedouinB
0.06664471 Saudi
0.06669452 Samaritan
0.06981400 Yemenite_Mahra
0.07289655 Tunisian_Jew
0.07623195 Libyan_Jew
0.07838259 Egyptian
0.07898094 Palestinian_Beit_Sahour
0.08070070 Lebanese_Christian
0.08497977 Karaite_Egypt
0.08757410 Lebanese_Muslim
0.08947886 Lebanese_Druze
0.09099972 Druze
0.09159035 Syrian_Jew
0.09175144 Moroccan_Jew
0.09280638 Syrian
0.09339946 Romaniote_Jew

Ancient Egyptians from Ptolemy period:

Distance to: EGY_Hellenistic
0.05517412 Yemenite_Dhamar
0.05914018 Yemenite_Amran
0.06050051 Yemenite_Ma'rib
0.06198049 Yemenite_Al_Bayda
0.06254366 Yemenite_Jew
0.06465316 Yemenite_Al_Jawf
0.06918032 BedouinA
0.07241956 BedouinB
0.07441549 Saudi
0.07570574 Palestinian
0.07657475 Yemenite_Mahra
0.07802007 Samaritan
0.08271892 Egyptian
0.08690035 Tunisian_Jew
0.09057689 Libyan_Jew
0.09497840 Lebanese_Christian
0.09498329 Karaite_Egypt
0.09722658 Palestinian_Beit_Sahour
0.09990951 Lebanese_Muslim
0.10160428 Lebanese_Druze
0.10372098 Syrian
0.10414060 Druze
0.10470074 Syrian_Jew
0.10583212 Moroccan_Jew
0.10742706 Romaniote_Jew

Oh, and don't pretend you care about them considering that the Maronite Christians in countries like Canada and other western countries even bully Copts just to please their White masters. Bitch please. Take your christ-tard beliefs somewhere else. Most Euro members here don't give a flying fuck about your kind.

Oh, and one last thing. I'm not a Muslim either as what you claimed in the other thread before Loki closed the thread down. I'm an atheist, and all of the Abrahamic religions are bad :)

And should I care about their genetics because? They are Christians and that's ALL that's matters. We're brothers in Christ. They share the same struggles as us and basically the same culture.

Stop pushing this 'Abrahamic religions' bs, Muslims worship Satan and not the God of Abraham.

[samario]

Israel is ethnocentric while the UAE isn't. Yeah, it is but democracy doesn't mean that it's based on civic nationalism like the US, so they wouldn't be able to assimilate unless they fully converted to Judaism and join the Jewish tribe so to speak. Arabic is a Semitic language btw very closely related to Aramaic and Hebrew(Canaanite). UAE isn't fully secular or shari3a for that matter but rather in between, but things are getting more and more better here. We have a lot of Coptic churches here and so on, and they're living in peace with the Muslims here. Not to mention that it's very illegal for hate speech against religion, race and etc to the point that you'd be fined for over 1 million dirhams on that. I'm not even joking. Israel doesn't have such laws against hate speech, especially under the rule of the Likud party that is very racist to the core.

It is? It's mostly theo-centric, I believe. Many Yemenite Jews, for instance, have Subsaharan African ancestry. Language also plays a key role. Was intermarriage of the Jewish community in countries like Yemen non-existent? I know for sure they mixed with the local population of Europe. The genetic contribution of host populations to the Jewish gene pool varies whether it may be the Jewish community in Yemen or the Jewish community in Eastern Europe, etc.

All of these populations share some degree of common heritage, but it's not exactly the same as they all took different paths and incorporated elements of the host populations.

Maybe they are racist towards Gulf Arabs?

I think culture and language is more important than race in Israel. Arabic is a Semitic language but not native to Canaan.

UAE is not ethnocentric at all, either. Emiratis are a minority there, but it's even more theo-centric than Israel in my opinion and offers less freedom to non-Muslim groups. The Christian population of Israel is the only Christian population portraying a rise in population. I'm glad to hear the UAE is on its way to become more secular.

[samario]

Egypt likes to keep Copts really poor and impoverished so they don't have self-determination and seek autonomy. We're talking about at least 15 million Christians who are systematically suppressed. They are by far one of the largest ethnic groups worldwide who don't have their own autonomy.

The only solution would be if the Sinai is given to the Copts so they can form their own country. As a Levantine Christian I wouldn't mind living in a Copt country, they are my brothers.

Interesting. Well the Sinai peninsula has been a disputed territory and only came under Egyptian rule just recently. Good luck with that. Please capture the Gaza Strip whilst you are at it. The Muslims' military base for terrorist attacks. Is the Sinai peninsula arable land?

I like the secular Egypt idea better with deep roots in Pharaonism.

[samario]

They're not your "brothers" since Copts don't cluster with any Levantine groups besides Palestinians and Jordanians as well as to other Egyptians and even to Arabians as well. The same's true for the ancient Egyptians btw. Sectarianism is pretty much the norm in the Levant and Egypt, that's for sure. The Copts here in the UAE are doing just fine.

How about Israelites? Do they cluster closer to Syrians and Lebanese? The Lebanese and Syrians are grouped together with the Palestinians, Samaritans, Jews for a reason, no? They are part of the Levant.

[Kamal900]

How about Israelites? Do they cluster closer to Syrians and Lebanese? The Lebanese and Syrians are grouped together with the Palestinians, Samaritans, Jews for a reason, no? They are part of the Levant.

They cluster the closest to Samaritans and to Palestinian Christians, and the Israelite ancestry among Palestinian Muslims is around more than 55% on average while the rest is Egyptian and Arabian with some East African admixture.

[Kamal900]

It is? It's mostly theo-centric, I believe. Many Yemenite Jews, for instance, have Subsaharan African ancestry. Language also plays a key role. Was intermarriage of the Jewish community in countries like Yemen non-existent? I know for sure they mixed with the local population of Europe. The genetic contribution of host populations to the Jewish gene pool varies whether it may be the Jewish community in Yemen or the Jewish community in Eastern Europe, etc.

All of these populations share some degree of common heritage, but it's not exactly the same as they all took different paths and incorporated elements of the host populations.

Maybe they are racist towards Gulf Arabs?

I think culture and language is more important than race in Israel. Arabic is a Semitic language but not native to Canaan.

UAE is not ethnocentric at all, either. Emiratis are a minority there, but it's even more theo-centric than Israel in my opinion and offers less freedom to non-Muslim groups. The Christian population of Israel is the only Christian population portraying a rise in population. I'm glad to hear the UAE is on its way to become more secular.

Jews are not a race but an ethnicity. Jews in Israel are very ethnocentric to the bone, so they don't like gentiles in general all that much really. Yes, the UAE is more theo-centric than Israel when it comes to religion, but nowhere near ethnocentric as them, so they don't mind foreigners living here to the point they are a minority in their own nation in contrast to Israel.

[Bassel]

This has been an on-going theme for most of the 25th of January revolution era activists and modern activists as the Authoritarian government of Egypt tightens its fists on opposition groups. It is less about Christianity and more about being a part of the Maspero Youth Group which started as consequence of the 2011 Maspero Demonstrations' that ended with nothing short of a massacre of protesters by the government, these demonstrations first began as a protest against the demolition of an Aswanese church by Salafi extremists amidst denial by the local mayor of the incident, later claiming it was built on unlawful grounds, but later developed as chants against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) were echoed by the participants, which ruled the country at the time during the interim period of the transition between the ousted president Hosni Mubarak's rule and the to-be-held elections, failing to hasten its fulfillment of the people's demands. The SCAF responsible for that massacre is the same SCAF that's ruling Egypt to this day, and it has been constantly working on suppressing the remnants of this group along with many others ever since.

In 2021, human rights lawyer Amr Imam, journalist Ahmed Shaker, activist Mohamed Adel (A founder of the April 6th Youth Movement, a 25th of January revolution era activist group), journalist Esraa Abdel Fattah, engineer Yehia Hussein Abdel Hady, Dr. Yahya Al-Qazzaz, labour activist Rashad Kamal, Dr. Abdel Moneim Abul-Fotouh, human rights defender Sanaa Seif, journalist Hisham Gaafar, human rights lawyer Haitham Mohamedeen, human rights lawyer Sayed al-Banna, human rights defender Mohamed Adel, journalists Hossam Moanes and Hesham Fouad, human rights activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, human rights lawyer Zyad El-Elaimy, blogger Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan (Owner of the Youtube channel Oxygen Egypt, which documents human rights conditions in Egypt), human rights lawyer Sayed el-Banna, human rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer, human rights lawyer Mahienour Al-Masry, journalists Khaled Daoud, Solafa Magdy and Hossam al-Sayyad , human rights lawyer Mohab El-Ebrashi, human rights lawyer Mohamed Ramadan, along with many others were all detained under the charges of joining a terrorist group, insulting the president, misusing social media and publishing false news.

Notice the repetitive theme of charges given to those apprehended by the government, mostly activists and human rights lawyers, the same charges that were given to activist Ramy Kamel which have become a motto of regime's crackdown on opposition figures. None of these people have any links with terrorist groups, neither do they support the Egyptian-classified terrorist group the Muslim Brotherhood, but they all have one thing in common, which is that they criticized the president's and the government's actions, the true reason why they were apprehended. The Egyptian government, although has a history of religious minority negligence and oppression, doesn't concern itself with religion as it has little to no real effect on its rule as much as political opposition, the only real threat to their political strong-hand. Almost all of the recently detained activists, if not all this year, were Muslims, under the same charges as their previously-detained Christian counterparts, and they form the majority of detainees in general throughout the decade, but I get the pull of international media when it comes to news of a human rights abuse against a part of the Egyptian Christian community, yet, it can be easily deceiving to the common person out of Egypt to earn themselves a polarized lens through which they look at the political situation in Egypt with a lack of a proper context to the events. Tossing the precursors to this matter away as simple minority oppression is not only a great understatement of the real problem, but an insult to the work of these journalists whose work encompassed a wide range of subjects and problems, all of which they were attempting to shine light at, only for an iota of light to be shined at a part of them.

With no offense to your person, you have made some unbased claims regarding the general opinions of Egyptian Muslims regarding their Christian counterparts, no, local Muslims don't truly hate their Christian neighbors, I have been living and still am living among Christians no different than I live with the Muslims, my Christian friends are as dear to me as my Muslim friends, and a religious strife isn't on the average person's shopping list. Neither the educational, ideological, nor the living conditions allow a level of comfort as to allow the common man to start brewing side agendas to Egypt's ethno-political reform. The common person's greatest concern is to live a comfortable life with a suitable living wage and humane living conditions, both Muslims and Christians I meet babble with the same intensity about the government and the living conditions, and the great majority of people don't share that view that you claim is predominant.

"Young Copt women are kidnapped everyday in areas like upper Egypt and forced to marry the Muslim kidnapper and never allowed to see their Christian family again." The only incidents I've heard of this matter was from Central Asian countries where bride kidnapping is a cultural phenomenon, but I'm yet to hear of such an incident happen in the modern time, and I gladly ask you to provide your sources for such a claim. There were cases of Muslims on the other hand who converted to Christianity and were forcibly "re-converted" back to Islam, if this is what you intended to mention.

"The government seldomly allows the construction of new Churches, but when they do, hordes of Muslims mobilize themselves to 'protest' and attack Christians. These people are so evil they won't even tolerate Copts to congregate and pray together in a private home because it's still considered a form of Church." It's true that the government of Egypt still asks for permission for church building, unlike Mosques which (until recently) didn't require a permission to construct. The government has demolished over 30 mosques in Alexandria alone last year, which caused an uproar, but whatever the government pleases to do, it does, and it couldn't care less for religion as its vision is militaristic and focused on securing its rule, while over 1100 unpermitted churches were "legalized" in 2019, and in 2021, the biggest church in the Middle East was inaugurated in The New Administrative Capital, so churches definitely aren't dead by any means. The last time a "Muslim horde" mobilized themselves to attack Christians was during the events of Al-Kosheh Village on 2 January 2000, but there is no single recorded event of a Muslim horde ever amassing themselves and attacking Christians for the building of a church in the modern times, which I also would gladly accept evidence for. None of the church bells in my street or the area around it have stopped ringing since as long as I can remember either, and the only reluctance to pray in church happens in the days following a terrorist attack on a church, of which thankfully none have occurred since 2019. The police barricades in front of the local churches around me are always there, with their perimeters secured from any vehicles. One of the two-way streets near me was blocked for any vehicle's passage since 2014 because of a church in that street, and only 2 months ago was this blocking lifted, but the barricades and the police remain close within the perimeter of the church.

"You have sheiks and imans on live tv everyday fueling the hate against Christians." All religious and public figures on TV are selected and approved by the government, and they make sure that no such figures possess radical beliefs or points of views, anyone, whether a religious figure or not who makes hateful remarks on a certain religious group, nationality, or people has their license revoked, and is potentially detained on charges of inciting religious strife, or threatening national security/stability. This isn't only the case for public figures, but mosque imams too, all Friday speeches undergo approval by a presidential committee and all imams are ordered to follow them, anyone who fails to do is stripped of their title and banned from giving speeches in mosques. I got to see that happen with my own eyes in the mosque I pray on Friday in, when the imam gave a speech about the history of the companions of Mohammed, while the official speech was regarding morality and religious co-existence, and although he said nothing out of the ordinary, it wasn't approved by the presidency, so that was the last time I heard his voice echo within that mosque. The government has agents that attend these prayers to look for signs of opposition or radicalism, or any unofficial gatherings/discussions going on inside, you can even spot them if you're good enough, as you can clearly see what their focus is when the prayers begin.

"Copts are so persecuted that they all have a small cross tattooed on their wrists at an early age which they have to show to prove they are real Christians in order to be able to enter Church to attend Mass." The tradition of the cross tattoo is an old Coptic tradition that started after the 7th century Islamic conquest of Egypt, it is considered a symbol of true loyalty to the faith, and a reminder of their dedication to Christ through hardships, and under constant minisculization due to the spread of the Muslim population, it is also used to identify actual Christians to gain entry into churches, although this can be faked through henna/temporary tattoos and as such personal IDs are much more efficient and fool-proof (In Egypt, religion is written on personal IDs, only if it is one of the three Abrahamic religions). The tradition continues to this day, but recently in urban communities, it started to wear out among some modernists, and although small in size, the number of people who are letting go of that tradition is slowly increasing.

"Egypt likes to keep Copts really poor and impoverished so they don't have self-determination and seek autonomy. We're talking about at least 15 million Christians who are systematically suppressed. They are by far one of the largest ethnic groups worldwide who don't have their own autonomy. The only solution would be if the Sinai is given to the Copts so they can form their own country. As a Levantine Christian I wouldn't mind living in a Copt country, they are my brothers." 40% of the Egyptian population live on under $2 a day, majority Muslims, but include Christians as well, and conspiracy theories aside, Egypt's population growth, economy, and education have been poorly managed for centuries, these problems have only been noticed and paid attention to fairly recently, and the government is currently working on overhauling these systems, quite effectively, at least better than their handling of human rights problems. Division is a truly despised vision to have, as the true vision of all people should be unification not the segregation and autonomy of every two people that have matching moles on their foreheads. While you may think that separation is a solution to their persecution somehow, all examples of racial/ethnic/religious segregation in recent history have proven to be nothing but a failure, only working to polarize the population even more, take South Sudan for example, or Black-White segregation in the USA, the true path towards normalization is assimilation, and that is done through inter-mixing and co-existence, like it is right now, so instead of thinking as "us" and "them" we start thinking as only "we" and "us", no "Southern" us and "Northern" them either. We don't need more colors painting the population, but a canvas to fit the existing colors. Coptic Christians are your siblings in faith, but they are my siblings in nationality, blood, language, and culture, and this is how it should be, humans being brothers for nothing more or less than being human, and I appreciate your concern for your religious counterparts, but I would very much prefer if local problems were solved by local solutions, instead of everyone pitching in to give a hand, or a gun, to those they think are important to them.

I highly recommend that you ask actual Egyptian Christians about their own affairs and their being, for they are the true subjects of the problem and they possess the greatest know-how of the matter, instead of basing your opinion around internet videos or TV, and especially as someone who lives thousands of kilometers away from Egypt and its immediate geographical neighborhood, for the situation is far more complex with a bigger back-story than the headlines can tell, as for example, this news you tell may be a 2019 happening to you, but it is in fact a 2011-born event that is going on to this day. There's no denying that Christians in Egypt are a minority, and that over the course of their presence they have faced oppression based on their creed more than any other minority group collectively. The matter of Coptic persecution should be discussed with an informed mindset, with attention to historical backgrounds or else one will find themselves succumbing to a "whitened" version of the same extremist mindset that is the cause of this problem, the same one that generates hatred between religious groups, and sparks religious warfare, which is what the Islamist terrorist groups are engaging in. Hatred isn't to be combatted with hatred, as it yields anger, and anger yields impulsively violent actions, but with the elimination of the causes, education, and advocating against radicalism.

It can be quite hypocritical when people who claim to advocate for the rights of the persecuted Coptic Christians of Egypt on the grounds of humanitarian causes never mention nor recognize the existence of even less fortunate minorities, take the Baha'i people for instance who may not be getting bombed or shot at, but lack official recognition meaning no personal IDs are issued for them unless they decide to classify themselves under one of the three Abrahamic faiths, the only recognized faiths, as if they don't, then they receive no education, no healthcare, and no housing, and they attempted to file multiple lawsuits to no avail. The Sisi government has a secular agenda, and it claims to be working on incorporating people of all faiths, including Atheists as the president personally said during one of the Global Youth Forum conferences, but until these problems are worked on, an agenda is a mere piece of paper, and a claim to soothe the masses.