Christians in Libya being rounded up and beaten
Christians living in Libya have been rounded up, beaten, and accused of proselytism, in the latest sign of the militant Islamism affecting the country since the revolution.
Egyptians by the entrance of the Libyan embassy protest for the death of Egyptian Christian Ezzat Atallah at a Libyan prison Photo: AP
9:00PM GMT 13 Mar 2013
The men, Egyptian
Copts working in Benghazi, were seized by an Islamist militia but handed
over to the government. One, named as Ezzat Atallah, 44, died at the weekend
after being "tortured", his brother, Effat, told The Daily
Telegraph.
The authorities have condemned an attack on the community's priest, but in a
sign of their powerlessness in the face of sectarian violence, have taken no
further action. After the death of Mr Atallah, four men remain in custody
out of 60 detained, while 35 of the rest have been deported for illegal
immigration.
"When I visited him he was in a pitiful condition," Ragaa Nagah,
wife of one of the four, Emad Seddeek, said. "He was afraid to tell us
how he was tortured, but he couldn't see out of one of his eyes.
"They were standing over him and beating him while they asked him to
confess and when they were about to give him an electric shock he said,
'Don't do that and I will say anything you want me to say'."
The arrests were revealed in a startling video which sent shock-waves through
Egypt's Christian minority. It showed a room full of men, lorded over by
Islamist militiamen who have shaved their captives' heads and refer to
Christian images sitting on the table in front of them.
The round-up appears to have been carried out by Ansar al-Sharia, a notorious
militia accused of involvement in the death of Chris Stevens, the American
ambassador, in the city last September.
That group is not recognised by the authorities, though it operates with impunity, but the captives were then handed over to a government-backed group.
The video makes clear that the incident started as a business dispute.
Muslim stallholders complained that Christians overpaid for their stalls, making it hard for them to compete.
Some of the captors wear the moustacheless beards common to purist Salafi Sunni Muslims.
The seizure of the men followed the arrest of four Christians from different countries for proselytising earlier in February.
Among the recent arrests was a bookseller and evangelist called Shareef Ramses, said to be in possession of "thousands" of bibles. The other four kept in custody, including the dead man, were being investigated because their numbers were on his phone, the Egyptian consul in Benghazi, Ashraf Shiha, said. He denied that the men had been tortured.
"Some police cars stopped by our house," Mrs Nagah, a teacher, said. "They were arresting our neighbour Eissa Ibrahim.
"They asked my husband to come with them to make bail for Eissa before releasing him. But when he went with them they kept him in custody."
The militants then turned their attention to the community's church, attacking the priest-in-charge, Father Pola Isaac, and his assistant.
"They shaved Fr Pola's moustache off, and his head, and beat him up before letting him go," said Yussef Shaker, the son of another of the detainees, Adel Shaker.
The shaving of the moustache suggests the attack was sectarian in motivation.
Previous attacks on the small minority of Christians in Libya, nearly all expatriates, have been put down as one-off incidents. Two Egyptians were killed in December when their church in the town of Dafniya was hit by a grenade.
The incidents have worsened relations between the two countries, already strained by Libyan allegations that Egypt is sheltering Gaddafi regime fugitives and refusing to return stolen money. Copts staged a protest outside the Libyan embassy on Monday night, burning Libyan flags.
The Libyan foreign ministry condemned the attack on Fr Pola as "contrary to the rules of Islam".
Mr Atallah, who died, suffered diabetes and heart problems, and his family said his treatment in prison contributed to his death.
Yussef Shaker said it was true that thousands of bibles had been found, but he added: "Shereef said that Libya was free after Gaddafi and anybody who wants to read anything is free to do so."
end quote from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9927447/Christians-in-Libya-being-rounded-up-and-beaten.html
This sort of thing is becoming more prevalent throughout the middle east and driven by the times we now live in. I think over time you will see less and less Christians because of this choosing to continue to live in or even to visit Middle Eastern Countries over the next few years. If everyone isn't protected of all religions and no religions then no one is safe at all anywhere in those countries. This is a given. So, basically if you aren't Muslim you won't be safe. And even then if you aren't the kind of Muslim that the people around you want you to be you still aren't safe.
And this persecution of Christians likely will cause as a reaction in nearby Christian countries of persecution of Muslims because of the unfairness to Christians in these Middle Eastern Countries.
Here is the problem of all this: "What Goes around comes around".
That group is not recognised by the authorities, though it operates with impunity, but the captives were then handed over to a government-backed group.
The video makes clear that the incident started as a business dispute.
Muslim stallholders complained that Christians overpaid for their stalls, making it hard for them to compete.
Some of the captors wear the moustacheless beards common to purist Salafi Sunni Muslims.
The seizure of the men followed the arrest of four Christians from different countries for proselytising earlier in February.
Among the recent arrests was a bookseller and evangelist called Shareef Ramses, said to be in possession of "thousands" of bibles. The other four kept in custody, including the dead man, were being investigated because their numbers were on his phone, the Egyptian consul in Benghazi, Ashraf Shiha, said. He denied that the men had been tortured.
"Some police cars stopped by our house," Mrs Nagah, a teacher, said. "They were arresting our neighbour Eissa Ibrahim.
"They asked my husband to come with them to make bail for Eissa before releasing him. But when he went with them they kept him in custody."
The militants then turned their attention to the community's church, attacking the priest-in-charge, Father Pola Isaac, and his assistant.
"They shaved Fr Pola's moustache off, and his head, and beat him up before letting him go," said Yussef Shaker, the son of another of the detainees, Adel Shaker.
The shaving of the moustache suggests the attack was sectarian in motivation.
Previous attacks on the small minority of Christians in Libya, nearly all expatriates, have been put down as one-off incidents. Two Egyptians were killed in December when their church in the town of Dafniya was hit by a grenade.
The incidents have worsened relations between the two countries, already strained by Libyan allegations that Egypt is sheltering Gaddafi regime fugitives and refusing to return stolen money. Copts staged a protest outside the Libyan embassy on Monday night, burning Libyan flags.
The Libyan foreign ministry condemned the attack on Fr Pola as "contrary to the rules of Islam".
Mr Atallah, who died, suffered diabetes and heart problems, and his family said his treatment in prison contributed to his death.
Yussef Shaker said it was true that thousands of bibles had been found, but he added: "Shereef said that Libya was free after Gaddafi and anybody who wants to read anything is free to do so."
end quote from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9927447/Christians-in-Libya-being-rounded-up-and-beaten.html
This sort of thing is becoming more prevalent throughout the middle east and driven by the times we now live in. I think over time you will see less and less Christians because of this choosing to continue to live in or even to visit Middle Eastern Countries over the next few years. If everyone isn't protected of all religions and no religions then no one is safe at all anywhere in those countries. This is a given. So, basically if you aren't Muslim you won't be safe. And even then if you aren't the kind of Muslim that the people around you want you to be you still aren't safe.
And this persecution of Christians likely will cause as a reaction in nearby Christian countries of persecution of Muslims because of the unfairness to Christians in these Middle Eastern Countries.
Here is the problem of all this: "What Goes around comes around".
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