Sameh Khouzam, a 38-year-old Egyptian Coptic Christian, is seeking asylum in the US. He fled from Egypt nine years ago to escape forced conversion to Islam. The US, however, is threatening to deport him back to Egypt -- where he will likely face torture or death.
"Christian fears torture if deported," by Bob Unruh for WND:
A Coptic Christian from Egypt is battling for a court ruling to allow him to remain in the United States and avoid the sure torture he would face under Egypt's Islamic law, according to his supporters. Sameh Khouzam, 38, who has been in the United States for about nine years already, is facing a court date June 18, when a decision will be announced on that deportation order.His supporters say the issue is the torture he would face if returned to Egypt, which he fled under threats from Muslims who demanded that he and his family members convert to Islam.
A spokesman, Sam Grace, said because Egypt's constitution says that laws derive from the Quran, the persecution of Christians there is not only allowed, but endorsed, by government officials.
"In the last 10 years, more than 5,000 Christians have been massacred in Egypt," he told WND. "Hundreds of businesses and homes first have been looted, then burned and destroyed. Churches have been burned and destroyed.
"And you know what? Not one Muslim has been indicted, let alone convicted," he said."Especially on Friday, after the Friday prayers, the Muslim mobs are incited on attacking Christians," Grace told WND. "It happened last Friday. Mobs attacked businesses and burned them, and Christian homes and two churches in Alexandria."
"The life of a Christian in Egypt is now worth zero. Every Muslim now knows killing a Christian [is not prosecuted,]" he said.
A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded that Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years already.
"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report concluded.
So what about Khouzam?
In Khouzam's case, a federal court banned his deportation based on the threats he's reported. But now administration officials are planning a deportation anyway, citing "diplomatic assurances" from Egypt that the man will not face torture. His arguments are being pursued by Human Rights Watch and others, who are arguing that the use of torture in Egypt is so routine and well-documented deporting Khouzam would expose him to harsh treatment and violate the Convention Against Torture.That prohibits foreign citizens from being repatriated to countries where they stand a reasonable chance of being tortured.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by Congress, lists Egypt on its watch list of countries, noting that it had "a poor overall human rights record."
Egypt is considered by the Bush Administration to be one of the model Middle Eastern democracies. Think again.
Crossposted from The American Israeli Patriot.
Fortunately, most of these cases usually are resolved positively for the Coptic Christians and they are allowed to stay in the US. But, why do they have to go through this expensive, stressful process to begin with? Mubarak's government allows the fundamentalists, inside and outside government agencies, to make life as miserable and dangerous as possible for Coptic Christians. The Christians act as a sort of 'safety valve' allowing Islamic fundamentalists to direct part of their hatred and violence away from Mubarak, Inc.
...Has this Christian learned that there are dhimmicrats in America?.....
If he only were a Mexican they would leave him alone.
Well here's dimplomacy at its best:
The U.S. government can deport Sameh Khouzam to Nogalas, Arizona, passport in hand, at the gate where they can observe his legal entry into Mexico.
Sameh can then choose to enter back into the U.S. by himself or with the help of his new countrymen, passport optional.
Once back in America, he can live freely, no longer having concern of being prosecuted by the U.S. government.
Sameh can get a drivers license and a job, avoid paying taxes, receive free medical care and practise his faith freely.
However, he will have to watch his back because Muslims don't seem to like apostates.
Well here's dimplomacy at its best:
The U.S. government can deport Sameh Khouzam to Nogalas, Arizona, passport in hand, at the gate where they can observe his legal entry into Mexico.
Sameh can then choose to enter back into the U.S. by himself or with the help of his new countrymen, passport optional.
Once back in America, he can live freely, no longer having concern of being prosecuted by the U.S. government.
Sameh can get a drivers license and a job, avoid paying taxes, receive free medical care and practise his faith freely.
However, he will have to watch his back because Muslims don't seem to like apostates.
Well here's dimplomacy at its best:
The U.S. government can deport Sameh Khouzam to Nogalas, Arizona, passport in hand, at the gate where they can observe his legal entry into Mexico.
Sameh can then choose to enter back into the U.S. by himself or with the help of his new countrymen, passport optional.
Once back in America, he can live freely, no longer having concern of being prosecuted by the U.S. government.
Sameh can get a drivers license and a job, avoid paying taxes, receive free medical care and practise his faith freely.
However, he will have to watch his back because Muslims don't seem to like apostates.
If he only were a Mexican they would leave him alone.
Posted by: MadMom
...or one of the Duka brothers...
Bush and his fellow phonies are more than willing to sacrifice this Christian Copt just to maintain "good relations" with a "friend and ally in the War on Terror".
What a tragedy.
On a related note, it doesn't make sense to immigrate to the U.S. legally, especially since U.S. citizenship has been so devalued in the last few decades thanks to extreme leftists like Kennedy and phony, ungrateful, backstabbing "conservatives" like Bush and Graham.
It is a remarkable fact that illegal immigrants have more privileges in the U.S. than do American citizens. Even Edward Gibbon would find this hard to comprehend.
Note to self: when escaping Jihadis, run to a Christian country.
Granting Sameh Khouzam a visa on the basis that he faces torture in Egypt because he is a Christian in a Muslim nation, is going to pose a real dilemma for the authorities, as that would be an admission that Islam is not the RoP as claimed.
What would Jack Bauer do?
How can the Bush administration and the State Department be fighting a war against Islamic domination of the US when they both are in bed with such Islamic "friends and allies" as Egypt and Saudi?
As for allowing Christians from the Middle East entry into the US? It would deprive a Moslem--perhaps a PalArab--from such entry. And Bush and State prefer Moslem immigrants to any others.
(When I say "immigrants" I mean legal ones. The others are "aliens.")
If he only were a Mexican they would leave him alone.
Posted by: MadMom at June 13, 2007 10:53 AM
Make that an illiterate Mexican with an extended family of seventy-five. They would be welcomed with open arms, amnesty, welfare, food stamps, free educations through college, and impunity for previous crimes.
What do we owe Egypt? We cater to the oil producing islamic despots so they will "allow" us to further enrich them by buying their oil; we allow them to spread their vile, filthy, intolerant religion, and to send their brightest students to our infidel universities. But Egypt has no oil and exports nothing but typical islamic hate. We give them millions in aid and say nothing about their persecution of Christians. Can anyone explain this insane policy?
Governments have imported minority groups into their countries throughout history for various reasons, catered to them; elevated a few members of each one to levels of authority to control the rest; and eventually disenfranchised the majority, indigenous population. This was done to maintain power, but always resulted in disaster and downfall. Is that what is happening to us? It sure seems that way.
One day you hear some bloated bureaucrat at the UN pontificating about the "sovereignty" of some obscure rathole of a country and the next day you hear a "progressive" ranting on about the inherent right of Mexicans and people from anywhere in the world to migrate to the United States, as if our sovereignty doesn't exist. We are called racists, nativists, bigots for protesting the destruction of our country, but nobody objects to the Japanese or the Saudis' refusal to allow their cultures to be polluted with immigrants. Their steadfast insistence on maintaining ethnic purity is not condemned by the UN; they are not called racists or bigots, and they are certainly wealthy nations like the U.S Why is that? Why is the United States the only nation on earth that belongs to everyone in the world? Why are our borders open to anyone and the fruits of our labor generously bestowed on the undeserving? It is maddening.
As a jew, I will pray for Sameh Khouzam. As an american, I will write my congressman on his behalf. As an anti-jihadist, perhaps we could start to think of the positive aspects of nuclear fallout in certain ratholes of the world. Kind of like RAID on a global scale. Perhaps this is the "global test" Kerry choked on in a debate 3 years ago :)