Sinai Christians have become a target for the Islamic State, which is now “waging an insurgency against the Egyptian government in Sinai” and “has turned to targeting Christian civilians after suffering setbacks in its confrontation with the army.”
On February 19, ISIS released a video threatening attacks on Christians as a follow-up to its December bombing of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, which killed 28 people. The video described Christians as “infidels” and enemies of Islam.
The video included a masked man who shouted the words: “Oh crusaders in Egypt, this attack that struck you in your temple is just the first with many more to come, God willing.”
Here we see the same propaganda about “crusaders” against Islam, when it was the Islamic Arab invaders who conquered Egypt by bloody force in the 7th century.
“I am not going to wait for death,” Rami Mina, who left Arish on Friday morning, said by telephone. “I shut down my restaurant and got out of there. These people are ruthless.”
Where are Western nations to help innocent, non-threatening Christian refugees who are being singled out for slaughter by the Islamic State?
“Egypt’s Christians flee Sinai amid Islamic State killing spree”, By Ahmed Aboulenein, Reuters, February 24, 2017:
Christian families and students fled Egypt’s North Sinai province in droves on Friday after Islamic State killed the seventh member of their community in just three weeks.
A Reuters reporter saw 25 families gathered with their belongings in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia’s Evangelical Church and church officials said 100 families, out of around 160 in North Sinai, were fleeing. More than 200 students studying in Arish, the province’s capital, have also left.
Seven Christians have been killed in Arish between Jan. 30 and Thursday. Islamic State, which is waging an insurgency there, claimed responsibility for the killings, five of which were shootings. One man was beheaded and another set on fire.
“I am not going to wait for death,” Rami Mina, who left Arish on Friday morning, said by telephone. “I shut down my restaurant and got out of there. These people are ruthless.”
Sectarian attacks occur often in Egypt but are usually confined to home burning, crop razing, attacks on churches, and forced displacement.
Arish residents said militants circulated death lists online and on the streets, warning Christians to leave or die.
“My father is the second name on their list; anyone Christian they put on the list” Munir Adel, a vegetable seller who fled on Friday, said as he huddled with four family members at the Evangelical Church, waiting for church officials to find them a place to stay.
Adel’s parents did not leave Arish because of their old age, he said. “They could be killed at any moment.”
VIDEO THREAT
Islamic State released a video on Sunday threatening Egypt’s Christians and vowing to escalate a campaign against them after it bombed a chapel adjoining Cairo’s St Mark’s Cathedral, the seat of the Coptic papacy, in December, killing 28 people.
“Oh crusaders in Egypt, this attack that struck you in your temple is just the first with many more to come, God willing,” said a masked man in battle-dress the group said blew himself up in the chapel.
Orthodox Copts, who comprise about 10 percent of Egypt’s 90 million people, are the Middle East’s largest Christian community. They have long complained of persecution.
The Coptic Orthodox Church denounced “the recurring terrorist incidents in North Sinai targeting Christian citizens” in a statement on Friday.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told military and police chiefs “to completely eradicate terrorism in northern Sinai and defeat any attempts to target civilians or to undermine the unity of the national fabric”, in reference to the killings, his office said on Thursday.
Egypt is battling an insurgency that gained pace in 2013 after its military, led by Sisi, overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed.
Major General Mostafa al-Razaz, North Sinai’s deputy police chief, said security forces were capable of handling the “crisis” and that they added more patrols and checkpoints.
But Sinai’s Christians say security forces on the ground are unable to protect them and are overwhelmed by the militants.
“The government does nothing. There is no security in Sinai, they can’t even protect themselves,” said Adel…..

mortimer says
Indigenous Christians of Egypt are the original people of Egypt. Christianity predates Islam in Egypt by 600 years.
Muslims love demonizing non-Muslims, since that is the Koran’s basic message: ‘Allah hates the disbelievers and therefore, Muslims should hate them too.’
Islam is pure bigotry.
Westman says
Is there not something strange about the most educated, intelligent, being, who created the Universe, being personally driven to hate because some biological machine, on one of his billions of planets, did not prostrate itself in slavish attitude, five times a day – a compromise with Muhammad after asking for fifty?
Does Allah live next door to Charlie Sheen?
Linda (Ontario,Canada) says
what does that even mean, no offence intended, and it’s probably just me, but…..???
Dawn says
This is sad Christians are being persecuted , killed etc and all my government of Canada can do is help Muslim refugees. That is not right. Why are they so important.
Carlos Danger says
Too bad that the Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury are too busy with lent to mention this religious cleansing.
Turning the other cheek would not be an attractive alternative anyway.
Charli Main says
I fear for the safety of Saint Catherine’s monastery in Sinai. The knowledge held in the library of Saint Catherine’s is incomparable.
If these vermin are not eradicated, this monastery could go the same way as Palmyra.
putridislam says
It’s the same story everywhere. Wherever moslems are, Christians and Jews are persecuted but shshs don’t mention this to Trudeau. He’s too busy getting Soros funding to destroy Canada by importing the enemy.
Angemon says
First of all, Sisi is President because he won elections, fair and square. Second, the overthrow was merely the crystallization of the expressed will of the Egyptian people, who marched and protested against Morsi by the millions. Third, if their reaction to losing elections is engage in terrorism and kill civilians, maybe outsiders can glimpse why the Egyptian people wanted Morsi gone.