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Egypt: Muslims attack security forces near St. Catherine’s Monastery, killing at least one police officer

Apr 19, 2017 9:05 am By Christine Douglass-Williams

St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai is iconic; it is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on a police checkpoint about 800 meters (yards) from the entrance to the monastery, one of the world’s most important Christian sites.

Despite the useless state of emergency declared by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi following the deadly jihad attacks on two Coptic churches that killed 45 people as they celebrated Palm Sunday, nothing substantial is being done (or has ever been done) to protect the threatened Christian population in Egypt. Sisi has mastered the gift of words, but apparently not of action. According to a February 2016 report in International Business Times:

Christians continue to complain of rampant and systemic discrimination, and they are virtually shut out from the political sphere. All church construction and repairs must be approved by authorities, and Christians in rural areas have frequently been on the receiving end of violent attacks. Human rights groups say crimes against Christians regularly go unpunished.

At least Israel is looking after its people:

Israel took the unusual step earlier this month of barring its citizens from crossing into the Sinai peninsula, saying the threat of attacks in the area inspired by Islamic State and other jihadi groups was high.

“Gunmen kill policeman in attack near Egypt’s St. Catherine’s Monastery”, By Ali Abdelaty, Reuters, April 18, 2017:

Gunmen attacked security forces near St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s south Sinai on Tuesday, killing at least one police officer and injuring four others, the Health Ministry said, just a week after two deadly church bombings killed 45.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on a police checkpoint about 800 meters (yards) from the entrance to the monastery, one of the world’s most important Christian sites.

The attack comes just 10 days before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt and just over a week after two deadly suicide bombings on Christian churches, also claimed by Islamic State, plunged the country into mourning and marked one of the bloodiest days for the country’s Christian minority in decades.

St. Catherine’s, founded in the 6th century and located at the foot of Mount Sinai, is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site. It is part of the Eastern Orthodox church.

Egypt’s Christian minority, which makes up about 10 percent of the country’s 92 million people, has increasingly been targeted by Islamist militants, with three deadly church attacks in the span of four months.

In February, scores of Christian families and students fled North Sinai province after a spate of targeted killings.

A successful assault on St. Catherine’s would be the latest challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has pledged to protect the religious minority as part of his campaign against extremism.

Egypt has for years been battling an Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated northern Sinai, which gained pace after the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule…..

Israel took the unusual step earlier this month of barring its citizens from crossing into the Sinai peninsula, saying the threat of attacks in the area inspired by Islamic State and other jihadi groups was high.

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Filed Under: Egypt, Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) Tagged With: Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery


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Comments

  1. Monty says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 9:11 am

    Maybe the Pope will realise that Islam is not the “Religion of Peace” that it claims to be. I do not understand why anyone calling themselves a Christian can be so blind. What will it take to wake people up?

    • Michael says

      Apr 19, 2017 at 2:20 pm

      oh, I think the Pope knows. He’s just playing a game with us. If ANYONE knows precisely what Islam is, and isn’t, it’s the Pope. As long as ‘the leaders’ keep spouting the religion of peace line, the flock, the sheep, nod dumbly and go, okay, if you say so …

  2. EmHotep says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 9:14 am

    Turkey Arrests Dozens Over Referendum Protests

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/world/europe/turkey-erdogan-arrests.html?_r=0

    https://twitter.com/WashingtonPoint/status/854680408994324482

  3. EmHotep says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 9:17 am

    In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends…

    Martin Luther King, Jr.

    • Arthur says

      Apr 19, 2017 at 10:06 pm

      I wish there was something I could do to reverse the tide in Turkey, and elsewhere, which is turning into a flood of fundamentalist Islam. I don’t see what I can do.

  4. Pal says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 9:27 am

    14-y-old boy in Pakistan castrated, blinded for ‘illicit relation with a girl’:
    https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/teens-genitals-chopped-off-blinded-for-illicit-relation-with-girl-in-lahore/
    Till the end of the world…

    • Michael says

      Apr 19, 2017 at 2:24 pm

      What a pleasant article to read, Pal … Just one more story of love and peace in Islam.

    • Jeanette says

      Apr 20, 2017 at 12:10 pm

      The truth is probably that he wasn’t interested in being raped by some influential man.

  5. no_one says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 11:43 am

    I think this is actually the oldest Christian monastery on earth. I know one of the monks there. He came to our parish to talk to us how to be Christians in 21st century. I asked him something, he replied and gave a copy of St. Catherine’s ring. I’ll be praying for them. May St. Catherine protect them and may God rest the soul of the officer who protected the monastery.

    • Jeanette says

      Apr 20, 2017 at 12:12 pm

      I think that Christians who see Islam for the danger that it is should arrange for some times that we could all pray for the safety of Christians at the same time, around the world.

      When 7,000 Buddhists prayed for peace, there was a marked drop in violence worldwide.

      • Jeanette says

        Apr 20, 2017 at 12:13 pm

        Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, others – You are welcome to join us!

  6. no_one says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 12:22 pm

    On Wednesday after Easter, Bright Wednesday or Renewal Wednesday Orthodox Church celebrates the Saints of Mt. Sinai.

  7. ElderlyZionist says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 12:26 pm

    “…nothing substantial is being done (or has ever been done) to protect the threatened Christian population in Egypt. Sisi has mastered the gift of words, but apparently not of action.”

    It seems from this story that Egyptian security forces are guarding St. Catherine’s Monastery, guarding it effectively enough that the Egyptian police and not the monks took this hit from the mujahidin. A very senior Egyptian policewoman was killed last week when she stopped a suicide bomber from entering a church. Maybe it’s not enough, and it certainly hasn’t stopped terror against Egyptian Christians…but it’s not nothing either. Egyptians are laying down their lives fighting the Islamic State. President al-Sissi is one of our few friends in the Near East, and we should give him credit for what he and his supporters do.

    • Michael says

      Apr 19, 2017 at 2:27 pm

      I agree, ElderlyZionist. It’s not nothing. But it seems they’re putting sacrificial lambs there to guard this church. Given the rich and deep love for anything non-Muslim, anything Christian, that Islam holds so deeply, this church is obviously a target. The destruction of so much, so beautiful, in the name of Allah … Let alone the lives of the Christians who have been slaughtered, and will continue to be, until they exist no more in the Middle East — or anywhere for that matter, if Islam has its way.

  8. De Doc says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 4:03 pm

    The rich irony here is that St. Catherine’s monastery holds a document (Ashtiname of Muhammad), purported to be from the time of Islam’s prophet, that gives the Christians there safety and protection from marauding bands of Muslims with orders not to be molested. Muslims (and their apologists) the world over familiar with this document laud it as an example of peace and tolerance in Islam. Scholars have pointed out that it is likely a pious forgery written long after the time of Mo’, but, even if it were genuine, I seriously doubt it would save them from the Muslims now looking to destroy this ancient site of Christendom.

  9. mortimer says

    Apr 19, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    ISIS is trying to show Muslims that Christianity is abandoned by Allah and that Allah is destroying Christians by the hands of Muslims.

    They feel this will cause Muslims to take up arms in a mighty worldwide JIHAD against CHRISTIANS and the CHRISTIAN CHURCH in general.

    Christians should be VERY CONVINCED THAT MUSLIMS ARE INDEED AT WAR AGAINST CHRISTIANITY AND CHRISTIANS and be aware that Muslims are COMMANDED by the Koran, hadiths and by SHARIA LAW to hate Jews and Christians “FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH”.

  10. Transmaster says

    Apr 20, 2017 at 10:25 am

    This is very troubling. The library at St. Catherine’s Monastery is a irreplaceable treasure. Many of the precious documents have been moved to safer locations outside of the region but the cataloging of what is there continues. Google Books Library Project, and Project Gutenberg have sent people in to scan documents into their data bases to protect the contents. It is taking such a long time because in order to scan them all of the books, and pages they need to be restored so they can be handled and scanned, a very slow process.

    I have always wanted to try the bread that is baked at this Monastery. The natural yeasts used are ancient, and unique. .

    • Jeanette says

      Apr 20, 2017 at 12:24 pm

      The famous “Peace” rose was flown to a place of safety during WWII.

      Perhaps the library should be moved temporarily.

      • Jeanette says

        Apr 20, 2017 at 12:30 pm

        Also:

        The French parfumerie Guerlain sent the formula for “Shalimar” (minus one ingredient) to an American perfume company during WWII.

        That formula (missing that one ingredient) was produced as “Emeraude.”

        When the war ended, Guerlain continued producing Shalimar.

        So again, possibly the library should be moved to safety. The sad thing is that unless something major occurs, it would probably end up being permanent.

  11. Robert says

    Apr 21, 2017 at 12:51 am

    The EXODUS by Christians throughout the regions started 5 years ago but their exodus has been accelerated over the last 6 months. Who blames them? But Christians in many islamic countries are discriminated where possible. But who can stand the increasing killing sprees and huge waves of gang rape of Christian women (even at the campus of main universities in Egypt)….

    I have lived off and on for 8 years in Egypt as a visiting professor. I have seen proof of the systemic discrimination of Copt female and male students and rape or female (and one case of a male) medical student .. the trend towards radicalization seems to be everywhere and unstoppable…. not among the poor and uneducated: Medical Students and their professors are not uneducated at all…

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