What will happen to the Copts of Egypt if an intervention by the International community does not take place?
The Christians of Egypt will not survive the lawlessness and violence directed at them during the current post-revolutionary struggle.
Is the Military Council interim government which is integrated with the Mubarak regime allowing anarchy in order to develop proof that the people’s overthrow of Mubarak is something the people will regret forever – revenge, perhaps?
No matter what the reasons, the fact remains that Copts are not allowed to live and worship in peace in Egypt. Today and throughout history they have been oppressed by their enemy Islam. The world does not care enough to stop the killing of Copts where there are also no oil fields at stake or no corporate investments to lose. If such impetus is required before a decisive action is taken to save the persecuted and oppressed Copts, then surely the real Egyptian people will be driven out of their own country in order to survive this massacre by a bloodthirsty, barbaric cult.
Which political leaders and members of parliaments around the globe will take a stand against what is happening right now by ignoring their political correctness and denouncing this atrocity? Currently, we ignore the violence perpetrated by an ideology, which will surely lead to the demise of the Copts. 　
Copts have suffered under the rule of Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak as Islamic fundamentalism was kept at bay, but how much more have Copts been victimized today while Islamic political factions struggle for domination. If and when one emerges as the majority leader it will be unbearable for the Coptic population and spell the end of any hope for equality under the law, even if the winner calls themselves the party of freedom and democracy. 　　
Will the United States begin to base its aid to Egypt upon Egypt’s human rights record and the degree to which they adhere to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights? How long will we continue to turn a blind eye toward these horrendous attacks against the innocent just because they have chosen to embrace a different God from the one belonging to those who seek to kill Copts and annihilate their places of worship?
Can the West any longer afford to ignore the civil war brewing inside Egypt? As we witness the United States intervening in Libya in a humanitarian effort to save the lives of its citizens from a ruler turned against them, our hope is that the United States will have at least the same concern for the citizens of Egypt.
Below is a reminder of some of the most recent atrocities inflicted upon the Copts:
– Sool Church, north of Cairo: Burned and destroyed by Muslims. No one was condemned for this crime because Christians were forced to compromise and accept "mediations" by Salafi Sheik Mohamed Hassan.
– Assuit-Suhag, two towns in Upper Egypt: Groups of Salafi Muslims slaughtered two Copt businessmen following an earlier murder of a young Coptic man who was thrown from a third floor balcony.
– Town of Quena in Upper Egypt: Salafi Muslims refused to accept an appointed Christian governor, shouting "No Christian may rule Muslims". During this protest, Muslims burned an apartment belonging to a Copt and brutalized him by cutting off his ear.
– Town of Al-Mynia: Continued attacks by Salafi Muslims against Copts and their homes, demanding kickbacks "Mafia style" to prevent them from making further attacks. Throughout the city, Muslims burned down at least twelve Coptic homes, destroyed cars, murdered two Copts and injured many.
– 　Town of Al-Qamadeer: Salafi Muslims took possession of the church and occupied it forbidding Copts to enter their own church to pray. 　　　　
– Cairo and other cities: The Egyptian army stood by and watched without intervening in more than three weeks of Salafi Muslim demonstrations in Cairo and other cities demanding a church to release a Christian woman who they alleged converted to Islam. The woman more than once appeared on TV declaring the information wrong and stood by her Christian faith. They continue to hunt her down like a pack of wolves.
– St. Mina and St. George Churches in Embaba-Cairo: The churches were attacked by Muslims and set on fire. In this act of Jihad, twelve Copts were killed and more than two hundred Copts were injured on Saturday, May 7th.
– Throughout Egypt: Christian women and girls are confined to indoors for fear of kidnapping and forced marriage in an ongoing plan to Islamize the Christian population. The number of kidnapped women and girls in just the last couple of months has been estimated at more than fifty.
– Egyptian media: Allowing Salafi Muslims to send hate messages about Christians out to Muslims to incite more violence.　
For Copts, the situation is dire and getting worse every day. The interim military government, as well as any newly formed government of the future, must place in high regard the measures necessary to strengthen religious freedom, not for some but for all. Any support we in the West intend to give must be contingent on reform in Egypt that respects diversity and protects Coptic Christians. Primarily, this must be reflected in the new Egyptian constitution.
We know that the position of Egypt in the Middle East is precarious at best as it relates to Israel and other serious matters. We pray and hope that the Coptic people, numbering almost twenty million, will not bear the brunt of more leniencies shown by the United States toward breaches of human rights laws in exchange for a Mubarak-style masquerade of "stability" and "democracy," this time on the part of a new Islamic government. 　
As of yet, we see no evidence of the much needed democratic reforms in Egypt. In fact the opposite is taking place in favor of Islamic law. Tragically, the movement in this direction is less than inspiring for those who want to see democracy take shape. One might even go so far as to suggest that the hard work of the pro-democracy, secular, humanitarian, freedom-loving, Western-style, tech-savvy youth in overturning the Mubarak regime has irreversibly fallen prey to the lethal strains of Islam previously held at bay by Egypt’s dictators.
With this appeal, Voice of the Copts demands that the United States and all other Western governments hear the voice of the suffering Christian Copts of Egypt　and take the necessary steps to protect a peaceful population who ask only for the opportunity to live their lives in peace.