Dr. Ashraf Ramelah

About Dr. Ashraf Ramelah

Dr. Ashraf Ramelah is the founder and president of Voice of the Copts, a human rights nonprofit organization 501 (c) (3). The organization has offices in Italy and the United States. Dr. Ramelah is dedicated to the Coptic cause and believes that his life’s mission is to speak up for the oppressed Copts who cannot speak up for themselves. When he is not meeting with political figures and policy makers, Dr. Ramelah spends his time travelling throughout the country giving talks about the Coptic issue and explaining to the West the oppression against the Copts in Egypt. Dr. Ramelah was invited to address the European Parliament (2010) and to be the keynote speaker in the Italian Parliament (2011) on the issue of Coptic persecution in Egypt. He has done various interviews with Italian newspapers and appears frequently in the Italian and Arab Media. Dr. Ramelah is a featured author at Arutz Sheva, American Thinker, Family Security Matters.com, Canada Free Press and others. Dr. Ramelah is well known to the Egyptian government due to his advocacy for the Egyptian Copts as well as for Voice of the Copts’ lawsuit against them on behalf of Muslim convert to Christianity Mr. Hegazy and his family in 2009-2010. Ashraf Ramelah also appears as an entry in the Coptic History Encyclopedia (http://www.coptichistory.org/new_page_5260.htm). Dr. Ramelah, himself a Copt, was born in Cairo, Egypt. At the age of 17, he travelled to Italy to study architecture. He graduated with a doctorate in architecture from La Sapienza – Universita’ Degli Studi di Roma,Italy. His special study is restoration of old monuments and history of architecture. His career as an architect took him to work and live in Italy, Saudi Arabia, Gabon and the USA. His personal interests are Egyptology and Coptic history in the period after the Arab invasion of Egypt in 651 AD. Voice of the Copts is dedicated to bringing fair, correct and balanced information to the entire world regarding Copts and Christians in countries with an Arab-Muslim majority.

Egypt’s main opposition accuses Mursi, Brotherhood of ‘vote rigging’

By | 2012-12-16T14:03:21-04:00 December 16th, 2012|News|

Egypt’s main opposition block on Saturday accused President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood of attempted “vote rigging” in the country’s referendum on a new constitution.    The National Salvation Front, in a statement, expressed “deep concern... over the number of irregularities and violations in the holding of the referendum,” charging it “points to a clear desire

Yemen gas pipeline hit by overnight blast

By | 2012-12-16T13:43:48-04:00 December 16th, 2012|News|

Attackers using explosives overnight have again sabotaged a gas pipeline in southern Yemen, the energy operator and security officials said on Sunday.  Yemen LNG, a gas pipeline feeding Yemen's liquefied natural gas said in a statement posted on its Internet site that the blast occurred shortly after midnight, but it did not give details on

Salafi Islamists torch HQ of Egypt’s Wafd party

By | 2012-12-16T13:23:56-04:00 December 16th, 2012|News|

The headquarters of Egypt’s Wafd Party in Cairo was torched on Saturday by supporters of Salafi Islamist politician Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported.    The liberal party’s deputy chairman Fouad Badrawi was injured in the attack, in which the radical Islamist’s supporters managed to break into the party’s building despite heavy

Egypt’s Brotherhood smears opposition in battle for the constitution

By | 2012-12-15T16:27:23-04:00 December 15th, 2012|Press Releases|

In a campaign launched by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood to convince citizens on voting for the constitution, a photo was used to represent the character of President Mursi against liberal leader Mohammed ElBaradei.   The campaign, “who will you support,” published a photo of the two leaders. In the photo, Mursi, on the right, is kissing

Articles dividing Egyptians over new constitution

By | 2012-12-15T16:09:19-04:00 December 15th, 2012|News|

Egyptians started voting early Saturday morning on a constitution draft, which is made up of an introduction, an 11-part preamble and 236 articles.   The constitution put to vote on Saturday was drafted by a 100-member Constituent Assembly. About 25 million voters are expected to vote in Saturday’s referendum in ten different provinces.   The

U.S. Muslims to reclaim ‘Jihad’ with an ad campaign

By | 2012-12-15T15:30:53-04:00 December 15th, 2012|News|

US Muslims launched an advertising and social media campaign Friday in the hopes of reclaiming the word jihad from extremists who insist on equating the spiritual quest with terrorism.   The campaign features Muslims describing their personal struggles -- the meaning of jihad -- on bus ads, Twitter, Facebook and a dedicated website: myjihad.org.  

Petition seeking to establish the position of Special Envoy

By | 2012-12-14T20:47:53-04:00 December 14th, 2012|Petitions|

             Dear Friend:    As you are aware, the religious minorities including but not limited to Christians, Baha’is, Yazidis, and Mandeans have come under brutal attacks perpetrated by Muslims in Near East and South Central Asian countries. Iraqi Christians (Assyrians also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs, and the Armenian community)

Female students in Saudi university banned from wearing trousers

By | 2012-12-14T19:20:35-04:00 December 14th, 2012|Women rights|

The Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University for women in Saudi Arabia has banned students from wearing trousers, urging them to abide by the campus dress code.   The statement was mainly addressed to female students in the school of art and design, for reasons unstated by al-Hayat newspaper.   The dress code bans students

Mursi’s opponents, supporters clash on eve of divisive referendum

By | 2012-12-14T18:40:11-04:00 December 14th, 2012|News|

About 13 people were injured after clashes between opponents and supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Reuters reported on Friday.   Stone-throwing clashes broke out between Islamists and opposition protesters in Alexandria on Friday on the eve of a highly charged referendum on a new constitution, witnesses told AFP. 

When the Music’s Over: Egypt TV bans ‘romantic’ songs amid unrest

By | 2012-12-14T13:46:58-04:00 December 14th, 2012|News|

The broadcasting of any “romantic” songs or music videos on Egyptian state television channels has been banned, a state-run newspaper announced on Thursday, adding that only “patriotic” tunes will be allowed to be aired.   Nationalistic tunes “that are worth broadcasting” will be allowed on the country’s 23 state-owned channels, the al-Ahram news website reported.