Draft Letter to Congress re Egypt Military Violence Against Christians (stop American aid)

[BlackTerrel]

I have been reading personal accounts from Egyptian Copts living in the US over facebook for the last few hours and am struggling with nothing to do. A friend sent me this email and I promised I would forward along.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/dina-guirguis/draft-letter-to-congress-re-egypt-military-violence-against-peaceful-protesters-/10150853277695080


TO FIND YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REP, ALL YOU NEED IS YOUR ZIP CODE at this site: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

The Honorable (full name)

(Room #) (Name) House Office Building

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515



Dear [Sir/Madam],



I am writing to you as a concerned citizen of the United States, regarding the recent incidents in Cairo, Egypt, in which the Egyptian military murdered at least 19 peaceful protesters.



Numerous news outlets have reported on the events of October 9th, 2011. Eyewitnesses, and countless photographs and videos, recount how the Egyptian military used armored vehicles to mow down peaceful protesters. The images of their mangled bodies continue to haunt my conscience.



The Egyptian military receives over $1.3B in aid annually# from the United States. It is abhorring to think that this money is spent in arming a military that uses lethal force against its own people, especially ones who are exercising their God-given right to protest peacefully against injustice done to them. As a tax-paying American, I do not wish for my money to be used in the killing of innocents or the quashing of the democratic aspirations of the Egyptian people.



I ask you and the rest of the United States Congress to push for a full investigation by the Egyptian military to bring all those responsible for this massacre to justice. Absent that, I ask that you work to cut off military aid to Egypt as long as their leadership refuses to comply.



I am counting on you to bring this cause before the Congress of the United States.



Sincerely yours,



[Full Name]

[City], [State]

[Phone Number]


What's most worrying here is that the Christians are attacked by both the military and plain clothed. Attacking the Christian population is becoming a cause uniting the ruling military and a majority of the Muslim population who, uneducated and subjected to 30 years of propaganda, simply detest Christians. The Copts are pretty much on their own.

Disturbing video of Egyptian military vehicles running over Coptic protesters this evening:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVlKLIjpEb8&

[pcosmar]

Egypt's big problem was that they compromised and allowed Suleiman to remain in power.
He is the head of the Police apparatus. He engineered much of the opposition and violence, and is likely behind this violence.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2048148,00.html

The US loves Suleiman, and he has been a partner in torture programs. Mubarak was only part of the problem. This guy needs to go as well. You can trace police violence directly to him,, and likely the attacks on churches that led to it.

[TER]

I have lost all hope that these letters do anything, but I hope you prove me wrong. Prayers are needed above all.

I remember when there was a great commotion in Egypt one year before their revolution when an apparition of the Virgin Mary drew thousands of crowds in various churches throughout the country and the Copts viewed these visitations as a herald of severe trials to their faith ahead. It is heartwrenching seeing what is happening to them over there. Another genocide and ethnic cleansing taking place against a people and a faith that is 2000 years old and at one time the center of Christendom in terms of scholarship and piety.

Copts, in my experience, are amongst the most loving and patient people I have met. Some of the best examples of what it means to be a Christian.

[BlackTerrel]

I have lost all hope that these letters do anything, but I hope you prove me wrong. Prayers are needed above all.

Unfortunately you may be right. I have been reading these personalized accounts from my friends on facebook and feel a mixture of anger and sadness mixed with my own lack of power to actually do anything. At the least I'd like to express solidarity.


Copts, in my experience, are amongst the most loving and patient people I have met. Some of the best examples of what it means to be a Christian.

This. It isn't always easy is it?

[oyarde]

I will sign on to no more free money out of my taxes to Egypt , Pakistan , Israel etc etc .

[BlackTerrel]

Testimony from a family member of one of my friends. Since he has US citizenship he is afforded some protection.

While some Muslims are trying to protect the Copts the vast majority are uneducated and have bought into years of propoganda and simply hate the Christians. This testimonial reminds me of a lynch mob and surely must be what it was like for a jew in Germany in the 20's.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/hani-bushra/my-testimony-about-the-attack-that-i-suffered-in-downtown-cairo-on-october-9-201/10150321526196820


This is my testimony about the attack that I suffered in downtown Cairo on October 9, 2011:

I began to hear on the TV and on twitter that things were escalating in the Maspero area, and so I called a friend and we decided to go to Tahrir Square. We took the metro and we were there by 8 p.m.



When we arrived in Tahrir Square, I could smell the tear gas in the air, and some people were running back from Abedl Moniem Reyad square towards Tahrir. I and my friends went ahead and walked to Abedl Moniem Reyad square, where there was a battle in rock throwing between some people on our side, and some people coming from Ramsis Hilton towards Tahrir.



I separated from my friends, and I went ahead with the rock throwing people. I got hit by a rock thrown by an army soldier who was throwing rocks from the Ramsis Hilton side. The rock throwing was done by army soldiers and civilians.



Our battle with them succeeded and we marched towards Maspero. The people marching were chanting “Christians and Muslims are one Hand” and I was leading them in saying that. I met with Alaa of manalaa.com and we continued to march towards Maspero.



The group was peaceful, and I was taking pictures using my Ipad. We reached the point where the 6th October bridge exits towards Maspero, and there was a large cordon of police who are members of the Central Security Forces (CSF). There, I was told not take pictures by people wearing civilian clothing and I fought back saying it was my right.



I began to walk back towards Hilton Ramsis, and suddenly 5 vehicles full of CSF soldiers showed up. People began to pelt them with rocks, destroying the wind shields, and the causing the drivers of the vehicles to panic, thereby hitting into each other and the sides of the road. I and some other people were trying to calm people down into not attacking the vehicles but the people were angry.



At that point, I was alone, and so I began to walk back to Tahrir. I was tweeting at that time. Someone saw me tweeting and came to me. He asked my name and so I said Hani Sobhi, he then grabbed my wrists to see if I had a cross tattoo, and when he did not find it, he asked for my full name. I said Hani Sobhi Bushra. He asked if I was a Muslim or a Christian, and I said that I was a Christian.



At that point he began to scream for others that he caught a Christian, and people began to gather. They wanted to search me and my bag, and I said that I will not let them, and that it was best to go to an officer. At that point there was about 30 people around me, with some of them punching me on my head.



I began to walk quickly to the cordon of the police that I had just came from. At that point, someone yanked my gold chain from across my neck and took the cross. All I did was to tell him “wow, you are such a man” and I clapped for him. That pissed the people who were with me, and so someone snatched my phone from my belt.



I kept shouting at the thief to give me my phone back, and he said that he will give it to me in front of the police officer. By that time, I was being hit from many people, my ankle was sprained and I was called a “Nossrani (Christian)” dog.



We reached the officer (rank of general), and the first thing that I did was to show him my U.S. passport and told him that I am now under his protection. I told him that I was attacked because I was a Christian. One of the men who is a policeman but wearing civilian clothing began to talk to the general that I was a Christian and that I institigated the mob to attack me and that I am carrying weapons in my bag. The officer, who had seen my passport, told him to shut up. This policeman in the civilian clothing seemed to be the coordinator between the mob and the police.



The general pushed me back behind the cordon of CSF soldiers, but I wanted to get my phone back, and so I went out again. The person who had stolen my phone was right there, and I told the general that I wanted my phone back.



As I was talking to the general, a group of policemen were around me, one of them was behind me poking my butthole with his stick. I turned around and said that if you want to fuck me in the ass, you should be man enough to fuck me in public. At that point the policeman in civilian clothing who had earlier clashed with me called me a liar, and the general once again told him to shut up.



I was assigned a young officer to protect me. My phone was gone, and they wanted to protect me until it was safe. I met two young officers, a first and second lieutenants, who were very respectful and were concerned for me. I told them that I hope that when they grew in their rank, they would always remain this professional. They were so nice that one of them let me use his phone so that I can call Happy and tell him that I was okay.



I mentioned that I was a Christian being attacked by a mob, and the officers told me that I should not mention that I am a Christian because they may not be able to protect me. This was in the midst of at least 400 members of the police! At that point, I was assigned two handlers to stay with me at all times.



I stayed with the CSF units and observed the following:



1) Four bodies in the lobby of an apartment building that the Egyptian ambulances could not carry because the blood was everywhere and because some of the bodies were in pieces. When I asked my CSF companions (we had became friends) about the bodies, they told me it was three Christians and one Muslim shot by the army and driven over using a humvee (yep, my tax dollars in action, btw, the U.S. gives two billion dollars a year as aid to the Egyptian military).



2) The members of the CSF were armed with live ammunition, and the order was given in front of me.



3) One of the CSF companions told me that he beat senseless a Christian man he arrested because it was said that this man was carrying a gun and shooting the people.



4) The army and not the police were the ones attacking the protestors. In fact, the police was not doing anything.



I was there for about two hours, and then suddenly a mob came to the police saying “Christians where are you, Islam is here”. They were not stopped by anyone but cheered by army units that were parked by the CSF cordon.



I used the confusion with this mob arriving and walked away from my handlers, towards Tahrir. I reached the Kasr El Dobra church, and there I saw another Muslim mob chanting “Christians where are you, Islam is here”. What shocked me is that an army officer with a rank of Lieutenant Colonel was organizing these mobs telling them that they should be the first line of defense and they will stand behind them.



At that point, Tahrir was full of people chanting “Christians where are you, Islam is here”. Someone came to me and said that it was good that I was safe. He said that he was there at the time of my beating. He said that the same mob that attacked me returned and beat two other people senseless because they were Christians. I am thankful that I did not end up in that way.



I connected with Happy at a place called Al Borsa, and was able to get home safely. I am safe, but I am saddened about what happened. This is not religious strife, this is state sponsored terrorism towards the Copts.