[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 THE WORSENING PLIGHT OF EGYPT'S COPTS

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 27, 2011

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record a copy of Chuck 
Colson's recent Breakpoint Commentary which movingly speaks of the 
worsening conditions facing Egypt's Coptic community.
  According to an October 25 Washington Post article, ``Attacks on 
Christians have significantly increased since the uprising. The 
violence on October 9 began when about 1,000 Christians tried to stage 
a peaceful sit-in outside the state television building.'' The Egyptian 
military forcefully broke up their protest leaving at least 21 
Christians dead in the single deadliest incident since the end of the 
Mubarak regime.
  This carnage is evidence of an ancient faith community which is 
increasingly under siege. Not only are Coptic Christians not reaping 
the promise of the so-called ``Arab Spring'' but as Colson writes, 
``It's getting clearer for parts of the Arab world, its going to be a 
long, cold winter.''
  The Obama administration must press Egypt's ruling generals to uphold 
the rights of the country's vulnerable minority communities. Their 
sustained presence in the region is crucial.

                            [Oct. 24, 2011]

         Ionic Coptic Winter: Democracy and Christians in Egypt

       On October 9, at least two dozen Christians were killed by 
     Egyptian police. Their only ``crime'' was in insisting that 
     they be treated in a manner consistent with what the ``Arab 
     Spring'' was supposed to be about.
       It's getting clearer that for parts of the Arab world, it's 
     going to be a long, cold winter.
       The killings happened during a march organized by Coptic 
     leaders to protest a church-burning by Islamists. The 
     military regime responded lackadaisically to this outrage, 
     just as it has to other outrages perpetrated against Egypt's 
     Christian minority.
       The junta's response to peaceful protest was a combination 
     of tear gas, live ammunition, and armored vehicles ramming 
     into the crowd. A few protestors threw rocks in response to 
     the attacks, which gave state-controlled media a chance to 
     claim that protestors started the violence and urge 
     ``honorable,'' that is, Muslim, Egyptians to help the 
     soldiers.
       While I expect that kind of deception from Egyptian state-
     run media, I am appalled by The New York Times' 
     characterization of the killings as ``sectarian violence.'' 
     For the Times, Christians are only victims if they endure 
     violence without uttering the merest peep in protest. If they 
     protest or try to defend themselves, however feebly, the 
     Times paints them as the moral equivalent of their 
     persecutors.
       The situation in Egypt has become so dire that one Coptic 
     bishop compares it to a ``dark tunnel of violence.'' Quoting 
     the Apostle Paul, he writes that he and his flock are ``hard 
     pressed on every side, yet not crushed . . . perplexed but 
     not lost, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not 
     destroyed.''
       While they pray for the victims and the offenders, it's our 
     task to make sure they are not forsaken, which is what all 
     the euphoria over the ``Arab Spring'' threatens to do.
       Lost in the buzz over democracy, Twitter, and Facebook, was 
     any recognition that ousting dictators and establishing 
     democracy are means, not ends. In other words, it doesn't 
     matter if you replace the rule of dictators with popular rule 
     if, in the end, Christians and other minorities become 
     targets for persecution and violence.
       Our founding fathers, when they set out to ``establish 
     justice, insure domestic tranquility . . . [and] promote the 
     general welfare,'' knew the dangers of an unchecked majority. 
     That's why our Constitution is filled with checks and 
     balances--between the people and the government, and between 
     branches of government.
       The ``Arab Spring'' has not resulted in greater justice and 
     increased tranquility for Middle Eastern Christians. As John 
     L. Allen wrote in the National Catholic Reporter, ``many 
     analysts wonder whether Christianity will be the first victim 
     of the new order taking shape'' in the Middle East.
       There's no reason, as writer Rod Dreher reminds us, to 
     assume that democracy and religious tolerance go hand-in-
     hand. On the contrary, recent history suggests that what the 
     so-called ``people'' often want is to mistreat the ``others'' 
     in their midst.
       Now, there is little standing between them and what they 
     want. If Christians resist, they are run over by armored 
     vehicles and blamed for their fate. While God has not 
     forsaken them, the world that cheered on the Arab crowds last 
     Spring seems intent on doing so.

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