Ongoing Threats to Coptic Churches in Egypt
The terrorist attack on the Al-Qiddissin church in Alexandria on January 1st 2011 marked a peak in the inter-religion tension between Muslims and Christians. The attack was preceded by many weeks of threats to carry out terrorist attacks against Christian targets around the world, particularly in Egypt. These threats by Salafi religious clerics permitting the shedding of Christian blood, as well as by official entities of Global Jihad, received extensive coverage and garnered a lot of reaction after they were posted on the Jihadi forums. In October 2010, the “Islamic State of Iraq” organization went as far as explicitly threatening to carry out terrorist attacks against Coptic churches in Egypt.Since the ousting of President Mubarak on February 11th 2011, a further escalation has been seen which threatens the delicate balance in the relationship between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt. On May 7th 2011, at least 12 people were killed in bloody conflicts between Muslims and Coptic Christians in the Embaba neighborhood in Al-Giza, after a Coptic Church in the neighborhood was set ablaze.
The “Shabakat Al-Mujahideen Al-Electroniya” Jihadi forum, which has recently resumed operations after being inactive for several months, posted an explicit threat to attack Coptic churches on June 2nd 2011. “Asad Al-Islam”, the supervisor of the audio and visual publications department, wrote “A message to the Coptic pigs from the people of the Oneness of God in Al-Kinana [Jihadists’ name for Egypt]”.
