Christians in Egypt stand next to Muslims as anti-US sentiment grows

[Ancient lion]

Christians in Egypt stand next to Muslims as anti-US sentiment grows

On Friday morning, in view of smoldering vehicles and tear gas billowing from the ground, three young Christians covered their face as the gas moved ever closer.

“We will stand by our Muslim brothers in this troubled time. We are all Egyptians,” Farid, a 22-year-old university student and self-described Ultra, or an avid football fan among the many who have taken frontline positions in the current clashes in downtown Cairo, told Bikyamasr.com.

While the minority among the throngs of Muslims in downtown Cairo, they have a strong sense of belonging.

“As Christians, we should feel a responsibility to be here and help support Muslims who are being attacked because it appears to have been Christians and Egyptians who made the film. That is disgraceful,” he added. His two colleagues nodded in agreement.

“If we are disagreeing about other things that’s fine, but right now this violence by the security forces is unacceptable. It was a peaceful protest that was attacked that started this and now we are all needed,” he argued.

Coptic Christians in Egypt stand next to Muslims as anti-US sentiment grows

Anyone who has a inkling of familiarity with the Muslim world knows that sacrilege and blasphemy are not understood as acts of free speech, political expression, or artistic creativity. No, they are bright red lines that promise public panic and guarantee violence. Couple that reality with two centuries of colonial and neo-imperial European domination of the greater Middle East and you have the perfect storm for an international communications disaster. So, as history repeats itself, the only thing ludicrous is the incessant stubbornness of both the West’s commitment to “free speech” and the Muslim world’s rush to violence, the irony of which is lost upon them both.

... But one look at Sam Bacile’s film will demonstrate that its vitriolic message elevates it to the status of a hate crime. The movie depicts Muhammad as sexually licentious, insane, and fanatically violent. It draws upon (in the most uncreative ways) a long line of anti-Muslim stereotypes that date to the crusades. In short these stereotypes are to Islamophobia what blood libel is anti-Semitism.

What is farcical is not only that Muslims who murder in the name of Islam reinforce the very stereotypes that caused their outrage but also that western democratic societies which continue to protect what amounts to hate speech reinforce their own stereotypes in the Muslim world as Godless moral relativists. Even more ironic however is that the chorus of condemnation on all sides will be loudly sounded, yet there will be no mechanism of force or law to stop this deadly child’s play of provocation and retaliation.

Consider this: how is it possible that not the FBI nor Secretary of Defense Robert Gates could stop Pastor Terry Jones from putting the Quran on Trial and burning it when it was well known that the act would cause violence around the world and harm the security of the US personnel abroad? Likewise, how is possible that despite the most elaborate condemnations from Muslim religious authorities around the world that they could not stop a mob of thugs from storming the consulate in Benghazi and murdering the ambassador that helped them overthrow Qaddafi?

Another layer of irony, still, will be our own melancholy reactions. As more protests unfold in the coming days and more violence abounds, the average global citizen will simply shake their heads, dumbfounded, and make hollow appeals for calm and reason. What we have yet to understand is that whether it takes the shape of Muhammad or the concept of Free Speech, the sacred remains untouchable. Until we find a system of law that limits the abuse of our sacred symbols, we can count on Marx’s promise that our coming days will be filled with nothing but farce.

Abbas Barzegar: Nothing Farcical About anti-Muhammad Film

 

[BecauseIKnow]

Yes they are I am glad that the coptics condemned the movie and said it doesn't represent them and muslim religous leaders also said it doesn't represent coptics....I love when Egyptian unite they are the best people at that

 

[Katzndogz]

The Coptic Christians are trying to accommodate and placate in an effort to save their own lives. Too bad it isn't going to work.

 

[alpine]

Christians in Egypt stand next to Muslims as anti-US sentiment grows

On Friday morning, in view of smoldering vehicles and tear gas billowing from the ground, three young Christians covered their face as the gas moved ever closer.

“We will stand by our Muslim brothers in this troubled time. We are all Egyptians,” Farid, a 22-year-old university student and self-described Ultra, or an avid football fan among the many who have taken frontline positions in the current clashes in downtown Cairo, told Bikyamasr.com.

While the minority among the throngs of Muslims in downtown Cairo, they have a strong sense of belonging.

“As Christians, we should feel a responsibility to be here and help support Muslims who are being attacked because it appears to have been Christians and Egyptians who made the film. That is disgraceful,” he added. His two colleagues nodded in agreement.

“If we are disagreeing about other things that’s fine, but right now this violence by the security forces is unacceptable. It was a peaceful protest that was attacked that started this and now we are all needed,” he argued.

Coptic Christians in Egypt stand next to Muslims as anti-US sentiment grows

Anyone who has a inkling of familiarity with the Muslim world knows that sacrilege and blasphemy are not understood as acts of free speech, political expression, or artistic creativity. No, they are bright red lines that promise public panic and guarantee violence. Couple that reality with two centuries of colonial and neo-imperial European domination of the greater Middle East and you have the perfect storm for an international communications disaster. So, as history repeats itself, the only thing ludicrous is the incessant stubbornness of both the West’s commitment to “free speech” and the Muslim world’s rush to violence, the irony of which is lost upon them both.

... But one look at Sam Bacile’s film will demonstrate that its vitriolic message elevates it to the status of a hate crime. The movie depicts Muhammad as sexually licentious, insane, and fanatically violent. It draws upon (in the most uncreative ways) a long line of anti-Muslim stereotypes that date to the crusades. In short these stereotypes are to Islamophobia what blood libel is anti-Semitism.

What is farcical is not only that Muslims who murder in the name of Islam reinforce the very stereotypes that caused their outrage but also that western democratic societies which continue to protect what amounts to hate speech reinforce their own stereotypes in the Muslim world as Godless moral relativists. Even more ironic however is that the chorus of condemnation on all sides will be loudly sounded, yet there will be no mechanism of force or law to stop this deadly child’s play of provocation and retaliation.

Consider this: how is it possible that not the FBI nor Secretary of Defense Robert Gates could stop Pastor Terry Jones from putting the Quran on Trial and burning it when it was well known that the act would cause violence around the world and harm the security of the US personnel abroad? Likewise, how is possible that despite the most elaborate condemnations from Muslim religious authorities around the world that they could not stop a mob of thugs from storming the consulate in Benghazi and murdering the ambassador that helped them overthrow Qaddafi?

Another layer of irony, still, will be our own melancholy reactions. As more protests unfold in the coming days and more violence abounds, the average global citizen will simply shake their heads, dumbfounded, and make hollow appeals for calm and reason. What we have yet to understand is that whether it takes the shape of Muhammad or the concept of Free Speech, the sacred remains untouchable. Until we find a system of law that limits the abuse of our sacred symbols, we can count on Marx’s promise that our coming days will be filled with nothing but farce.

Abbas Barzegar: Nothing Farcical About anti-Muhammad Film

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTRtIxN1kjY]Islamic Scholar Confesses, Prophet Muhammad Had Sex With His 9 Year Old Wife Aisha - YouTube[/ame]

Shall we accuse this muslim scholar of hate crime against islam???

 

[Ancient lion]

Coptic women beat Morris Sadek with shoes forhis promotion of the shameful film.
Coptic women beat Morris Sadek with shoes, say his promotion of #SamBacile film endangers Christians in Egypt: : MaxBlumenthal