Sometimes it seems that every single group in the world has put me in their mailing list. I don’t really mind, as it’s easy enough to delete messages I don’t want to read, and it gives me the opportunity of reading messages that would otherwise not come my way.
This message from the National American Coptic Assembly is interesting because it announces a position towards Israel not otherwise encountered in the Middle East. Given the conflicts between Muslims and Copts in Egypt (e.g. the mass slaughter of pigs in Egypt, raised by the Coptic community, under the pretext that they’d pass on swine flu), this support of Jews and Israel is not altogether surprising. What does surprise me is that this support would be made public at this time. I’m afraid that it may cause even more repression against the Copts living in Egypt. I hope their American brethren know what they are doing.
national american coptic assembly
washingtonDC
Mr. Morris Sadek-ESQ President
http://www.nationalamericancopticassembly.webs.com/
Outlines of Coptic Position
The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Since the dawn of history, the Jewish people have been a powerful force for peace and civility. Their remarkable contributions to civilization are a testimony to their love of the human race. Since Christianity came to Egypt in 57 A.D., we, the Christians of Egypt, have not had conflict with the Jewish people. Copts and Jews share a common history of centuries of persecutions by Moslems and Christians alike. Indeed, we share a deeply rooted appreciation for security, and yearning for peace.
Copts have been a marginal population held in captivity for sixteen centuries. They constitute the largest non-Arab, non-Moslem minority in the Middle East. The Coptic Orthodox Church, The Church of Alexandria, is arguably the oldest organization in the Middle East. It continues to exist and function as has done so uninterrupted since 57 A.D. Despite this distinguished history, it is a church that has been under siege since the Islamic invasion. The Church’s relation with foreign counties is dictated by the Arab government of Egypt.
Since the humiliating 1967 defeat of the Arabs in the Six-Days War, the Christians of Egypt have been allowed to immigrate to the United States, where several human rights organizations have actively worked to expose the heinous crimes committed against the Copts in Egypt. These organizations have generally avoided publically, which addresses the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The National American Coptic Assembly recognizes that it is in the best interest of the Coptic people to develop and declare a position regarding the Middle East Arab- Israeli conflict. Our outline of our position is as follows:
We recognize the sacred right of the state of Israel and the Israeli people to the land of historic Israel .
“The right of Return” of the Jewish people to the land of their foremothers and forefathers is a sacred right. It has no statute of limitation. The return must continue to enrich the Middle East .
We recognize Jerusalem as simply a Jewish city, It must never be divided, She is, and shall always be, the united capital of Israel .
The future of the Palestinians lies with the Arab states. A Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria constitute an imminent danger to world peace.
We believe that the Wahabi/Moslem brotherhood religious ideology and its power structures are threats not only to Israel and other non-Arab, non-Moslem peoples in the Middle East, but also to world peace.
It is our opinion that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should be assigned the historic and critical mission of defeating this Islamic ideology and its power structures.
We believe that the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the achievement of genuine peace in the Middle East can only be visible with the emergence of tolerant Islamic faith. The toxic combination of Islamic supremacy and extremism and Arab racism is the real enemy to peace in the Middle East. It must be defeated.
In any current or future peace treaty among all parties involved in the Middle East conflict, the following must be part of such treaty :
“All parties to this treaty recognize Mecca and Medina to be the holiest cities in Islam, whereas Christian and Jewish parties to this treaty give up and surrender in full any and all legal and historical rights to these cities. All parties to this treaty recognize a united Jerusalem to be the holiest city in Judaism, whereas all Arab and all Moslem parties to this treaty will relinquish and surrender in full any and all legal and historical rights in
Jerusalem and as such accept it as the united capital of the Jewish state.”
National American Coptic Assembly
Office of the President
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