U.S. Egyptian Christians Tell Clinton Egypt Persecution Is a 'Crime Against Humanity'
The president of the International Christian Union and the American Coptic Association, Monir A. Dawoud, has written a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking for the United States's support in protecting the Copts, or Christians of Egypt, from the Muslim Brotherhood as the country undergoes major social and political unrest.
The letter, written Wednesday on behalf of the Egyptian Coptic Christian Diaspora in the U.S., and comes after Clinton expressed approval to proceed with the establishment of a new constitution after parliamentary elections, even though the Supreme Egyptian Military Council would still be in control.
Dawoud said in the letter that a movement by the Brotherhood is underway to annihilate Christians and other minority religious groups in Egypt, and he is not only requesting international protection for the country, but also the drafting of an "Egyptian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" in a similar fashion to the Constitution, where the rights of women, children, minorities and the disabled are guaranteed.
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The letter came in response to Clinton expressing approval to proceed with the establishment of a new constitution after parliamentary elections, with the Supreme Egyptian Military Council still in control.
"The constitution should be made before any parliament elections to decide the type of government and President beside giving chances to the new political parties to be at the level of competition with the Brotherhood's party and so allowing all citizens to be represented," Dawoud wrote. "We demand that your aid to Egypt should be conditioned on the justice towards Christians and minorities."
He told Clinton the Brotherhood's ultimate goal is not only to change the U.S. Constitution to the Quran, but to dominate other democratic nations as well.
"A planned destruction to America is going on," he said. "The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is deadly serious about waging what it calls "civilization jihad" against the United States and other freedom-loving nations in order to secure their submission to the Islamic totalitarian political-military-legal doctrine called Sharia. The MB's goal in this country is to replace our great Constitution with theirs, namely the Koran. And they regard this task as one commanded by none other than Allah."
Dawoud also requested that the U.S. government intervene and free 28 Christian demonstrators that were arrested in an attack on Oct. 9 in which the Supreme Egyptian Military Counsel opened fire at a group of unarmed demonstrators, who were taken into custody after the media falsified facts to make it appear as though the demonstrators were those who first opened fire.
"We demand that your aid to Egypt should be conditioned on the justice towards Christians and minorities," he said. "What we are facing today is a Crime against not only the Christian minority in Egypt, but against Humanity, against all what United States stand for, against the constitution that the founders of America have shed their blood for. We appreciate your speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves and defending those who cannot defend themselves, the Christians of Egypt who are facing persecution, impending massacres and ethnic cleansing."
