Jeremy Corbyn has accused David Cameron of showing "contempt" for democracy and human rights by "rolling out the red carpet" for Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. Branding Mr Sisi a "coup leader", Mr Corbyn said inviting him to Britain made "a mockery of government claims to be promoting peace and justice in the region".
"Support for dictatorial regimes in the Middle East has been a key factor fuelling the spread of terrorism. Rather than rolling out the red carpet to President Sisi, the Prime Minister should suspend arms exports to Egypt until democratic and civil rights are restored."
But while media agencies have spent a large amount of time reporting Corbyn’s comments on the military intervention, which removed Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power in Egypt, there are some facts which both the Labour Party and the media have failed to inform the public.
These included a growing trend under the Muslim Brotherhood, where Christians were brought to trial for insulting religion, with “36 cases during 2011 and 2012: 35 for insulting Islam and one for insulting Christianity.”
A US Report on Religious Freedom also admonished the Morsi Government, admitting that: “While religious minorities mostly worshiped without harassment, the government generally failed to prevent, investigate or prosecute crimes against members of religious minority groups, especially Christians.”
In June 2013, NBC reported how the number of Egyptians receiving asylum in the US had jumped more than five-fold in recent years. In 2010, the year before the revolution, 531 Egyptians had received asylum in the US. In 2012, that number had jumped to 2,882, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s statistical data.
Georgia, the former Soviet republic, had also become a popular destination for Egyptians because of the relative ease in obtaining residence. A Georgian consular officer stated that after the Arab spring, around 150 Egyptians were applying for asylum every week.
And the Netherlands had also made it easier for Egyptian Christians to claim asylum by no longer demanding proof that asylum seekers have sought official protection from persecution. The Dutch ambassador said in a TV interview that his government was prompted to make the process easier because of reports of persecution of Christians and a lack of adequate government protection.
During a TV interview, Sheikh Essam Abdulamek, a member of the parliament’s Shura Council, warned Egypt’s Christians against participating in protests against the Muslim Brotherhood, threatening them by saying “Do not sacrifice your children” since “general Muslim opinion will not be silent about the ousting of the president [Morsi].”
On the day the Morsi Government was removed from office, the Vatican reported that among the episodes of violence in Egypt, there were immediate attacks against the Catholic parish of St. George, in the village of Delgia, where groups of Islamists first looted and then burned down the pastor's house and church buildings.
Meanwhile, Islamists at a pro-Morsi rally the day after the Egyptian military take over, were filmed pledging to kill their political opponents and to set Christians “on fire”, claiming that the removal of Morsi has “created a new Taliban and a new Al-Qaeda in Egypt”, while stating: “I tell the Christians one word: We will set you on fire! We will set you on fire!”
by Hussein Al-alak, editor of Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra)
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