8/4/2019 Mosques Flourish in America; Churches Perish in Muslim World - By Raymond Ibrahim

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mosques-flourish-in-america-churches-perish-in-muslim-world-by-raymond-ibrahim 1/2

Mosques Flourish in America; Churches Perish in

Muslim World

by Raymond Ibrahim

March 3, 2011 

As Muslims prepare to erect a mega-mosque near the site of the 9/11 atrocities, it is wellto reflect that the sort of tolerance, or indifference, that allows them to do so, is far fromreciprocated to churches in the Muslim world. I speak not of Islamist attacks against

churches²such as the New Year attack in Egypt that killed 21 Christians; or when jihadists stormed a church in Iraq, butchering over 50 Christians; or Christmas Eve

attacks on churches in Nigeria and the Philippines. Nor am I referring to state-sanctioned

hostility by avowedly Islamist regimes, such as Iran's recent "round up" of Christians.

Rather, I refer to anti-church policy by Middle East governments deemed "moderate."Consider: Kuwait just denied, without explanation, a request to build a church; so didIndonesia, forcing Christians to celebrate Christmas in a parking lot²even as a mob of 

1,000 Muslims burned down two other churches. If this is the fate of churches in

"moderate" Indonesia and Kuwait²the latter's sovereignty due entirely to U.S. sacrificesin the First Gulf War²what can be expected of the rest of the Islamic world?

The best example of anti-church policy is Egypt, where the Middle East's largestChristian minority, the Copts, lives. During Mubarak's tenure alone "more than 1500

assaults on Copts have occurred, without any appropriate punishment given to criminals

or compensation to the victims," says Coptic Solidarity.

For starters, Egypt's state security has a curious habit of disappearing right before Copticchurches are attacked²such as in the aforementioned New Year attack. They also tend

to arrive rather late after churches are attacked: it took security "hours" to appear whensix Copts were murdered while exiting their church last year. Considering that weeks agoan Egyptian policeman identified and opened fire on Christians, killing a 71-year-old²

while yelling Islam's medieval war-cry, "Allah Akbar!"²none of this should be surprising.

8/4/2019 Mosques Flourish in America; Churches Perish in Muslim World - By Raymond Ibrahim

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mosques-flourish-in-america-churches-perish-in-muslim-world-by-raymond-ibrahim 2/2