In this mailing:
- Denis MacEoin: Religious Responses to Coronavirus
- Raymond Ibrahim: Copts Crucified: Trump Remembers Egypt's Persecuted Christian Minority
- Amir Taheri: Powers Play with Fire in Libya
by Denis MacEoin • June 14, 2020 at 5:00 am
Even though modern science will prove the only path to prevention, millions have approached illness and fear of death through faith, prayer, and ritual.
"It is often said that Muslims in the 21st century have rejected modernity. What they are in fact rejecting is the process of suiting themselves to changing circumstances. There are two kinds of thinking: one that seeks to change in order to relate to times and one that seeks to change the world to suit its tenets." — Khaled Ahmed, journalist, Express Tribune, August 15, 2010, Express Tribune, Pakistan.
One consequence of this anti-modernity position is that it can involve a suspicion of modern science and medicine.... Does the voracity of the disease mean to them that Muslims are no different from non-Muslims in their vulnerability to the disease? Or that coronavirus is a punishment from God that affects Muslims as well as unbelievers?... None of these options might sit well with the widespread Islamic doctrine that Muslims are God's favoured people..... To avoid that dilemma, many Muslims might resort to an even broader rejection of modernity....
Even though modern science will prove the only path to the prevention or cure of Covid-19, millions of people have approached illness and fear of death through faith, prayer, and ritual. Pictured: The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. (Image source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Religious communities around the world have gone through a multitude of responses to the global Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which has inflicted lasting damage to most nations. Lives have been lost, economies have been undermined, and more might still be to come. Scientists have responded with a range of rational rejoinders to the challenge the virus poses. They have been carrying out research to find testing, treatments and a vaccine.
by Raymond Ibrahim • June 14, 2020 at 4:30 am
On May 30, 2020 — two days before President Trump congratulated Copts around the world — Egyptian authorities demolished the village of Koum al-Farag's only Coptic church, even though it had ... served three thousand Christians. According to the report, "The destruction of the church was a punishment for the 'crime' of building rooms for Sunday school.... When the work began, some extremist Muslims began to attack Christians."
Police further arrested and imprisoned 14 Christians overnight. The nearest church to the Christians of Koum al-Farag, most of whom are limited to traveling by foot, is 10 miles away.
"No one should fear for their safety in a house of worship anywhere in the world." — President Donald J. Trump, "Presidential Message on Global Coptic Day, 2020", June 1, 2020.
All that former President Barack Obama could bring himself to do [after the 2011 Maspero Massacre, when the Egyptian government slaughtered and ran over dozens of Copts with tanks for protesting the burnings and closures of their churches] was call "for restraint on all sides" — as if Egypt's beleaguered Christian minority needed to "restrain" itself against the nation's armed and aggressive military.
Attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt are common. On April 9, 2017, Palm Sunday, two Christian churches in Egypt were bombed during mass; at least 50 worshippers were killed. Pictured: Local Christians at the late-night funeral of the victims of the attack on Mar Girgis Coptic Orthodox Church in Tanta, 120 kilometers north of Cairo, on April 9, 2017. (Photo by Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)
On June 1, 2020, President Trump issued a statement titled "Presidential Message on Global Coptic Day, 2020." (Copts are Egypt's indigenous Christians, now a minority.) After sending his "best wishes" to the "millions of Coptic Christians in the United States and around the world," he said that recognizing Global Coptic Day provides "an opportunity for the world to mark the contributions, legacy, and ongoing challenges facing the largest Christian group in the Middle East." He continued:
"Today is also a time for us to acknowledge the importance of religious freedom and reaffirm our commitment to promoting and defending this core tenet of a free society. Tragically, far too many people the world over face persecution on account of their faith."
by Amir Taheri • June 14, 2020 at 4:00 am
Cameron's friends tell me that he and Sarkozy were both pushed into the Libyan adventure by then US President Barack Obama who wished to test his "leadership from behind" theory which, in turn, flattered the European midgets.
Libya is currently the largest theater of proxy wars in the Greater Middle East. More foreign powers are involved in the Libyan proxy war than in Syria.
According to Moscow sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to gain a pause-and-resupply base for his navy on Libya's 1,770-kilometer-long Mediterranean coast to complement the aero-naval base he has obtained in Tartus, Syria.
The second reason why this mini-world war is worthy of attention is that Libya, with the longest shoreline on the Mediterranean, is also neighbor on land to six countries, all of which could be destabilized or worse. It is no surprise that, thanks to Egyptian efforts, the Libyan dossier is slated to come up in the African Union as a threat to security across the continent.
A series of seesaw battles, in some of which Haftar's forces scored tactical gains, has shown that without military intervention by a bigger player, neither side is able to kick the other out of the game.... The prospect of Libya being Syrianized must be taken seriously.
Libya is currently the largest theater of proxy wars in the Greater Middle East. More foreign powers are involved in the Libyan proxy war than in Syria. Pictured: Militiamen affiliated with the Government of National Accord at a makeshift checkpoint in the town of Tarhuna, Libya, about 65 kilometers southeast of Tripoli, on June 11, 2020. (Photo by Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images)
With coronavirus lockdown gradually whittled down, last week we started working on a series of conferences on the greater Middle East region for one of the local universities. As we suggested topics we came to Libya where a forgotten war has been going on for almost a decade.
The response from committee members was almost unanimous: Who cares about Libya?
Evil tongues might suggest that, coming from French and British academics, this "who cares" sounds like an attempt to hide a shameful family secret.
After all, the tragic mess we witness in Libya today is, in good part, a result of policies pursued by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Premier David Cameron, who took on the job of toppling Col. Muammar Gaddafi without knowing what they would need to do next.
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