Newsfeed
Christians, others warn Turkey is 'weaponizing water' in northeast Syria
Author: Dale Gavlak
Publication Date: 28/8/2020
Source: National Catholic Reporter
Parts of Syria's north where Kurds, Christians and Yazidis have practiced religious freedom in recent years are reportedly again under attack by mainly Turkish military and their allied Syrian Islamist fighters.
Egypt Delays in Criminal Case of Christian Woman Beaten and Stripped By Mob
Publication Date: 27/8/2020
Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
The criminal court in Minya has refused to rule in the case of Mrs Suad Thabet for the second time this week, sending it back to the appeal court in Beni Suef on 26 August 2020.
Mrs Thabet, 72, was attacked, beaten, and stripped in public by a mob on 20 May 2016 after her son was accused of having a relationship with a divorced Muslim woman. He was sentenced to two years in prison on 27 July 2017, which he served.
Survey supports claims of 1 million Christians in Iran
Publication Date: 27/8/2020
Source: Article 18
For years, international Christian organisations have claimed there may be as many as one million secret Christian believers in Iran.
Now they have some proof.
A recent survey of 50,000 Iranians by GAMAAN, a Netherlands-based research group, found that 1.5% of respondents identified as Christian.
Egypt’s Coptic Christians celebrate Assumption of Mary amid pandemic
Author: Mohammed Abu Zaid
Publication Date: 22/8/2020
Source: Arab News
Coptic Christians in Egypt celebrated the Assumption of Mary on Saturday, amid health and security measures to control the spread of coronavirus.
The celebrations followed a 15-day fast that started on Aug. 7. Security services increased their presence outside churches and side streets were closed to prevent overcrowding and congestion.
Religion, Identity and Ethnicity: The Quest of Tunisian Religious Minorities for Full Citizenship
Author: Silvia Quattrini
Publication Date: 21/7/2020
Source: Cairo institute for human rights studies
Although Tunisia is usually presented as ethno-religiously homogenous when compared to other countries in the region, its minorities have long undergone a process of invisibilisation and/or assimilation into the dominant Arab-Muslim identity.
Southern Turkey Christians win legal battle against cemetery re-zoning
Author: Burcu Özkaya Günaydın
Publication Date: 19/8/2020
Source: Duvar
A Greek Orthodox Foundation in southern Hatay won a legal battle against the re-zoning of a cemetery as “green space.” The municipality failed to notify the community of a change in status in the parcel’s plans, but the re-zoning plan was suspended.
Southern Hatay’s Samandağ Greek Orthodox Foundation won a legal battle to reverse a cemetery’s re-zoning as “green space” by the municipality, which the Culture and Tourism Ministry approved.
Raymond Ibrahim on the Bottom-Up Oppression of Egypt's Christians
Author: Gary C. Gambill
Publication Date: 27/8/2020
Source: Middle East Forum
Raymond Ibrahim, a Judith Friedman Rosen fellow at the Middle East Forum and a Shillman fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, spoke to participants in a June 22 Middle East Forum webinar (video) about the plight of the Copts, Egypt's Christians.
The word "Copt" comes from the same Greek root, Aigyptos, as the word "Egypt." After the Arab conquest of Egypt (639-646), inhabitants of the majority Christian land became known as qibt (anglicized as "Copts"), then the term narrowed to refer only to those who maintained their adherence to the Christian faith. Over the following 14 centuries, Copts dwindled to roughly 10% of the population.
Like Hagia Sophia, Turkey to reconvert Chora Museum into mosque
Author: Burcu Karakas
Publication Date: 27/8/2020
Source: Deutsche Welle
The reconversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque sparked criticism around the world. Now the Erdogan government wants to do the same with the Chora Museum, a former Byzantine church, alarming historians and Christians.
After converting the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque in mid-July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now looks set to do the same with another former church, the Church of St. Saviour in Chora.
Coptic Orthodox Church announces reopening measures starting Monday
Author: Al-Masry Al-Youm
Publication Date: 2/8/2020
Source: Egypt Independent
The Coptic Orthodox Church on Saturday announced the measures in place to gradually reopen churches starting Monday in Cairo and Alexandria, following closures since March 21 brought on by the coronavirus outbreak.
In a statement, the church wrote “Thank God very much for the continuous decrease in the numbers of infections and deaths from coronavirus, according to the daily data issued by the Ministry of Health in the past two weeks.”
Cairo denounces Hagia Sophia move, develops Egypt's Christian sites
Author: George Mikhail
Publication Date: 7/8/2020
Source: Al-Monitor
Days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia a mosque, Egypt announced ambitious restoration plans for South Sinai's Saint Catherine area.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered that Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia be converted back into a mosque July 11. On July 21, the Egyptian government announced that it was allocating 40 million Egyptian pounds ($2.5 million) to restore Saint Catherine’s Monastery in South Sinai governorate, one of the oldest monasteries in the world and a Christian landmark.
