 April 14, 1999
World View
___ Egyptian Copts 'endangered.' Egypt's Coptic Christian community is threatened by Islamic extremists, discriminatory government policies and "abusive" local police and security forces, according to a new Freedom House report. The report said "the cumulative effect of these threats creates an atmosphere of persecution that raises fears that during the 21st century the Copts may have a vastly diminished presence in their homeland." Copts, who number less than 10 percent of Egypt's overwhelmingly Muslim population, are members of a church that pre-dates Islam's seventh-century arrival in North Africa.
___
___ Muslims, Christians clash. Muslim merchants in Nazareth closed their businesses in protest after Easter Sunday clashes over whether a site in the city where Jesus spent his youth should be developed as a plaza for Christian pilgrims or a mosque for Muslims. A dozen people were injured and 30 cars were damaged during the Muslim-Christian violence. Nazareth, in northern Israel, is an Arab city of about 60,000. The city is mostly Muslim with a sizable Christian minority. Tensions between the two communities have grown in recent months, after Nazareth's Christian mayor said he wanted to construct a plaza near the Church of the Annunciation to accommodate the large number of Christian pilgrims expected to visit in the year 2000. The church is built over the site tradition says is where Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus.
___
___ Sixty dead in Indonesia. Christian-Muslim strife continues in Indonesia, as the death toll from the latest round of clashes climbed to at least 60 April 5. More than 250 people have died this year, hundreds of homes have been burned and more than 13,000 have fled because of the violence. Reports said the latest clashes occurred Easter Sunday in villages near Tual, the main town in the remote Kai islands in eastern Indonesia.
___ Hindu wants limit on conversion. A leader of India's main conservative Hindu organization says there is an international plan to convert Hindus to Christianity and he wants to put a curb on conversions. "There is a well-orchestrated program of international Christian bodies to spread Christianity in Asia and parts of Africa," K. Sudarshan, joint general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh told reporters. "There should be appropriate curbs on religious conversions."
Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
|