The Palm Sunday Bombings: Are Coptic Christians Islamophobes?

On April 9th, 2017, ISIS-linked jihadis bombed Coptic Christians at St. George's Church and St. Mark's Cathedral in Egypt. Since these attacks have been going on for centuries, and since the attacks are promoted in the Qur'an and the Hadith, are Copts irrational for being concerned about Islam?

Egypt: Muslim Mob Attacks Church for Attempting to Honor ISIS Victims

Like the rest of the world, Egypt's Copts are expected to keep quiet about victims of jihad.

Service for Coptic victims of ISIS

Fox News—Relatives of the Coptic Christians beheaded last month by jihadists in Libya – their deaths immortalized in a gory video set against the backdrop of a Mediterranean beach – are facing new extremist-Muslim violence as they seek to build a church to honor their murdered loved ones.

An angry mob in the Upper Egyptian village of al Our – proposed site of the church because it was home to 13 of the 21 Christians murdered in the mass “beachfront” decapitation – descended on the community’s current church after the midday Islamic prayer Friday and chanted that they’d never allow construction of the new place of worship to begin, witnesses told Egyptian activists in the U.S.

Things turned far uglier after nightfall, the witnesses said, as a smaller number of individuals threw Molotov cocktails and stones at the church, injuring several people, and setting cars ablaze, including one that belonged to a relative of one of the victims of the Libyan massacre.

“The police came, but after the attack,” said Mina Abdelmalak, a Coptic Christian living in Washington who is in close contact with the witnesses to the events in al Our. “There were already cars on fire. People had been bloodied. Stones and bricks had been thrown.”

Some protesters also appeared at the family home of massacre victim Samuel Alham Wilson, but, in a gesture that provided some hope, were chased off by Muslim neighbors when the protestors started throwing stones.

Copts are the native Christians of Egypt, accounting for about 10 percent of the country’s 88 million people. (Continue Reading.)

Egypt Bombs Islamic State in Libya

The Islamic State beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in Libya. Egypt has responded by beginning airstrikes.

CNN—Egyptian warplanes staged a second wave of airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya on Monday in retaliation for the slaughter of 21 Egyptian Christians by ISIS militants, Egypt's state-run Ahram Online reported, citing security officials.

The airstrikes followed an earlier wave that struck ISIS camps, training areas and weapons depots, the military said in a statement.

"Avenging Egyptian blood and punishing criminals and murderers is our right and duty," the Egyptian military said in the statement, which was broadcast on state television.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the airstrikes targeted ISIS locations in Derna.

"Leaving the situation as it is in Libya without a firm intervention to curtail these terrorist organizations would be a threat to international peace and security," the ministry said.

It wasn't immediately clear how much damage and casualties the airstrikes might have caused.

The bombing raids came after ISIS released a gruesome video Sunday that appeared to show ISIS militants beheading men they said were Christians on a beach. (Continue Reading.)

Egyptian Terrorist Group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis Announces Allegiance to ISIS

The United States continues its policy of dropping bombs on ISIS jihadists. Meanwhile, ISIS is rapidly expanding. Keep in mind that President Obama compared this group to a "JV team" less than a year ago. Since the JV comparison, ISIS has taken over large sections of entire nations, and jihadists groups from across the Muslim world are announcing their allegiance. This entire problem, of course, could have been avoided if the President had listened to the people who warned him that rapidly pulling the troops out of Iraq could have devastating consequences. But let's face it: Our Commander-in-Chief has never been interested in listening.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis

Cairo (CNN)—ISIS has a new residency in Egypt, according to a YouTube message posted Sunday.

In the audio message, the Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or ABM, allegedly announces its allegiance to ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State.

The roughly 10-minute clip blames tyrants and their "Jewish agents and their allies" for decades of Muslim suffering. The message also calls ISIS "the emergence of a new dawn."

If verified, this would be a new, dangerous chapter for the deadliest group in Egypt. Since 2012, ABM's attacks have grown more daring and sophisticated. The group has killed hundreds of Egyptian police officers and soldiers. The largest attack was last month in the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 31 soldiers. Analysts put the group's numbers at from the hundreds to roughly a thousand.

While ABM's attacks, until now, have almost exclusively targeted the Egyptian government, there is growing fear that an association with ISIS could expand the threat to civilian and tourist sites. (Continue Reading.)

Egypt: Coptic Teacher Demiana Emad Sentenced to Six Months in Prison for Insulting Islam

We regularly read stories of Sharia blasphemy laws being used to oppress non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan. But such laws are used to oppress non-Muslims in other countries as well. If a Muslim wants to have a Christian thrown in jail in a Muslim-majority country, he simply needs to accuse the Christian of blasphemy. Since his fellow Muslims won't take the word of a Christian over the word of a Muslim, the case is already closed.

Oddly enough, politicians and the media keep assuring me that Islam is a religion of tolerance and equality.

Demiana Emad

Egypt—A Coptic Christian school teacher has been sentenced to six months in prison on charges of insulting Islam.

Demiana Emad, a 23-year-old social studies teacher, was arrested on 9 May 2013 after the head of the parents' association of Sheikh Sultan Primary School in Luxor filed a complaint accusing her of insulting Islam.

In June 2013, Emad was sentenced to pay a LE100,000 fine. Sunday's jail sentence was ordered by the court in response to an appeal filed by the defendant on last year's fine.

According to a year-old report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Emad didn't insult Islam, only "presented a comparison between religions in ancient, middle and modern ages as mentioned in the curriculum".

The report, which warned of similar cases becoming "a tool to oppress minorities", added that during investigations the majority of Emad's students denied that she had insulted Islam in her class.

Charges of insulting religion go back to the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, widely used then as a pretext to crack down on political activists. However, occurrences of the charge significantly rose under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was removed from power last July.

A report issued by the EIPR last September revealed that since the 25 January 2011 revolution until the end of 2012, a total of 63 citizens, both Muslims and Christians, were charged with insulting religion.

Article 98 of Egypt's penal code says anyone convicted of offending religion in any form can face up to six years in prison. (Continue Reading.)

Egyptian Court Sentences Nearly 700 More Muslim Brotherhood Supporters to Death

Just a few years ago, the Muslim Brotherhood was viewed quite favorably in Egypt. Indeed, after Mubarak was ousted from leadership, Egyptians voted Brotherhood members into the highest leadership positions. Then Egyptians got a taste of orthodox Islam, and now they're sentencing Brotherhood supporters to death by the hundreds.

Sad to see so much trouble in Egypt. I hope the nation can eventually recover from the "Arab Spring."

CNN—An Egyptian court has recommended the death penalty for the leader of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood and 682 supporters, state television said Monday.

The same court also handed down a final capital punishment ruling for 37 others.

Charges in both cases, which were tried by the same judge, are related to violent riots in the central Egyptian city of Minya in August, including the murder of a police officer.

Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood's general guide, is among 683 supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy whose death sentences are not final -- as the case has been referred to the nation's grand mufti, Egypt's highest religious authority, for review.

In the second case, relating to 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death last month, the judge upheld 37 death sentences. The rest saw their sentences commuted to life in prison.

Most of the people sentenced are being tried in absentia. All defendants are still permitted to appeal. (Continue Reading.)

Egyptian Court Sentences Two Muslim Brotherhood Supporters to Death for Killing Nine-Year-Old Boy

Egypt is still trying to recover from the "Arab Spring" (aka Islamic Revolution) that was cheered and supported by Western media and governments.

EGYPT—A court in Egypt’s second-largest city sentenced two supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi to death on Saturday for throwing two people off the roof of a building during violent protests after the Islamist president was ousted, according to Egypt’s state news agency.

The agency said the court in Alexandria found the men guilty of murdering a child and a young man in the coastal city during mass protests that demanded Morsi’s reinstatement after he was removed from power by the military.

The roof incident happened July 5 of last year, two days after Morsi’s ouster. It was one of the most dramatic acts of violence on a day in which 16 other people were killed in Alexandria.

Judge Sayed Abdel-Latif said he would issue the verdict against another 60 defendants charged with violence that day in another two months. It was not clear why the ruling was split into two.

One of those killed was nine-year-old Hamada Badr, who witnesses including an Associated Press journalist said was stabbed and then thrown off the roof. Another man in his twenties was hurled to his death and Morsi supporters were seen beating his lifeless body.

The father of the nine-year old said the verdict was partial vindication.

“But I want all the Brotherhood leadership tried and sentenced to death,” said Badr Hassouna. (Continue Reading.)

For more on jihad, watch this:

Abduction, Rape, and Forced Conversion of Christian Girls on the Rise in Egypt

Muhammad proclaimed, as part of his divine revelation from Allah, (1) the superiority of men over women, (2) the superiority of Muslims over non-Muslims, and (3) the right of Muslim men to rape their female captives and slave-girls. Any idea what these ideas lead to in a society?

Clarion Project—Christian girls in Egypt are being kidnapped, raped, made to convert and forced into marriages due to the “twin-headed cultural hydra” of “deep-seeded Muslim and male supremacism,” warns a 2012 study that is getting renewed attention.

International Christian Concern is reporting that 2014 has already seen a spike in the number of Christian girls in Egypt being abducted. Sexual harassment, sexual assault, rapes, forced conversions, forced marriages and even being forced into working without pay (slavery) are all major problems.

Just four attorneys said they had over 550 cases over five years of Christian girls applying to have their religious identity restored by the Egyptian government after being kidnapped and forced into converting to Islam. One attorney said he personally knew of at least 1,600 cases of forced conversions. (Continue Reading.)

More Than 500 Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Sentenced to Death in Egypt

Wow. Egypt isn't playing around.

(CNN) -- An Egyptian court sentenced at least 528 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to death Monday on charges related to violent riots in the southern Egyptian city of Minya last August, including the murder of a police officer, the country's official news agency said.

The riots took place after a deadly crackdown by security forces on two large sit-ins in Cairo, where demonstrators were supporting ousted President Mohammed Morsy.

While the official MENA news agency reported 528 death sentences, other Egyptian media said 529 people were sentenced to death.

The semiofficial Ahram Online news site said it was the largest set of death sentences handed to defendants in the modern history of Egypt. (Continue Reading.)

Raymond Ibrahim: Christian Family Slaughtered in Egypt

But if you criticize the ideology that gives rise to these senseless massacres, you're somehow a racist.

Raymond Ibrahim—A Christian Syrian family of four living in Alexandria, Egypt, was barbarically stabbed to death Sunday in their home in al-Ibrahamya neighborhood, Arabic media are reporting.

The family consisted of a father, 44, his wife, 35, their 6-year-old son, Michael, and the wife’s brother.

After the murders, the house, where the family had been living for years, was set on fire by the murderers in an attempt to hide the crime but was put out by authorities.

All four bodies were found bearing many stab wounds and other signs of extreme violence.

The wife and child had their throats slit, while the father appeared to have been stabbed to death, with stab wounds all over his body.

The crime was not motivated by theft, as the home was not robbed, and preliminary reports say the family was slaughtered for being supporters of the Bashar Assad government in Syria.

The wife was said to be a vocal supporter, often arguing politics.

Islamists all around the Middle East and especially in Egypt strongly oppose and are supporting a jihad against the moderate Assad government in an attempt to oust it and set up a Sharia state in Syria.

Most religious minorities, including Christians, are supportive of the secular Assad regime, having seen the great violence done against fellow Christians by the Islamic rebels who deem them “infidels.” (Source)

Twenty Dead, More Than 100 Wounded in Cairo Attacks

How's that "Arab Spring" working out for everyone?

Aftermath outside Cairo security directorate

CAIRO — Twenty people died and more than 100 were wounded as blasts and protests rocked Cairo on Friday, the eve of the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Shortly after sunrise, a truck bomb exploded as it tried to get into police headquarters in the Egyptian capital, killing five and wounding 76, government officials said.

"Traitors and dogs," onlookers yelled in an apparent reference to the assailants, according to Reuters.

Several police officers sat on the sidewalk, weeping as ambulances rushed in, Reuters reported. A crowd of distraught-looking residents looked on as A body lay on the ground, covered by a sheet.

State television quoted witnesses as saying that gunmen opened fire on buildings after the blast. The police headquarters building and nearby 19th-century Museum of Islamic Art, which was recently renovated in a multimillion-dollar project, were badly damaged ...

The militant group Ansar Beit al Maqdis released a statement claiming responsibility for the near-simultaneous bombings, which came a day before the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled Mubarak. (Continue Reading.)

Egyptian Courts Convict 113 Muslim Brotherhood Supporters

Since the Obama Administration also supported the Muslim Brotherhood, you can imagine how popular Obama is in Egypt right now.

(Reuters) - Egyptian courts convicted 113 Muslim Brotherhood supporters on Thursday on charges including attacking police, rioting and weapons possession in three separate cases brought after protests against the army-backed government.

The authorities have been cracking down hard on the Brotherhood since the military deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July following mass protests against his rule.

The government accuses the Brotherhood of turning to violence and declared it a terrorist group on December 25.

The group says it is committed to peaceful protest.

Thursday's rulings included three-year prison terms for 63 people in a single case, one of the biggest mass sentencings to date. The judge fined each of them 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($7,200). He set a bail of 5,000 pounds which allows them to avoid prison while they appeal the verdict.

The case related to protests in Cairo in late November.

In a separate case, another 24 Brotherhood supporters were also sentenced to three years in prison, with labor, over clashes around the same time in a different part of Cairo.

The charges against them included rioting, illegal gathering, attacking the police and belonging to an armed terrorist gang. (Continue Reading.)

Egypt Declares Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Group

Wow. The Egyptian military isn't playing with these guys. This means, of course, that the Obama Administration promoted, supported, and defended a group that is now an officially recognized terrorist organization.

How's that Nobel Peace Prize working out for everyone?

CAIRO – Egypt's military-backed interim government on Wednesday declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, criminalizing all its activities, its financing and even membership to the group from which the country's ousted president hails.

The announcement is a dramatic escalation of the fight between the government and group, which has waged near-daily protests since the July 3 popularly backed military coup that toppled President Mohammed Morsi.

Hossam Eissa, the Minister of Higher Education, read out the Cabinet statement after long meeting, saying: "The Cabinet has declared the Muslim Brotherhood group and its organization as a terrorist organization." (Continue Reading.)

Three Jihadists Arrested in Plot to Blow Up U.S. Embassy in Cairo

Maybe they weren't invited to President Obama's Cairo speech, so they may not have heard that everything is sunshine and roses between Islam and the West.

CAIRO — Egyptian security forces have arrested three militants with ties to Al Qaeda who were planning terrorist attacks in Egyptian cities and against a foreign embassy, the interior minister said Saturday.

A Western official said the Egyptians had privately identified the embassy as the United States Embassy in Cairo.

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said at a news conference that the suspects had been arrested with 22 pounds of explosive materials and instructions on how to make bombs and build rockets and model airplanes to use in the attacks.

He said the suspects were “on the verge” of attacking an embassy when they were arrested.

He did not identify the embassy, but Egyptian officials have told their American counterparts that the United States Embassy was a target, a Western diplomat said. (Continue Reading.)

More Than 150 Kidnappings Targeting Christians in Egypt's Minya Province over Past Two Years

According to the Qur'an, Christians are the "worst of creatures" and must be violently subjugated:

Qur’an 98:6—Verily, those who disbelieve (in the religion of Islam, the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad) from among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) and Al-Mushrikun will abide in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures.

Qur’an 9:29—Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Yet the media just can't seem to understand why, out of more than 150 kidnappings in Egypt's Minya province over the past two years, 100% have targeted Christians.

Egypt (CNN)--Ezzat Kromer's resistance to his kidnappers did not last long. One of the masked gunmen fired a round between his feet as he sat behind the wheel of his car and said with chilling calm, "The next one will go into your heart."

The Christian gynecologist says he was bundled into his abductors' vehicle, forced to lie under their feet in the back seat for a 45-minute ride, then dumped in a small cold room while his kidnappers contacted his family over a ransom.

For the next 27 hours, he endured beatings, insults and threats to his life, while blindfolded, a bandage sealing his mouth and cotton balls in his ears.

Kromer's case is part of a dramatic rise of kidnappings targeting Christians, including children, in Egypt's southern province of Minya, home to the country's largest concentration of Christians but also a heartland for Islamist hard-liners.

The kidnappings are mostly blamed on criminal gangs, which operate more freely amid Egypt's collapse in security since the 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Crime has risen in general across Egypt, hitting Muslims as well. But the wave of kidnappings in Minya has specifically targeted Christians, and victims, church leaders and rights activists ultimately blame the atmosphere created by the rising power of hard-line Islamists.

They contend criminals are influenced by the rhetoric of radical clerics depicting Egypt's Christian minority as second-class citizens and see Christians as fair game, with authorities less likely to investigate crimes against the community.

Over the past two years, there have been more than 150 reported kidnappings in the province — all of them targeting Christians, according to a top official at the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police.

Of those, 37 have been in the last several months alone, the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. (Continue Reading.)

Egyptian Atheist Albert Saber Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Insulting Religion

Unless the Muslim Brotherhood decides to practice a little Taqiyya during the appeal, Egyptian atheist Albert Saber will be heading to prison for criticizing Islam. (In order to appear balanced, prosecutors even added that he made statements "critical of Christianity." Note: If possession of statements critical of Christianity is going to be a crime in Egypt, everyone who has a copy of the Qur'an is about to go to prison.)

The world cheered as the "Arab Spring" began toppling dictators in the Muslim world. But people like me were asking, "Don't you realize who's going to take over these countries when the dictators fall?" Of course, anyone who criticized the Arab Spring was immediately labeled a racist, Islamophobic, hate-mongering bigot. After all, Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, and when Islam controls a land, you get an interfaith utopia, just like the mythical interfaith utopia of Cordoba. Now that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken the reigns in Egypt and has begun punishing people for blasphemy, however, Westerners are scratching their heads wondering what went wrong. It's Islam, Silly.

CAIRO — A Cairo court sentenced an atheist from a Christian family on Wednesday to three years in prison for insulting religion, firing up fears about the future of freedom of expression here just as Egyptians prepare to vote on an Islamist-backed draft constitution denounced by secular groups as failing to protect such rights.

The convicted man, Albert Saber, is expected to be released on bail of about $167 pending an appeal. An open and avowed atheist, Mr. Saber, 27, was initially accused of circulating links to an offensive online video lampooning the Prophet Muhammad that set off protests across the Muslim world in September. Mr. Saber has denied promoting the video, and he is being charged for other statements critical of Islam and Christianity that police investigators found on his computer. Open profession of atheism is almost unheard-of in Egypt and is widely considered an affront to society as a whole.

Although blasphemy was a criminal offense under former President Hosni Mubarak before Egypt’s revolution as well, Mr. Saber’s case has raised special alarm because it comes against the backdrop of the sometimes violent battle over Egypt’s draft constitution, which elevates the crime of insulting religion to the level of the charter itself.

“Expect to see many more blasphemy prosecutions in the future now that it’s embedded as a crime in the constitution,” said Heba Morayef, a researcher with Human Rights Watch who is tracking the case. (Continue Reading.)

Egypt Sentences Christian Student Gamal Abdou Massoud to Three Years in Jail for Insulting Islam

Under Sharia, criticizing Muhammad, the Qur'an, or Islam is a crime. Western lawmakers are trying to pass laws that would ensure that Sharia rulings cannot be used in American courts, but Muslim organizations are busy assuring us that Sharia is entirely benevolent. Meanwhile, a Coptic teenager has been sentenced for insulting Islam

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced a 17-year-old Christian boy to three years in jail for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, actions that sparked sectarian violence.

Gamal Abdou Massoud was also accused of distributing some of his cartoons to his school friends in a village in the southern city of Assiut, home to a large Christian population and the hometown of the late Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda.

"Assiut child's court ordered the jailing of Gamal Abdou Massoud ... for three years after he insulted Islam and published and distributed pictures that insulted Islam and its Prophet," the court said in a statement seen by Reuters.

The cartoons, published by Massoud in December, prompted some Muslims to attack Christians. Several Christian houses were burned and several Christians were injured in the violence.

Human rights lawyer Negad al-Borai said the jail sentence was the maximum penalty under Egyptian law for such a crime.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country's 80 million population, have long had a difficult relationship with Egypt's overwhelmingly Muslim majority.

Tension between Muslims and Christians has simmered for years but has got worse since the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Christians have become increasingly worried by a surge in attacks on churches, which they blame on hardline Islamists, though experts say local disputes are often also to blame. (Source)

Egyptian Copts Abandon Constitution Talks

Mubarak was a dictator, but he was a dictator towards everyone without much bias. The Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis direct the bulk of their aggression towards non-Muslims and liberal Muslims, and hope to eradicate Christianity and Western values from Egypt.

The West backed the Egyptian revolution, and now the Copts are reaping the consequences. They have realized that Islam doesn't allow non-Muslims to take part in legislation, and they have backed out of Constitutional negotiations.

This is just a foreshadowing of things to come.

REUTERS--Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has announced it is withdrawing from talks on a new constitution, saying Islamist domination of the drafting body has made its participation "pointless," Egypt's state news agency said.

The decision late on Sunday followed calls by Egyptian liberals to boycott the constitution drafting committee, which is seen as failing to adequately represent the nation's diversity.

The current constitution was suspended by the country's army rulers in February of last year shortly after they took power from Egypt's long-serving autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak.

The 100-member constitutional assembly selected by the parliament is dominated by Islamists, reflecting their resounding victory in parliamentary elections.

"The Coptic Orthodox Church General Council agreed with the approval of all of the council's 20 members to withdraw from the constitutional assembly... as it found it was pointless for the church to be represented following the comments made by the national forces about the way the assembly was formed," the state news agency said, quoting a church statement.

Coptic Christians, who form Egypt's biggest minority group and constitute most of Egypt's 10 percent Christian population, have long had a difficult relationship with the country's overwhelmingly Muslim majority.

Since Mubarak's ouster, Christians have become increasingly worried after an upsurge in attacks on churches, which they blame on hardline Islamists, although experts say local disputes are often also behind them. (Read more.)

***UPDATE*** Peaceful and tolerant Western Muslim apologist Osama Abdallah just posted a comment declaring his support for Muslim efforts to eradicate Christianity in Egypt. Osama believes that Egyptian Muslims should indeed expel Christians. He writes:

"In short, they want to eradicate the pornography that is called christianity from Egypt. Anyone with the least dignity should support them on this. But who am I talking to?!"

We can only assume that Osama supports the destruction of Coptic churches, the oppression and forced conversion of Copts, etc.

Islamic Supremacists Win 80 Percent of Seats in Egypt's Upper Parliament

Now that the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis are making such a strong showing, democracy and religious tolerance are sure to follow.

EGYPT--Islamist parties won more than 80 percent of seats in Egypt's upper house of parliament, the country's election board announced Sunday.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party took 58 percent of the seats in contention, while the harder-line Salafist Al-Nour party came in second with a quarter of all seats. The nationalist Wafd party came in third with just 7 percent of the vote.

The upper house, or Shura Council, has no legislative powers and fulfills a largely ceremonial function. Two-thirds of its 270 are elected, and the rest filled by government appointment.

Voter turnout was low for the upper house, which will hold its first session Tuesday.

Islamists also dominated voting for the lower house of parliament, with the Brotherhood taking 38 percent and Al-Nour 27 percent. (Source)

Egyptian Comedian Adel Imam Sentenced for Offending Islam

American politicians and the American media cheered Egyptian rebels as they toppled the Mubarak regime. In the West, we assume that if you remove a dictator, a flowering of freedom and democracy will follow. Of course, those of us who know about Islam were pointing out that Muslim political parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood would never support genuine freedom and democracy. I suppose another "I told you so" would be redundant.

CAIRO (AP)—One of the Arab world's best known Egyptian comedians has been sentenced to three months in jail for offending Islam, a judge said Thursday, in the latest such case against a high-profile figure, underlining concerns about freedom of expression in Egypt.

The judge confirmed that Adel Imam, a veteran actor who first starred in a play in 1964, was convicted in absentia of insulting the religion.

The judge said Imam can appeal. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

Tarek el-Shinnawi, an entertainment reporter in Egypt, said that Imam was in Egypt recently filming a television series. Egypt's Actors' Syndicate said Imam's whereabouts are unknown. Imam could not be reached for comment.

The state-run Ahram Online English website reported Thursday he was found guilty for "defaming Islam" in a 2007 movie in which he plays a corrupt businessman who tries to buy a university diploma. The film, Morgan Ahmed Morgan, included a scene with bearded Muslim men wearing traditional Islamic robes. Other reports said the court objected to his use of Islamic symbols in the film and others he has appeared in.

Last month, Egyptian telecommunications and construction tycoon Naguib Sawiris, a founder of the liberal Free Egyptians political party, faced similar charges of defaming Islam after he posted pictures of Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing Islamic clothing on Twitter.

The cases have added to concerns that Islamists who dominate the new Egyptian parliament might use their powers to try to stifle freedom of expression. (Read more.)

Wait a minute! Is the Associated Press telling us that Islamist parties may actually support Islamic principles? But I thought that Islamist parties only supported Western values. Now I'm confused.