Main focus of Monday, January 3, 2011

Terror against Egypt's Christians

Twenty-one Egyptian Christians were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve. The press sees the bombing as an attack on the peaceful coexistence of religions and calls on the international community to act.

Libération - France

With attacks like the one in Alexandria, the terrorists want to put an end to the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Christians, writes the left-liberal daily Libération. "In attacking what the writer Lawrence Durrell called 'the capital of memory', the terrorists have made their objectives clear. More than any other modern city, Alexandria embodied in its heyday the dream of the coexistence of religions and cultures. By contrast, the assassins of December 31 represent an Arab world where everything that is not Muslim is eradicated. Starting with the Christians, whose history is deeply rooted in this land. Hatred and war, fear and violence have already taken their toll." (03/01/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Religion, » Egypt
All available articles from » Vincent Giret

Corriere della Sera - Italy

The terrorist attack in Alexandria underlines once more the international community's duty to help Christians in need all over the world, writes the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera: "Fanning hate against Christians is an old way of seeking the approbation of Muslims. ... But Christians are under attack not just from Muslims but also from fundamentalist Hindus. Then there's the violence of dictators, who see Christians from Africa to Latin America as a bastion against crime and its cruel consequences. This is why it is directed against the Christians. The 21st century presents itself as the new century of the martyrs. We are beholden to help Christians in need; we must not leave them on their own. Loneliness only increases vulnerability." (03/01/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Religion, » Minorities, » Europe, » Global, » Egypt
All available articles from » Andrea Riccardi

Frankfurter Rundschau - Germany

The difficult situation on the domestic front in Egypt plays right into the hands of the Islamists, writes the left-liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau commenting on the attack in Alexandria: "The successor of the 82-year-old head of state who has pulled all the strings for an entire generation will be chosen in September. But there is no clear political heir in sight. Instead, the old guard of the military and security apparatus and the elite of economic reformers are fighting bitterly with each other. And worse still: the outrageously blatant fraud in the November elections has completely deprived the parliament of the authority to credibly intervene in the fate of the country. ... What began as preparing the political terrain for as smooth a transfer of power as possible could soon turn into a political boomerang. The Egyptian Islamists will delve deeper than before into the political underground and the influence of the moderate wing will continue to dwindle." (03/01/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Religion, » Minorities, » Egypt
All available articles from » Martin Gehlen

Hospodářské noviny - Czech Republic

After the suicide bombing in Sweden and the attack on a church in Alexandria the business paper Hospodářské noviny fears a new round of violence in the new year: "For the first time Islamists attacked in tolerant Sweden. The attack on the Coptic Christians in Egypt took on unprecedented proportions for standards there. This could be a signal that terrorism and its targets are spreading. ... The flimsiest excuse justifies an attack. It need no longer be the 'great Satan' or the massive military presence in the Muslim world. Scandinavian cartoons or a latent conflict between Muslims and Christians like that in Egypt are enough. ... The terrorist network is taking on the role of a parasite. It profits from every problem and attacks those parts where the body is weakest. It makes no sense to seek the causes of this terror. Only one thing makes sense - to eradicate it." (03/01/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Unrest / Riots, » Sweden, » Global, » Egypt
All available articles from » Petr Honzejk

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