Egypt’s former mufti has told Egyptians who can’t afford to eat meat to stop complaining and have a slice of cake instead.
The former Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, had made remarks suggesting an “effective” solution for Egyptians to face high prices.
As Egyptians have been struggling to earn enough to survive, fake nutritional information from a government supported imam is here to save the day.
Ali Gomaa, the former grand Mufti of Egypt and one of the most prominent imams in the country was defending the latest austerity measures that had hardened the Egyptians daily lives, yet he might have taken it too far…
On a local TV channel, Gomaa was addressing Egyptians who complain the increase in meat prices as they became unable to afford it anymore. He went on to give nutritional advice about the number of needed calories for individuals per day, suggesting substituting meat with cakes, could be the answer!
“You all complain that meat is too expensive and you say what are we going to eat?… If you eat two pieces of cake, then that is it, you won’t need a breakfast or dinner..”
“Ali Gomaa: Eat two pieces of cake if you could not afford meat, “If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you”. [The last quote is a verse from Quran]
Gomaa went on to explain his point of view: “Allah created us needing 3200 calories per day, and one piece of cake contains 900, which means if I ate two pieces then that will be enough and I won’t need a breakfast or a dinner or whatever else.”
“So, the two pieces of cakes will count a 1800 calories, where are the rest of the 3200 [the needed amount].”
The imam who seems obviously ignorant of any nutritional knowledge, made himself a subject of mockery. Egyptians are already calling for President Abdel Fattah Sisi to resign, following the latest slash in fuel prices and transportation.
The video flooded the Egyptian social media as users went to criticize the imam for justifying any decision taken by the government, as if for the benefit of the people.
Some users described the imam as the Egyptian version of Marie Antoinette, the French Queen who is famous for her phrase: “Then let them eat bread”, when told that the peasants had no bread.
“He is exactly like Marie Antoinette when she said: “If there was not bread for the poor, let them eat cake”, and she ended up executed with her husband.”
Mohamed addressed the imam, sarcastically, asking him what should he do if he had Diabetes.
“But what people who had Diabetes, like me, should eat?”
Ahmed Elkhateeb pretended he was convinced by the imam’s solution, but found meat cheaper if he wanted to get each individual of his family two pieces of cakes on daily basis.
“A family of two individuals will need 20 pieces of cake per day. The average price of each piece is 15 EGP, which amounts to 300 EGP per day. No Sir, I am going to keep it on meat, as it is cheaper.”
In fact, the imam’s humourous attempt to justify his government’s decisions do have a serious side, as many Egyptians can no longer provide enough to look after thier children.
Sisi floated the Egyptian pound in 2016, in addition to crackdowns on many freedoms inside the country.
Egypt: Copts Attacked After Facebook Post Showing ‘Contempt of Islam’
An attack by a Muslim mob on Copts in a village in the Egyptian governorate of Minya on Monday (9 July) has left the Coptic community holed up in their houses, while security forces patrol the streets.
A local source told World Watch Monitor the situation is still very tense in the village of Menbal, 225km south of Cairo, which was also home to Gaber Mounir Adly, one of the 21 men beheaded by Islamic State in Libya in 2015.
Monday’s attack took place after Muslim villagers in Menbal, which has a population of 45,000, 30% of whom are Copts, accused a Coptic Christian of publishing a post on his Facebook page that insulted Islam, said the source, who did not wish to be named. In his post, published last Thursday (5 July), the 35-year-old Abdo Adel had compared Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, with Jesus.
The Muslim villagers filed a complaint with the police in the nearby city of Matay. Adel was arrested the following day (Friday 6 July) on charges of insulting Muhammad and contempt of Islam. He was put in custody pending further investigation.
On the day of his arrest, a group of young Muslim men tried to attack his house and had to be dispersed by police who were guarding the Copt’s home, according to the source.
‘We will displace you’
Three days later, on Monday evening, the police were called in at 11.30pm because a mob was attacking Copts and their properties in the village.
“The Muslim extremists in our village and the nearby villages incited the Muslim villagers against us …. They began pelting the Coptic-owned houses with stones and bricks, while shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ [Allah is the greatest] and chanting slogans against Copts, such as ‘We will displace you and the priest from our village, oh kaffir [infidels], oh the worshipers of the cross, oh defiled people’,” Girgis Shawky, a 32-year-old resident told World Watch Monitor.
Windows were smashed and some of the Copts sustained minor injuries. The attackers also attempted to break into the St. Tadros Church and the house of the priest, Fr. Makarious El-Kommas Antoun, but security personnel who were guarding the properties stopped them by firing in the air, he said.
However the police were unable to disperse the crowd. Only at about 1am on Tuesday morning (10 July), when regional security forces arrived, was order restored, although none of the attackers were arrested, said Shawky.
He added that “security forces have cordoned off the houses owned by Christians and the church”, while a curfew has been imposed from 8pm until 8am.
‘A state of panic’
“We lived very terrible moments while the mob were attacking our homes. Our children were screaming,” said Hany Adly, a Copt who owns an electrical-supplies shop in the village.
“All of us [Copts] have stayed in our homes. We are afraid to get out to the village streets. There is a state of panic and fear among all of us here. I cannot open my shop. Despite the presence of security forces in the village, we are still receiving threats from our Muslim neighbours. They say they will take revenge on all of us as soon as the security forces leave the village. We are afraid that they will attack us this Friday after their noon prayers.”
May all these three cruel and rude nations leave Christian Russia soon!
Here is why:
Many Egyptian Christians Feel Left Out of World Cup
Egypt’s first World Cup in 28 years has captivated the soccer-crazy nation, with intense focus on the squad and the broader game.
The Egyptians played the first match of the tournament June 15 and held two-time World Cup winner Uruguay scoreless for 89 minutes, until conceding a late goal and losing 1-0.
Still, the performance – with star striker Mohamed Salah injured on the sidelines – attracted international praise and gripped the millions of people gathering in groups across Egypt to watch their team together.
It was a welcome distraction for Egyptians who are struggling under harsh economic conditions. The 3-1 loss in the next match to host Russia, even with Salah back in the lineup, ended Egypt’s chances of advancing beyond the group stage. Despite the loss, the love and respect enjoyed by the team and the players remained intact.
Yet it wasn’t an entirely unifying experience.
For the country’s Christians, about 10 percent of the population, the composition of the team and the way the squad was perceived highlighted what they believe is a problem with the sport in Egypt.
No Christian has been on the national soccer squad for more than a decade, and just one played for any of the 18 top-flight clubs last season.
Egyptian coaches and officials dismiss any suggestion of discrimination, but Christians disagree. Egypt’s Christian spiritual leader has broken the church’s silence on the issue by publicly complaining about their disproportionate representation in the sport.
Egypt’s all-Muslim World Cup squad is known for being pious. The team even chose make its World Cup base in Muslim Chechnya.
The national squad has been nicknamed the prostrators because the players offer a Muslim prayer when they score. They regularly pray together when in camp and read the opening verse of the Quran before kickoff. Some perform the Muslim ritual wash before games. Generally, they frame competition, wins and defeats in religious terms.
Hassan Shehatah, one of Egypt’s most successful coaches, said nearly a decade ago that, to him, a player’s religious piety was as important as his skills. Hassan led an all-Muslim squad to win three of Egypt’s seven African titles between 2006 and 2010.
When goalkeeper Ahmed Elshenawy was named man of the match against Uruguay, he refused the Budweiser-sponsored award on religious grounds.
The perceived exclusion of Christians from top flight soccer and the national team is at odds with the outreach to the ancient community by Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Egypt’s general-turned-president who led the military’s 2013 ouster of an Islamist president. El-Sissi has emphatically and repeatedly spoken about inclusion and sectarian harmony. However, his government, critics and some Christians say, has failed to shield the community from the day-to-day discrimination, particularly in rural areas with less state authority and religious tolerance.
Pope Tawadros II, head of the Orthodox Coptic Christians and a close el-Sissi ally, rarely speaks publicly of discrimination, but has recently waded into the issue with uncustomary bluntness. “It’s extraordinary that all of Egypt’s football teams don’t have a single Copt who has good legs and who kicked a ball on the streets when he was little,” he said.
Ahmed Hossam, a retired striker – and a Muslim who played for some of Europe’s biggest clubs – was more blunt.
He claimed in a recent television interview that youth team coaches were driving Christians away.
“Regrettably, there’s a lot of people in Egypt who are bigoted over color, religion and ethnicity,” Hossam, better known as Mido, said. “We must confront them and not bury our heads in the sand. Can you believe it that in the history of football in Egypt, only five Christians played at the top level?”
As the only Christian on his soccer youth team, Ramon Zhery says he tried everything he could to blend in with his teammates. At the end, it was not enough. Zhery, now 28, plays for a third division club in southern Egypt. He says discrimination against his faith kept him from rising further.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Zhery recounted how he tried to establish harmony with his teammates and reassure them that, though a Christian, he was just another player like them.
When they huddled before kickoff to recite the Quran’s opening verse – a ritual meant to serve as a plea for divine help – he whispered a Christian prayer to himself. When at camp, he woke up before everyone and went about rousing them to perform the dawn prayers, one of five that Muslims offer daily.
“Mohammed Salah is a world star and he prostrates every time he scores and everyone knows he is a Muslim,” said Zhery.
The Christians’ response to their perceived exclusion from domestic soccer has been “church football” – a nationwide league of five-a-side teams that is played mostly on church grounds or rented pitches.
Andrew Raafat, a physical education teacher who tried his luck in club soccer before he settled for a coaching job at a Cairo Church, says some of the better young players he works with want to play at the top level.
“I cannot tell them that they will never be selected,” Raafat said. “They get selected sometimes, but they are later let go.”
Selected Comments:
Christians better wake up. The rest of the world is not interested in living in harmony with you or treating you fairly.
Crux: when selection is not based mostly on merit, Egypt is sending a soccer team that is not as good as it coulf be. Prayers aren’t gonna solve their insufficiency. They reap what they sowed…
Well, the Egyptian soccer player PRAYERS must not have been effective…. They still lost miserably. Now we know why – they are not right with god, but seek god’s favor….
Render unto soccer that which is soccers.
Christians in the ME should be given their own country….sort of like Israel.
That was called Lebanon….but Muslims got a foothold….and you know the rest.
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST COPTS IN EGYPTIAN SPORT CLUBS
This report has been sent to the FIFA officials directly, and submitted online via the new FIFA complaint mechanism.
Copts have been struggling with widespread, comprehensive and systematic religious, governmental and societal discrimination, which extends to all aspects of life in Egypt, including sports and soccer. During the past half-century, an infinitely small number of Coptic footballers – no more than 6 – have managed to join top flight soccer clubs. Some of those have spoken out about the rampant religious intolerance and the difficulties they have encountered. For instance, former Coptic footballer Ashraf Youssef told a newspaper that his teammates refused to eat with him simply because he is Christian (1). There are currently 540 players in the top-flight soccer clubs in Egypt, and that number includes only one Coptic footballer. The Egyptian Olympic Mission to Brazil in 2016 was completely devoid of Copts, and the same applies to the Egyptian National Team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Not a single Copt can be found in either the main team or the reserve, and it follows that there are no Coptic sports commentators anywhere in official Egyptian media outlets or in private Muslim-owned media.
Coptic Solidarity has filed a formal complaint with FIFA in 2016 to investigate the widespread sports and soccer discrimination against Christians in Egypt. This Complaint prompted many Christians to speak up about the significant religious discrimination in soccer, which amounts to sports racism. A number of moderate brave Muslims have also addressed the same issue.
“In Egypt, we have a large number of racists who do not try to hide [their racism],” said renowned international player Ahmed Hossam – known as Mido – in a TV interview. He frankly wondered, “Does it make sense that throughout the entire history of soccer in Egypt, there have only been five Christian footballers at the top level? There are many Christian children who are not allowed to continue to play because of the racist attitude of certain coaches. I have proposed that Christians should make up at least 10% of all junior teams in order to resolve this problem”(2).
In another TV interview, footballer and sports commentator Khalid Al Ghandour mentioned a racist incident against a Coptic person at Minya Sports Club. The caller, Shenouda Wahba, reported that one of his relatives had signed up for soccer tryouts at Minya Sports Club. The club’s technical director rejected him and stipulated that he should convert to Islam in order to be selected. Mr. Al Ghandour concluded by saying, “No one knows more than I do that there are Christian soccer talents treated unfairly in Egypt, it is absurd that there are 18 major soccer teams, and not a single Coptic player in any of them” (3).
Strangely, instead of investigating this racist incident, the Sports Media Committee rebuked Khalid Al Ghandour, claiming that his statements provoke sedition and fanaticism!!!!(4).
An altercation, seen on TV, between Al Ahli club technical director, Mr. Ikrami, and a young Copt named Pierre Zouhair Shafiq, took place when the young Christian man expressed his desire to join Al Ahli. When Ikrami found out that Shafiq and his colleague were Christians, he pointed to the main door of the club and told them to get out (5). Shafiq’s colleague recalled the incident in another TV interview and confirmed that Ikrami threw them out after realizing they were Christians (6).
In an interview with Al Youm Al Sabee newspaper on March 22, 2018, Pope Tawadros II, who usually steers clear of the issue of Coptic rights, said in answer to a question about the lack of Coptic soccer players, “Do not ask Copts about this, rather address the question to clubs and playgrounds, how likely it is that there is not a single Coptic footballer to be found in all Egyptian soccer teams?!!”(7).
At the well-known clubAl Ahli, a Christian child named Tony Atef was rejected because he had a cross tattooed on his wrist. The media picked up on the incident, which forced the club to reconsider and accept him to avoid a possible scandal (8).
Dr. Yasser Ayoub, the most renowned sports reporter in Egypt, wrote several articles explicitly stating that there is widespread sports discrimination against Copts. In one of them, he observed, “It is neither logical nor natural that we do not have a single Coptic soccer player in all of the Official Egyptian league teams … One of the real reasons for this situation is the implicit oppression of Copts, which is not acknowledged due to ignorance and intolerance, or out of fear of offending sensibilities and causing tension” (9, 10, 11).
Mr. Ayoub reiterated in another interview, “Anyone who tries to prove that Christians are discriminated against in soccer is considered an agitator who is sowing sedition, so the issue is only raised in secret, while everyone denies it publicly” (12).
Egyptian intellectual Dr. Khalid Montaser put it in a nutshell in an article in Al-Watan Egyptian newspaper, “There is a chronic red line set against admitting Christians to soccer teams in Egypt … We are a racist state par excellence, and a nation adept at discriminating between its children by means of religion, and this is the reason we did not even have 10 Christian footballers over the past 100 years … If a Christian excels and tries to join a team, the coach may sing his praises, but then turns him down because ‘he is unfortunately a Christian’”(13).
Author Sami al-Behairy told one such story: his Christian friend Maged Nabih Mikhail had passed the tryouts in Al Ahli club, performing well in front of the foreign coach. However, an official at the club asked about his name to issue a player I.D., and once he realized he is Christian, he simply told him: “Sorry, we cannot admit you into the team” (14).
Famous Art critic Tariq al-Shennawi raised a question in his column at Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper about the reasons for Coptic absence in soccer, stating, “The undeniable fact is that there is a distinct Coptic absence in soccer. Are Muslim families no longer willing to let their children play soccer with the children of their Coptic neighbors?”(15).
Writer Osama Ghareib responded to this question in the same newspaper, “Copts are being excluded from soccer because they are being increasingly accused and labeled as infidels,” he explained, adding that “Exclusion from soccer is not the only repercussion, as the infidel label may make them targets for murder and rape…. Since the majority of sports officials in major clubs are newly religious, you will not find one among them who would welcome a Christian child even if his talent exceeded that of famous international footballer Messi “(16).
Mada Masr online Newspaper published an Arabic/English report on the marked exclusion of Copts from professional soccer in Egypt, highlighting a number of cases that were excluded for religious reasons (17, 18).
Writer Tawfiq Humaid called on international player Mohammed Salah to lend his support to the efforts to end religious bias in sports against Christian Egyptians. He reminded him that were he a Christian, he would not have had the opportunity to play professional soccer in Egypt; and on the other hand, if the Western World did not consider competence to be the sole criterion, Salah would not have achieved international status (19).
Islamization of Sports
The problem of Coptic absence from soccer teams reflects a wider phenomenon, namely the Islamization of Egyptian society, including sports. In Egypt, the national soccer team is known as “the kneeling team” i.e., those who kneel down to worship in the Islamic way. Former technical director of the Egyptian national team, Hassan Shehata, used to have a Muslim cleric accompany the team on international trips to recite the Quran. He once said in an interview that “a player’s relationship with God and his proper behavior are important factors when he selects players who represent Egypt internationally”(20).
In an article published in Al-Ahram newspaper, researcher Wahid Abdel-Majid criticized Shehata because of the way he mixed religion and sports (21).
This general push for Islamization is reflected in the pressure put on foreign non-Muslim coaches and players to convert to Islam. Some of them have already converted to Islam so as not to lose their jobs, while others refused to, including Ivorian footballer Coulibaly who left the Egyptian team, later stating that they wanted him to convert to Islam (22).
Islamization of sports was also manifested in such statements made by Al-Azhar Institution, “Every goal scored by Mohammad Salah promotes Islam in Europe, makes English people sing the praises of Islam, and changes the way Europeans view the [Islamic] beard” (23, 24).
Coptic Reaction to Discrimination in Sports
As frustrated Copts struggle to find a way around the prevalent discrimination in sports, their options remain limited. In fact, filing complaints is about the only thing they can do, given that all sports clubs are under the supervision of the Egyptian State, and consequently their exclusion from soccer is a State policy.
A book entitled “A Goal in the Playground of Fanaticism”, published in 2010, explored in detail the exclusion of Copts from Egyptian playgrounds. Nour Qaldis, the book’s author and a Christian journalist at Coptic newspaper Watani, highlighted a large number of cases where talents were rejected on religious grounds. The book reached the conclusion that discrimination against Copts in sports is a far-reaching phenomenon, and that preventing young Copts from joining youth teams is a strategy designed to ensure that no Copts will be able to qualify for official soccer teams (25).
The only option left to Coptic churches was to organize church tournaments in small playfields within these churches, which at least gave Copts the chance to practice. However, this option is still flawed, since these are small Playgrounds, lacking professional capabilities and the ability to nominate Coptic players for official clubs (26).
Last year, a young Christian man founded the “Je Suis” Academy as a way to bring together talented Copts who were rejected by major clubs. He rented soccer fields in remote areas, thus allowing them to develop their skills. However, limited resources remain a problem, as well as the unchanging attitude of professional clubs which continue to reject those talented players
Tears And Joy As Egyptian Christians Killed In Libya Laid To Rest
Tears mixed with joy on Tuesday as the remains of 20 Christians were laid to rest in Egypt’s Minya province more than three years after they were kidnapped and beheaded in Libya in an attack that provoked rare Egyptian air strikes.
The return of the bodies of 20 Egyptian Copts has brought families in rural Egypt a chance for some closure after years in mourning with little hope of having the bodies of their loved ones being recovered for burial.
“Everyone stood beside the martyr that belongs to him and cried a little, but they were tears of longing, nothing more,” said Bishri Ibrahim, father of Kerolos, one of the victims, at the funeral service at a church in the village of al-Our in Minya province, where they were all laid to rest.
“But we are happy and joyful that they have returned to the village. This is a blessing for the country and to all Copts all over the world,” he added.
Thirteen of the 21 Libya victims came from al-Our, a rural town of around 10,000 people south of Cairo.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ordered the Church, named The Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland, to be built soon after the incident and dedicated in their memory.
Sisi also ordered a wave of air strikes on the Islamic State’s militant bases in Libya.
The remains of the victims, who were flown from Libya about a private jet to Cairo on Monday night, were placed inside cylinder-shaped containers covered in velvet cloth with the names of each victim and interred under the church altar.
Families said the burial place would be opened as a shrine for visitors.
The victims had been among the many poor Egyptians who risked their lives to find work in the lawless chaos of Libya following the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and civil war.
A video posted by Islamic State in January 2015 showed 21 people — 20 Egyptian Copts and one Ghanaian Christian — lined up on a Libyan beach in orange jumpsuits before they were executed.
“I wanted to see Milad come back from Libya on his feet after his struggle and hard work to earn a living in a harsh life abroad,” 55-year-old Zaki Hanna, the father of one of the victims.
“But thanks be to God, he died a hero, did not beg anyone to spare his life and he and his brothers, the martyrs, did not abandon their faith or homeland.”
Bashir Estephanos, whose two younger brothers were killed by Islamic State in Libya, said all Christians in al-Our village had been praying for the past three years for the bodies of the “martyrs” to be found.
Libyan authorities recovered the bodies in October after the area where they were buried was recaptured from the militant Islamist group.
“Our prayers were answered, so thanks be to God from the bottom of our hearts,” he said, speaking before the bodies arrived in the village.
The head of the Coptic Church in Egypt, Pope Tawadros II, was at the airport to receive the remains when they arrived in Cairo on Monday night.
