مــايــكل مــنير و القضيه القبطيه

[honeyweill]

[الاميره]

لاتتخلى عن أقباط مصر يامايكل مهما كانت الصعوبات أمامك فإن الله سيقويك من أجلنا

[الاميره]

أنا سمعت إن مايكل منير رافع قضيه فى أمريكا بيطلب فيها فتح باب الهجره أمام أقباط مصر بدون قيد أو شرط ....... فهل هذا الخبر الجميل صحيح أم لا ؟
وشكرا

[honeyweill]

حاضر هنرد عليك .................... بس مش معقول هيسفر الاقباط

هنسبهلهم يعني............................... لايمكن

[honeyweill]

[honeyweill]

مايكل بيطلب يتعمل تسهيلات لكن مش ان في فيز تطلع لحد للمساعده لاخوته مش اكتر لكن مش بيسفر الناس من مصر لكن بيطلب ده من الاداره الامريكيه
لتخفيف القيود عن اي قبطي

[honeyweill]

[honeyweill]

مايكل منير .... المواجهه مع النظام الاسلامي بالمؤتمرات المسيحيه العالميه

[godhelpcopts]

[عادل لمعى الفار]

الاخ الغالى فى الرب يسوع ميكل
سلام ونعمة الرب يســــــــوع تكون معكم بركة صلاة العذراء ام النور تحافظ عليكم
اخوك فى المعمودية
عادل لمعى الفار

[honeyweill]

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

May 18, 2005

Dear Mr. President:


The international Coptic community commends you on your continued support of democratic development in the Arabic-speaking world. As members of an endangered native religious and cultural minority, Egypt’s Coptic Christians request you relay to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif the U.S.’s concern over the discrimination and persecution suffered by Egypt’s indigenous Copts.



Egypt’s native Christian Copts—numbering around 12 million people and constituting approximately 15-20% of Egypt’s population—have long been targeted by the predominantly Muslim Egyptian government, and continue to suffer discrimination and persecution in their native country. Employment discrimination and exclusion from public office are among the more mild examples of Coptic persecution, which routinely escalates to police-sanctioned hate crimes such as church destruction, the kidnapping and rape of young Coptic women, and murder. These conditions are consequences of irresponsible legislation, poor and often prejudiced enforcement of the law, and a general environment of social intolerance propagated by State-owned media and educational systems.



Coptic Christians of all denominations continue to struggle for reform, democracy, and basic human and religious rights in their homeland. Despite the censure of the U.S. State Department, United Nations, NGOs such as Amnesty International, and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, the Egyptian government—led by President Hosni Mubarak—remains impervious to legitimate Coptic grievances. Thus far, Copts have not reaped the benefits of limited reforms proposed by President Mubarak; the international Coptic community believes that to effectively and seriously address Egyptian Christians’ concerns, Egypt needs to implement the following resolutions, assembled by an internationally-recognized panel of scholars at the 2004 Zurich International Coptic Symposium.

1- Instituting a total separation of religion and state through constitutional reforms, and the removal of emphasis on religion and its role in government institutions, emphasizing the secular nature of the State.

2- Denouncing the Hamayoni Decree as unconstitutional in order to establish the equal rights of all Egyptians to build and maintain places of worship.

3-Allocating a proportionate and just percentage (estimated between 10-15%) of government appointed positions to Copts, to guarantee appropriate participation.

4-Allocating a proportionate and just percentage (estimated between 10-15%) of parliamentary seats for Copts, thereby, encouraging political participation and guaranteeing adequate representation in the Electoral Bodies.

5-Removing religious identification from every government issued document, form, or application.

6-Enforcing the constitution in order to guarantee the freedom and protection of religious beliefs of all Egyptians, free from all coercion.

7-Ending the practice of treating all Coptic issues, including their struggle to attain equal rights, as ‘State Security Matters’ and removing what is known as the “Coptic File” from the grip of the State Security Intelligence Apparatus, with the aim of restoring equality between all Egyptians under rule of law.

8-Reforming school curriculum and the media to remove all demeaning references to non-Muslims, and introducing an educational curriculum teaching tolerance, acceptance of others, respect for human rights, and religious freedom.



In light of the United States’ commitment to the promotion of democracy, human rights, and religious freedom in the Middle East, we respectfully request your intervention with Prime Minister Nazif to guarantee equal rights for Copts by ensuring the implementation of the above resolutions.

Sincerely,


Michael Meunier

President

U.S. Copts Association

http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=704

[honeyweill]

TODAY'S COLUMNIST (Washington Times Editorial)
By Nir Boms/ Michael Meunier
November 21, 2005


Barely a month following President Hosni Mubarak's predictable re-election, Egypt finds itself in full campaign mode again. The results of the first round of the parliamentary elections were just published, confirming a considerable gain in power for candidates affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Still, it is the second round of elections this year in the most significant Arab country in the world -- so, something good is probably happening, right? The September elections in Egypt, the first-ever "open" elections, have come and gone in the Middle East news cycle, clearing the way for another round of assassinations in Lebanon; escalations in Gaza; suicide attacks in Iraq and Jordan. The headlines have told us about the "launch" of a "new path of progress for Egypt." But words and promises are cheap in the Middle East. Reality has its own peace of mind.


The unsurprising victory of Mr. Mubarak, Egypt's leader over the last 24 years, was accepted, but with little enthusiasm. Mr. Mubarak indeed took 80 percent of the vote, but the low turnout of only 6 million Egyptians -- who comprise only 23 percent of eligible voters -- and testimonies about election fraud have diminished the "democratic" achievement of this leading Arab country.


A new statement by the National Council for Human Rights in Egypt, which is financed by the government, said that the presidential elections in September lacked real democratic competition and that the amended election law "placed very difficult restrictions on presidential hopefuls, especially independent candidates, resulting in the absence of real competition."


The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies' report on the Egyptian elections said that the mass media was generally biased in favor of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and its candidate, Mr. Mubarak. A report published by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights questioned the process that kept some challengers off the ballot and allowed state agencies -- particularly the Presidential Election Commission and the Interior Ministry -- to create conditions favoring Mr. Mubarak's National Democratic Party.


The spokesperson for one opposition party -- the Ghad Party, which received 7.6 percent of the vote -- insisted that its party actually received at least 30 percent of the ballot while claiming that its supporters were prevented from entering the polling stations. Little appeared to have changed this time around, as reports of new examples of fraud and irregularities continue to pile up.


Still, foreign reaction was almost in consensus in describing Egypt's first step to democracy. "This election represents an important step toward holding fully free and fair competitive multiparty elections," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. President Bush himself called Mr. Mubarak to congratulate him on his victory.


In the meantime, Egypt is back to its normal routine. Earlier this month, the London-based Amnesty International issued a statement concerning torture in Egypt. "Torture remains widespread and systematic, and security forces have been allowed over many years to act with virtual impunity," Malcolm Smart, Director of the organization's Middle East and North Africa program, said in a statement. Last week, the Egyptian authorities arrested Abdolkarim Nabil Seliman, a 21-year-old Egyptian student of law, a blogger and a women's-rights activist. Mr. Seliman's writings -- that included some harsh political criticisms on the political climate in Egypt -- did not blend well with the new path of "openness" in Egypt.


The Coptic Christians, Egypt's largest minority (about 11 million people) have their own reasons to worry. The Mubarak years have witnessed more than 40 massacres committed against Copts, resulting in injury to and murder of men, women and children, and untold loss of businesses and property. Such massacres took place at villages like Gerza-Ayiat-Giza, where an armed mob of approximately 500 radical Egyptian Muslims burned houses and seriously injured 11 in 2003. Later that year, 22 Copts, many of them converts from Islam to Christianity, were arrested, beaten, interrogated and tortured. Not a single individual was ever arrested or prosecuted for these events.


The Egyptian police just halted the search for Marianna Rezk Shafik Attallah, a Coptic woman that was kidnapped by a former Egyptian police officer. Egyptian officials later claimed that the young woman was not kidnapped, but rather converted to Islam and is not interested in speaking with her family. Just last week, the Islamic group "Egypt's Mujahadeen" -- which claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks at Sharm el-Sheikh -- posted an "urgent message to the followers of the cross living in Egypt" claiming that the "crusaders church" is guilty of staging a theater performance offending the Prophet Mohammed. That call was also supported by the Egyptian radical newspaper El-Osboa. As a result, on Oct. 21 a mob of over 10,000 militants armed with explosives surrounded the St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria. One nun was stabbed and four people killed in the attack that lasted three days

. Last week, an international delegation from the leadership of the Egyptian Copts gathered in Washington for the second annual International Coptic Conference. The conference, titled "Democracy for Muslims and Christians in Egypt" brought the Coptic leadership together with academics and lawmakers who sought to raise world attention to the issue of minorities in Egypt.


The struggle of the Copts should not be seen as another campaign for human rights but as a barometer for Egypt's possible transition. The conference, where Muslim and Christian activists from inside and outside Egypt joined forces with their call for democracy, provided a rare opportunity to make sure that actions rather then words will follow.

Nir Boms is the vice president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East. Michael Meunier is the executive director of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East.

http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=811

[honeyweill]

U.S. COPTS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT TO SPEAK ON EGYPTIAN INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION CHANNEL DREAM 2



Washington, D.C. (9/27/05)—U.S. Copts Association President Michael Meunier will on Tuesday, September 27 give a live interview on Dream 2 Egyptian television network. Mr. Meunier will discuss the upcoming second annual International Coptic Conference on Democracy in Egypt, to be held in Washington, D.C.



Mr. Meunier will appear as the special guest on the popular Dream 2 live television program “Al-‘Asherah Messa.” Mr. Meunier will call in to the program for a one-hour interview discussing the International Coptic Conference on Democracy in Egypt. The Washington, D.C. conference will convene noted scholars, human rights activists, and U.S. lawmakers to discuss the challenges of democratization facing Egyptians of all religious and cultural backgrounds.



“I am pleased to once again represent the world Coptic community on an internationally-broadcast network such as Dream 2,” said Mr. Meunier. “We hope that by effectively harnessing the power of Egyptian and international media, we can continue drawing the world’s attention to important issues—such as democracy in Egypt—affecting Egyptians of every background.



Mr. Meunier’s interview will air Tuesday, September 27 at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (10 PM Egyptian Standard Time) on the Dream 2 television network.


http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=776

[honeyweill]

U.S. COPTS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT TO APPEAR JANUARY 19, 2006 ON AL-HURRA INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE TV


Washington, D.C. (1/18/06)— U.S. Copts Association President Michael Meunier will appear live Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (8:00 PM Egypt) on al-Hurra international satellite network. Mr. Meunier will discuss several challenges facing the Copts, Egypt’s indigenous, pre-Arab Christians. Mr. Meunier will also address the necessity for Coptic political participation.



Mr. Meunier, a renown Coptic activist and human rights advocate, will appear as the special guest on the popular al-Hurra live talk show “Free Hour.” Mr. Meunier will discuss several civil and human rights challenges facing Egypt’s Copts, particularly Copts’ almost wholesale exclusion from Egyptian politics and government.



“I am pleased to once again represent the world Coptic community on an internationally-broadcast satellite network such as al-Hurra,” said Mr. Meunier. “Coptic political participation in Egyptian government is a key step toward achieving equal civil and human rights for Copts. We hope that by effectively harnessing the power of international media, we can continue drawing the world’s attention to this and other important issues affecting Copts throughout the Diaspora.”

“Free Hour” will air live from 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (8:00 PM-9:00 PM Egyptian Time).


http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=869

[honeyweill]

U.S.COPTS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT TO SPEAK ON INTERNATIONAL RADIO PROGRAM

Washington, D.C. (1/20/05)—U.S. Copts Association President Michael Meunier will speak tonight on The Tovia Singer Show, a daily news radio program with host Rabbi Tovia Singer. Meunier, a leading Coptic Diaspora activist, will discuss the recent slaying of a New Jersey Coptic-American family.



Rabbi Tovia Singer is a noted scholar, journalist, and expert on Middle Eastern terrorism and Judaic issues. His daily radio program, The Tovia Singer Show, is broadcast on Israel National Radio and reaches over 3 million listeners worldwide. Listeners in the United States can hear The Tovia Singer Show at www.israelnationalradio.com .



Meunier’s interview will air tonight at 10 PM Eastern Standard Time.
http://www.copts.net/print.asp?id=619