Death toll in Egypt rises to 525 as Obama cancels military exercise, ‘strongly condemns’ violence + Coptic Christians in Egypt killed, targeted by Islamists as violent conflict continues around the country

By Madison Ruppert: As the death toll in Egypt rises to 525, according to the health ministry, and Christians face more danger than ever, Obama (the baby bomber) has canceled a military exercise scheduled for next month while saying that the U.S. “strongly condemns” the violence currently plaguing Egypt. Perhaps most troubling of all is that there are no signs of the violence ending in the near future with the Muslim Brotherhood pledging to march in Cairo and bring down the interim government.
One of the most notable aspects of Obama’s reaction is that he avoided actually describing the situation in Egypt as “a coup.”
If such language was used, it would require the U.S. to cut the $1.3-1.5 billion in yearly aid to Egypt, as USA Today notes.
Gehad El-Haddad, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, has been especially vocal as of late.
“We will rise and rise again until we push the military back into the barracks and restore democracy,” El-Haddad said via Twitter.
El-Haddad also claimed that the Minister of Health “has privately disclosed that he is under extreme pressure” to withhold the real numbers of injured and dead Egyptians.
“Almost 8 times of what they announced,”
El-Haddad claimed.
The Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Mohamed Fathallah told the official Al Ahram website on Thursday that 525 people have been killed in clashes after the resignation of Mohamed ElBaradei and some 3,717 others have been injured, according to The New York Times.
The largest concentration of killings was reported in the largest of the two protest camps in the Nasr City suburb, with 202 killed.
The smaller Nahda Square protest camp located near Cairo University had 87 killed and 29 others were killed in the Helwan area located on the outskirts of Cairo. An additional 207 people were reported killed elsewhere around Egypt.
“We will not bow down, we will not cower,” he said, according to NBC News, adding that the Egyptian security forces have shown “unbelievable brutality.”
“There remained a chance for reconciliation and an opportunity to pursue a democratic path,” Obama said today, referring to the time following the overthrow of Morsi on July 3. “Instead, we’ve seen a more dangerous path taken.”
Yet at this point, Obama’s statements are nothing but rhetoric. Since there is no suspension of military aid, the United States remains a significant supporter of the government in Egypt.
The Washington Post reports that the U.S. aid to Egypt “represents what officials say is the only financial and diplomatic leverage the administration can bring to bear in Egypt.”
Obama stated that he has instructed his national security team to investigate what further steps they might take in response to the situation in Egypt, adding that they “appreciate the complexity of the situation.”
What that actually means for the people of Egypt remains unclear.

Edited by WD

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Coptic Christians in Egypt killed, targeted by Islamists as violent conflict continues around the country

By Madison Ruppert: With dozens of people across Egypt killed over recent days, including 41 in the province of Minya alone, Egypt’s Christian minority is in more danger than ever.
Just last week, a 10-year-old Christian girl was killed when walking home from a Bible class at the Ahmed Esmat Street Evangelical Church, according to the Telegraph.
While Egyptian Christians reported an increase in violent attacks and social discrimination under Mohammad Morsi’s regime, Coptic leaders say that the situation has only become worse since the coup last month.
The BBC recently reported that many Coptic Christians in Egypt are being targeted by Islamists who hold them partly responsible for the removal of Morsi from office.
In the 18^th, 19^th and most of the 20^th centuries, Christians and Muslims lived together peacefully, according to Father Atoine Rafik Greiche, who spoke to the BBC recently.
Since Morsi was removed from power, it has “become more dangerous because some in the Muslim Brotherhood now want to prove themselves by using force and violence. We are doing our best to bear it, but young children and others are paying a high price,” Greiche said to the BBC.
Some Egyptian cities, like Assiut, are especially hard-hit.
“We had never experienced the kind of persecution we suffer now. We are insulted every day,” said Nevine Kamal, a 40-year-old Christian pharmacist and mother of two, according to the Associated Press.
“We are angry and frustrated but we are not leaving Assiut,” Kama said. “Sadly, my children are angry with Egypt and want to leave and they don’t believe us when I and my husband tell them that things will get better soon. But, personally, I have faith that all this will yield something good for us and the country.”
For now, however, the post-coup situation for Christians in Egypt is far from what most hoped for.
“At least seven Christians have been killed since the coup, one of them in Assiut. Scores have been injured,” the Associated Press reported last week.
Today various media outlets also cited local press reports stating that Morsi supporters set a Christian youth center on fire in Fayoum.
CBS reported that Coptic churches were torched in Minya, Assiut, Sohag and Fayoum.
Reuters also cited state media reports claiming that Morsi supporters attacked several churches, though they not the reports could not be independently verified.
Daily News Egypt also reported that a number of churches were attacked around the country today.
With the violence in Egypt only getting worse, the Christians, who make up around 10 percent of the 85 million people in Egypt, look to be one of the most vulnerable populations.


WB7