Magic Statistics

Two officials of the Middle Eastern Christian Association have been arrested in Cairo over books and materials they are said to have posted at the association's website, which is based in Canada.

Security forces Wednesday arrested the Egyptian country director of the Middle East Christian Association (MECA) Adel Fawzi, 61, and the association's photographer Peter Ezzat, 35, their lawyer Naguib Guebrail said.

"They were arrested at home in Cairo and were still being held Thursday morning," said Guebrail. "We haven't been officially told why they were arrested but security sources told us they are accused of distributing religiously defamatory books that incited confrontation between Copts and Muslims," he said.

Computers, CDs, and documents were seized by security forces, the lawyer and judicial source said. The source said that the pair had been arrested for insulting Islam on the British-based United Copts Web site.

The United Copts website is indeed based in Britain and carries a report on the arrests but MECA, according to its website, is incorporated in Canada and has Ontario mailing addresses.

Reuters says that unnamed lawyers reported the allegedly offensive online material to the prosecutor general, who sicked the cops.

Egyptian authorities certainly have reasons to want MECA silenced.  This from United Copts of Great Britain:

The action of the security services appears to be related to the fact that MECA had filed law suit against members of the Egyptian government including the President, Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Minister of Social Services, seeking compensation for the Coptic victims of al-Kosheh Muslim riots in 2000 where 21 Christians were killed in cold blood and non of the perpetrators were convicted. The ruling is expected on September 6.

Furthermore, MECA says the two men had assembled evidence corroborating allegations that Egyptian police killed a Christian who had refused to pay extortion.

On August 7, 2007 Peter Ezzat and other members of the Canada based The Middle East Christian Association were investigating reports that a Coptic worker in the suburb of Cairo was thrown off his balcony by two members of the Egyptian police after he refused to cave in to their demands and pay them extortion money. It appeared that two policemen had stopped Nasser Sediq Gadallah on his way home from work and demanded money by force. He refused to pay and went and filed a report with the prosecutor's office charging them with extortion and brutality. Eyewitnesses reported that both members of the police visited Naser's home shortly after he filed his report and tried to force him to withdraw his complaints from the prosecutors' office. When he refused, they threw him off his balcony in the presence of his family and other eyewitnesses.

Police had apparently wanted to cover up the murder by calling it suicide. Peter Ezzat and Dr Fawzy Faltas were taken into custody less than 24 hours after their investigation.  Police broke into their residences in the early hours of yesterday morning, took the men away in handcuffs, ransacked their homes, and confiscated their computers.

Other members of the MECA in Egypt are now in hiding.

h/t: Transfigurations

Previous related posts:

• Egyptian sues for recognition of conversion to Christianity
• Egyptian Christians document scores of attacks

The City of Whitehorse established a $25,000 slush fund to subsidise environmentally friendly projects undertaken by local businesses, non-profit organisations, and private citizens.  It’s managed to blow most of the money, but $10,000 remains in the coffers with no takers.  CBC Whitehorse comes to the rescue.

City council heard a request from the CBC at Monday’s standing committee meeting to access to [sic] $475 of the city’s $25,000 allotment for environmental fund grants.

The CBC has asked the city to help fund a bike rack outside of their offices at 3rd and Elliot.

The bike rack would cost $950, including bike rack materials, construction and installation of the bike rack, with CBC paying for $475 themselves.

CBC gets how many millions of dollars of taxpayers' money from the federal government every year—and it needs $475 from the City of Whitehorse for a bike rack?  Give me a break.  Let CBC pay for its own bike rack.

Even CBC seems to feel a little sheepish asking Whitehorse taxpayers to cough up $475.  When it reported the story, it did not mention that it is the organisation applying for the money.  It quoted the mayor saying, “[W]e had a proposal come in to us for putting a bike rack on the corner of Elliot and Third Ave.”, and then discussed how much trouble the city is having doling out the funds.

The city is just as bad as CBC, in my view.  If it can’t find takers for $10,000, how about refunding it to the citizens in tax cuts?

CBC’s application will be considered at next Monday’s city council meeting.  I hope council turns ‘em down flat (but I suppose that's unlikely).

The blockquote is from The Whitehorse Star, but the story is behind a subscribe wall, unfortunately.

Previous related post: Memo to Globe & Mail: Whitehorse does not restrict vehicle idling

A very brave man named Ehsan Jami has founded a group for ex-Muslims in the Netherlands.  Sadly but predictably, he has been assaulted in the street and threatened with death.  I am not making light of his situation—in fact, I pray he is granted divine protection—but I still found this funny.

Ehsan Jami, chairman of the committee for ex-Muslims, received dozens of death threats on Wednesday, according to his adviser, academic and writer Afshin Ellian. "The telephone was ringing off the hook," Ellian said on Thursday.

“The telephone was ringing off the hook.”  That is priceless.  So many Muslims have it in for Mr Jami that they’re clogging up the phone lines.  Those guys need to get a life.

h/t: Religion News Blog

Regina lawyer Tony Merchant has a lot of chutzpah.  His firm stands to receive $40 million from its work on residential school claims.  If you think that sounds like a lot of dough, you’re misinformed.  Not only has he earned every penny, he says he deserves more.  (I guess we’d better pay up now before he sues.)

Tony Merchant, the controversial Regina lawyer whose firm is awaiting a record $40-million payday from Indian residential schools abuse claims, has defended the fees by saying lawyers "contribute" more to society than Canada's bank presidents, yet earn less.

In the August issue of Canadian Lawyer magazine, a glossy national trade journal published this week, Merchant defends the $28 million to $43 million in fees his firm is expected to receive for spearheading the lawsuits of thousands of residential school survivors.
. . .
"[S]ome bank presidents make that much every year. I think many lawyers make a greater contribution," he is quoted as saying. 

The Victoria Times-Colonist reporter goes on to point out that, in fact, no Canadian bank president earned $40 million last year.

Not only is Mr Merchant wrong about bank presidents’ earnings, he has impeccably bad timing.  His plaintive plea for more moolah hit the press the same day as Judge John Gomery's withering attack on—you’ll never guess—excessive legal fees.

Cut your crippling fees, Gomery tells lawyers
Retiring judge says costs are killing justice

Canada's justice system is on a "suicidal" path that cannot be reversed unless lawyers cut their fees and governments put more money into legal aid, says Justice John Gomery, the straight-shooting judge who led the 2004-2005 inquiry into the federal sponsorship scandal.

Tony Merchant would have been far better off quietly cashing his humongous cheque.

For some reason, this reminds me of a certain song.

The best things in life are free
But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees;

Now give me money, (That's what I want),
That's what I want, (That's what I want),
That's what I want (That's what I want),
That's what I want.

h/t: Diocese of Saskatchewan

The British newspaper and online news source Muslim News carries a column by Chandra Muzaffar of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, offering a bizarre (not to say unhinged) take on the Koreans taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

After denouncing the abduction as “a blatant violation of Islamic ethics”, Mr Muzaffar questions the wisdom and propriety of sending committed Christians to give aid in foreign countries. Although the hostages are medical professionals and teachers, he is skeptical of the sincerity of statements by the hostages’ home church denying the group intended any evangelistic work.

South Korea, after all, has an “army” of over 12,000 “aggressive” missionaries working overseas.

That provides a launching pad for this flight of fancy.

Evangelism of this sort is often associated with that movement in contemporary Christianity that scholars have labeled 'The Christian Right'. Apart from wholehearted endorsement of neo-liberal capitalist policies in the domestic sphere, the Christian Right is totally committed to the Washington led attempt to establish global hegemony. It explains its support for the invasion of Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq. Like the neo-conservatives around President George Bush, the Christian Right also believes that US hegemony over the Middle East is vital to secure control over oil and to enhance the position of Israel. Hence its affinity to Zionism.

The South Korean hostages are to be linked with the so-called “Christian Right” that seeks to further US hegemony over the Middle East and the rest of the planet.  Likewise, most Christian evangelists and their supporters.  It’s a vast right-wing conspiracy!  Sounds like he’s been spending too much time reading The New York Times.

I doubt that many South Koreans long for the United States to take over the world.  Speaking as a Canadian Christian who supports Christian missionary activity, I know I don’t.  In fact, I’d bet most American evangelical Christians wouldn’t be too keen on that, either.

(That said, I admit that American global hegemony would be preferable to, say, Islamic global hegemony.  But I hope it doesn’t come down to such a choice.)

After that delusional fantasy, Muzaffar winds up his column with the hope that the hostage crisis “will lead to improved inter-religious ties”.  If he wants to contribute to those improved ties, he needs to remove his blinders and investigate what real Christians actually believe.

Previous related post: Korean hostages left their safety zone for the sake of God’s kingdom