Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The

Sheikh of Azhar’s withdrawal of his call to Muslims to visit the Aqṣá mosque, as a way of

supporting

Palestinians, was met with strong angry reactions. He declared that the deputy ambassador of Palestine

made this call, not him. He said that he and Pope Shenouda agree to visit Jerusalem when Palestinians

invite them.

The Palestinian scholar’s league urged the Grand Imām not to support Muslims’ visit to

Jerusalem because this

would negatively affect the Palestinian case.

Subtitle:

1 - The attitude of the pope towards the

emigrant Copts is not decisive, though they have

betrayed the home country.

2 - The church should not

be limited to talking about the problems of the Copts.

It has a general social role that it should

undertake.

The author argues that neither the church nor the

government can solve the problems of

sectarianism in Egypt alone, but that the responsibility falls on the whole of

society.

The Egyptian Administrative Court postponed a hearing in the lawsuit filed by a Coptic attorney, demanding the redemption of the Egyptian Deir Al-Sultan in eastern Jerusalem and handing it over to the Coptic Orthodox Church, to a court session on May 5.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Israeli authorities to enforce the Israeli Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Coptic Orthodox Church regarding returning Al-Sultan monastery to the Egyptian Church.

A professor of the Coptic Studies Institute in Egypt demanded the return of Al-Sultan monastery in Jerusalem to the Egyptian sovereignty. Al-Sultan monastery is considered one of the properties of the Egyptian church in Jerusalem. It was seized by the Jews and a group of Ethiopian Christians is now living in it.

Subtitles:
- Saladdin’s army included Muslims and Christians
- We build our forces and then look for papers & treaties
- We hate the Jews the most because they crucified the Christ

Jews are the enemies of the Christ. They are not descendants of Abraham, may God’s peace be upon him. The only means for the return of Jerusalem is through building an economic edifice, starting by the existence of a common Arab market. This is what Bishop Morqos of the Shoubra Al-Kheima church according to the Egyptian daily al-Arabi said. Bishop Morqos, however, told the RNSAW that the paper has twisted his words, changing the meaning of what he wanted to say.

Pope Shenouda says some Copts might go to Israel to celebrate the year 2000 but he doesn’t want normalization with Israel until they give up the land they usurped.

In an exclusive interview, Pope Shenouda III speaks frankly to Al-Ahram Weekly about the national role of the Church, the new draft Personal Status law, and other controversial issues.

A few days ago, the French paper ’Le Monde’ revealed the escalation of religious persecution practices in Israel by the government and extreme Jewish groups. The paper said the acts of persecution are directed against Christians and Muslims in the occupied Arab territories and in Israel itself.

Rose el-Youssef describes the life of Lieutenant General Fouad Aziz Ghali, a Coptic Christian, leader of an Egyptian army and a hero of the October war of 1973.