Sinai: Coptic Christian farmers shot dead by Islamic State
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A Coptic Christian farmer and his son were shot dead by Islamic State insurgents in the Sinai peninsula, Egypt, at the end of last month, Watani International reports.
The ongoing Sinai insurgency was launched by Islamic jihadists against both the Egyptian army and civilians during the 2011 “Arab Spring” Egyptian revolution when Egypt’s long-standing president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown.
Notoriously brutal in their insurgency, Islamic State jihadists have consistently targeted Coptic Egyptians for beheadings, and public executions in what they have said should be a “warning to Christians.”
On August 30, Salama Moussa Waheeb and his 40-year-old son Hany were murdered by Islamic State gunmen while working their fields in the area of Gelbana in al-Qantara Sharq in midwest Sinai, Watani reports. Salama is survived by another son and two daughters, while Hany is survived by his wife and two daughters.
However, the relationship between the Egyptian government and Egyptian Coptic Churches has improved since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2013. “Al-Sisi took important steps to improve the relationship between the government and the Copts by visiting the cathedral, attending important church celebrations, supporting the construction of the largest cathedral, crippling severe and discriminatory regulations, and establishing a high-level committee to fight sectarianism,” the Albawaba news outlet said.
Egypt ranks 20th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2022 of the top 50 countries that are most dangerous for Christians, who are largely treated as second-class citizens.