Muslim Persecution of Christians

Church Courtyard Set Aflame Before Christmas Prayers

By Raymond Ibrahim —— Bio and Archives January 9, 2015

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Raymond Ibrahim The courtyard of St. George the Martyr, a partially constructed Catholic church in Hijazh village in Egypt was set on fire by unknown persons on Christmas day (January 7 for Egyptian Christians).

Christian worshipers were planning on praying in the church’s courtyard — since the church building had been left unfinished for 23 years due to reasons of security — and had furnished the courtyard with chairs and tents. They “were surprised” to find “flames” engulf much of the courtyard. The people managed to stifle the fire but not after it had done it’s damage. In 2010, a wooden church build aside the unfinished church was also burned down, though at that time faulty electricity was blamed. More pictures of the aftermath of this second fire follow.

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RAYMOND IBRAHIM (RaymondIbrahim.com) is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam expert.  His books include Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). His writings, translations, and observations have appeared in a variety of publications, including Fox News, Financial Times, Jerusalem Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times Syndicate, United Press International, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Weekly Standard; scholarly journals, including the Almanac of Islamism, Chronicle of Higher Education, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, and Middle East Review of International Affairs; and popular websites, such as American Thinker, the Blaze, Bloomberg, Christian Post, FrontPage Magazine, Gatestone Institute, the Inquisitr, Jihad Watch, NewsMax, National Review Online, PJ Media, VDH’s Private Papers, and World Magazine. He has contributed chapters to several anthologies and been translated into various languages.