Voice of The Nile Coptic AssociationCoalition for the Defense of Human Rights
Minutes of Annual Meeting
November 19 & 20, 2004
The Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights convened on Friday, November 19, 2004 in the Mansfield Room, S297 of the U.S. Capitol Building.
A Press Conference on the status of Iraqi minorities began at 2:00 p.m. A panel of experts participating in the conference included, Dr. Walid Phares; Nina Shea; James Rayis; Dr. Suhaib Nashi; Robert DeKelaita; Rev. Ken Joseph; and, Ashur Yoseph. The conference was moderated by Fr. Keith Roderick. It concluded at 2:45 p.m.
The panelist presented a briefing for congressional staff and representatives from other agencies. The panel described the urgency of establishing an administrative unit under the provisions of the current TAL “interim constitution.” Mandaeans and other minorities expressed the need to provide greater security. Each group also called for balanced distribution of reconstruction funds. At this time, none of the minority groups have received reconstruction funds for their communities from Aid allocated by the U.S. and other international organizations. The panel also described the minorities as the “fourth group” that constitutes Iraqi society. However, it was noted that it was the forgotten and ignored group. The minorities are described as the most powerful force for moderation in Iraq. They should be included in the equation for binging about a secular and democratic government in the post-Saddam era. It was recommended that Congress should be pressed to support the recognition of the rights of ChaldoAssyrians and other minorities as the indigenous communities of Iraq deserving protection and support, fund refugee resettlement and reconstruction projects. It was also recommended that Congress conduct oversight hearings on how reconstruction money has been allocated
The briefing concluded at 5:00 p.m. The Coalition was directed to reconvene in the same room at 9:40 a.m. for its annual Board of Advisors meeting.
The Coalition reconvened on Saturday, November 20, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. in the Mansfield Room, S 207 of the U.S. Capitol Building. Fr. Keith Roderick, Secretary General of the Coalition, chaired the proceedings.
The meeting opened with a moment of silence in memory of Dr. Shawky Karas, late President of the American Coptic Association, Mr. Nagi Kheir, the late Washington Spokesman for the American Coptic Association and Mr. Sabry Zaky, Esq. Late human rights lawyer in Egypt.
Secretary General Roderick reported that a number of new organizations are participating in the meeting including, Mandaean Society of America, Auxilia, Diocese of Quincy, Institute on Religion and Public Policy, Assyrian Christian News, National American Coptic Assembly (NACA), Voice of the Nile Coptic Association, Center for Freedom in the Middle East, Poso Watch Network, Watch and Decide Television Program, Gideon Organization/Ethiopian Group, Lebanon Information Center, Jihad Watch, Serbian Unity Congress, Assyrian Aid Society.
The Executive Committee will meet at a time convenient to the other members.
Secretary General Roderick distributed in the meeting agenda packet a description and special order form for a major work being published by Bat Ye’or in January, EURABIA. The members were encourage to preorder for shipment when the publisher begins distribution.
The Board of Advisors agreed that the spring meeting will be held on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23, 2005.
The Board of Advisors considered a number of resolutions offered by member organizations. The following were introduced and accepted. (The Resolutions are attached)
The Board of Advisors recognized special guest, Mamdouh Nakhla, Director of the Al Kalema Center for Human Rights in Cairo, Egypt. As a human rights lawyer Mr. Nakhla was able share his perspective on the legal status of discrimination of non-Muslims in Egypt.
Under Old Business the Secretary General described plans to host a series of two or three forums drawing together individuals of same vocations from Islamic countries to discuss how ethnic-religious discrimination and persecution impacts them. The purpose is to begin a dialogue of culture and identity for those who have lived as dhimmi in Islamic dominant societies. Fr. Roderick described non-violent resistance to oppression as being rooted in a resilient cultural cohesiveness that confronts injustice and other inequalities. The Board of Advisors accepted a motion to host three forums this year: One for writers, artists and dramatists, a second for journalists, and a third for academics. The organizations were asked to submit nominations for likely participants from each of the countries of their concern. A subcommittee will be appointed to plan each forum. These forums will be a platform for calling an international congress of people who have lived under or have been threatened by the realities of dhimmitude.
Under New Business the Board of Advisors considered and approved a resolution calling for the establishment of Coalition meetings in Europe in order to facilitate broader participation of organizations in Europe representing minorities in Muslim dominant societies and foster the development of a political base for influencing the European Parliament in regards to the rights of non-Muslim minorities. Tentatively, the initial meeting will be planned to be held in March at the opening of the U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Board of Advisors authorized a delegation of Ann Buwalda and Fr. Roderick to present a letter outlining the grievances against the government of Eritrea to the Eritrean Ambassador. The Board of Advisors also authorized a strategy under the leadership of the ChaldoAssyrian alliance to seek the passage of a consensus of the Congress resolution recognizing the rights of the ChaldoAssyrian people and supporting the establishment of an administrative district that will provide security and development for them. It will pursue oversight hearings by a committee of congress focusing on the inequalities of aid distribution of allocated reconstruction aid from the U.S. and other international organizations.
The following reports were received by the various organizations and distributed at the meeting:
The Board of Advisors adjourned at 12: 30 p.m.
Appendix – Approved Resolutions
Resolution Calling Upon Nigeria to respect the Religious Freedom, Self-Determination of the Igbo
Submitted by
Ekwe Nche Organization.
****
We are calling on this body to:
1) Appeal to the Nigerian government to desist from continued violations of Igbo human rights in Nigeria including the Rights for free Religion and Self Determination;
2) Appeal to the Nigerian government to Seize and Desist from Impeding the On-going movement for self determination in Nigeria;
3) Appeal to the Nigerian government to stop violating Igbo Rights to Economic Development in Nigeria;
4) Appeal to the Nigerian government to Desist from the military occupation of Igboland that has gone on since 1970;
5) Appeal to the Nigerian government to Desist from its policy of violating of Igbo economic Rights through the Containment and economic marginalization of the Igbo people;
6) Appeal to both the United Nations and the Nigerian government to organize at the earliest possible date a Referendum to determine the wishes of the Igbo people who number more than 40 million, for a Separate Independent Country;
7) Appeal to the Nigerian government to Address the question of properties of the Igbo people that are called Abandoned property;
8) Appeal to the World to address the question of War crimes perpetuated against Ndi Igbo by the government and leadership of Nigeria.
Resolution on Biafra
Submitted by the Biafra Foundation
It is thirty-four years since the end of the Biafra – Nigeria war. At the end of the war Nigeria promised the world that she will implement a program of reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation to reintegrate Biafrans into the Nigerian sociopolitical structure. Not one of these programs was ever implemented in the thirty-four years since the war ended. Rather successive Nigerian governments have systematically excluded the Igbo and other Biafrans from economic, civic and political activities, confiscated their ancestral land thereby making them tenants in their own land, attacked and killed thousands of them in carefully planned and organized pogrom, looted their property worth billions of dollars and most importantly has been threatening Biafrans whose population is 95% Christian with forced Islamization by Islamic fundamentalists.
It is unconscionable for the free world to continue to fold its hands while a people are being systematically denatured, their society subverted, their culture undermined and destroyed and their sense of who they are forcibly taken away from them and destroyed. We call upon all men of conscience the world over to listen to the cries of the people of Christian Biafra for their self-determination. It is a right recognized by the United Nations and in international law. Why is the free world watching as Christian Biafra is systematically enveloped by a carefully orchestrated scheme of forced Islamization that will subsequently result in its destruction?
Biafrans appeal to the people of the free world to prevail on the Nigerian government to stop extra judicial execution and imprisonment without trial of members of the civil rights organization, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), a non-violent movement for the actualization of the State of Biafra.
Therefore, the people of Biafra also appeal to the leaders of the free world as well as the United Nations to seek to obtain the wishes of the people of Biafra about their demand for self-determination through a plebiscite to be conducted and supervised by the international community.
The values, beliefs, attitudes, philosophy of life, and social organization of the Igbo and other Biafrans are totally different from those of the Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba. No wonder Lord Lugard who amalgamated Northern and Southern Nigeria said of the two groups: “They are like oil and water, they will never mix.” He is certainly right. Every attempt to yoke them together has proved disastrous for the Igbo and other Biafrans. The people of Eastern Nigeria (Biafra) are about 40 million people. They have everything it takes to build a stable and prosperous nation that will be respected in the world as well as be an asset to the international community. To continue to forcibly keep them in Nigeria where thousands of them are slaughtered every year, where they are daily threatened with forced Islamization, their land and private property confiscated, their talent wasted, their ingenuity laid waste, their enterprise undermined and destroyed, their respect for merit beaten into the dust, their admiration of individual achievement derided, scorned and cast in the garbage, is a crime against humanity. Therefore, the people of Biafra plead with the international community to listen to the cries of these desperate 40 million people who demand nothing but the right to exercise their self-determination in their own independent nation of Biafra.
Draft Resolution: the Emergency Facing Christians in Iraq
Whereas the indigenous Christians of Iraq, composed mainly of church denominations and people who self-identify as Chaldeans and/or Assyrians and Syriacs, jointly referred to as ChaldoAssyrians in the Transitional Administrative Law of March 8, 2004, form the main body of Christians in Iraq (from 5 to 10% of the population)
Whereas, the indigenous Christians of Iraq have experienced unremitting discrimination and persecution since the formation of the Iraqi state in 1932, in particular with the mass killing of old men, women and children at Semele on 7 August 1933,
Whereas ChaldoAssyrians, due to disproportionate immigration pressures, now constitute over 80% of all Iraqi Americans,
Whereas, this discrimination and persecution under politically unstable or dictatorial periods of Iraqi history has caused the destruction of over 200 ChaldoAssyrian villages from the 1960s forward, especially promoted by successive Baathist regimes, and most intensively during the Anfal campaign of 1987-88,
Whereas religious and ethnic discrimination has driven 1/2 of Iraq's Christians into diaspora since the 1960s and threatens to create a mass exodus, thereby robbing Iraq of one of its best educated and professional communities,
Whereas, this community forms the last compact community in the world that still uses a modern form of the Aramaic (Syriac) language, one of three Semitic languages together with Arabic and Hebrew, and Aramaic (Syriac) is the oldest continuously written and spoken language of the Middle East and can only be preserved in situ since it is disappearing in the diaspora in Europe, Australia and North America,
Whereas, a policy of ethnic cleansing of ChaldoAssyrians from the Middle East dates to the mass deportation, massacre and death that occurred simultaneously with the perpetration of genocide against the Armenians and Greeks between 1914 and 1923,
Whereas ChaldoAssyrians are being persecuted and displaced in Iraq due to active and passive policies, which do not allow them to return to villages, rebuild churches, and promote schools,
Whereas ChaldoAssyrians have been targeted by Islamic fundamentalist militias and insurgent forces that use kidnappings, assassinations, murders of little children, and the bombing of churches in Baghdad and Mosul (August 2004), to intimidate the community to convert or leave their indigenous land,
Be it resolved that,
The United States government, and all its agencies, pays special attention to the welfare of ChaldoAssyrians in Iraq in order to prevent a mass exodus that would detrimentally effect the preservation of diversity in the Middle East and the promotion of general tolerance for others, including Muslims, who do not subscribe to the fundamentalist model,
The United States government, through its representation at the United Nations and all its agencies, especially the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other relevant agencies, highlight and promote programs to improve the economic circumstances of ChaldoAssyrians which have been damaged by discriminatory funding that has excluded ChaldoAssyrians in Iraq,
The United States Agency for International Development allocate designated funds specifically for the promotion of the welfare, education and resettlement of ChaldoAssyrians in northern Iraq where they are currently prevented from returning to their villages (from refugee situations in Syria, the Gulf Emirates, and Jordan) due to the ethnic exclusiveness that leads to passive ethnic cleansing.
The National Endowment for the Humanities create a special fund to promote the cultural assets of the ChaldoAssyrians as the indigenous people of Iraq, the last compact Aramaic speakers in the world, and preserve their heritage, be it religious or secular.
That mechanisms and funding be allocated to monitor the situation of Christians and other religious minorities specifically and on a regular basis either through existing organizations (the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the National Endowment for Democracy) or through a special institution unaffiliated with any religious body but with responsibility for the Middle East in particular.
That, furthermore, Congress convene a joint Hearing on the situation of Christians throughout the Middle East to determine the gravity and variety of the problems for Christians that have arisen from diffusion of Islamic fundamentalist politics and the effect of these politics on both Christians and on moderate Muslims.
Resolution of Support of ChaldoAssyrian Community
The escalating attacks and violence against ChaldoAssyrian Christians (also known as Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs) in Iraq have led to a general sense of terror within the community. The systematic and sophisticated Church bombings of August 1, October 16, and November 8 have been supplemented by nearly daily reports of abductions, beheadings, burnings, and killings of innocent ChaldoAssyrian civilians. An ever increasing number of ChaldoAssyrians have been targeted and killed in the past 2 months alone.
Other forms of pressure and threats include pressure to sell lands, the coercion of woman to wear veils, and the abduction of women for marriage against their will. The continuing onslaught against the vulnerable ChaldoAssyrian civilian population is perpetrated with the specific intent of terrorizing the indigenous Christian population into leaving their homes.
We, the under-signed, hereby recommend that the Iraqi government and international community urgently:
Following the first Gulf War, the international community established a Safe Haven in northern Iraq to protect civilians from attacks by the regime of Saddam Hussein. Today, the attacks against ChaldoAssyrians are even more ominous and threatening. With reports of tens of thousands of ChaldoAssyrians leaving Iraq, there now exists the real possibility of the extinction of the indigenous ChaldoAssyrian people in Iraq for the first time in their 6700 year continuous existence. The final litmus test for the Iraqi government and the international community's genuine commitment to pluralism and democracy remains the preservation of the indigenous ChaldoAssyrian people of Iraq.
Resolution to End Religious Persecution in Eritrea Submitted by Jubilee Campaign
Whereas the government of Eritrea is currently detaining more than 400 of its citizens,, often incommunicado and in undisclosed locations, simply because of their religious beliefs.
Whereas these detainees are often held without formal charges and in metal shipping containers wherein they suffer extremes of heat and cold.
Whereas some have been tortured, and some threatened with death in an effort change their religion.
This Coalition for Human Rights calls upon the government of Eritrea to release all Eritrean citizens who are being detained because of their religious beliefs and calls upon the government of Eritrea to guarantee the freedom of religion as stated in the Eritrean constitution and as accepted in international human rights instruments.
Resolution on Special Protection of the ChaldoAssyrian Community of Iraq
Submitted by Dr. Walid Phares
The Middle Eastern American Convention, held on October 1, 2004, and representing more than 25 organizations from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, and the aspirations of millions of Americans from middle-eastern descent, has issued a resolution calling for a special protection of the ChaldoAssyrian community of Iraq. The system of protection can cover a wide array of measures, including constitutional, local government and territorial autonomy within a Federation.
The Coalition endorses the resolution of the Middle Eastern American Convention and further calls for the implementation of this concept as an Administrative District as permitted under Temporary Administrative Law 53D.
Resolution on Protection of Iraqi Minorities
Submitted by the Mandaean Society of America
In its meeting on November 20, 2004, the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, representing more than sixty member organizations from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and NGO's, has issued a resolution. Therein, the Coalition sights its deepest concerns about the threats facing Iraqi minorities - especially the Christians, Sabian-Mandaeans, Yazidies, and Shebak - from Muslim extremists in Iraq. The Coalition asks the United States State Dept., Congress, and other international bodies to support the implementation of all necessary measures to protect and guarantee the future
existence of these minorities in Iraq.
Resolution to Help Mandaean Refugees to Get a Place of Refuge
Submitted by the Mandaean Society of America
In its meeting on November 20, 2004, The Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, representing more than sixty member organizations from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and NGO's, calls on all countries that accept refugees, especially Australia and United States, to accept the Mandaean from Indonesia, Yemen, Jordan and Syria who are seeking refuge. These refugees have fled Iraq and Iran and are still waiting for
resettlement, some for more than five years. The Coalition urges all countries with Iraqi refugees of temporary status, not to reevaluate the status of these refugees until the conditions in Iraq are normalized. This is particularly important in the case of ethnic and religious minorities.
Resolution on Separation of Religion and Government in Egypt
Offered by Morris Sadek, Esq.
Whereas:
Coptic Christians have the Egyptian nationality only because they are the grandchildren of Pharaohs (Ancient Egyptians). They repel Arabic nationality because it is the nationality of the conquerors.
Resolve the following:
Egyptian Government should reconsider the Coptic Language – Ancient Egyptian language – as well as Coptic Culture to be taught to students and be used in media (TV, Radio, and Press).
Performing a public headcount for Coptic Christians in Egypt under the supervision of NATO (not the UN because of its Muslim majorities), without considering the Egyptian records which contains many intended mistakes from the Government.
The Egyptian Government should implement a policy of separation of Religion and State and sharing the authority and wealth with Coptic Christians.
Egypt should follow the steps of Turkey in separating Islam and Politics.
Resolution on Investigation of the death of Egyptian Human Rights Lawyer, Sabry Zaky after requesting meeting with USCIRF
Submitted by the American Coptic Union
Whereas, The Coptic Christian Community is outraged, and shocked by the killing of a young Lawyer in Egypt by Moslem terrorists and SSI officers in Egypt, July 23, 04. Mr. Zaky requested a meeting with the USCIFR, US Commission for International Religious Freedom, during their latest visit to Egypt, on July 17, 2004. His request was turned down by, Mr. Kareem Sobhey, who is working at the Human Rights Department at the US Embassy in Cairo. The victim was killed few days after the rejection of his request to meet the commission.
Mr. Zaky was a successful Attorney helping the Coptic Christians against the persecutionof the Arab Islamic government and its allies of Moslem Brotherhood terrorists. He called NACA, National American Coptic Assembly, on July 7, 04 asking the help regarding the persecution of the Moslem Brotherhood, and SSI. NACA has recommended the victim to go and meet with USCIRF members during their visit to Egypt between July 15, to July 23, 04. On July 18, 04 Mr. Zaky made a second call to NACA telling that his request was denied by, Mr. Kareem Sobhey at US Embassy. The third and last call was on July 20, 04, informing NACA that his license is reinstated, and will travel back to Souhag from Cairo. Friday July 23, 04, after the Moslem prayers, terrorists of Moslem Brotherhood, with the cover of the SSI have assaulted, and murdered the victim at his office. On July 24, 04 victim’s brother Gamal, ZAKY called NACA telling that his brother was killed by terrorists.
Therefore, We call for an immediate investigation regarding the murder of Mr. Sabry Zaky Esq., 30 years old, by Moslem Brotherhood terrorists, and SSI (State Security Investigation) in Souhag.
Resolution endorsing Conclusions of the Zurich International Coptic Symposium
Whereas, Coptic organizations from around the world met together in Zurich, Switzerland in September 2004 to discuss the plight of Copts in Egypt and formulate a position in regards to their rights.
The Coalition considering the final communiqué of this meeting endorses the Symposium’s following recommendations and supports future efforts to implement the changes that are pursued in response to that initiative.
In order to end the long and enduring persecution of the Copts in Egypt, we call on
the Egyptian government to enact 'Special Legislation' through the Egyptian
legislature to correct all inequities resulting from historical neglect and
discrimination. We sincerely solicit the help of all Muslims to stand side by side with
the Copts in their quest for freedom and equality. The new legislation establishing
equality for the Copts should establish and implement the following principles:
1. Instituting a total separation of religion and state through constitutional reforms,
and the removal of emphasis on religion and its role in government institutions,
emphasising the secular nature of the State.
2. Denouncing the Hamayoni Decree as unconstitutional in order to establish the
equal rights of all Egyptians to build and maintain places of worship.
3. Allocating a proportionate and just percentage (estimated between 10-15%) of
government appointed positions to Copts, to guarantee appropriate participation.
4. Allocating a proportionate and just percentage (estimated between 10-15%) of
parliamentary seats for Copts, thereby encouraging political participation and
guaranteeing adequate representation in the Electoral Bodies.
5. Removing religious identification from every government issued document, form,
or application.
6. Enforcing the constitution in order to guarantee the freedom and protection of
religious beliefs of all Egyptians, free from all coercion,
7. Ending the practice of treating all Coptic issues, including their struggle to attain
equal rights, as 'State Security Matters' and removing what is known as the 'Coptic
File' from the grip of the State Security Intelligence Apparatus, with the aim of
restoring equality between all Egyptians under rule of law.
8. Reforming school curriculum and the media to remove all demeaning references
to non-Muslims, and introducing an educational curriculum teaching tolerance,
acceptance of others, respect for human rights, and religious freedom.
Recommendation for European Coalition Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in March 2005
Several organizations of the Coalition are located in Europe and the Middle East and represent large communities who have escaped persecution. Europe is facing increased conflict between its strongly secularized society and new Islamic immigrants. There is an opportunity for the non-Muslims from the Islamic world to work on the behalf of their communities by building political support in Europe. Whereas, The Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights is the largest coalition of non-Muslim organizations from the Islamic world seeking to secure basic civil and human rights for those minorities.
The Coalition seeks to facilitate this process by organizing the various organizations based in Europe to share resources and information, and to cooperate on issues of mutual concern to the ethnic/religious minorities. To that end the Coalition proposes to invite European organizations to meet together with CDHR member organizations in Geneva Switzerland in March 2005 prior to the opening of the UN Human Rights Commission.
The purpose of this meeting is to establish a European division of the Coalition. The division will operate under the Charter and By-laws of CDHR. A division organizing committee will be appointed at the Annual Board Meeting. At the first meeting in Geneva a steering committee and chair will be appointed to plan future events.
Appendix II
Voice of The Nile Coptic Association
P.O. Box 6339 4Copts@4Copts.org
Albany, CA 94706 http://www.4copts.org
U. S. A Non-Profit # 57-1136879
November 16, 2004
Dear Fr. Keith Roderick
I regret to inform you that I will not be able to attend the meeting on November 19, 2004. I wish all of you a productive meeting to expose the inhuman condition of our suffering brothers and sisters under Islam. My letter to the meeting members contains 4 important issues: 1) Invitation to write in the ACA magazine, 2) Collectively purchase a data disc, 3) Choose a day of demonstration in front of the UN. 4) Communication among members. It is up to you if you would like to read this letter or read and distribute at the same time but some kind of voting and action should follow.
Dear Colleagues, Friends and Comrades
Invitation to write in the ACA magazine:
This is Fayez El Giheny, the president of Voice of the Nile Coptic Association, an independent chapter of the American Coptic Association.(ACA). After the departure of the President and founder of the ACA, Dr. Shawky F. Karass, the active members elected Mr. Milad Iskander to be our new president of the ACA.
Our new strategy is to be one with other suffering Christians especially the ones who are suffering under Islam. I personally met some of you 7 years ago when I attended the meeting in Philadelphia with Fr. Keith Roderick.
The ACA is in the process of issuing our first issue, Vol 28, of our quarterly magazine The Copts, after the departure of Dr. Karass, on December 15th, 2004. We are inviting you to participate in this effort by writing about the difficulties and the human rights struggles of your people. We hope that we can get together to cooperate and coordinate our efforts to achieve freedom for our people in our homelands and to defined the US by exposing the nature of Islam.
The focus of the Copts Magazine is an educational magazine that is distributed to all UN officials, US Congress members, all embassies in DC, and to all western leaders world wide.
Again, on my behalf, and on behalf of Mr. Milad Iskander, we are welcoming you to participate in our quarterly magazine to spread the word about the injustice and the inhumane conditions of our brothers and sisters who live under Islam.
Collectively purchase a data disc:
As human right activists, it is important to keep contact with many Human Rights Organizations, Western Governments, and its branches, the UN members the important media etc; we at voice of the Nile Coptic Association found it difficult to track the changes and up date our database of which congress members was elected or re elected, or which UN Official was appointed for which country. So we are asking the member organizations to donate a small amount of money to purchase a data disk having most if not all, important US government, UN, contacts. This will help us to generate mass mailing to the correct officials instead of the 17% returns that we are experiencing due to change of address or reappointment of that official. I am asking for one person to investigate what kind of data is available and how much IT will cost.
We need to choose a day for demonstration in front of the UN
We, the Minorities who lives under Islam should search and agree on a date that we will mobilize our people to demonstrate in front of the UN. That date should be a permanent day, it is not a one time event, but each year we will call it the burning minorities under Islam. We should prepare for this demonstration all year long, we can even split-up some of the groups in front of the UN buildings in New York, Sydney, Europe, some in front of US Congress, and some in front of the White House, Muslims Embassies in Washington DC. I think an occasion or an important date for the UN in the early summer or late summer; when our young adults are off of school, would be an appropriate date.
Increase and speed communication among members
We need to have an email and phone number of each organizations members or representative so we can communicate and facilitate decisions in a timely fashion; we can not wait a year or two for a meeting. This coming period is important for the minorities who lives under Islam to do something because the current conditions are in our favor after September 11, 2001. We also need to know what human expertise we have within the members; for example, I am trying to develop a documentary video, but I have to start from zero, are there any one of our members that can lead this project, so I can do it more proficiently and with less agony. We need to think and utilize the expertise we have, but we could not utilize it unless we know what expertise we have first.
We at Voice of the Nile Coptic Association wish you all the success in your meeting, and God Bless your efforts in lifting the burden on the suffering people under Islam
Yours truly,
Fayez El Giheny, President
(510) 527-5976