By Walid Shoebat (Shoebat Exclusive)
ISIS released photos which show 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians being led to the slaughter on a beachfront in Libya. As a result, the situation in Egypt is heating up to emulate events in Jordan prior to when ISIS burned POW Muath Al-Kassasbeh. If ISIS releases horrific videos, this could be a game changer on the war on ISIS.
But ISIS loves the game of suspense, while Al-Kassasbeh was dead, they gave hope to only increase the tensions showing the begging on its media to satisfy its sadistic nature. And so it is with Egypt, ISIS loves to instill horror to the brim. To compound the dilemma, today the “dead” or “alive” controversy is being raised by all Egyptians, especially the families of the victims. On the one hand ISIS photographs show the captives with their hands cuffed behind their backs being marched in single file, dressed in bright orange jumpsuits, the type worn by captives about to be executed by ISIS lead by masked men dressed entirely in black, confirms that the likelihood the 21 have perished. But hopefuls claim that no bodies were found or reported at the morgue in Sirte, Libya, that plus a warning by ISIS giving a 72 hours deadline for the execution to take place unless certain demands are met by the Egyptian government. But ISIS has a track record. They have negotiated the release of the Jordanian POW, Muath Al-Kassasbeh while he was already dead.
And today families of the 21 slaughtered Copts demonstrate in front of the Journalists’ Syndicate in Egypt while the Egyptian government plans an emergency evacuation to rescue its persecuted Coptic citizens from Libya.
The fate of the 21 missing Copts mimics what we witnessed in Jordan when Muath Al-Kassasbeh, a Jordanian POW was held by ISIS which they later negotiated his release in exchange for a female terrorist held in Jordanian prison and while the family demanded a rescue operation to only find out that ISIS was bluffing: Kassasbeh was burned alive already a month earlier. And so it is in Egypt where demonstration by the families of the 21 victims were demanding to have closure and to confirm whether their 21 sons are living or dead. The suspense created tensions between the Copts and Al-Sisi, and to ISIS, it is “mission accomplished”.
The story is classic ISIS, a sick game one can imagine in horror films which has now become a reality, except the situation is dire since, in a sense, the whole of the Christian Coptic community is held hostage unable to leave in Libya as Ansar Al-Sharia, ISIS branch in Libya controls the scene while the option to escape to Tunisia from Libya requires large sums, money these poor laborers do not have. When seven Copts attempted to escape from Libya last year, they were kidnaped and their bodies were discovered shot near the city of Benghazi:
The bodies of seven Christians were discovered on a Libyan beach near Benghazi, each one with bullets in their heads.
With the 21 missing Copts, while the method of killing was not declared by ISIS, the photos show a typical scenario where ISIS usually behead folks. Each of the executioners have a knife which the handle blade looks like the blade of a Samurai sword can clearly be seen and usually when ISIS dresses in the black attire, its doom and gloom.
The caption says “Revenge For The Muslimat (Muslim girls) persecuted by the Coptic Crusaders of Egypt”
The emergency offer for an emergency evacuation came as ISIS declared in its magazine that every Muslim must kill Coptic Christians wherever they are found:
“And thus, the Islamic State strikes terror in the hearts of the Copts after it strikes terror in the hearts of their Catholic allies before … Finally it is important for Muslims everywhere to know that in the great reward to be found on Judgment Day for those who spill the blood of these Coptic Crusaders wherever they may be found”.
The photo captioned by Dabiq states “Pope Shenouda, the dead Taghut (Tyrant) of the Copts”.
Sirte, 500 kilometres east of Tripoli, is in the hands of Ansar al-Sharia, which gave its allegiance to Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi the leader of ISIS.
Photo of the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on their way to get beheaded on a beach front
Copts kneeling in preparation for the martyrdom
The families demanded President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to take swift action to confirm the news of the execution of their children. The problem in comparing Egypt with Jordan is that the 21 Copts are Christian who are a persecuted minority which does not bode well for the Copts or for the war on terror especially that the kidnapped workers belong to the province of Minya from impoverished villages in Upper Egypt, unlike Al-Kassasbeh who comes from a prominent family with strong tribal roots well connected to King Abdullah II.
Photo of the 21 executed Christian Copts
THE CRISIS IN EGYPT AS COPTS TOOK TO THE STREETS
But the Copts are relentless. The demonstration which was aired on Egyptian television shows the families in grief demanding answers. In the demonstration the families of the slain Copts chant that “killing copts is now in the open” for the whole world to see their plight.
One sign a demonstrator carried says “There are only 48 hours, is there a rescue?” referring to the time left from the 72 hour extension given by ISIS.
The call on Christ to appear and rescue them has become a typical occurrence in Egypt since Egypt is mentioned in Scripture that upon His return (Isaiah 19) “they will call on the Lord to send them a Savior and a Mighty One”. And so in the demonstration, they cried out: “Have mercy, save us O Lord for You are our salvation … Kurielaison (Lord have mercy) … O Lord of hosts …” as they did the sign of the crucifix (see 1:40) declaring their faith publicly as to take the mark of God in the midst of a Muslim majority population yelling out “we are not kafir (heathen)”.
Grief and sorrow followed 6 villages north of Minya, following the publication of the executions.
A photo of one of the Coptic mothers mourning her son’s death. She could not stand on her legs after receiving the news of her butchered son. The sister can be seen holding on to her mother as family members weep together.
Saddened mother holding her son’s photo
Egypt’s foreign ministry is following the development and trying to verify the claims, spokesman Badr Abdel Atty has said.
On Thursday evening the Egyptian presidency issued a statement saying that it was following the matter closely and seeking to verify the information and now had planned an emergency airlift of Egyptians who reside in Libya. The statement added that the committee assigned by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to follow the situation of the kidnapped workers was in contact with official and non-official Libyan sources in order to find out the latest developments in the case on the ground.
Egyptian former Defence Minister and armed forces chief General Abdul Fatah el-Sisi (L) shaking hands with Pope Tawadros II, pope of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox
ISIS is on the hunt for Christian blood, its magazine Dabiq says the group’s expansion into Libya allows it “to easily capture Coptic crusaders”. It seems that ISIS decided to behead the 21 Christians on a beach front in Tripoli Libya as their magazine Dabiq said that its branch in Tripoli had captured randomly from an apartment complex after checking their identification cards which said “Coptic Christian” and then executed the 21 Christian Copts after being kidnapped late last year.
So in January Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry assigned a special committee to secure the return of the kidnapped nationals.
We must consider the serious issues on Christian persecution which will increase as we see these events unfold. For example, we operate a very effective mission in rescuing fellow Christians who literally live under slavery. We are a unique organization (Rescue Christians) who rescue Christians, perdominately in Pakistan that live under the Muslim yoke baking bricks in kilns under the heating sun. Christians too are burned in furnaces in Pakistan with no one to morn them. To see an example out of the thousands we rescue, click here, and listen to the amazing testimonies first hand on how you can help and make a difference, now in this life and for eternity.