ARKADI GHUKASYAN: NKR LEAVES MANY OF ITS NEIGHBOURS BEHIND REGARDING
COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS OF EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 2 2005
YEREVAN, September 2. /ARKA/. Alhough the Nagorno Karabakh has not
yet been recognized by the international community, our state has
proved to the world that NKR not only had formed as a state de-facto,
but also leaves many of its neighbours behind regarding compliance
with the standards of the European community, the massage of the
NKR President on the 14tyh anniversary of NKR Independence, reported
ARKA News Agency by the press-service of the NKR President, says. The
evidence is the NKR parliamentary elections held in June, 2005, which
were highly evaluated by international independent observers. “Nobody
gave lessons of democracy to the people of Artsakh as it daily and
hourly take place regarding Azerbaijan – the country where none of
the elections, be it presidential, parliamentarian or local, have
complied with elementary standards of modern democratic society up
to now. Currently Azerbaijan is not able to protect the rights of
its own people, not speaking about the national minorities living
in this country. This fact alone is sufficient that for progressive
international community recognize the right of Nagorno Karabakh people
to have its own, independent from Azerbaijan and sovereign state”,
Ghukasyan pointed out. A.A. -0–

AZERBAIJAN’S UNWILLINGNESS TO NEGOTIATE WITH NKR CHALLENGE TO
CIVILIZED SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: ARKADY GHUKASYAN
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 2 2005
YEREVAN, September 2. /ARKA/. Azerbaijan’s persistent unwillingness
to negotiate with the Nagorno-Karabakh side is a serious challenge to
a civilized settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem on the basis
of reasonable compromises, says a message of NKR President Arkady
Ghukasyan on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the proclamation
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).
According to him, official Baku is doing all in its power to conceal
the NKR’s progress in building up a rule-of-law democratic state
from the Azerbaijani people by not allowing Azerbaijan’s citizens to
isit the NKR and communicate with the country’s people. “However,
this behaviour has no prospects, as it is more and more alienates
the two peoples from each pother thus postponing a comprehensive and
mutually acceptable settlement of the conflict,” President Ghukasyan’s
amessage says.
According to him, the unsettled conflict remains a factor posing a
threat of new destabilization of the situation in the region. The
NKR leader stressed the NKR’s commitment to a peaceful settlement
of the conflict with Azerbaijan. “Meanwhile, our people can be sure
that nobody can deprive us of our independence, which was gained at
the cost of irreparable losses. The NKR Defense Army is able to give
an effective rebuff to all those who will dare to encroach on our
Homeland. It has all necessary means for that,” Ghukasyan said.
However, the NKR has no right to be contented with what has been
achieved, as “by only presenting the passed way as heroism, without
clear plans for tomorrow, we can lose what we have achieved, which our
posterity will never forgive.” “We have to strengthen the country’s
defense capacity, speed up the development of the economic, social and
cultural sectors, completely employ the intellectual and spiritual
potential, industriousness and professionalism, multiply Artsakh’s
cultural heritage,” the NKR President’s message says.
According to him, such development is impossible without further
democratization of the NKR’s socio-political life, building up
of civil society. “This holiday each of us must fully realize
his responsibility for Artsakh’s future. Of course, we still have
many problems to solve. But we can overcome all the difficulties
only by combined efforts, conscientious labor, mutual confidence
and consideration of each Artsakh citizen’s needs and wants,” NKR
President Arkady Ghukasyan said in his message. P.T. -0–

NEW WORLD MORTGAGE HOSTS ARMENIAN BANK OFFICIALS
PR Leap (press release), CA
Sept 3 2005
(PRLEAP.COM) New World Mortgage, Inc. recently hosted a delegation of
11 of the highest ranking officials from the Central Bank of Armenia.
Part of a US State Department delegation, the group was at New World
Mortgage to learn how to improve the fledgling Armenian mortgage
industry.
“Armenian has only been around in its present form since the break
up of the Soviet Union, so their financial industry is not well
developed,” says New World Mortgage President Christian Werner. “They
had questions about the mortgage process, private mortgage insurance
and about customer service.”
New World Mortgage, Inc. is the full service mortgage brokerage whose
mission is to be a consumer’s financial advocate, not just a one-time
lender. The Charlotte Business Journal reports that in 2003 New World
Mortgage closed more loans than any other mortgage brokerage in the
Charlotte metro.
The company, which does business in the Carolinas, Ohio, Colorado and
Missouri, is located on the web at , and can be
reached by telephone at 704-549-4600.

Armenian parliament endorses constitution amendments to fit EU
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 1, 2005 Thursday
YEREVAN, September 1 — Armenian parliament has endorsed a bill on
a range of changes in the national Constitution that will be put up
for final endorsement at a national referendum.
As many as 98 MPs out of the total 131 voted in favor of the document
Thursday.
Senior MPs say the new amendments fit the requirements Armenia
undersigned while joining the Council of Europe.
One of the changes long awaited by numerous communities of Armenians
living abroad is a provision on dual citizenship, which the effective
Constitution, adopted in 1995 ruled out so far.
The number of Armenians living outside their historic homeland exceeds
five million people. It is roughly a million and a half bigger than
the population of this country proper.
Rough a half of the worldwide Armenian community – about 2.5 million
people – live in Russia.
In the meantime, the proposals to introduce dual citizenship have had
quite a number of opponents here. People in Armenia are apprehensive
of how the worldwide community members will use the right to vote,
which they get automatically along with citizenship.
The opponents believe their impact on election results may be overly
powerful.

MUTUAL CONCESSIONS – NOT END IN ITSELF
A1+
| 15:15:35 | 03-09-2005 | Politics |
Politics is not trade and the notion of “mutual concessions” should be
perceived from the viewpoint of all the parties to conflict. We should
defend our interests and abstract talks about mutual concessions are
inadmissible for me”, NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan stated in
an interview with Ayb-Fe weekly.
Territories are the guarantee for the refugees’ issue
“I am speaking of the parties involved in the conflict. The fate
of Karabakh should be determined by the people of Karabakh. The
authorities of Armenia, Russia or Japan can have a certain role in
the negotiation process, however the final decision should be made
by the Karabakh people”, Arman Melikyan stressed. In his opinion,
the return of territories is not the principal issue. “I think we
should proceed from the universal principles of justice and approach
the issue from the aspect of human rights protection. During many
years these territories were the security zone. However today there
exists one important issue – the fate of Armenian refugees. Today
people speak of 1 million of Azeris but no one speaks of 500 thousand
Armenian. And we hope that the international community will not remain
indifferent to the fate of these people.
Serious prospects
As for Karabakh’s control over the territories and the settling of
the territories, Arman Melikyan thinks it’s an “expensive pleasure”.
“The implementation of such programs will demand great expenses. Our
state does not possess such funds presently. Years are needed to
resettle the refugees”, he says.
As for the conflict settlement, Arman Melikian is rather
optimistic. “The outcome will be positive for us even of years will
past till the conflict is settled”, he stated.

HELSINKI FINAL ACT AS GROUND TO SETTLE THE NKR CONFLICT
A1+
| 19:43:58 | 02-09-2005 | Politics |
“We are somehow obliged to the Helsinki final act in the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict, as well as in the winning of peace and
stability in the region”, this is the opinion of the RA Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
One of the main principles of the act is the unchangeableness of the
borders of the member countries. Asked the question how the document
will affect the settlement of the Karabakh conflict in this reference
Mr. Oskanyan answered, “There is no need to worry. The right of the
nations’ self-determination is also stipulated in the document,
and it is on this basis that the member countries try to settle
conflicts. In the settlement of the Karabakh conflict we refer to
the document quite often”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Thursday, September 01, 2005
****************************************
ELEGY
A sea of tears
Will not raise
A single dead
And a thousand years of hatred
Will not reform
A single Turk
And yet
We continue to lament our dead
And to hate the Turk.
*
Anyone who has loved and hated knows that love and hatred are quintessentially misleading emotions.
*
To be brainwashed means to be unable to move beyond propaganda.
*
When we criticize another we assume we don’t have his faults.
*
A fanatic is one who is incapable of detecting contradictions within himself, and whenever these contradictions are pointed out to him, he becomes deaf, dumb, and blind.
*
To speak from the gutter means to threaten those who dare to contradict you that they too may be dragged down there.
*
GOOD OLD DAYS
When he was alive Homer was not a best seller; neither did he submit his works to an editor.
*
Denis Donikian: “The most pedestrian ideas come to us under the banner of tolerance. Likewise, the most rabid intolerance is promoted in the name of love.”
#
Friday, September 02, 2005
************************************
Whenever as a boy I learned to appreciate a new symphony by Beethoven I thought I had overcome another barrier separating me from civilization. Then, one day, I woke up and found myself surrounded by barbarians.
*
It’s not easy being right in an Armenian environment because the sources of most of our contradictions are conflicting self -interests compounded by oversized egos and undersized brains.
*
If you behave in an undiplomatic manner in a diplomatic environment, you will be recalled and fired by your superiors. And if you behave like a barbarian in a civilized environment you will be ignored because some civilized people may not share your taste for the gutter. You may now be in a better position to understand why I choose to ignore some of my critics (if you will forgive the overstatement).
*
It is not enough being right; one must be right in a right way.
*
Where everyone claims to be right, some are bound to be wrong; and where everyone asserts infallibility, everyone is wrong.
#
Saturday, September 03, 2005
************************************
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), political philosopher: “The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative on the day after the Revolution.” This may explain why (according to Hagop Garabents) our revolutionaries were willing to shed their blood for freedom a hundred years ago but they are now afraid of free speech.
*
I may know what I want today, but for the life of me I don’t understand why I wanted what I wanted yesterday, and I have no idea what I will want tomorrow.
*
There is an old American saying: “Every shut eye ain’t asleep.” Likewise, just because he ain’t buried it don’t mean he ain’t dead.
*
Anyone can forgive the forgivable. The trick is forgiving the unforgivable.
*
I am willing to trust a good Armenian and a good Turk, and what I trust in them is not their Armenian or Turkish identity but their goodness, which recognizes no geographic boundaries.
#

Tourist boom for Adjara
The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 2 2005
Officials credit television spots for brining Azeri, Ukrainian and
most of all Armenian tourists to Georgia’s Black Sea resorts
By M. Alkhazashvili
One of the Saakashvili administration’s key economic priorities
is the development of tourism in Adjara. The summer season is of
special importance for this coastal region, as it provides much of the
population with the income they need to subsist on for the entire year.
Many believe that Adjarans were so quick to oppose their local despotic
leader Aslan Abashidze in May of last year because they feared that
the conflict between the latter and the central government might have,
along with other negative consequences, ruined the 2004 tourist season.
This year’s resort season will last until October 25, but it can be
said that Adjara has already received the majority of its tourists.
The local and central governments, as well as leaders in the tourism
industry have declared this season a great success.
In 2004, less than 20,000 people vacationed in Batumi, but this year
that indicator reached 65,000. In addition to domestic vacationers,
the number of foreigners visiting Batumi also significantly
increased. According to Tavisupali Gazeti, the main influx of foreign
tourists to Adjara came from Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany,
Denmark, Norway, the United States, Turkey and Iran.
The list of countries is impressive, though some of the aforementioned
states, namely those in the West, produced only a small amount of
tourists. Understandably, while developing strategies to entice foreign
vacationers, the main accent is placed on neighboring countries.
On the initiative of the Adjara Tourism and Resorts Department,
a 35-second promotional clip was produced and aired on Armenian,
Azerbaijani and Ukrainian television. As the head of the department,
Temur Zoidze states, this commercial played a key role in the
attraction of tourists from abroad. “This effort yielded many tourists
from foreign countries. We have a program to target Ukraine and if
it is implemented, many more tourists will come from that country in
the future,” he said, as quoted by Tavisupali Gazeti.
A major share of foreign tourists in Adjara this year came from
Armenia. This is due to two basic factors – it is the nearest coastal
area to that country and, for understandable historical reasons,
Armenians do not feel comfortable visiting the more prestigious
resorts of the Turkish Black Sea coast, as the elite of many other
regional countries do. In the future, Adjara will continue its
policy of attracting tourists from Armenia and in so doing, create
new opportunities for cooperation between the countries.
It should be pointed out that the president of breakaway Abkhazia,
Sergei Baghapsh, also attempted to entice tourists from Armenia.
During a mid-August visit to Moscow, he is reported to have held
a closed door meeting with Armenian businessmen where he offered
them to become actively engaged in investing in the Abkhaz resort
business. Though the Sokhumi authorities categorically deny these
reports, the Georgian government speculates that Baghapsh focused on
Armenian businessmen because he knew that their deeper involvement
in the resort industry in Abkhazia would cause great irritation
in Tbilisi.

This Az got to be a win
By Stuart McKinley
[email protected]
Belf ast Telegraph, United Kingdom
Sept 3 2005
03 September 2005
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL
NORTHERN Ireland’s footballing past has been littered with ifs and
buts and ‘what might have beens.’
While there have been a few shock victories along the way there have
been too many occasions when the results have been shocking.
For every high there has been a series of lows. The delight of
Valencia and the despair of Vaduz. We’ve been brilliant in Bucharest,
but rotten in Reykjavik and while the men in green hammed it up in
Hamburg they were useless in Yerevan.
Over the years there have been many occasions on which Northern
Ireland have fallen flat on their faces when victories have been
expected.
Now when Lawrie Sanchez’s side face Azerbaijan this afternoon the aim
is not to add another to the list.
It may sound straightforward, but according to FIFA the two countries
are ranked level in 116th place and even though the rankings are
regularly criticised they remain the only yardstick for comparing the
abilities of teams.
The expectation level, however, is high. Victory is anticipated and
the one thing we don’t want is a result to match these ones:
1. Northern Ireland 1-1 Faroe Islands (1-5-1991)
The Faroes had sent shockwaves round European football when they beat
Austria in their first ever competitive fixture eight months earlier.
Even though, Billy Bingham’s Northern Ireland side was expected to
come away with a comfortable victory. Colin Clarke struck a
first-half opener, only for the visitors to level the scores and
again fans left Windsor Park disappointed after their team had failed
to put away a lesser side.
2. Northern Ireland 1-2 Latvia (7-6-95)
The June curse struck again as Northern Ireland flopped against a
team playing in their first competitive campaign as an independent
country.
Latvia came back to claim victory after Iain Dowie had put Northern
Ireland ahead early in the game.
A draw would have put Bryan Hamilton’s team into a play-off with
Holland for a place in the finals of Euro 96 and had they won that
place would have been guaranteed.
Instead we were all watching from our armchairs as ‘football came
home.’
3. Albania 1-0 Northern Ireland (10-9-1997)
Quite possibly the worst result ever recorded by a Northern Ireland
team and definitely the match which brought Hamilton’s reign to an
end.
There had been a number of withdrawals through injury, but the team
failed to perform and Northern Ireland suffered their first ever loss
to Albania at senior international level.
4. Iceland 1-0 Northern Ireland (11-10-2000)
Sammy McIlroy’s side had made a decent start to the 2002 World Cup
qualifying campaign with a home win against Malta and a draw with
Denmark.
All that came crashing down around them as in a moment of madness Roy
Carroll raced off his line in an attempt to punch clear from a
free-kick in injury-time.
His punch went straight up into the air and an Icelandic player was
on hand to head it into the net as it came down.
5. Liechtenstein 0-0 Northern Ireland (27-3-2002)
The start of the 12 game run without a goal and the beginning of the
end for Sammy McIlroy.
Steve Lomas’ sending-off early in the second-half didn’t help the
cause, but 0-0 with Liechtenstein wasn’t good enough.
6. Armenia 1-0 Northern Ireland (29-3-2003)
This was meant to be the game in which the year long goal drought
would be well and truly put to bed.
Northern Ireland played reasonably well, but when the much
anticipated goal didn’t come Armenia grabbed their chance and
snatched victory.
7. Northern Ireland 0-1 Armenia (10-9-2003)
Losing away to Armenia was one thing, but it was never going to
happen at Windsor Park, was it?
What had turned from a goal drought into a famine was definitely
going to end in this game, or so we thought.
With Keith Gillespie having limped off the pitch with an injury and
Tommy Doherty struggling to keep mobile the Armenians attacked the
exposed Chris Baird on their left and fired home the only goal of the
game.
8. Northern Ireland 0-1 Canada (9-2-2005)
Northern Ireland were seeking a morale boosting win ahead of the
World Cup qualifiers with England and Poland, but ten-man Canada
threw a huge spanner in the works by scoring and then shutting up
shop to go away with the win.
9. Malta 1-1 Northern Ireland (17-8-2005)
Malta had never even scored against Northern Ireland before let alone
got anything from a game against our team.
In the end Maik Taylor saved a penalty in injury time to save his
side from the highly embarrassing fate of defeat to a team of
part-timers.

The Ordeal of Arab Christians
September 03, 2005 12:53 AM EST
The Conservative Voice
Sept 3 2005
By Magdi Khalil – The recent, simultaneous bombing of six Iraqi
churches reflects the seriousness of the predicament of Arab
Christians, who are trapped between the hammer of terrorists groups
and extremists, and the anvil of fanatic governments that skillfully
manipulate the issue of religious radicalism for their own benefit,
while reinforcing religious, ethnic and sectarian discrimination among
their citizens. Arab Christians live in the bosom of a racist culture
that claims superiority over non-Muslims, fueled by a legacy mostly
filled with violence and hatred and a history centered on strife,
murder and viciousness.
Obviously, the Christians of the Middle East have lost the demographic
race to the benefit of their Muslim compatriots. Their numbers
continue to dwindle not just due to natural factors, but because
many of them chose, or were compelled, to emigrate. Some fell
victims to the constant pressures that escalated to fatal attacks.
And others succumbed to the temptation to renounce their faith. The
Christians of Southern Sudan were the only ones to maintain their
place in that difficult contest, and though they paid a dear price,
they discovered the means to achieve a realistic balance of power
and face off eradication designs.
A survey of the present situation of Christians living in the Middle
East demonstrates a problematic and distressing cycle: Arab Christian
populations are declining, resulting in an erosion of their political
power, which in turn causes their conditions to worsen and ultimately
drives them out of their own homeland. This pattern is repeated
throughout the region.
In Lebanon, Christians represented 50-60% of the population prior to
1975; today this percentage has declined to 25-30%. Most importantly,
their political influence has severely weakened. The Lebanese
emigration ministry estimates the number of emigrants at five
million, more than three and a half million of which are Lebanese
Christians. In the past Lebanon was known to be a safe haven for
persecuted individuals who were hunted because of their religious
or intellectual beliefs. Today, however, it is driving out its own
children because of the Arab infringement, the Palestinian foolishness
and the Syrian occupation.
The Lebanese Patriarch Nasr Allah Safir talked with LBC TV station
about the Christian situation saying: “The Christians feel left out,
their presence being clearly unwanted”. He commented on the injustice
committed against Lebanese Christians: “Lebanon was in a state of
war, and it was the agreement of El Taef that put an end to this war,
but only a partial and selective implementation of the agreement was
carried out.” The writer Mushee Maouz confirmed this statement in his
book , with the following words: “Since 1943, and for many decades,
the Maronite Christians of Lebanon, the Shi’a, and the elite Sunni
have worked together in a diverse, legal and democratic system that
was controlled by minorities. However, the shift in favor of Muslim
communities, Radical Arab nationalism and military Palestinian
existence, as well as the Syrian and Israeli intervention ended up
alienating the Maronites and forcing them to take a defensive stance.”
Iraq witnessed an increase in Christian emigration following the
defeat of Sadam Hussein in the second Gulf War, as the political
speech took religious tones and the economic situation continued to
deteriorate. Once Baghdad fell at the hands of the Coalition troops,
the fanatics came out of their dark caves and began attacking the
liquor shops owned by Christians. As a result more than two hundred
shops had to be closed. The attacks became more serious as they then
targeted Christian women who were not veiled, Christian residences, and
finally took the lives of a number of innocent Christians citizens. The
final attacks targeted Christian churches during Sunday services and
resulted in a large number of casualties and injuries. News reports
mentioned that thousands of Iraqi Christians were forced to migrate
to Syria in the aftermath of such attacks, proof enough that the
so called “resistance” is nothing but another facet of the vicious
terrorism that assaults innocents and ultimately seeks to ruin the
new Iraqi experience.
During a few decades, the percentage of Palestinian Christians
has dropped from 17% to less than 2% of the total population. The
Israeli newspaper reported that entire neighborhoods in Beit Gala,
Beit Lahm and Beit Sahur have been emptied of Christians because of
the overwhelming Islamic tide that has turned the Palestinian cause
into an Islamic issue, and the growing power of the fundamentalists
who are imposing their rules and views on the Palestinian community.
According to the BBC, the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem, who,
in 1920, represented 50% of the population, currently represent a
mere 10%.
The Palestinian , under the leadership of Islamic organizations,
had a detrimental effect on the Christians who were required to pay a
type of tax to those organizations to support suicide missions. News
coming out of the Holy Land is disturbing. In Gaza, Christian women,
in fear of being attacked by Islamic fanatics, have donned the veil.
During the crisis in the Church of the Nativity, a reporter from
Los Angeles managed to sneak into the church and indicated that
the terrorists have raided the church, leaving nothing intact. They
used the wood of the temple as fire fuel, and the pages of Bibles
as toilet paper. Another incident that took place in Nazareth City,
when the fanatics tried to build a mosque right in front of the
Church of the Annunciation, clearly reveals the intentions of the
fundamentalist organizations to establish an Islamic state on this
most sacred Christian ground.
The situation of Egypt’s Copts is definitely not promising, as
they are now more marginalized then ever. The reports issued abroad
refer to them as “an isolated minority”, “a minority under siege”,
“a persecuted Church” and “an oppressed minority”. To quote Mushee
Maouz: “The Copts’ participation in political life is minimal. The
peaceful integration of the Copts into their society started in the
middle of the 19th Century, but was regularly interrupted by the
militant Islamic movement that disconcerted the Copts and created
tensions between Muslims and Christians. The Copts continued to
swing back and forth between integration and rejection throughout
the 20th Century, and isolation became the common pattern under
the rule of autocratic regimes.” This dismal situation propelled a
million and half Christians to emigrate to the United States, Europe
and Australia. The exact number of the Christian minority living in
Egypt remains a well guarded government secret.
Of all the Arab regimes, the Syrian and Jordanian regimes are deemed
the best in their dealings with Christian citizens. Nevertheless,
the Islamist movement and the deteriorating economic situation have
badly affected the Christians in these two countries. Since the events
of September 11, tensions are running high in the region, and hatred
towards all that is related to the West is growing almost to the point
of triggering a collision between the East and West. To quote the
British reporter Martin Buckley: “The Christians in Jordan feel that
they are being pushed into a difficult corner, either to belong to
the Western World or to the Arab World.” Growing suspicions surround
the Christians, falsely accusing them of being “a fifth column” or an
“inside enemy” – another example of a prevalent mindset that constantly
casts doubts about the Christians’ loyalty and patriotism. It seems
that Christians are sadly destined to pay the price whenever tensions
or conflicts arise between the Arab World and the West.
Throughout the ages of Arab invasion and Ottoman occupation,
Christians of the Middle East: the Copts, Armenians, Syrians,
Maronites, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Aramaeans have suffered from
persecution along with other minorities like the Shi’a, Kurds and
Druz. Their situation improved, however, when the modern state was
founded after the collapse of the Ottoman rule and at the onset of
Western colonization, becoming more engaged in their societies in
response to the emergent concept of citizenship. Unfortunately, at
the escalation of militant regimes and fascist religious movements,
a relapse occurred costing the minorities most of their justly earned
citizenship rights.
The bleak situation of the Christian Arabs has caught the attention
of honorable men who chose to confront the sinister tide that has
overtaken the region, and some of them paid dearly for their courage
such as Dr. Farag Fouda and Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim; the former
who was assassinated in 1991, and the latter who was jailed during
2000-2003.
A number of Arabic writers have recently produced candid articles and
other publications calling attention to the ordeal of Arab Christians.
Saudi Prince Talal Ben Abdelaziz wrote an article entitled “The
Survival of Christian Arabs”, in , a Lebanese newspaper, stating
the following: “The Christian Arabs’ situation is the product of
an environment overwhelmed by fanaticism and a violence level which
can trigger disasters of historical proportions, and, most of all,
the product of an environment strongly disposed to eliminate the
different other. The continued existence of the Christian Arabs in
their homelands will reinforce the foundations of the modern state, the
cultural diversity and democracy, and put an end to the continuous loss
of scientific, intellectual and cultural abilities in our region. Their
emigration is a mighty blow that will prove detrimental to our future.”
Mr. Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal wrote the following words in the
magazine entitled : “I personally feel, as others certainly do,
that if we do not address the issue of Christian emigration, if we
continue to overlook it or neglect it on purpose, then we will face
an Arab scene that will not just be different from the current one,
but one that would have definitely lost part of its assets on a human
and cultural level. It would be such a loss if the Eastern Christians
leave believing that there is no future for them or their children
here, Islam would then be left alone in the East, with only the
company of Zionist Judaism – and most specifically that of Israel.”
As for Mr. Galal Amin, he wrote the following enlightening words:
“Evidently, the issue of Muslims and Copts is not a religious issue,
it stirs up all our issues: education, freedom, rational thinking,
justice, ethics and development. If this argument is valid, then it
is obvious that if we want to see Muslims freed, we need to free the
Copts first”.
Mr. Tarek Heggy wrote the following comment: “Progress and
modernization are infectious! And it is up to the minorities of the
Middle East to pass on these notions into our region”.
There were many other inspiring words, in addition to a significant
visit from Pope John Paul II, who wished to support and encourage the
Middle East Christians. However, no matter how important the words
and visits are, neither of them is capable of achieving significant
results. Only when the foundations of the modern state are firmly
set in place, can we dare hope that this situation will change.
Democracy, liberty and citizenship – the basics of a modern state –
were the factors that initiated the integration of Christians within
their societies in the first half of the last century; and it was the
absence of these factors during the second half of the last century
that sent them back into the dark ages of isolation and persecution,
where they still abide.
Magdy Khalil is an Egyptian writer and analyst residing in the USA.
You can contact him at: [email protected]