Egyptian convert from Islam to Christianity flees Syria, seeks asylum in France
How odd. Islamic scholars such as Salam al-Marayati, M. Cherif Bassiouni, and Ali Eteraz assure us that Islam has no death penalty for apostasy, despite Muhammad's words, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him." Misunderstanders of this Islamic tolerance of apostasy appear to be so numerous that Maher El-Gohary is seeking asylum in France, as he is not safe in Egypt or Syria.
"Egyptian Convert Flees Potential Dangers in Syria," from Compass Direct News, April 21:
ISTANBUL, April 21 (CDN) — A father and daughter who fled Egypt to Syria after spending two and a half years in hiding for becoming Christians have arrived in France and yesterday applied for asylum there, human rights advocates said.
Maher Ahmad El-Mo’otahssem Bellah El-Gohary, 58, had become the target of Islamic ill will in Egypt after he tried to change the religious affiliation on his national identification card from Muslim to Christian. He and his daughter, 17-year-old Dina Mo’otahssem, arrived in Paris from Syria on March 30 after having fled to Damascus on Feb. 22 in the wake of the revolution in Egypt that deposed then-President Hosni Mubarak.
The Jan. 25-Feb. 11 protests in Egypt also weakened the Ministry of the Interior, an agency that had harassed El-Gohary and prevented him from leaving the country.
El-Gohary had fled to Syria because it was both the fastest and the easiest way to get out of Egypt, but he said he also feared Islamic opposition to converts in Syria and growing political unrest in Damascus.
“When we got to the French embassy in Syria, we were so scared because of what was happening in Syria at the time,” he said....
Posted by Robert on April 22, 2011 6:54 AM | 15 Comments
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