She hopes there will be some way to get her family out of Egypt.nike running shoes online,
She hopes speaking up will raise awareness of problems Coptic Christians face.
"I really want the whole world to know what is going on."
But when a preacher in Florida burns a Quran, seven United Nations workers in Afghanistan are killed. And after a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt, is bombed, threats are made against a Coptic church in Natick.
So, even though she is an American, and "thank God, I am in a free country," she worries speaking up may put her family in more danger if her real name is used.
"I didn't hurt anyone with my religion. I don't want anyone to hurt (my family) because of my religion," she says.
"Lila" grew up in Assiut, an area with Egypt's highest concentration of Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country's population. Her husband, who is also from Egypt, received his green card through the United States' immigration lottery. Both are now American citizens who live in MetroWest.
"I'm happy I'm here in the freedom country," she says, but "I really need help.
"I saw my mom and my dad sacrifice to give us a better life. My family is my life. I cannot lose any of them."
Lila was in Egypt earlier this year to attend her sister's wedding. She was in Assiut when the revolution played out in Cairo and when the church in Alexandria was bombed.
And while the world saw glimpses of brotherhood between Muslims and Christians in Tahrir Square, and heard reports of the Muslim Brotherhood asking Coptic Christian leaders to put the past aside, Lila says that's not what she saw when she was staying about 200 miles from Cairo.
When the revolution came, "people were getting out of jail. They were going into the houses and killing people and all kinds of bad things. That's what happened in my town. ... We were waiting to be killed at any time."nike mens acg sandals 2011
Since then, for the Coptic Christians, "it's getting worse. We have no freedom at all. They are putting all people under sharia," Islamic law. "If any woman goes out without covering her face, they take her away," she says.
A brother-in-law lost his job and was beaten up when he was accused of taking too long to attend to a Muslim patient at a hospital, says Lila. Homes of Christians are being taken as well, she says.
"We need someone to stand for us."
Coptic Christians have faced prejudice and persecution to differing degrees for centuries. Last names reveal their religion as either Muslim or Christian, she says. "When we grow up, even when we go to school, they know."
Mubarak suppressed most extremist factions, but now that the dictator is out of power, an Associated Press report from Cairo last week gives credence to some of Lila's fears.
"Islamic hard-liners, some of them heavily suppressed under three decades of Hosni Mubarak's regime, are enthusiastically diving into Egypt's new freedoms, forming political parties to enter upcoming elections and raising alarm that they will try to lead the country into fundamentalist rule," the AP reported on Wednesday.
"Some militants, taking advantage of a security vacuum, aren't waiting for the political process. They have attacked Christians and liquor stores, trying to impose their austere version of Islamic law in provincial towns.
"A recent rumor that Salafis planned to attack female Muslim students at Assiut University who don't wear the headscarf prompted some women to stay away from the 75,000-student campus for a day.
"Salafis are ultraconservatives, close to Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi interpretation of Islam and more radical than the Brotherhood. They seek to emulate the austerity of Islam's early days and oppose a wide range of practices they view as 'un-Islamic' - rejecting the treatment of non-Muslims as citizens with equal rights as well as all forms of Western cultural influence," said the AP report.
"The Islamists' newfound energy prompted the ruling military to warn on Monday that Egypt 'will not be turned into Gaza or Iran.' "
"It's so scary," Lila says.
She has been unable to get her family an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, she says, and is trying to talk to local and national legislators here.
But what anyone on this side of the world can do for Lila's family, or any of the 8 million Coptic Christians in Egypt, remains to be seen.
A lot of people around the globe are in need of support.
"The global political climate and world events are significant factors in the volume and nature of the requests we receive" from constituents asking for help for relatives in foreign countries, said Whitney Smith, press secretary for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "For example, we have received a number of requests related to the recent tragedy in Japan, Reebok ZigTech online and received similar requests following last year's events in Haiti."
When Kerry's office receives a written request from a Massachusetts resident to help family in other countries, "many factors come into play, which vary depending on whether we are handling an immigrant or non-immigrant case," said Smith. "Immigrant cases are when the family member intends to permanently immigrate to the U.S. Non-immigrant cases are when the family member intends to come to the U.S. for a short time, (such as) trips related to medical care, tourism or business.
"Upon receipt of written consent (from the citizen making the request), we contact the nearest U.S. Embassy, Consulate or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in an effort to best address the issue at hand," said Smith.
But Kerry, like all senators and congressmen, "is unable to dictate actions to any federal, state or local government agencies. ... While our office is eager to provide assistance, we must act within existing immigration law and procedures."
"My family is my life," says Lila, who works in Ashland and talks to her family in Egypt as often as she can.
"Today, they are safe. Tomorrow, I don't know."
Commentaires