Attacks on Ba’hais in Egypt

I wanted to mention it yesterday when the story broke, but there has been a nasty attack against a Ba’hai community near Sohag in Upper Egypt. The incident appears to have been sparked by the appearance of a local community leader on TV, where he was attacked by a hack for the state newspaper al-Gomhouriya, who called for him to be killed. The same pathetic hack later praised the attacks on the Ba’hais in an article, showing how deeply xenophobic, sectarian, ultra-Salafist thinking has permeated state institutions. This man should be fired and put on trial for inciting violence (Egypt has no law against religious incitation, something I’ve long thought they should implement and use against any intolerance and particularly Islamists who advocated takfir). More details in a press release from Egyptian human rights groups below.

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