ICC Note:
ISIS supporters in Egypt have issued a post on the militants’ Telegram channel that encourages Muslims to rise up against Christians. Telegram is an encrypted communications app that is widely used by the militants to dispense propaganda and to coordinate attacks. This is not the first time that ISIS has directly called for attacks against Christians, nor will it be the last. ISIS’s ideology drives the militants towards committing a genocide against Christians. This year has been a difficult year for Egypt’s Christian community, who has experienced an upsurge of attacks against them individually and against their church buildings. Meanwhile, the authorities continue to treat Christians like second-class citizens. The entire environment has left Christians in a difficult and dangerous situation.
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12/05/2017 Egypt (Memri) –    On December 4, 2017, a Telegram channel of Egyptian Islamic State (ISIS) supporters, linked to the organization’s “Egypt Province,” posted a call for Egyptian Muslims to attack Christians in their country.[i] The post reads:
“Oh you Muslims in Egypt, the Christians have been insolent toward you. They cursed our prophet and called each other to fight you, and you are sitting! Oh you, have you forgotten who you are? Do you not know that you are their masters and they are the ones [who should be] humbled and subdued[ii]? By Allah… if you do not rise up [against them] Allah will increase your humility. So go forth, oh worshippers of Allah, blow up their churches and monasteries, kill their priests and monks, do not show mercy toward any Christian for they are all belligerent toward Allah’s religion. ‘They will never approve of you until you follow their religion.'[iii] So blood for blood, killing for killing. Revive the raids of heroes in Abbasiyah, Tanta and Alexandria[iv] until they know who the Muslims are.”
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