A Sufi, Islamic mosque in the village of Bir al-Abed in North Sinai, Egypt, was attacked yesterday while worshippers were gathered to pray and hear a sermon. Minutes ago, Egypt revised the casualty account at 305 dead and 128 wounded. It is the most deadly terrorist act in Egypt in modern times. Sinai Province, an affiliate of ISIS (=Islamic State), is believed to have been the perpetrator. Egyptian authorities say the terrorists unfurled the black ISIS flag at the site while conducting their assault.
Why do these terrorists do this in the name of Allah, the God of Islam? It reminds me of some predictions Jesus made to his disciples at the end of his ministry about some of them being martyred. For example, on the night Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and then crucified the next morning, he previously had said at the Last Supper to his disciples, “an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me” (John 16.2-3).
The previous terrorist attacks in North Sinai by this ISIS affiliate Sinai Province have been mostly against Egyptian police, with some against Coptic Christians. None have been against Muslims, that is, until now. It is estimated that, besides Sinai Province, in recent times five Al Qaeda affiliates have infiltrated North Sinai. Al Qaeda differs from ISIS in that Al Qaeda claims that it refuses to attack Muslims. The Quran does forbid this. However, ISIS and Al Qaeda have different definitions of what constitutes a Muslim.
I think this mosque attack is just one more horrible incident indicating that Egypt eventually will have to forfeit this chaotic North Sinai region. It has been under attack by Islamic militants especially since 2013. It is believed that recent losses of territory gained by ISIS in northern Iraq and eastern Syria is causing many of those ISIS militants to uproot and settle in the North Sinai. As I have often blogged, this North Sinai region generally throughout ancient history never belonged to Egypt. Although the borders of nations were somewhat fluid throughout ancient history, the Wadi el Arish water basin was the normal northern border of ancient Egypt.
However, Bir al-Abed, where this attack occurred, is located southwest of El-Arish, near Port Said, but still in North Sinai. So far, Egypt’s has not been able to control this region and thus curtail the turmoil caused by these Islamic terrorist groups.
If this terrorism continues in the North Sinai, I think Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi needs to consider trying to solve the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict by offering to forfeit this portion of the North Sinai to the Palestinians as part of an overall settlement as I laid out in my book, Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia, published in 1990. I believe it was a book before its time, and its time is now.
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