Let’s spend a moment examining a basic (you would think) file produced by a Google News search for this name — “Nabil Habashi Salama.”
Who is this man in the news? Simply stated, he is the latest Coptic Orthodox Christian killed by ISIS.
Does his death matter? Alas, this appears to be a political question, one that shapes basic journalism decisions about what stories are worthy of mainstream coverage.
First things first: Here is the overture of a report about his death published at Christianity Today. The headline: “ISIS Executes Christian Businessman Kidnapped in Egypt’s Sinai.”
The Islamic State has claimed another Christian victim. And Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church has won another martyr.
“We are telling our kids that their grandfather is now a saint in the highest places of heaven,” stated Peter Salama of his 62-year-old father, Nabil Habashi Salama, executed by the ISIS affiliate in north Sinai.
“We are so joyful for him.”
The Salamas are known as one of the oldest Coptic families in Bir al-Abd on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Nabil was a jeweler, owning also mobile phone and clothing shops in the area. Peter said ISIS targeted his father for his share in building the city’s St. Mary Church.
In a newly released 13-minute propaganda video entitled The Makers of Slaughter (or Epic Battles), a militant quotes the Quran to demand the humiliation of Christians and their willing payment of jizya — a tax to ensure their protection.
Now, what is Christianity Today? Obviously, this is a major Christian-market news source, a publication with a long history of doing hard news (GetReligion patriarch Richard Ostling worked there, before moving to Time magazine and then the Associated Press) as well as inspirational features consistent with its evangelical history.
The implication, of course, is that this topic — the martyrdom of another Copt by ISIS — is a “Christian” or even “evangelical” news story.
What else shows up in the Google News search? In terms of English-language news, the death of Nabil Habashi Salama has also been covered by The Daily Mail, in a story with this headline: “ISIS issues warning to ‘Christians of Egypt’ as they execute a captured Coptic and two tribesmen with gunshots to the head.”
Now, what is the “political” reputation of The Daily Mail? This is a “conservative” publication, which implies that coverage of ISIS actions against the Copts and other minorities is a subject of interest for a “conservative” audience — as opposed to being part of an ongoing drama in a crucial corner of the Middle East. As the story notes:
Egypt has been fighting a jihadist insurgency in the northern Sinai since at least 2011, including local tribal groups, Al Qaeda, and Wilayat Sinai — a pre-existing militant group that swore allegiance to ISIS in 2014.
Originally founded as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis according to Stanford University’s terror monitoring service, the group’s initial aim was to rid nearby Jerusalem of western influence and eradicate any Israeli presence in Egypt. But following the ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarack in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring, the group switched their attentions to driving the Egyptian army out of Sinai and assuming control of the region.
The only other major source that showed up in my Google News search was (wait for it) The New York Post. Here is some additional background, care of the Post:
The Coptic Orthodox Church represents between 10 and 15 percent of Egypt’s 100 million people. The Christians, along with Egyptian security forces, have been the primary targets of ISIS attacks.
“As for you Christians of Egypt, this is the price you are paying for supporting the Egyptian army,” one of the militants said in the video, after Habashi Salama said his church had been cooperating with law enforcement to combat terrorism.
In a statement released Sunday, a spokesperson for the church confirmed Habashi Salama’s killing and praised him for not abandoning his faith.
“He kept the faith till the moment he was killed,” the church said, adding that it wanted to affirm “its steadfast support of the Egyptian state’s efforts in quelling hateful terror acts.”
Once again, we need to ask that question, again. In terms of “political” labels, what is The New York Post?
This is, of course, another “conservative” news publication.
My question is one that GetReligion writers have asked many times over the past 17 years: Why has the persecution of Christians and members of other minority faiths by ISIS and others become a “conservative” subject, in terms of both politics and, apparently, religion? I am old enough to remember when this kind of human-rights coverage was of great interest to First Amendment liberals and other progressives (and, truth be told, many traditionally liberal activists remain interested in this subject).
What happened? The answer is not “Donald Trump,” because the persecution of religious minorities — especially Christians — has been labeled a “conservative” subject for some time now.
Why is this? Any thoughts or theories?
Meanwhile, let’s end with some additional details from the fine Christianity Today report:
Nabil was kidnapped five months ago in front of his home. Eyewitnesses said during his resistance he was beaten badly before being thrown into a stolen car. It may be that these were separate kidnappers, because in the video that shows Nabil’s execution, he said he was held captive by ISIS for 3 months and 11 days.
On April 18, he was shot in the back of the head, kneeling.
“As you kill, you will be killed,” states the video, directed to “all the crusaders in the world.”
It addresses all of Egypt’s Christians, warning them to put no faith in the army. And Muslims which support the Egyptian state are called “apostates.” Two other Sinai residents — tribesmen who cooperated with the military — are also executed in the video.
Peter Salama said that in the effort to drive Nabil from his faith, his teeth were broken.
FIRST IMAGE: From social-media messages about the ISIS video.
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