(JNS.org) Coptic Christian Egyptians are being subjected to increasing religious violence after the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Muslim Brotherhood has blamed the Coptic Christian community and Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II for Morsi’s ouster, which they believe “openly and secretly led the process of opposition to the Islamic stream and this stream’s rise to power,” an article on the Muslim Brotherhood’s website recently stated.

Four Coptic Christians have been killed in the Luxor area since Morsi’s ouster, and churches have been destroyed, according to the BBC. “Reliable reports indicate that there are Copts living in fear and urgently needing protection,” American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris said. “…How the Coptic minority is treated will be a key indicator of the course Egypt takes in its historic struggle for democratic stability.”

Naguib Gabriel, a Coptic Christian and head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights, called the religious violence in Egypt “ethnic cleansing and organized slaughter.”