Egypt's anxious Copts 'await next catastrophe'

[ailamos]

By Yolande Knell

BBC News, Cairo

 

Worshippers arriving for mass at St Mary's Church in central Cairo say they were shocked but not surprised by a deadly attack against Coptic Christians in southern Egypt earlier this month.

 

"Copts have been suffering for a long time," comments Magda accompanying her teenage son to the service.

 

"There have been a lot of tensions between Christians and Muslims, particularly in Upper Egypt, and a lot of attacks."

 

"What happened in Naga Hamady has opened the situation up to the outside world."

 

Six Copts were killed in a drive-by shooting in the busy town, 60 km (37 miles) from Luxor, after they left a late-night mass on 6 January, the eve of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas. A Muslim policeman was also killed.

 

There are frequent small-scale clashes between Coptic Christians, who account for about 10% of Egyptians, and the Muslim majority but the shooting was the worst-known case of sectarian violence in a decade.

 

The United States Ambassador to Egypt is reported to have discussed the attack with the Coptic Pope Shenouda III when she visited him on Tuesday.

 

Responsibility

 

Two days later, a full two weeks after the incident, President Hosni Mubarak made his first remarks directly condemning what happened.

 

"The criminal act in Naga Hamady has made the hearts of Egyptians bleed, whether Copts or Muslims," he said in a speech carried on state-owned Nile News.

 

He called on "the rational preachers, thinkers and media men to shoulder their great responsibility in hampering sedition, ignorance and blind fanaticism and to deter hateful sectarian motives that threaten our social unity".

 

Yet several civil rights groups say it is the government and local officials who failed in their responsibility to anticipate the attack and ensure its aftermath was handled effectively.

 

The shooting in Naga Hamady has been linked to the alleged rape of a Muslim girl by a Coptic man in the nearby village of Farshut last November. Claims of the assault led to several days of unrest.

 

A report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), whose researchers went to the area on a fact-finding mission, states that local church authorities warned of possible violence and decided to end Christmas masses before midnight as a result.

 

It questions why police did not bolster security during the Coptic holiday or take further action to prevent angry clashes that followed the shooting when Muslims and Christians damaged each other's property.

 

EIPR found that dozens of local residents - from both faiths - were arrested at random. It alleges that some were tortured.

 

In February, three Muslim men are due to stand trial before an emergency security court charged with premeditated murder in Naga Hamady.

 

Wider inquiry

 

However EIPR director, Hossam Bahgat, believes there should be a wider inquiry into events.

 

"Since these killings on 6th January we have called on the public prosecutor to expand his investigation into the circumstances that led to them, the possible negligence by security agencies and people involved in inciting the violence," he says.

 

"We also believe this particular incident cannot be seen in isolation from the general picture in Egypt."

 

Analysts say there has been a rise in sectarian violence since the growth of Islamic movements in the 1970s.

 

It has led to an increasing number of Christians becoming radicalised, disgruntled at perceived discrimination. Widespread poverty exacerbates the situation.

 

Often, disputes over land and inter-faith relationships can spill over, splitting communities along religious lines.

 

There are warnings that the authorities must do more to deal with Christian grievances, including complaints about restrictions on building churches and a school curriculum focused on Islam.

 

"Nowadays everything is religious: the books in schools, the media. It's all adding to the divisions felt by the lower classes especially," reflects Amira, who also attends St Mary's Church.

 

"If the government did more to address the root causes of frustration it could make things better but I don't think that will happen. Instead when this hype dies down, things will probably go back to normal, until the next catastrophe."

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8478397.stm

[Ibtisam]

I saw this BBC Documentary about the situation of the Egyptian Copts Christians. Sad really, crazy how Muslim and the Palestine copts are united but the Egyptian are terrorising this small community.

[General Duke]

^^^They are not that small in terms of number and the tensions are being over played by the western media, how thrive on such things..

[Ibtisam]

^^^They don't have the power and they are being isolated, and yes they are small in numbers compared to the Muslims.

 

There have always been tensions but in recent years it has worsen- media or no media.

 

Only place I've seen true merge of religious groups in the middle East is Syria. That country has Jews, Christians, Muslims and they all blend together and fit together in shared equality/ opportunities. Even the Iraqi refugees, Lebanese and Palestinian have found a place there- temporary but more comfortable than other places. I think it is a good model for other Middle East to follow.

[NGONGE]

The following is not worth its very own thread, so I thought I'd become a parasite and post it here instead.

 

------------------------------

 

Fundamentalism In My Office

 

A teddy bear or a fluffy pig, which would you choose?

 

An organisation that cares for blind people has sent us a cuddly toy in the shape of a pig wearing glasses. With it, it attached instructions on a little game staff can play. It consisted of a piece of paper with fifty boxes that have the names of places in the UK and a question that says: "Where did I come from?"

 

The idea is for staff to donate one pound and guess which area the toy came from. The correct answer is written in a sealed envelope that we could only open once the fifty boxes are filled (or all the people have donated).

 

I spoke to a couple of my Muslim colleagues about it and mistakenly told them it was a teddy bear. They were happy to participate and even donated a couple of pounds each. However, when they later found out it was actually a pig and not a teddy bear, they decided to withdraw from the game but not demand their donations back (which was nice).

 

Is there a difference between having a teddy bear or a fluffy pig? I mean one of them was really adamant that no pig should enter her house, not even if it were a toy pig. Ma ana waalan mese Israel ba SL ictiraafaysa?

[SayidSomal]

Ma ana waalan mese Israel ba SL ictiraafaysa?

[Ibtisam]

Ngonge post it on Troll corner then you nutcase.

 

Maya eh Caadan ba laga heesay.

[NGONGE]

^^ The troll corner is no good. I'll post it and the next person to reply will be talking about Qardho or Qaloocan.

[SayidSomal]

^Qardho or Burco you mean?

 

war qardho ii dhaf ninyahow waalan.

[Cawaale]

^Nobody is terrorizing them, tensions arise in about everywhere in Egypt, specifically in places like "Sa'id masr" where the government is not as functioning as a Cairo. People are armed there for Gods' sake.

 

The Government always sweeps this kind of tensions under the carpet which makes it a ticking bomb.

 

every time some tensions come up they Pope Shenouda & Sheikh al-Azhar, and there you go. we are happy people.

 

 

NG,Hadaba waa kaas Qaloocan/Qardho laga hadlaayo.

[NGONGE]

^^ I agree. Then both sides claim that the Pope and Sheikh Al Azhar are in the pay of Hosni.

 

At any rate, you didn't comment on my pig toy? Would you have one in your house?

[Naden]

It is the government that is causing and fueling the tension. They have to be at each other's throats while the laughing cow makes his son the president of the country. A very simple 'divide and conquer' sort of policy, and given the religious hysteria sweeping Egypt since expatriates from the gulf began to go home in the 80s, it is a great environment.

[Blessed]

Ngonge,

I actually got told off by an Indian colleague for allowing the kids to paint a picture of a pig, yesterday. Apparently 'they' are really sensitive about those things over here.

[Cawaale]

Originally posted by NGONGE:

At any rate, you didn't comment on my pig toy? Would you have one in your house?

Sharacalee bal kaalaya Sheeko gaaban iga gura, pig miyaann aqalka soo gashan?

[Haneefah]

Useless government!! This is the sort of conflict that could have easily been dealt with locally. It should not have escalated to a religious conflict.