Intimidation and incitements targeting Christians in Egypt are on the rise, according to a Coptic human rights group.
And, as Egypt enters into a volatile period of political changes,
U.S.-based Coptic Solidarity fears that the “blatant” incitements could
eventually degenerate into wholesale violence against Copts and their
spiritual leaders.
“Above and beyond the never-ending and routine scenario of violence, discrimination, alienation, and persecution
the Copts have endured, there has been an alarming upsurge of
significant anti-Coptic activities over the recent weeks,” the rights
group reported this past Thursday.
Among the incidents include a series of “wild demonstrations" – the
latest on Oct. 8 – in Cairo and other cities demanding the delivery of a
Coptic priest’s wife, who demonstrators insist had converted to Islam.
Despite “vehement affirmations” that the conversion rumors are
baseless, leaders of the demonstrations have vowed to carry on with more
mob outbursts and “other daring means” until the woman is handed over.
In another recent incident, an Islamic book publisher printed a
"forged Bible" that the Coptic Church said amounted to blasphemy and
religious intolerance.
The owner of the Islamic Enlightenment Publishing House, Abuislam
Abdullah, wrote in the introduction of the publication that the goal of
printing the text was to “prove” there are multiple versions of the
Bible and that Christians had “forged theirs.”
In a statement, Abdullah also said the version of the Bible his company published was written before the Book of Genesis.
The Coptic Church, in response, demanded the publishing house take
the book off the shelves and said it would consider taking legal action
if the company did not remove the text from publication. It called the
book “extremely offensive.”
Notably, however, such ridicule of Christian and Jewish holy books
has been “systematically” taking place, noted Coptic Solidarity.
Meanwhile, even passing remarks remotely critical of Islam’s holy book, the Quran, are denounced as blasphemous.
Last month, the Coptic Orthodox Church’s second highest ranking
cleric was cited in the Egyptian media for wondering about the time
frame for the revelation of the Quranic verses disputing the divine
nature of Jesus Christ.
Bishop Bishoy reportedly said these verses were inserted by one of
the Prophet Muhammad's successors after his death – a statement that
sparked outrage as Muslims believe that Muhammad received all verses
through the Archangel Gabriel during his lifetime and that they are the
immutable word of God.
The bishop also reportedly said "Muslims are only guests" in the country, though Coptic Pope
Shenouda III later blamed the press for possibly misquoting Bishoy as
Coptic Christians make up around 6 to 10 percent of the country's 80
million people.
After the bishop’s remarks were made known, thousands of Muslims
demonstrated and the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, a formal state
body headed by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, strongly condemned the
remarks in question.
The council further took the opportunity to point out that "Egypt
was, according to its constitution, an Islamic State" and that "the
citizenship rights of non-Muslims were conditional on their abiding by
the Islamic Identity of the State."
The council’s statement, Coptic Solidarity noted, “revers[es] modern
progress and downgrad[es] the Copts to their formerly historical status
of mere Dhimmis – suppressed and humbled non-Muslims living under the
will of Islam.”
“Such thinly veiled menace further risks making the Copts a
religiously-sanctioned target of more persecution and violence,” the
human rights group noted.
In light of these and other developments, Coptic Solidarity rebuked
the “usually intrusive Egyptian authorities” for remaining silent and
accused them of possibly “trying to use Islamic radicalism as a means to
channel against the Copts the escalating social discontent in the
country.”
“Coptic Solidarity made the point to hold the Egyptian authorities and political leadership fully responsible, and demand that effective measures be taken immediately to abate this dangerous tide,” it concluded.
Although Egypt's Muslims and Copts have generally lived in peace, tensions are on the rise over the construction of new churches and reported cases of conversions.
Since 2002, Egypt has been on the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom’s “Watch List” for its serious religious freedom
violations, including widespread problems of discrimination,
intolerance, and other human rights violations against members of
religious minorities.
While small, Egypt’s Coptic population stands as the largest
Christian community in the Middle East and is also among the oldest.
The
Apostle Mark reportedly founded the Coptic Church in the first century
when he brought Christianity to Egypt.
Muslims brought Islam to Egypt
six centuries later, after which the country gradually came to be
predominantly Muslim.
Today, 90 percent of Egypt's population is Muslim.
SIC: CP/INT'L