Fear persists among Egypt’s
minority Coptic community despite hope among the rest of the population
of greater freedom after the successful referendum to amend the
constitution.
The predominantly Arab nation experienced its largest voter turnout
in decades last Saturday.
About 41 per cent of the population lined up
for hours to cast a vote.
The referendum paved the way for a
parliamentary vote in June and a presidential election in August.
The vast majority of Christians voted “no” in the referendum,
contrasting more than 70 per cent of the population that voted “yes.”
“It is not that the Christian population does not want the
constitution to be changed,” said a source from Open Doors, a ministry
that supports persecuted Christians.
“They feel that this change is too quick and will only benefit the
established political blocs [such as] the Muslim Brotherhood and the
National Democratic Party (NDP).”
This sentiment is echoed by secular opponents who point out that
independent political groups will not have time to take root, raising
the possibility that elements of the old regime may return to power.
Remnants of the former ruling NDP remain an active political force
that enjoys military backing despite having lost power in the recent
unrest that toppled its leader and longtime Egyptian president, Hosni
Mubarak.
Christians in Egypt have long endured Mubarak’s complacency to
religious hate crimes that included arson, torture and murder. In some
instances, police and judges have released prime suspects in Coptic
Christian murder cases.
The former president also ignored pleas for help
in cases involving abduction, rape and forced conversion of young
Coptic women.
Muslim converts to Christianity are routinely subjected to harassment and death threats.
Adding to the fears is the growing prominence of longtime NDP rival,
the Muslim Brotherhood.
For more than 60 years, the movement existed as
an illegal but tolerated force whose influence stretches to trade
unions, professional associations, municipalities and parliament.
The Muslim Brotherhood in its current form is a bewildering
contradiction of old and new.
Born of anti-colonial and legalist
sentimentality in 1928, the group advocated armed resistance against
Zionist expansion in Palestine prior to World War II.
However, its founder Hassan al-Banna opposed violence in Egypt and
advocated reformist policies that blended Islamic doctrine with secular
welfare.
Banna was assassinated in 1949 under orders from Britain, which
controlled Egypt at the time, and the fraternity once again came under
repression following the 1952 revolution that won Egypt its
independence.
Some of its members eventually became radicalised from years spent in
prison. Others fled to Saudi Arabia where they were influenced by
Wahhabism, a branch within Sunni Islam that is considered extremist even
by many Sunni and Shia Muslims.
A few more escaped to westernised
nations, where they came into direct contact with the European tradition
of democratic freedom. And others simply clung to old party traditions.
The modern Brotherhood includes young moderates whose political views
on issues such as women's rights and religious freedom mesh with
Western values, while older conservatives rail against American
imperialism and call for establishing an Islamic state.
It is not clear
which faction represents the movement as a whole.
On Wednesday, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie extended an invitation
for dialogue with young Copts in an apparent bid to unite opposition
groups into a single political party that would vie for parliamentary
positions.
“It’s great that they want to reassure the Christians, but their
words do not make up for a lack of tangible reassurances and rights for
the country’s Copts in the Constitution,” said human rights activist
Sameh Fawzy, according to Egyptian magazine Al-Ahram.
Fawzy points to a 2007 draft – which the Brotherhood denies exists –
banning Christians and women from representing the Muslim Brotherhood in
its bid for the presidency.
Despite optimism for change, Christians fear being marginalised once
again in the predominantly Muslim nation. Egypt currently ranks 19th on
the Open Doors World Watch List of countries with the worst Christian
persecution.
“It is important that any changes in the constitution include all the
voices of Egypt, especially the minority groups,” said Carl Moeller,
president and CEO of Open Doors USA.
“We need to pray for Christians in
Egypt, that their voices will be heard.”
Egypt is home to the largest population of Christians in the Middle
East.
There are an estimated 10 million Coptic Christians in Egypt.