Christians accepted in Egypt

18/12/2011
CUMALİ ÖNAL
c.onal@todayszaman.com

The Western press increasingly publishes news stories and articles claiming that the Arab Spring ushered in an increase in the number of attacks and threats against Christians.
Most of these stories and articles, however, refer to attacks against churches that were conducted during the last years of the Hosni Mubarak regime or after the Egyptian revolution of January 25.

Indeed many Christians died during those attacks against Coptic churches in Egypt and numerous churches were ruined. Yet it would be flawed to assume, solely based on these incidents, that Christians in Egypt are facing a large threat or risk of genocide. Egyptian society does not tolerate radicalism and austerity. We clearly observed this during the 18 days of anti-Mubarak protests. At a time when the police officers, soldiers and security forces had completely abandoned the streets, Egyptians organized themselves to provide security for everyone, without discriminating between Muslims and Christians. During this period, not a single attack against a Christian was witnessed.

Not a single stone was hurled at the windows of many American fast-food chain-stores lined up around Tahrir Square, where hundreds of people were hosted every day. Likewise, no attacks came to the American University facing the square. If people were nurturing hatred or animosity towards Christians or Westerners, this period offered a golden opportunity to display it. After the revolution was successfully concluded, the attacks against churches and Sufi orders resumed. Some previously unheard of people and groups announced their support for these attacks. Initially, Salafi groups were portrayed as responsible for these attacks and it was even suggested that these groups were linked to al-Qaeda.

But it was never suggested that such provocative attacks might be supported by the remnants of the old regime. The provocative aspect of these incidents became crystal clear when more than 20 people died in the clashes between soldiers and Christians, who sought to hold a demonstration in front of the Television Building.

Christians account for about 10 percent of the population in Egypt and they are not second class citizens. Rather, many of them are first class citizens. Egypt’s wealthiest businessman is a Christian named Necip Saviris. There are other prominent Christian businesses as well. Christians and Muslims do not live in separated neighborhoods or buildings. There are many cases of Muslim and Christian neighbors living in the same building.

Muslims do not refrain from frequenting shops operated by Christians. Rather, Christians prefer to buy from each other. Until very recently, the police would not keep watch in front of churches. The sacred days of Christians are official holidays in the country and Muslims accompany Christians during these festivities. In short, except for several minor incidents, one can hardly claim that there is real tension between Christians and Muslims.

These claims are generally voiced by certain Christian groups in the US and other Western countries. The leaders of some of these groups are Christians who emigrated from Egypt to Western countries. When these groups said that about 300,000 Christians have left Egypt to settle in the US, Canada and other Western countries after the revolution, Egyptian Christians challenged their claim.

Given the fact that the Egyptian economy is performing poorly due to years of neglect and a literacy rate around 40 percent, the Christian issue is one of the minor problems in Egypt. If poverty, unemployment, corruption, bribery, favoritism and other problems cannot be solved, there might be more attacks against Christians, potentially under the guise of religion. If these issues continue to worsen, disreputable networks may mushroom due to lack of security.

Yet it is certain that these artificial claims will come to a halt after the critical elections are successfully completed. The claims about pressure and threats against Christians in Egypt do not make sense, particularly considering the fact that Egypt wears the moderate face of Islam, and Friday sermons remind Egyptians that Christians are part of Egyptian society.

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