Egyptian Christians fear uprising could increase Persecution
2/2/2011
At a Coptic Orthodox church in Miramar, Egyptian Christians fear that the uprising in their homeland may lead to more anti-Christian persecution.
BY JAWEED KALEEM
jkaleem@MiamiHerald.com
Nadia Guirguis left Egypt 15 years ago for the same reasons her countrymen are protesting today: She wanted a chance at better jobs, more freedoms and a better life.
But as tumultuous demonstrations raged in her homeland, the Coptic Christian has become a reluctant supporter of the country’s widely disliked dictator, President Hosni Mubarak.
While much of the world — from those taking to the streets Egypt to rallies in South Florida — roots for democracy and the immediate ouster of Mubarak, the Copts, a persecuted minority in Egypt that make up a majority of its immigrant population in the United States, are raising concerns that an even less friendly Islamist government could take his place.
“You know, [Mubarak] was okay, not perfect. He was okay. But, you know, now we say he was better. You don’t know what’s going on after. It’s a mirage for us,” says Guirguis, who grew up in Heliopolis, a Cairo suburb.
Bowing to pressure from protesters and calls from international leaders, Mubarak has said he will end his 30-year reign and not run for re-election in September. Plans are slowly forming for a transitional government, while Copts such as Guirguis are disappointed that the end is near for the secular, Western-backed leader.
“I wish we could let him stay forever until he died because we are very scared of these Muslim fanatic people,” she says.
While protests have attracted a diverse cross-section of Egyptians, including the Copts, the Muslim Brotherhood has become a one of the public faces of the opposition and is expected to play a role in a new government.
The religiously conservative group has said it wants to turn Egypt into an Islamic state and, though the Brotherhood long ago denounced violence, the Copts and other religious minorities fear its Islamic bent could fuel persecution against minorities.
Guirguis joined 200 Egyptian-Americans at St. John the Baptist Coptic Orthodox Church in Miramar last week as they met to ask God for a stable government transition and the safety of fellow Christians back home.
“We fear that the Islamists will take over, that it will become another Iran,” says the Rev. Timotheus Soliman, the priest at St. John. The church has seen its attendance swell as South Florida’s nascent Copt community has come out to pray for Egypt.
The fear of fanaticism is one of the reasons the Copts make up a disproportionate amount of the nearly quarter million Egyptians now in the U.S.
The ancient church was established in A.D. 42 and, despite fleeing persecution, the Copts still make up one of the largest Christian groups in the Middle East. About 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million people are Coptic Christians.
St. John is one of 150 Coptic churches in the United States, each of which held a three-day fast for peace in Egypt that ended Thursday.
Copts such as Safwat Eskandar abstained from food until evening each day and avoided meat and dairy.
The Davie resident readily admits that the Copts and Egyptians as a whole have suffered under Mubarak. Copts are routinely denied jobs. In recent years, they have been shot at during religious ceremonies. On New Year’s Day, extremists bombed a Coptic church in Alexandria, killing dozens.
But Eskandar believes that even if Islamists don’t run Egypt, the Copts and non-Copts could face chaos.
“If [Mubarak] lets go at this point, it’s going to be like disaster for Egypt because there is no control, no power, no government,” he says.
The protests that erupted Jan. 25 began with a secular and peaceful tone, but have become defined by violent clashes between anti and pro-government forces.
“The youth have protested against oppression, against economic problems, the standard of living, all of these things were very amendable as long as they were done in a peaceful way,” says Soliman. “But I believe the Islamists were behind the terrors that have happened and it’s changing it from a peaceful protest into a riot.”
At a service last week, Soliman faced shiny golden icons of the apostles and colorful painted scenes from the life of Jesus while he led the congregation in hymn for its homeland.
“My Coptic church. The church of the Lord. Ancient and strong,” the churchgoers sang. “I wish her long life. . .My Coptic church. Her faith is orthodox. Forever strong. Egypt is for Christ.”
