Jack Chivo: Why are the Christian Copts in Egypt abandoned by the world?

by Jack Chivo on October 23rd, 2011 at 11:40 AM

The latest news about the continuing attacks on Christian Copts in Egypt are very disturbing, but there appears to be no wave of protests, neither from the "human rights" organizations in Canada or elsewhere, nor from the churches here and worldwide. And the media seems not to be very interested as well.

Over the past weeks, there were more and frequent reports about the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in the USA and now in Canada, or about the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's physician, than about the fate of about 10 million Christians in Egypt. They have been again subjected for the last few months to repeated murderous attacks, humiliations, degradation, and treated as second-class citizens. This is in a country where they have lived for millennia, as the original people there, the descendants of the biblical Egyptians, still a proud but persecuted minority in their ancestral lands.

A couple of weeks ago, a demonstration by Coptic Christians was held in Tahrir Square to protest the latest destruction of an ancient church by a Muslim mob. It was met with deadly force resulting in the killing of 35 Christians with hundreds more injured. As reported by the New York Times, "the military and riot police, on the other hand, appeared to be working in tandem with the Moslems (civilians), who were lashing out at the Christian Copts".

The British Telegraph wrote about military armoured vehicles charging the demonstrators at full speed, crashing many to death.

What a contrast to the attitude of the military and police there during the demonstrations in the same square held in the recent past, culminating with the toppling of the Mubarak regime, where the police showed unusual restraint. This was even true when a U.S. female reporter was gang-raped by "activists" in the middle of the square, while hundreds watched and the order forces looked the other way!

What triggered the recent protests by Copts was yet another extremely violent anti-Christian riot, this time against the St. George's church in the village of Al Marinab, in the Edfu province. It occurred in a building more than 100 years old, but in a state of total ruin after decades of neglect, and lacking any permission from the authorities to rebuild it, even with funds from the congregants themselves. It took many years of futile requests, always denied for the most ridiculous reasons, until the province's governor, aware that the world is now looking at Egypt with a more critical eye, grudgingly accepted that church can be renovated.

However, the local Muslims were offended by the mere idea of restoring the church as a functioning place of worship, and started raising all kind of irrational and aggressive demands, starting with the request that no Christian cross be included in the structure. That was because, as one of their religious leaders declared, "the Cross irritates Muslims and their children!"

This created not only a moral problem, but a grave engineering nightmare, because, without the dome, the whole structure would have collapsed. When the Christian leadership refused to give in, a mob of hundreds of rioters attacked the church, demolished the dome, burned the whole building to the ground, while, according to the media, the security chief of the district and his men were cheering the rioters. Immediately afterward, many Christian homes in the neighbourhood were attacked, looted and demolished as well.

This was the fourth Christian church in Egypt to be burned and destroyed since March 2011.

But who are the 10 million Christian Copts, probably more, and what is their connection to the land of Egypt? Of course, this will be a very abbreviated explanation and I am also using the English version of their ancient name, the way they are known nowadays.

Not unlike the First Nations in Canada, they are the original people there who have lived in the lands since there was a recorded history. They were the country's inhabitants during the Pharaohs, the occupation by the Romans, the reign of Cleopatra, the conquest by the Byzantine Empire and they have always been the original Egyptians.

At the beginning of the Common Era, over 2000 years ago, they represented about 90 percent of the population in the country, with Jews, Greeks, and Romans as minorities.

According to ancient religious texts, the Copts, as they are known today, along with the Greeks and some Romans, were converted by Saint Mark to Christianity sometime around 42 CE, with only the five to six percent of Jews also living there for millennia, keeping their faith.

The demographics remained the same until the Arab invasion of 641, defeating the Byzantine army in the land. According to Wikipedia, the Arabs immediately imposed a special tax, known as Jizya, on the Christians, and other nonbelievers. Along with the Jews, they were given the status of "dhimmis". Again, quoting Wikipedia, a dhimmi is "a non-Muslim subject in accordance to the Sharia law" and the literal translation of the word is "one whose responsibilities (and rights) have been taken" (away).

Even those Copts who converted to Islam for different reasons were only given the status of a Mawali, a non-Arab Muslim, like the Persians, the Turks and others, which meant that they were not at the same level as the Arab Muslims. This slowly changed later on under subsequent Islamic rulers. A little-known fact about the treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt and of their ancient culture since the Arab invasion, is the barbaric destruction of tens of thousands, possibly more, of Coptic frescoes, painted churches, art objects, and irreplaceable manuscripts under the pretext that Islam forbids the depiction of humans. Therefore any form of art, or science, with such images had to be eradicated.

The Christian Copts, however, had to suffer for 1,200 years degrading laws and harsh conditions pushing them into abject poverty until the beginning of the 19th Century when the country's Khedive (Viceroy), Muhammad Ali Pasha, himself a non-Arab, Albanian Muslim, abolished the Jizya, allowed the Coptic Christians to join the army. This was a stepping stone toward the middle class status, granted them more freedom to worship, study, practise commence, own land, and become professionals.

This unique period of freedom granted by Muhammad Ali continued until the middle of the 20th Century, what the Christian Copts called their Golden Age. With the typical fervour of people subjugated for more than 12 centuries, the Copts enrolled in the local schools and universities, where they excelled through hard work and sheer determination, started businesses, became skilled traders, craftsmen, teachers, lawyers, army officers, accountants, and politicians. By the early 1950s, many were very successful and wealthy.

Unfortunately, everything came to an abrupt end in 1952, after the military coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. As quoted by different sources, including Wikipedia, under Nasser's orders, "permits to construct new churches were delayed, Christian religious courts were closed, and the regime confiscated land and Church properties from Copts". Many professions and public service jobs were again "off limits" for them, and slowly the great majority of Copts were facing poverty again. Millions were forced to flee the country, and there are presently a few millions Copts living abroad, from Australia to Europe, as well as in the U.S. and Canada.

There are more examples of the blatant persecution suffered by the Copts in Egypt during the last six decades, but, indicative of the prevalent anti-Christian attitude there was the mindless slaughter two years ago of all of the pigs in the country—about 500,000. This is the basic food staple of the Christians. It was conducted under the silly excuse of the danger of swine flu, which had never touched the country. Huge protests were met with a violent response, not only from the police but from the local Muslims.

This occurred in spite of the fact that even the chief veterinarian of the UN Food and Agricultural Commission and other scientific bodies have openly rejected the actions by the government as totally unnecessary and unacceptable. The slaughter, which was firstly promoted by Islamic authorities, carried on, leaving the Christians without a key component of their nutrition.

It also fully destroyed the livelihood of farmers, butchers, restaurant owners, meat distributors, and other small merchants. As many commentators pointed out, when there was a real "bird flu" problem in the country, causing fatalities, there was no such measure for the Muslims, who continued to enjoy their chickens, ducks and turkeys.

And the world's human-rights "fighters" stood silent then, as they do now.

Jack Chivo is a retired journalist who lives in West Vancouver.

Comments

30 Comments

bowser

Oct 23, 2011 at 1:23pm

I agree this is a very serious problem. But what do you expect from the "human rights" organizations who are nothing but what Karl Marx called "useful idiots". Just like Amnesty International, their beliefs and support only seem to be behind anti-western organizations. They are nothing but pawns of the "religion of peace" which will kill you for being gay, christian, or even if you just want to reject their religion. In the meantime, their leaders engage in all the things they profess to abhor - like subjecting their females to subhuman conditions like denying them education and equality while forcing female sexual mutilation on them. It's sad that the "human rights" organizations have no courage or moral compass. I have just finished reading a book on medevial trade which pointed out that the Islamic religion grew so fast because the Islamic conquerers gave you the choice of joining their religion or dying. The Islamic traders were also big in the slavery trade. Unfortunately this did not surprise me. Now the question is - will the Straight print my comments? Are they truly for the right of everyone to express their opinion (in this case, facts), or are they another pawn of the leftist agenda?

MarkT

Oct 23, 2011 at 1:49pm

I was walking by the Art Gallery yesterday (Saturday) and saw a small group of protestors saying "Stop the murder of Christians in Egypt!" on one side of the building, and a huge crowd on the other shouting something in support of us - the poor 99% of Canadians. The murder of innocent people from some reason seem to deserve much less urgency and attention than the people with some vague claims about taxes and prices. The first small crowd left early home to spend some time with their families (before another hardworking week) and maybe to catch some news about the well-being of their relatives in Egypt. The other crowd didn't need to hurry anywhere, they stayed overnight with chanting, cheering, singing, making accusational speeches and congratulating one another. I guess standing for the victims of violence in Egypt would be a little inconvenient for this Occupy crowd, after all they draw their inspiration from the Arab Spring, the same one that caused the fall of Mubarak's regime and subsequently the attacks on the Christian Copts.

Nasty Celt

Oct 23, 2011 at 2:29pm

You say no one is paying attention to it yet in your article you quote stories in The New York Times and The British Telegraph. I have also read reports on this in many many newspapers so your story appears to be a cheap lie oft told to garner undeserved sympathy for a problem that doesn't exist.

Equal opportunity

Oct 23, 2011 at 2:48pm

To Nasty Celt,

Are you saying that the cruel treatment and killing of Christian Copts is "a problem that doesn't exist"???

Could you be more specific?

tiger2010

Oct 23, 2011 at 4:23pm

Why won't any serious journalist address the real problem - religion itself. The greatest cause of human rights violations, corruption, murder, child abuse and war is religions of all stripes. I can't believe, in this day and age, that humankind tolerates this. But then most of humankind, in their support and participation of these fairytale beliefs, are responsible for the problem along with their leaders.

Anti_Chritians_Israelis

Oct 23, 2011 at 4:36pm

indicative of the prevalent anti-Christian attitude there (ISRAEL)

The Penal Law Amendment (Enticement to Change Religion Law, 5738-1977) was passed by Knesset during Christmas week (Dec. 27, 1977) and went into effect Easter week (April 1, 1978).

Violation is punishable by 5 years in prison or a fine of 50,000 Israeli pounds (or the equivalent in shekels).

It is enforced against those attempting to convert someone to their faith if a material benefit is offered.

The state of Israel also metes out 3 years in prison, or a 30,000 Israeli pound fine, against a Jew who receives such materials and converts.

The Law says: 1. Whoever gives or promises to a person money, moneys worth or some other material benefit in order to induce him to change his religion or in order that he may induce another person to change his religion is liable to imprisonment for 5 years or a fine of 50,000 pounds.

2. Whosoever receives or agrees to receive money, moneys worth or some other material benefit in return for a promise to change his religion or to cause another person to change his religion is liable for imprisonment for a term of 3 years or a fine of 30,000 pounds.

So in Israel Christians can go to Jail...:)

ANTI-CHRIST LAWS ENFORCED IN ISRAEL...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oO6XGF15Eg

JEWISH TASK FORCE FORUM ANTI-CHRISTIAN HATE...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEs50eYzl7I

So it appears in BOTH Egypt and Israel there is a STRONG HATRED OF CHRISTIANS AND PROSECUTIONS!!

Please GIVE BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY CHIVO!

HellSlayerAndy

Oct 23, 2011 at 4:38pm

"A couple of weeks ago, a demonstration by Coptic Christians was held in Tahrir Square to protest the latest destruction of an ancient church by a Muslim mob. It was met with deadly force resulting in the killing of 35 Christians with hundreds more injured."

Nope...the Bloody Sunday massacre at Maspero was on Oct 9th in the front of the State Broadcast offices. THAT was the protest against the destruction of the Aswan church which was being rebuilt without a local permit...something Palestinians in the occupied territories know a lot about.
Egyptian officials put the death toll at 25 with 21 Copts killed -- the youngest being 12 years old. I think the 35 dead figure is simply western journalists falling for the Egyptian governments claims AFTER the massacre by it's security militias that 14 of it's troops were killed by the unarmed Coptics in their peaceful protest. They simply added the 21 Coptic deaths with the 14 reported government deaths (of no proof offered and denied by Wednesday that week) and got 35 total.
The Tahrir Square protest and funeral procession for Mina Daniel (high profile Coptic blogger), Wael Yunna (Copt TV journalist) and Michael Mosaad, a member of the Maspero Youth Coalition that organized the Sunday Bloody protest, was widely attended. In fact according to the LA Times, it was Mina Daniel that started the notion of the "Martyrs in Demand: Write your own will against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces" and that is why there was a funeral procession for him. The Tahrir Square protest had both Christians and Muslims protesting together in solidarity and against a rather viscous military dictatorship that Egyptians THOUGHT they had gotten rid of.

Also...if the "the police showed unusual restraint" as you say during the so-called Arab Spring Tahrir Square protests, how do you explain the the Feb 2 massacre ('War of the Camel') where scores were killed and an estimated 1500 were injured?

Besides the tastelessness of trying to score political points out of a State-directed massacre to vilify the Muslims, western human rights groups and protestors you could at least have done a little research and got the date of the massacre and it's subsequent protest right to show that YOU CARE.

Maybe your next article could explain to the unwashed exactly what do the 'settlers' mean when they graffiti 'price tag' on the mosques and gravestones they destroy in Israel?

Jewish_Settlers_Hate

Oct 23, 2011 at 5:07pm

We Killed Jesus and are Proud of it by Jewish Settler in Israel...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5MvQI0dshw&feature=related

Jewish Defense League Anti Christian Rants by Jews...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Hi2saK8iU&feature=player_detailpage

Elite Israeli Soldiers Quit in Protest of Occupation 60 Minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA2PsnNGGl0&feature=related

You decide if Anti-Christian Hate and Prosecutions of Christians is prevalent in Israel and by Jewish people.

MarkT

Oct 23, 2011 at 5:29pm

To the last few commenters: I thought this article was about the crisis with Coptic Christians in Egypt... if their situation doesn't interest you and you prefer to talk about Israel (which wasn't mentioned once in the article) why don't you start a separate discussion?