Mutual Consultation
"They (the Islamists) will not stop as long as they are left to do as they please without fear of accountability. They are many, and one day they will trash our stores."In Egypt's deep south, in a town named Assiut, 40% of the population is Christian. The city is located alongside the Nile, with one million inhabitants, 400 kilometres south of Cairo. It is an ancient settlement, dating back to the fabled time of the Pharaohs. According to the New Testament, Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus, in flight from King Herod's infanticidal orders, fled through Assiut.
"They (the marchers) run their index finger across their throats to suggest they will slaughter us, or scream Morsi's name in our faces."
Hossam Nabil, Youssry Ragheb Street jewellery shop owner
"We had never experienced the kind of persecution we suffer now. We are insulted every day. We are angry and frustrated but we are not leaving Assiut", said 40-year-old Nevine Kamal, a Christian pharmacist, mother of two teen-age children.
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| Egyptian youths line up before a procession at Al-Mahraq monastery in Assiut, Upper Egypt, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013. Islamists may be on the defensive in Cairo, but in Egypt's deep south they still have much sway and audacity: over the past week, they have stepped up a hate campaign against the area's Christians. Blaming the broader Coptic community for the July 3 coup that removed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, Islamists have marked Christian homes, stores and churches with crosses and threatening graffiti. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo) |
Ten thousand Islamists marched down the most heavily Christian street in the city They chanted "Islamic, Islamic, despite the Christians", while a handful of children supervised by an adult spray-painted "Boycott the Christians" on walls. In Cairo, Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Islamists are on the defensive. In Assiut, the Islamists, out-numbering the Christians, are clearly enough on the offensive.
"Tawadros is a dog", is scribed via a spray-painted message, in reference to the patriarch of the Copts, Pope Tawadros II. Outside Christian homes, apartments and shops, entire blocks, painted crosses defaced with a red X painted over them, have been sprayed. The Christians remain in their homes at night. Afternoon activities at churches have been cancelled. Those who can afford it, have left.
There is envy among the more numerous, poverty-stricken Muslims in the region, for the relative prosperity of the industrious Coptic Christians. Local authority does not appear disposed to mount much in the way of protection of its Christian population. And in the area Islamists are numerous and strong; their threats against their Christian neighbours are taken seriously.
Hossan Nabil shuttered his shop until the protesters passed by. A coalition of 16 Egyptian rights groups has warned of a wave of violence that is certain to descend. They have issued an appeal to the post-coup authorities to protect the country's Christian population against whom chronic discrimination has become the norm.
In this, the largest Arab country of the Middle East, with its 80-million people, times are uncertain. The Muslim Brotherhood agitates and incites its followers to 'protest' the removal of former president Mohammed Morsi, and to demand the restoration of the Muslim Brotherhood to the power of majority rule, implementing universal Sharia law.
The Holy Prophet said that "the leader of people is their servant". The Holy Qur'an directs believers to settle their affairs "through mutual consultation". That will be of great comfort to the Christian Copts of Egypt in their pursuit of life, liberty and happiness - and the freedom to worship their religion as they have done since antiquity.
Labels: Christianity, Conflict, Crisis Politics, Egypt, Islamism, Muslim Brotherhood
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, August 10, 2013
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