Comment: Egypt fails to tackle divisions
By Heba Saleh
Egyptians are still struggling to come to terms with a drive-by shooting this month that killed six Coptic Christians and a Muslim outside a church in the southern town of Naga Hammadi. The attack on the eve of Coptic Christmas has focused attention on the government’s handling of mounting sectarian tensions.
Shortly after the shootings, police arrested three Muslim men, including a well-known local hard man. In pre-trial filings, the prosecution says the man had been angered by the alleged rape in November of a Muslim child by a Christian youth. The alleged rape triggered mob violence against Christian properties and heightened tensions in the region. For their part, Copts say they had received threats of a “Christmas surprise” but that the security services took no extra precautions.
The Egyptian authorities have also insisted the attack was not religiously motivated, but the independent press has treated this claim with scepticism.
Whatever the nature of the killings, the events that followed can only be described as sectarian. Copts rioted in Naga Hammadi on the day of the funerals, and for the next two days Muslim mobs attacked Christian properties in the town and surrounding villages.
A report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a human rights organisation, cites witnesses who told how men armed with knives, metal chains and cans of petrol burned Christian property.
“The security forces were at the entrance of the village, but they did not engage the attackers or try to stop them. The fire service came at 10.30 at night after everything had burnt; only two fire engines to put out fires raging in tens of homes and shops,” said an eyewitness from the village of Bahgoura cited by the report.
Eruptions of violence between Muslims and Christians, who make up an estimated 10 per cent of the Egyptian population, have increased in recent years. The trigger has often been land disputes, or relations between young men and women across the divide.
Another flashpoint has been the use by Christians of unauthorised buildings for prayers. Strict rules govern the construction of churches and permits are hard to come by, so worshippers sometimes resort to using private homes.
In the past 30 years, public space and public debate in Egypt have become increasingly Islamised. Almost all Muslim women wear the headscarf, shops and offices display Koranic verses and popular television preachers issue fatwas or religious judgments on every aspect of daily life. In politics, the main challenge comes from the Muslim Brotherhood, an illegal group that has widespread grassroots support.
In this religiously charged atmosphere, the government often appears paralysed whenever there is a sectarian problem because it fears affronting the sensibilities of the majority, or ceding ground to the Brotherhood. For instance, there are no signs that a much- discussed law that would impose the same conditions on church and mosque construction is likely to be presented to parliament. The ruling party recoils from running Christian candidates in elections, and Copts complain that they are under-represented in senior government posts.
More dangerously, the state often seems reluctant to apply its own laws. The perpetrators of sectarian violence are rarely tried and punished. The standard procedure is for the security services to detain, often randomly, a number of citizens from each religion and to hold them as hostages until their communities have agreed to reconcile. This leaves victims feeling helpless and embittered.
Many analysts now fear that the concept of common Egyptian citizenship is being eroded as both communities seek refuge in their religious identities.
Authoritarian rule in the country only exacerbates the situation by ensuring there is no room for viable political parties in which Egyptians from both religions can articulate a common vision.