Articles

The Atlantic hurricane season in the United States usually spans the months from June to November. Most people, including the writer, do not care much for hurricanes and/or tropical storms, as their high winds and heavy rains usually bring about disruption and destruction, or at a minimum havoc and flooding. Last week the Eastern-seaboard of the United States suffered from tropical storm Nicole. The storm left in its wake about six deaths, flooding, and havoc on the highways for motorists and delayed flights for travelers. The storm however brought much needed rain for the Eastern-seaboard. Most of the Eastern-seaboard has suffered from a dry spell, which turned the green color of many lawns into parched yellow.

The past few years have witnessed an increase in violent attacks against the Copts, their churches, farms, businesses, and homes. These violent attacks were mostly perpetrated by militant Islamic groups; however some were also made by mobs incited by hate-mongering militant Islamic preachers. The attacks against the Copts can be attributed to the continued denial of the Egyptian government of the facts of these attacks, obfuscation, and often rewriting the events as some sort of sectarian strife. Furthermore negligence of the criminal justice system to prosecute the perpetrators for these attacks seems to be more of a trend rather than the exception. Violent attacks against the Coptic population of Egypt have repeatedly occurred from 1970s to the present (1). A recent article (2) indicates that the number of those who were killed, wounded, dispossessed or otherwise harmed in violent attacks against the Copts of Egypt is estimated to be more than 20,000. The article further notes  “Copts have been eliminated from all senior positions in government administrations, the army, the police, the security services, and top echelons of the vast public sector. In the educational sector once largely endowed with Christian leadership, there are virtually no Christians left. Out of Egypt’s 17 government-owned and administered universities which have a total of 71 presidents and 274 vice presidential jobs, there is one Coptic Christian dean and one Christian Vice President.” The article further indicates “the narrative of persecution … keeps piling on. Higher and upper middle class Coptic Christians responded by immigrating in huge numbers…estimated to number between 2 million to 3 million spread over Canada, Australia and the USA.” Another egregious example for the human and civil rights violations directed against the Coptic population of Egypt has been most recently reported by the Muslim writer Fatima Na’aout (3). Ms. Na’aout wrote about a burglary, which occurred to the residence of a Coptic family, which can be summarized as follows: “A burglar attempted to burglarize the residence of the Younan family on August 23, 2010, but the noise made alerted Mrs. Younan, who screamed for help. As the burglar tried to escape jumping from a window into the buildings’ inner courtyard sustained some injuries. He was apprehended by the gathering neighbors and turned over to the police. Though the neighbors testified that the burglar has sustained his injuries as he jumped from a window at the Younan’s residence, the police officer in charge accused Mr. Younan of beating the burglar. The officer in charge further indicated that he has to refer both the burglar and Mr. Younan to the State National Security as a case sectarian conflict, since the first is a Muslim whereas the latter is a Copt. He further advised the Coptic family to quietly accept reconciliation with burglar and pay for his medical treatment. The Muslim burglar was released and Mr. Younan paid for the treatment of his injuries. The Coptic family was forced to acquiesce to the threats of the police officer in charge and gave up their rights for redress in the criminal justice system.”This most recent case of justice denied to Copts in Egypt is not the exception, as other glaring violations of the Copts civil and human rights keep surfacing up every now and then.