EGYPT: Religious conflict becomes the revolution’s biggest enemy

 

The clashes between thousands of Muslim extremists and Coptic Christians that left 12 people dead, more than 200 injured and a burned church on Sunday rings yet another alarm to the threat Egypt faces over deepening religious animosity.

For decades, recrimination between Egypt’s Muslim majority and Coptic Christians, who make up about 10% of the population, has been taboo, with many Muslims refusing to acknowledge the lack of harmony. But the last few years have marked a notable rise in violence between the two sides, especially in southern Egypt, where large communities of Copts live next door to Muslims.

Former President Hosni Mubarak's regime relied on dividing Egyptians.  Authorities carefully presided over a volatile status quo between Muslims and Copts, all the while pretending religious strife didn't exist. Tribal settlements to conflicts were preferred and supported by police officials, who often blamed disputes on individual grudges or foreign terrorists. Mubarak skillfully manipulated the threat of outside extremists to convince the West, which long criticized Egypt's human-rights record, that he was an ally in battling terrorism.

Nonetheless, Copts felt secure under Mubarak, who tightened his grip over Islamists -- the relatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood as well as the more extreme Salafis and jihadists. Copts worried that the 18-day revolution that overthrew Mubarak in February would unbottle ultraconservative Islamist voices and lead to greater problems. What has been unfolding recently justifies those fears.

In less than two months, two churches were set ablaze and more than 20 were killed in separate clashes between Copts and Muslims. Salafis, who had stayed away from politics and demonstrations during Mubarak’s reign, now protest regularly against what they call “the Christian abduction of three women by the church” after their alleged conversion to Islam, threatening to storm into churches where “those women are being locked up.”

Saturday’s bloodshed in Cairo was ignited after several thousand Muslims, led by Salifis, attempted to break into the Church of St. Mena, looking for a woman who converted to Islam from Christianity last year. With Mubarak's police state gone, it took hours for security forces to respond. Copts blame the military-led government for ignoring their fears, and many say the revolution to bring democracy and political freedoms to Egypt rings hollow for Christians.

Egypt' interim government has been preoccupied with economic and political problems, but sectarian tensions could prove the most pressing danger in the post-Mubarak era. Copts are losing faith in the revolution, and continuing religious unrest could have severe effects on the social, financial and political future of the country.

Related:

12 dead in Muslim-Christian clashes in Egypt

President Mubarak sued in disappearance of priest's wife

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: A church was set ablaze in the suburb of Giza, Egypt, amid interfaith clashes late Saturday. Credit: Associated Press

Comments

[John Muhammad]

Whatever harm is being done to the Copts in the name of Islam is being done by those who are committing a sin. (I'm not familiar with the particulars of the Coptic faith, but I'd be very surprised if it condones this sort of violence, whatever is being done by their people.) Sura 2:256 of the Qur'an CLEARLY states: "there is no compulsion is religion". So, those committing crimes against Copts are themselves betraying Islam if the purpose is to eliminate the Coptic faith. If there are other factors involved, perhaps one side or the other has a case- but if the purpose is entirely religion-driven, it's wrong, period. Both sides need to go to their respective corners and not come out swinging next time- it's hard to maintain peace when you're spoiling for a fight. Keep it up, though; Allah(swt) sees EVERYTHING you do.

[skeptic]

Who are the Egyptian revolutionaries? Is there a leader? What is their cause?

Everybody jumping up and down excited about an "Arab Spring" ought to start asking questions instead of being an empty headed cheerleader.

We have no idea who the people are leading these "revolutions". Be careful what you wish for.

[firefox]

"This is not a clash between Muslims and Copts...this is an Islamic campaign of terror, murder, and intimidation that has been going on for centuries in Egypt, for the purposes of eliminating the Coptic population in Egypt, or in the alternative, forcing them to submit to Islam. "

Exactly right, Jack.

[Draiman Yj]

Moral and ethical bankruptcy

Americans are finding a grotesque echo in the moral – ethical bankruptcy and worse of a substantial sector of American society.

The “moral depravity” of “the Arabs” who kill innocent civilians. It is more than moral depravity. It is a culture that teaches, educates and breeds hate toward other societies that are not like them as they say “infidels”.

There is no way this situation should be handled with kid gloves – when a poison strikes your body, you remove it and destroy it completely, leaving no trace of such poison.

History has shown that these types of atrocities and acts of barbarism have increased in the past half a century and getting worse by the day.

With today’s advancement in technology and telecommunications, the world has shrunk, events on the other side of the world affect everybody (like the Japanese Nuclear reactor fallout etc.) it affects our health our economy, brings fear and uncertainty to our lives.

The financial crisis we are facing today is the price we pay for years of neglect and government abuse of power.

Is today’s society heading toward annihilation, you be the judge?

YJ Draiman

The Qur'an 17:104 - states the land belongs to the Jewish people

Every time there is a terrorist act, Israel should vacate an Arab village and raze it.

In most lives, I suppose there comes a time when one has to make a supreme effort that calls for every morsel of more and more endeavor and more than not that effort has to be sustained.
The Truth Is Incendiary
The Truth Is Hotter Than A Pile Of Hot Coals

[The Searcher]

Why do you think the middle east is almost entirely muslim? It is because they have murdered or driven out all other faiths.

[R M]

I hope that these events would serve us Americans to understand and come to the conclusion that, [Islam is not a religion of peace]-the dream is over. But I do not blame us because if Muslims themselves read their Koraan and understood it, they would not be Muslims.
Most Muslims are on a mision to islamize the world and rip it of its freedom and rich values like it did in the Middle East in the eighth century, by taking advantage of the freedoms offered by other countries and not offered by their own in falsely portraying Islam as a religion of the heavens. For example, I heard from a trusted source that a Muslim teached was taking adantage of the flexible curriculum provision and teaching kids about Islam-ofcourse, the sceintific term for that is brain washing.
Islam, even when it refers to God almighty, centers on deception. we can all see that in Pakistan providing intelligence to the US while supporting terrorism and Former pres. mubarak milking US aid by riding the Palestinian conflict.
In Saudi Arabia, the holy Bible is systematically burned and its bearers are flogged in public, but the Saudis in the facade preach tolerence. When a Koraan was burned on [US land], Islam was furious. I was not, by all means. I was only mad because we overlooked the whole picture and protested.
There are a few muslims that are progressive and pro peace, but they are also under attack by Islamisits (the true faces of Islam) as being improper Muslims.
It is not good to be too open minded, especially when it comes to Islam.

[sarah]

Why doesn't the LaTimes talk to the woman involved in the recent event? It has been documented that high-profile women like a Priest's wife and others who had converted to Islam under Mubarak's regime ,were kidnapped and put in undercover prisons/jails in different areas of the country under the church's authority and knowledge.Mubarak had given back that Priests' wife to the church against her will.

Mubarak wasn't protecting anyone,he just did his best to keep his behind on the seat. So, naturally,he persecuted the Islamists who challenged him day in day out, whether or not there were clashes between christians and muslims in the first place.

IN this recent event a woman named previuosly,''Abeer Fakhry'',later named ''Asmaa Ibrahim'' after conversion, was kidnapped by her family and handed to the church when she had ran away afet conversion.She was put in a house close to this church in Embaba in this story, and secretly called her Muslim friend who came with his other friends and started protesting outside the church for days demanding her release. Asmaa siad that she heard gunfire from the church against protestors and took the opportunity to escape before the situation further escalated.Later,she then called on the head of the armed forces to provide her security so she can have a normal life and asked church leaders to leave her alone.
All of this confusion would be cleared if journalists took their jobs seriuosly and not produce half-baked stories without context or depth.

Jabberwolf- I suppose the idea of tolerance is only western . So Eastern people are by nature uncivilized because they lack the superior western teachings and civility? What a load of white-supremacist-crap.

ElVISNIXON- you have a point.But still,the articles by the LA are still incomplete and agenda-based.

[Jack]

Indeed, every one of these "clashes" is instigated by fundamentalist Muslims seeking to satisfy their blood lust against the Copts. This is not a clash between Muslims and Copts...this is an Islamic campaign of terror, murder, and intimidation that has been going on for decades in Egypt, for the purposes of eliminating the Coptic population in Egypt, or in the alternative, forcing them to submit to Islam.

[Jim]

Headline should say " Islam is freedoms biggest enemy"

[jabberwolf]

Keep telling us how peaceful Islam is LA Times.

Everytime that Islam seems to be delivered freedom, it seems to try and take it from others. Now not ALL muslims are like this, but this is only because of WESTERN teachings of tolerance - not Islamic.

[Hany Girgus]

"Clashes" is not the right word to describe what happened. This was one of a series of attacks aginst minority christians in Egypt by muslims.

[ELVISNIXON.com]

Why does the Times invariably post HATE speech by self centered atheists but BLOCK all thoughtful remarks by Christians?

This is not about "religion"generally it is about islam persecuting Christians specifically.

The atheist posters are unwittingly concluding that Jews deserved the Holocaust because it was just "religious" - this is a contemptible and disgusting conclusion

Why is it OK when Christians are murdered?

Do atheists believe they "deserve it"?

[ELVISNIXON.com]

This is a deadly double standard by a man who refused to attend the National Day of Prayer breakfast, refused to attend the Boy Scouts of America (because of their policy of protecting boys from potential "gay" predators) and wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. He and his wife Michele attended Jeremiah Wright's hate-filled "church" that promoted overt racism and black liberation theology for years. This is Obama's sole connection with what the media think is legitimate Christianity.

Why is the media as silent about Obama's purposeful neglect of the gay, lesbians and transgender community" when it comes to his Muslim holiday celebration as they are about that fact that the California city of Bell's entire corruption scandal was 100% Democrat?"

[joefrombako]

Headline should read "Islamist Radicals Become Revolution's Biggest Enemy".

[Willie]

This conflict between the Muslims and the Coptic Christians could be fixed by sending in some Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland, or some Catholic Croatians, EasternOrthodox Serbs and Muslim Bosnians from the Balkans to show the less experienced Egyptians how to do religious strife properly. Europe has thousands of years of experience in killing each other in the name of God. If the Europeans can’t fix the problem, send in the Hindu Indians and Muslim Pakistanis with their Nuclear Arsenals. The US should stay out of the fray and leave the peacemaking to the experts.

[Mark Sailors]

To me this is like fighting a war over the easter bunny and santa. Religion is fantasy.