A group of Coptic activists has announced the formation of Gamaet al-Ikhwan al-Masseehiyoun, the Christian Brotherhood (CB) group, in line with the famous Muslim
A group of Coptic activists has announced the formation of Gamaet al-Ikhwan al-Masseehiyoun, the Christian Brotherhood (CB) group, in line with the famous Muslim Brotherhood group. The move appears to have come in response to the election of Egypt’s first Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, and the subsequent power gained on the Egyptian street by the Islamist groups and movements.
Non-violent
According to Amir Ayad, the founder of the group, the CB ideology is based on Ghandi’s philosophy of “non-violent resisitance”. CB chose the intellectual Michel Fahmy as their godfather, and the rights activist Mamdouh Nakhla as their legal advisor.
The idea of forming the CB was first introduced in 2005 by Fahmy and Nakhla, until Ayad took matters in hands and embarked on founding the group and establishing CB branches in 16 different governorates, as well as three in Europe and one in Australia.
The CB are in the process of arranging for a press conference under the title “The status of Egypt’s Copts under religious rule”, to mark the group’s launching.
Ayad explained that the idea materialised as soon as Mursi became president. The CB objective is political, social and vocational, Ayad said. It will monitor sectarian and religious discrimination incidents in Egypt, and will confront violence against Copts in legitimate, legal ways.
The CB said that, similar to the MB, they will not be registered with the Ministry of Social Solidarity. Ayad said the group will start work by upholding the Coptic identity and language. He pointed out that the violence to which Copts were subjected since the 25 January Revolution and the usurpation of their legal rights were reasons behind the formation of the group.
Patriotic, first and foremeost
Even though the idea of the CB is not new, its foundation became a necessary in the wake of the hegemony of the Islamist streams, Fahmy explained. The CB, he said, aims to be in the street among the people, “even if we reap our crop decades later, as the MB which was established in 1929 did.” The group, according to Fahmy, has no sectarian aims; it is patriotic first and foremeost, and has no relation whatsoever to the Coptic Church, nor does it covet power. He stressed that the CB aims at empowering citizenship.
Fahmy declared that CB##s motto is “Love of Egypt is the answer”. Comparing with the MB motto of “Islam is the answer”, Fahmy insisted that the MB motto works to divide Egyptians wheras the CB motto unites the.
Once it is established, Nakhla said, the CB has the right to form a political arm, just as the MB formed the Freedom and Justice Party. He pointed out that the participation of the Copts of the Diaspora in all the steps related to the formation of the CB is a great asset, because they will volunteer their experiences within the political democratic climate they live in.
Rejection
News of the CB aroused plenty of criticism, especially among Coptic activists and leading figures. Most of them rejected the concept upon which the CB was founded, on grounds that it was a step towards legitimising sectarianism. “We reject the idea of the Muslim Brotherhood,” said Medhat Qelada, head of the union of Europe##s Copts, “since it is a movement based on religious grounds, and thus works to divide not unite Egyptians. So it is unacceptable that we may endorse a movement that also works to divide Egyptians along religious lines, even if this movement is Christian. What Egypt needs today is a secular not a religious movement; a good example is the Third Way opposition movement.
“The establishment of the CB will work to pit Egyptians against one another, and to consolidate the religious divide in the community,” Hany Bahna of the Coptic Coalition said. “We are now working against all odds to battle sectarianism, and here comes a group of Copts who would work to see it entrenched in our society!”
Bahna reminded that Coptic grievances can never be resolved except through the joint efforts of Copts and moderate Muslims, not through divisions between them.
Whereas Michel Fahmy insisted that the CB will concern itself with social work and peaceful political efforts for Coptic rights, sources from the Coptic churches rejected the notion of the CB, and described it as an attempt to fragment the society and increase hostilities. The churches asked Copts to refrain from joining the CB, and to join the political parties and legitimate movements to work for the benefit of Egypt.
WATANI International
4 July 2012