The Copts of the village of al-Galaa in Samalout, Minya, Upper Egypt,
have been victims of a recent wave of renewed harassment by the Muslim
Tharwat Girgis, a Coptic farmer, was last week attacked as he returned
home from his land at sunset accompanied with his wife. Girgis was left
with a compound fracture in his left arm and was moved to hospital in
Minya. He filed a report with the police on the attack, accusing
Muhammad al-Yamani, Mahmoud Eid, Muhammad Abdel-Razeq, and
Haitham al-Yamani of assaulting and injuring him, as well as cursing him
and his Christian religion. None of those he accused were called in by the
Other Copts in al-Galaa’ have been constantly complaining of harassment
by hardline Muslims in the village, who have been damaging the Copts’
crops and terrorising their children as they went to school.
The Copts claim the rising harassment is on account of their having at
long last built a church in the village despite resistance from the village
Muslims. The church is legal, so there is not much the Muslims can do
The Coptic villagers are asking for security help. “Our demand is just to
enforce the rule of law, punish the harassers and protect us Copts,
especially given that we are on the threshold of New Year and Christmas
which we hope would pass in peace.”
Watani International
22 December 2015