WATANI International
10 January 2010
The persecution of Copts in Egypt was the subject of a heated and open debate between the Coptic community and an Egyptian governmental delegation, which took place in the hall of St Mary and St Mina’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Sydney.
Leaders of Sydney’s Coptic community invited the Citizenship Committee headed by Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Abdel-Moniem Dorghami to hear their concerns about accelerating persecution of members of their faith in Egypt, and to examine the evidence they had assembled to back their argument.
The discussion was led by Father Tadros Samaan, vicar-general of the Sydney Diocese, who responded to the denial of persecution of Copts in Egypt by highlighting problems high on the agenda such as the kidnapping of underage girls and the recent clashes in Farshout.
Not fair
Leaders of the Egyptian community, including Medhat Guirguis and radio presenter Kamal Ibrahim followed Father Tadros’s address with presentations along similar lines.
William Boctor, former general-manager of Chloride Egypt, gave a presentation on how the media and school curricula were misleading young people as to the history and contribution of Copts in Egypt, and demonstrated a lack of fairness towards Christians in Egypt.
Dr Boctor said that if the media presented more factual information on everything which concerned Copts, and if there were better, impartial curricula, the situation would surely improve. If the media was faithful to its role of correctly informing the public and the curricula explained the full facts about Copts as part of Egypt, success would be guaranteed and social peace would reign, Dr Boctor said.
Using a host of material from Youssef Sidhom’s editorials in Watani—as a trusted source of information—Father Samaan, stressed that the division among the Egyptian people is against the welfare of Egypt on both the economic and societal levels.
In one boat
“We need to feel that we in Egypt—Muslims and Christians—are in the same boat, and if we hurt one another the whole boat will sink. If we tolerate the persecution of Copts it means we are destroying the country,” Father Samaan said.
He added that there was no reason for people to take the law into their own hands and persecute innocent Christians, since there was a common law that applied to all and legislated against criminals.
According to the vice-consul in Sydney, Bassel Taman, the Citizenship Committee had come exclusively to meet and hear the concerns of all Egyptians in Sydney, Muslim and Christian alike.
The committee was accompanied by a team that was to help issue new ID cards for Egyptians residing in Sydney.
Many Egyptian expatriates will need the new IDs for banking and documentation procedures in Egypt in the future, since the new card is fast replacing all similar documents in Egypt; all other documents are being phased out.
Piling up
The visit of both the Citizenship Committee and the ID team were part of a government programme to connect with Egyptian citizens abroad. Their mission began in the United States and some countries in Europe before continuing to Sydney and Melbourne.
A large number of applications for new ID cards is already piling up at the Egyptian consulate since there is a large demand for the service. Mr Taman said officers were dealing with almost 130 applications daily.
Those intending to travel home to Egypt are welcoming the service. “I was in Egypt a month ago and I found it was essential for banking. It is a good opportunity to have a national ID card which I will be using in Egypt,” said Fadia Hanna, a schoolteacher.
Some Egyptian Australians found the service expensive at 85 Australian dollars per person. Others, however, thought it a small price to pay compared with the hassle of travelling to Egypt just for a new card.
IT specialist Nader Behman, who has applied for the new card, told Watani that the price was not too expensive, considering that it saves a trip to Egypt, as well as standing in lines and filling in lots of forms and applications.
Asked whether the card was a step towards allowing expatriates to vote in Egyptian national elections from Sydney, Mr Taman answered that the election project was being studied in order to see if it would be feasible in the future to provide election services at the consulate. It was, however, not currently a pressing matter, he said.
