Aswan governor Mustafa al-Sayed, told Egyptian State TV Friday evening that no attack had been waged against Mar-Girgis church in the village of Merinab in Edfu, Aswan
WATANI International
3 October 2011
Aswan governor Mustafa al-Sayed, told Egyptian State TV Friday evening that no attack had been waged against Mar-Girgis church in the village of Merinab in Edfu, Aswan “since there is no church in the first place; the building is but a guesthouse that is still under construction.” He said he had agreed to let the Copts rebuild their ‘guesthouse’ but they violated the regulations and went a few metres higher with the building. This provoked Merinab Muslims, he said, to the point where they vowed to pull down the violating height of the building following Friday prayers, since “the Copts would not do it themselves”. The governor explained off the fire by saying that it had erupted not in the guesthouse but in a small shed belonging to the contractor in charge of the construction work. What the governor missed saying was that the contractor was in the process of pulling down the part of the building which was said to have violated the height regulations.
Brewing for three weeks
On its part the Coptic Church denounced the Friday terror in Merinab: the church burning and attempted demolition, the burning of Coptic-owned houses, and the terrorising of the village Copts. Church officials described the incident as a blow to national unity, reminding that the Cabinet, in a declaration by the Premier following an earlier attack against the Copts, had condemned terrorism against civilians and denounced any infringement against the freedom of Egyptians to practise their religion.
The Church also denounced what it described as “security laxity” in resolving the crisis, reminding that it had been brewing for three weeks earlier when Muslim extremists assaulted the church demanding that the building should have no spire and no cross, both of which were included in the licence. When the Church acquiesced for the sake of peace, they again attacked demanding the demolition of the church’s [fully licensed] domes. The Church officials rejected the demand but, when they found that this means it would not be safe to open the church for prayers, the church again acquiesced and began to pull down the domes. The security authorities had insisted they would not be able to secure the church building while the domes remained. Yet this did not save the church from the Friday attack. The Church criticised the official leniency against culprits who attack churches and Copts, saying that it sends a message that Copts and their churches are easy, safe targets.
No culprit caught
The governor’s declarations raised the fury of Copts and liberal Muslims.
The Maspero Youth Union (MYU) issued a declaration in which it denounced the Merinab incident, describing it as a replay of the incident which occured in the village of Sole, in Etfeeh, Ayaat, last March, in the wake of which no culprit was caught, let alone brought to justice. The MYU held the State, the Military Council, civil society organisations, political parties, and political and rights movements, responsible for what is happening to Egypt’s Copts.
The Egyptian Union for Human Rights (EUHR) also condemned “the fierce attacks against churches, and the official leniency with the culprits”. Last week alone, the EUHR said, attacks were waged against churches in Fayoum, Ismailiya and Aswan. The EUHR called on the Military Council to swiftly intervene and implement the rule of law against the culprits.
The EUHR’s Naguib Gabrail said pointed out that Copts hold both the Military Council and the Cabinet to blame for failing to issue a unified law for building places of worship which, had it been in place ‘could have saved the situation to a large extent’. The Reverend Rifaat Fikry of the Evangelical Church said that the State’s neglect to announce a clear stance regarding the many fatwas (Islamic legal edicts) issued against Copts is to a great deal behind the violence waged against them.
Rights activist Magdy Wahib voiced the opinion that Islamist fundamentalists have a plan to destroy the Egypt we know and impose a religious State, thus taking Egypt into the dark ages.
Empowering extremists
Friday evening and Saturday saw a number of Copts and human rights movements hold demonstrations in front of the High Courthouse in Downtown Cairo to protest the Merinab violence against the Church and the Copts, and the official attitude towards the incident, as expressed by Awsan governor’s declarations which the Copts described as “unfeeling and untrue”. The protestors held banners denouncing the official security laxity in dealing with culprits in sectarian incidents, which “worked to empower the extremists and sanction their deeds”.
A protest march from the Cairo district of Shubra—famous for its high Coptic-population density—to Tahrir Square was held on Saturday afternoon, organised by rights and Coptic movements.
Monday morning, the demonstrations moved to Aswan, where thousands of Copts and their supporters gathered in front of the governorate building in Aswan to protest the official injustice against them and the failure to protect them as Egyptian citizens.
In the meantime, Aswan officials were attempting to persuade the Church to agree to sit down to a ‘reconciliation session’ with the Muslim hardliner attackers, but the Church refused. It is to be hoped that the Church will persist in its demand to see the culprits brought to justice; so far local politicians and security chiefs have been notorious for using all measures to pressure Copts into accepting ‘reconciliation’ and relinquishing their rights.
The Copts for Egypt (CE) movement announced its rejection of any negotiations or traditional reconciliation, or any sort of pressure on the Church. What happened in Merinab, CE said, tarnished the picture of Egypt before the whole world. The movement called on the Military Council to take strict measures against the culprits and stand up to its role in protecting religious minorities.
On the other hand, Dr Awad Shafiq, the legal advisor of Europe’s Copts Union announced his rejection to the State’s ‘inexplicable reticence’ regarding the violent attacks against churches. He added that he will take international legal actions that will compel Egypt to protect Copts and to respect human rights treaties of which it is signatory.
Aswan governor “unfeeling and untruthful”
On its part, the Aqbat bela Qoyoud (Copts Unfettered) movement issued a statement denouncing the successive attacks on Egypt’s Copts and their churches, all the instigators and accomplices involved, as well as the State’s feeble stance in dealing with the whole situation.
“The Copts, together with all honourable Egyptians, will not stand idle in the face of attempts to violate churches for the benefit of extremist, tyrannical movements,” the statement said. It demanded that “the rulers of Egypt should swiftly and legally implement security and provide protection to all places of worship, and stand against extremist currents which are fueled and fed by suspicious streams with foreign agendas and whose only aim is to shatter the homeland”. The statement demand that the Copts, who are part and parcel of the Egyptian population, should be ensured their full, legitimate rights. First and foremost, the statement said, a serious official investigation should be conducted into all the acts of violence committed against Copts and their churches, starting with the al-Kosheh incident in 2000, and through to the Nag Hammadi incident in 2009, Umraniya in 2010, Etfeeh and Imbaba in 2011, to say nothing of the most horrendous of all, the Saints church bombing in Alexandria on last New Year Eve 2011.
The statement demanded the dismissal of Aswan governor for his obvious failure to protect civilians and defend their places of worship, as well as for intentionally telling untruths to mislead the public.