The Copts of the town of Dahshour in Giza were obliged to evict their homes and leave town in a hurry upon orders from the security authorities, in the wake of unrest and threats against
The Copts of the town of Dahshour in Giza were obliged to evict their homes and leave town in a hurry upon orders from the security authorities, in the wake of unrest and threats against them from the Dahshur Muslims.
In a strongly-worded comment, Bishop of Giza Anba Theodosius told Watani that the Dahshur incident cannot be depicted as a Coptic-Muslim conflict; “it is a flagrant attack by Muslims against the Copts”. The looting and burning of Coptic homes and shops went on, uninterrupted, in broad daylight, under the eyes and noses of the security authorities, he said. “Sedition was brewing in Dahshur for five full days, stories of the details were all over the media and the social media on the Internet, yet no-one so much as lifted a finger to contain it. Where are the authorities? They have left the outlaws and thugs to sow sedition.”
The matter goes back to last Thursday when a shirt owned by a Muslim man was burnt while being cleaned in a Coptic-owned laundry and pressing shop. The Muslim started a fight which escalated as the friends and supporters of each party joined in. The Coptic owner of the laundry shop, known by his first name of Sameh Samy Youssef, fled to the safety of his five-storey home, but some 3000 Muslims surrounded his the building, mobbing and threatening. In a gesture of self-defence, Youssef hurled Molotov cocktails at the crowd. A young man, 19-year-old Muaz Hasaballah who was among the crowd, was hit. He suffered 75 per cent burns and, on Tuesday, lost his life.
The priest of the Mar-Girgis (St George) church in Dahshur Fr Takla Abdel-Sayed told Watani that Dahshur Copts had been living in fear and terror after threats by the Muslims to set the fire to the church and burn the Copts inside their homes. Once Hasaballah died, the security authorities feared matters would get out of hand and ordered the Copts to leave the town. All 110 Coptic families, as well as Fr Takla and his family left.
On Tuesday evening, Hasaballah’s funeral was held. Some 5000 attended his burial, after which they went on a looting and burning spree of the homes of the Copts. All the Coptic homes in Dahshur were plundered and torched. Muslims form neighbouring villages joined in the mayhem, looting Coptic-owned jewellery shops and attempting to break into the church.
According to Fr Takla, several of the Muslim elders of Dahshur had attempted to contain the matter but did not succeed. Among them was the Umda mayor of Dahshur, the family of Awlad Hammaam, and former MP for the Salafi al-Nur Party.
Giza bishopric issued a statement confirming the details of the incident and calling upon the security authorities to stand up to their responsibility and bring about justice for the Copts.
WATANI International
1 August 2012