There is no indication whatsoever as yet of any compensation to be paid to the Copts of the village of Kafr Darwish in al-Fashn, Beni Sweif 100km south of Cairo, for the losses they incurred on account of the attack waged against them by the village Muslims last month. The losses include 11 Coptic-owned houses that were set ablaze; damages range from smashed windows and doors to partial or complete scorching burning. The houses are owned by Nosshi Abdel-Shehid, Eid Fawzy, Edward Fawzy, Saad Fawzy Nashed, Emad Magdy, Fayez Shehata, Makram Shehata, and Selim Sabry. A car owned by Malak Youaqim Ayad was smashed, and the fields of Youssef Tawfiq were ruined and the crops uprooted.
Radical Muslim youth attacked the Copts in Kafr Darwish on Sunday 24 May on account of claims that Ayman Youssef Tawfiq, who currently works in Jordan while his wife and children remain in Kafr Darwish, posted cartoons offensive to the Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page. The family insist Ayman Tawfiq did not do that but was framed.
In an attempt to contain the violence, a ‘conciliation session’ was quickly held by the local elders and security staff at the Fashn police station, and a later one at the house of the Mayor Ahmed Maher. It was decided that the Tawfiq family should leave the village in order for matters to calm down.
After the collective efforts of the Beni Sweif governor, Muhammad Selim and the Beit al-A’ila Organisation—a nation-wide State-sponsored organisation which includes as members Christian and Muslim clerics and laymen and which works to evade, abort, and dissipate sectarian conflict—the evicted Copts finally returned to their homes on 2 June.
Governor Selim was on hand to welcome them home, and a marquee was set up in the village square where a conciliatory celebration was held to honour their homecoming. The governor ordered an investigation to be opened with the mayor of Kafr Darwish on account of the role he played in the eviction of the Coptic families out of the village. Governor Selim promised the Copts will be compensated for the losses they incurred but, to date, this has not materialised.
Watani International
13 June 2015
