Twenty men—10 Muslims and 10 Copts—from the village of Tayyiba in Minya, Upper Egypt last Wednesday conducted a ritual reconciliation to avert a vendetta between a Coptic family and a Muslim one. The Coptic young man Yashua Thabet, 28, was killed last October by a stray bullet fired by—according to the story of eyewitness Gamal Thabet, Yashua’s father who had been with him when he was shot—Gamal Rustum, a Muslim butcher, during sectarian violence that had then erupted in the village. The Thabets buried their son but refused to accept condolences, a tradition which indicates they were bent on revenge.
Last week’s reconciliation was orchestrated by the village elders in hope of achieving social peace. In a show of collective support, the 20 villagers accompanied Rustum as he carried a shroud—indicating he considered himself a dead man—and headed to Thabet to ask for his forgiveness. Reconciliation was achieved, even though everyone involved insisted justice should take its course. The lawyer Ihab Ramzy said this demand made no sense, however, since the collective action signified the killer was not known, so no legal action could be taken against Rustum.
Tayyiba is a thriving, commercial village 85 per cent of whose inhabitants are Copts.