In Dahshur, Giza, the Copts forced to leave town because of the sedition of the shirt
Famous for its bent pyramid and numerous tourist bazaars, the small town of Dahshur in Giza has long been an important tourist destination. Last week, however, it looked like it may go down in history with an entirely different reputation: a hotbed for sectarianism.
As Watani International went to press, threats circulated that the town Muslims would be joined by others from neighbouring towns and villages to pull down and burn the Mar-Girgis (St George) church in Dahshur.
110 Coptic families leave
The story goes back to Thursday 26 July when a shirt owned by a Muslim man was accidentally burnt in a Coptic-owned laundry. The Muslim, Ahmed Sultan, started a fight withthe Coptic laundry owner Sameh Samy Youssef, which rapidly escalated as the friends and supporters of each party joined in. The Copt fled to the safety of his five-storey home, but some 3000 Muslims surrounded the building, mobbing and threatening. In 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, the following Tuesday, lost his life.
Once Hasaballah died, the security authorities—who had been attempting to bring some calm into the town—feared matters would get out of hand and ordered the Copts to leave the town. All 110 Coptic families hurriedly 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 from neighbouring villages joined in the mayhem, looting Coptic-owned jewellery shops and attempting to break into the church.
The priest of the Mar-Girgis (St George) church in Dahshur Fr Takla Abdel-Sayed, told Watani that several of the Muslim elders of the town 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 Ahmed al-Serafi.
For his part, Giza governor Ali Abdel-Rahman said on Wednesday that Dahshur was “stable
and fully-secured”, even though the looting and burning was going on uninterrupted. It lasted for more than three full days.
Where were the authorities?
On Wednesday, Giza bishopric issued a statement confirming the details of the incident and calling upon the security authorities to stand up to their responsibility and defend the Copts.
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 were the authorities? They left the outlaws and thugs to work the sedition.”
For its part, the Coptic Catholic Church through its spokesman Fr Rafik Greiche called for the indiscriminate enforcement of the law, remarking that a trivial incident should never have been allowed to escalate into a full blown attack.
Anba Morqos, Bishop of Shubral-Kheima and spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church, demanded that the government forms an impartial fact-finding committee to investigate the matter and work to bring abut justice.
Acting patriarch Anba Pachomeus issued a statement that expressed pain and sorrow at the death of Hasaballah and the mass attack against Dahshur Copts, their homes and property, and the threats against their church, all of which worked to force them to leave town. The statement criticised the indulgence with which similar attacks were previously tackled, and demanded a firm official stance to uphold the law. It also demanded that the Copts should be allowed to go back home and be compensated for their losses.
Coptic anger
Till the week wrapped up, there was nothing from the Interior Ministry about any culprits caught. The Ministry only assured there was no “forced eviction” of Copts and that “conciliation” will be worked out and they can go back home.
At this point, however, the questions that beg answers are: What homes or businesses will they go back to? All these have been ruined. The homes are not in any livable condition, and the businesses need money to restart. Who will help the Copts with that? There has been no talk about any compensation for or indemnification of the losses. How are these people expected, unaided, to rebuild their lives from scratch? And what “conciliation” can ensure an end to the hatred that is being stoked by fanatics?
Copts and activists and the Church are rallying for a comprehensive solution to the problem and for the enforcement of the law.
Along that line, a protest was held on Wednesday evening by activists and Giza clerics in front of the presidential palace; and a march was held from Tahrir Square in Cairo to the High Court in Downtown Cairo on Thursday evening. Leading the rally were activists and politicians Amr Hamzawy, Amr al-Shobki, Bassem Kamel, Ayman Abul-Ela, and Waheed Hammam.
It took President Mohamed Mursi till Thursday 2 August to have his spokesman Yasser Ali announce that the President was closely following the Dahshur events and that the law should be upheld.
WATANI International
5 August 2012