WATANI International
22 May 2011
The thousands of protestors staging a sit-in since Sunday 8 May in front of the TV building on the Nile bank in Maspero, Cairo, said they were extending their sit-in indefinitely “until their demands are answered”. The protestors are in the major part Copts, but are joined by Muslims who support their call for equality, justice, and an end to discrimination and violence against Copts.
Their crime: self-defence
The sit-in began in the wake of the heinous attack on Saturday 7 May by thousands of Salafi hardline Muslims against the Copts of Imbaba, Giza, on account of a story that a Muslim convert woman was being “held captive” at the church of Mar-Mina in Imbaba. The attack left 15 dead, 232 injured, a number of Coptic-owned houses and cars torched, as well as a church burned and another damaged. To say nothing of the terror inflicted upon the Coptic civilians and the severe disruption in their lives, dozens of them have been caught by the authorities and are being caught pending investigation. Several Imbaba residents told Watani, on condition of anonymity, that Coptic men were being taken from their homes for questioning, only to be held pending investigations. Many Coptic families had to leave Imbaba altogether, and live in constant fear that their men may be detained at any minute. “Our bitterness and pain is acute,” one woman told Watani. “After the terror, carnage and death inflicted upon us during the Salafi attack on 7 May, we are living another phase of terror as we flee our homes in fear of being imprisoned for defending ourselves. Even if investigations declare our men innocent of any crime, they would have had to undergo the detention, fear, and loss of livelihood until proved innocent.”
Guessing game
The sit-in at Maspero started the day following the Imbaba attack, when hundreds of Copts, whose numbers later swelled into the thousands and who were joined by supportive Muslims, gathered to protest the sectarian violence against the Copts. Volunteers brought in food, drink, blankets and suchlike; a field clinic was set up; and platform and sound system to offer speakers an opportunity to air their views.
Saturday 14 May evening a group of thugs attacked the Maspero protestors from above the 6th October overpass, firing gunshots in the air to spread terror. Father Filopateer Gamil, one of leaders of the Maspero protest told Watani, that the attack began around 7:30pm with gunshot, Molotov cocktails, and stones hurled at the demonstrators from above the flyover. Twenty-five were injured and a number of parked cars belonging to protestors and to residents in the area were burned. The army intervened with tear bombs to disperse both groups—the attackers and the protestors.
The identity of the attackers was not known, since no one or group claimed responsibility for the attack. In an open guessing game, some at Maspero thought the attackers may have been paid to do so by persons who belonged to the pre-Revolution regime, others thought the perpetrators may have been the traders in the vicinity on account of their interrupted commercial activity because of the sit-in, while yet others believed it was the army who recruited thugs to do the dirty work for them. The purpose, of course, was to put an end to the almost week-long sit-in with no end in sight. But the protestors stood their ground.
Injured and arrested
According to Dr George Sidqi who is in charge of the Maspero field clinic set up by the protestors, 140 people were injured until Sunday morning, among whom 19 Muslim supporters. According to figures by the Health Ministry, 70 out of the 78 cases who were hospitalised with bone fractures and injuries due to rubber bullets and gunshot, were released. The eight remaining cases remain in critical condition. It is suspected, said a Ministry of Health official, that one of the thugs who started the attack on the protestors, is among the eight cases still being treated in hospital.
Angelius Fouad of the Maspero Youth ‘Discipline Committee’ told Watani that some of those who were moved to hospital were later arrested. Nineteen of the 54 who were detained on Saturday night were released on Sunday. The remaining 35 are still awaiting investigations.
The Pope
Sunday morning, Pope Shenouda III issued a “Call” in which he called on the Maspero protestors to immediately end their sit-in, explaining that people with different intentions have now ‘lurked’ within the protestors’ ranks. “This is very harmful to Egypt’s image and to your image as well,” the “call” declared. “The rulers’ patience has run out. You stand to lose if you carry on further with your sit in.” This did not, however, stop the busloads of more Copts pouring into Maspero, arriving from various places in Cairo and Egypt. The Military Police and the Special Forces firmly cordoned off the sit-in area.
Later in the evening Pope Shenouda met a delegation of the Maspero protestors who explained their viewpoint and said they felt the protest had to go on. According to Father Matthias Nasr, a Maspero sit-in organiser, the Pope informed him that the reason behind the statement was His Holiness’ concern for the protestors’ safety and security. Back in Maspero, Fr Matthias quoted the Pope as saying: “I can never pressure my children; it is just that I fear for them.” The crowd cheered.
‘Serious situation’
On its part the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) denounced the ‘barbaric attack’ on Maspero’s Coptic and Muslim protestors at the hands of hundreds of thugs, which resulted in dozens of injured. The NCHR described what happened as a ‘serious situation’ which aims to disrupt Egypt’s security and stability. According to the NCHR, thugs are taking advantage of the ‘lax government’ which does not react to incidents according to their proportionate weight and implications. The NCHR expressed astonishment at the failure of Security to stop the thugs from reaching Maspero in the first place—which could have prevented the clashes altogether. It warned of the repercussions of the on-going state of chaos, saying that the entire community stands to pay dearly, and that it can end in civil war, bringing about the downfall of Egypt downfall.
Outside Cairo
According to Watani’s Nash’at Abul-Kheir from Alexandria, some 5000 demonstrators gathered on Sunday 15 May in front of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, holding up wooden crosses pictures of Pope Shenouda III, and the Egyptian flag, with banners denouncing the recent bloodshed, especially in Imbaba and Maspero. A group of Muslims joined forces with the Coptic crowd, and each group literally surrounded the other during prayers. When the Alexandria protestors were informed of the Pope’s call for the Maspero protestors to end their sit-in, they expressed their love and respect for the Pope but refused to end their sit-in which had begun on 8 May jointly with that of Maspero.
Other places in the country, including Minya and Assiut in Upper Egypt, were also the scenes of Coptic protests.
Reported by Georgette Sadeq, Robeir al-Faris, Hanan Fikry, Mervat Ayad
