Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Concerning what was written in the Al-Ahram’s article titled ’Demonstrations of the Half Percent’ by Mustafa Samy on October 29, the author indicated the involvement of the Canadian Coptic Association, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, and the Egyptian Center for Human Rights and National Unity in pushing around 250 Coptic persons in Ottawa to hold a demonstration against the persecution of Copts in Egypt and asking for equality between Muslims and Copts.

Commenting on what was written, I would like to say the following: I do not think that what happened in the village of Koshh had anything to do with religious persecution because religious persecution means forcing people to change their religious beliefs, and this did not happen in the village.

It was the duty of the Canadian Copts to have waited for the official responses and clarifications to their questions that they had send to the Egyptian Ambassador in Ottawa before holding demonstrations.

In my opinion what happened in the village of Koshh is nothing more than an individual mistake by the police officers. The issue of maltreatment of citizens at police stations is an issue that concerns all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, and it is the duty of the Minister of Interior to issue civilized and humanitarian orders concerning this issue.

In my opinion, the neglect of the media to explain the facts was a contributing factor in creating distorted views among Egyptians at home and abroad. Media officials must be alert to such sensitive issues regardless of their size so as not to give a chance for rumors to spread.

It is obvious that there are some problems faced by members of Egyptian society, problems that concern the everyday life of the citizens, both Muslims and Christians, and the government is doing its best to solve these problems. As for the private problems faced by the Copts that have been accumulated in previous years, it is apparent that the current government is doing all it can to solve them. This is evident in the return of Coptic lands to the Coptic Endowments Authority by the Ministry of Endowments.