While Egyptians where preparing to celebrate Christmas and Eid Al-Fitr - the gift of God - that was sent to Egypt this year to confirm the unity of its people, the incidents of Al-Koshh came to spoil all that joy and happiness and cast depressing shadows on that occasion that comes only every thirty-three years when the two feasts coincide and happiness reigns over all Egyptians.
The "gift of God" was an expression used by Grand Imam Dr. Sayyed Tantawi in the national unity banquet prepared by Pope Shenouda to express love between Copts and Muslims. The word "Al-Koshh" became a black spot on the white dress of national unity. It is now the trademark in international press agencies for sectarian violent incidents. It is also the secret word passed by those who are waiting to light fires in Egypt and destroy the connections between Egyptians [by] presenting Egypt to the world as wearing the awful dress of sectarianism.
Sixteen months separate the first and the second incidents of Al-Koshh. During these months, fire remained under the ashes. Complimentary words and hugging pictures between sheikhs and priests did not put off fires in the chests that were ready to explode at the first opportunity. Inhabitants started provoking each other.
What happened the week before last week in Al-Koshh was an extension to what had happened sixteen months ago and [which] was left without really being dealt with. That made the feelings of rage increase.
The lack of firm confrontation of the situation from the responsible bodies since the beginning and the ignorance of the people’s leaders of their role - the role that they must perform - helped in escalating the situation. They did not intervene, leaving incidents to rise without a firm intervention to stop the fire before it spreads.
The start of the incidents occurred when a woman came to return a piece of cloth that she had bought previously. An argument occurred between her and the merchant Rashed Fahim Mansour, on ten pounds discount in the price of the piece of cloth. The argument was not the real cause of the occurrence of violence. Fayez Awad Hussein intervened in the argument because of a previous disagreement with Rashed Mansour who refused to allow Fayez to build a kiosk in front of his shop. Quickly, the argument was transformed into a big fight. Muslim merchants supported Fayez Awad Hussein while Christian merchants supported Rashed Fahim Mansour. Firing bullets were not used, only wooden sticks. That was before Iftar [the meal taken by Muslims to break their fast at sunset during the month of Ramadan]. The Christian merchant and his daughter came out of the fight with serious injuries and were taken to the hospital. As a reaction, a Christian youth removed thirty kiosks owned by Muslim merchants from the market using a small loader [that is, a fork-lift truck]. Another fight occurred between Muslims and Christians resulting in the burning of some shops owned by Muslims.
After all that, police intervened and calmed the situation through holding a reconciliation session attended by Muslim and Christian religious officials. The two parties agreed to open shops the next day and forget the incident as if it had not occurred. Officials thought that it [the matter] was finished by a meeting of a sheikh with a priest. Saturday passed quietly. Until that moment, the situation could have been controlled, for the case was only criminal. An argument transformed into a fight in which firearms were used, which happens a lot in Upper Egypt, sometimes for even sillier reasons. Nevertheless, Al-Koshh was a different case. Its citizens were still angry from the time of the previous incidents of August 1998 when two Christians were killed. At that time, police arrested a number of the inhabitants of the village to uncover the mystery of the incidents, but some of the citizens of Al-Koshh, most of whom were Copts, claimed that some committed excesses against them and that they were subject to torture. They reported it to the prosecution service and to the state prosecutor to investigate the case. The previous state prosecutor ordered the closing of the investigation of the officers, who were promoted and continued to work in areas near Al-Koshh. Although the present state prosecutor, Counselor Maher Abdel-Wahed has reopened investigations in the torture report, the passing of sixteen month since the incidents started without concluding the case, made some people feel wronged. All that coincided with the purchase of weapons to defend themselves in the case of any attack, especially since most of the wealthy of the village were Christians and able to buy such weapons. Moreover, things got worse because Copts in Al-Koshh confirm that the real murderer was not submitted to court, and that a Christian was submitted instead of him so the crime would remain between Christians [Editor: that is, be treated as if it were entirely a matter that involved Christians only], so that Muslims have nothing to do with it, although it is a crime, whether committed by a Muslim or a Christian. All that contributed to inflaming the anger [felt] and accumulating it in hearts all these months.
Some have exploited that oppressed rage in the last incidents and started spreading rumors after the death of the merchant and his daughter. Funeral prayers were held on Sunday. It is only normal in such cases to ring the bells of the church in a sad tone. After exiting the church, someone started shooting. No one can, until now, specify who started the shooting. Muslims say that the bullets came first from the tower of the church and that Copts were carrying weapons and waiting for them. But, Copts said that they were surprised by a flood of haphazard bullets fired at them, so they fled in the streets without weapons, and some said that they had to reply to defend themselves.
At the same time, there were police forces at about more than twenty or thirty kilometers from Al-Koshh, on the road to Nag Hammadi and on the road to Sohag. Police did not intervene. The bodies of the murdered were found, eight of which were found in the fields. The number of deaths has reached twenty, and is expected to rise because some of the injured are in critical states. Also there are missing individuals who have most probably been shot dead while being chased in the fields.
Before the occurrence of that massacre which was accomplished through haphazard firing, there was a rumor that the water has been poisoned, especially since Christians supervise most of the water stations according to their jobs. The rumor was spread to raise citizens against Christians. After that, cars carrying microphones on Sunday morning passed the village near Al-Koshh crying "Hai Alal-Jihad" [come to the Jihad][Jihad: holy war, in this instance] against Christians and police who are attacking Muslims in Al-Koshh. Actually, groups from most of the villages reacted positively to the call and went to Al-Koshh carrying firearms, knives and wooden sticks. When they reached there, they started firing haphazardly. In spite of the capture of eighty-six accused, two of whom were accused of spreading the rumor of the poisoning of the water, nobody suggested to search for those who had gone around nearby cities calling for Jihad. The occurrence of such an incident confirms that there were previously made plans to incite troubles in that way.
During the haphazard firing, those in the streets of Al-Koshh were treated according to their religious identity. If he was a Christian he would be beaten or shot by the big groups that came from nearby villages, especially Al-Balabish and Awlad Khalaf. The former is said to have a feud [Translator’s note: feud is a very, very serious matter of honor in Upper Egypt] with the village of Al-Koshh after they killed one of them. They wanted to prove their good intentions by supporting them against Christians. They are known for carrying weapons, especially unlicensed [ones].
At the same time, other incidents were occurring outside Al-Koshh. The fever of violence moved to villages near Al-Koshh, especially the villages of Awlad Toq, Beni Khaled, Al-Nosayrat, Awlad Khalaf and Nag Beni Moussa. Those incidents resulted in no casualties, but they went out in a big march towards Al-Koshh.
In spite of all that, wise Muslims in Al-Koshh intervened to protect their friends and neighbors of the Copts from the attack of the rabble who exploited the incidents to loot shops.
On the eastern desert road, there was a microbus taxi coming from Nag Hammadi to Sohag. Several of the rioting groups blocked its path and ordered the Christian passengers to get out of the car. The Muslim passengers refused and protected them until they reached Sohag taking them to their houses safely.
In the city of Dar Al-Salam which is only seven kilometers away from Al-Koshh, some shops and Christian families were subject to attacks. Because of that, one of the Coptic doctors named Dr. Saad called his Muslim friend, manager of Dar Al-Salam public hospital to protect him. The Muslim friend sent an ambulance by which the Christian doctor went out of his clinic with his wife after being besieged by a large number of riot instigators who tried to attack him and his wife. The ambulance took him to his house in Sohag.
In the city of Dar Al-Salam, riot agitators destroyed the clinic of a Coptic doctor called Anwar Zakarya, whose brother owned a pharmacy under the clinic. The owner of the building, a Muslim, went down to protect the pharmacy and stopped the attack after deceiving the attackers by saying that the pharmacy was his and not owned by the Coptic chemist.
Another incident occurred in the same city. One of the Coptic citizens escaped because of the incidents, getting out of his house in his underwear. His Muslim neighbor gave him a galabia and sheltered him until the incidents died down and quietness was restored.
Police intensified their security presence and curfew was imposed on the villages of Dar Al-Salam city after three o’clock in the afternoon, among which was the village of Al-Koshh. At the same time, no one was allowed into Al-Koshh, so it was totally isolated from the world. No one of the inhabitants of Al-Koshh has been able to return to it in the recent days. Curfew was still imposed and the village completely besieged by police forces that are reinforced every day with a new force [from other areas].
Pope Shenouda sent Bishop Morqos, bishop of Shubra Al-Kheima and Bishop Sarabamon, head of Anba Bishoy monastery. They reached Sohag with a high security official by plane. After that, they went to Al-Koshh in an armored car. They heard the testimonies of the citizens and the eyewitnesses, then they went around the city to see the signs of destruction.
After the two bishops left on Monday, after preparing a full report for His Holiness the Pope, the Pope sent his secretary Bishop Yo’annis to attend the funeral prayers of the victims who have reached, according to official reports, eighteen dead. The funeral was attended by Bishop Bakhoum, bishop of Sohag, but Bishop Wissa, bishop of Balyana, did not appear. The bodies were carried under very strict police guard. Curfew continued and things headed towards calm.
However, what had put off the raging fires in [peoples’] chests, according to our sources in the cathedral of Al-Balyana, was the [telephone] call of President Mubarak to Bishop Wissa, in which he confirmed that he cared for the case and the importance of punishing those who committed these crimes. The president said that the government will compensate those who had been harmed. The president sent a special messenger, General Mustafa Abdel-Qader, minister of local development to follow up the incidents in their location and take any necessary procedures for restoring safety and quietness to the area.
Bishop Wissa refused to speak to Rose Al-Youssef. Sources from his secretary confirmed that that refusal came after the case reached the president, who promised the punishment of all those who did not fulfill their responsibilities and the riot instigators. Bishop Wissa had told Monte Carlo Radio that he is sure the problem will be solved after the intervention of President Mubarak.
Last Thursday, Christmas mass was held. Strict security procedures were applied. The night of Al-Koshh was very dark; most of the citizens stayed home, mourning for the dead. It is a deeply-rooted habit for Copts in Upper Egypt that the relatives of the dead stay home and do not attend masses of feasts which are considered some kind of joyous event.
In Sohag, General Abdel-Aziz Bakr, governor of Sohag, together with a number of police and people’s leaders greeted Bishop Bakhoum at Christmas in the evening of the same day. He then headed to the Coptic Catholic church and the Evangelical church to present Christmas greetings. On the morning of Christmas, he attended the yearly celebration held by one of the charity Coptic organizations which takes care of orphans. Preparations for that celebration started on Thursday night.
Police forces have intensified their presence greatly, fearing that something might happen during Christmas, especially with Christmas and Eid Al-Fitr coming together.
Anyway, the last incidents have raised questions about the reason for allowing the immense amount of smuggled weapons in an area like Al-Koshh or Awlad Toq, in spite of what was known about these areas of violence, and in addition to the sectarian incidents that occurred in 1998. In addition, the operations to collect [confiscate] weapons performed by the police led to the increase of the unlicensed and smuggled weapons market instead of reducing it.
Awlad Toq (Dar Al-Salam) to which Al-Koshh is joined has about thirty-six thousand Copts. Twenty thousand of those are in Al-Koshh alone. Al-Koshh is a commercial village that trades in almost everything. It has a large number of artisans like mechanics, electricians and tailors. All the inhabitants of other villages come to it for their necessities.
There are five churches in the village, all under the bishopric of Balyana for the Coptic Orthodox. It has more than ten mosques. The area is also known for violence accompanied by rashness. Three months ago, a person called a big family in Dar Al-Salam and told them of the murder of one of its prominent members by another big family. The first family then went to the other family and fired at them haphazardly, which resulted in the death of a large number of people. It was found out later that the call was a mere rumor. Prosecution is still investigating that crime which took place between two Muslim families.
In spite of all that has happened, the incidents of Al-Koshh do not represent a social phenomenon or political or religious violence but it is not a chance incident. Several factors led to the transformation of a simple argument into a big fight that extended to reach several villages. The first of these factors is the absence of the role of the political parties and people’s forces. In addition to that is the application of solutions that depend on weak reconciliation just by the mere presence of a sheikh and a priest in a meeting that does nothing, and may even increase the problem, as happened last week.
Additionally, in spite of the extensive police presence, they were not able to prevent the development of the incidents because of the absence of preventive measures from other bodies. The responsible bodies have also missed [the fact] that Al-Koshh is an area of violence that might explode from time to time, especially since they have been dealing with the case since 1998 in a way that kept the internal anger boiling inside, and increasing with time, until its explosion last week.
In fact, the executive and people’s bodies were not only deficient in confronting the bloody incidents, but they did not even work to increase the awareness of people there about the importance of preserving a weapon [Translator: ’the proper attitude concerning using a weapon, keeping it in a safe place and using it only in the right time and place’ is meant here by the phrase ’preserving a weapon’] and the danger of escalating the current criminal incidents to become sectarian ones. Twenty-seven thousand of the fifty-eight thousand living in Al-Koshh are illiterate. In spite of that, the village enjoys higher levels of income compared to nearby villages and areas. Most of its inhabitants work in the cloth trade. The small agricultural area, that does not amount to a thousand feddans, helped in directing the inhabitants towards commercial professions. That made the village a big shopping mall in the area, where the price of a shop ranges from fifty- to seventy-thousand pounds, which is a very high price compared to other nearby villages. In Dar Al-Salam, a shop is only around twenty-thousand [pounds]. The price of shops in Sohag itself does not reach their prices in Al-Koshh.
Besides trade, the people of the village work in small business. It has thirteen carpentry workshops, eleven blacksmith’s workshops, seven workshops for weaving cloth, two for repairing cars, and nine for leather clothes. It also has three bakeries, twelve elementary schools, four preparatory schools and two Azhar institutes. All that confirms that the city enjoys a high rank among the villages and cities of Sohag. That raises a question, why do such incidents recur in it?
A number of the people of the village answered the question starting with the last point we mentioned: it is a big shopping mall. They said that the domination of the village over trade in the area made merchants in nearby areas push incidents to rise, so that trade would be diverted [away] from that area to theirs. That explanation, although it might have a point, is not enough, for the size of trade in this area, however big, will never be big enough to cause conflicts that violent. All that makes us ask about the role of hidden foreign hands in the rise of the incidents. Many of the details make us point with accusations to such forces. The general picture in the world clarifies that there were concurrent sectarian incidents between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia, in Lebanon and in Nigeria. Although we agree that Egypt is a special case and is totally different from these countries because its people come from the same origin and does not have separatist calls like in Indonesia or tribal ones like Nigeria, the repeated occurrence of these incidents force us to think about it.
Here we come to the role of foreign hands, after the success of Egypt in the millennium celebrations, where the incidents started with a little crime on the very same day of the millennium. The incidents after that increased greatly after its success, or after the police success in controlling the situation, especially since America had issued instructions to its people not to visit Egypt during the celebrations as it expected the occurrence of terrorist actions. That last thing calls for rethinking about the American excuse for issuing such instructions. What raises even more doubts, is that such incidents always occur before the visits of President Mubarak to America, so as to pressure Egypt in the framework of its regional and international policies. Although no specific timing for the President’s visit to America was declared, the word has spread about the timing - that it was near. Reviewing the history of the president’s visits for America, we find similar incidents. Before his visit in April 1993, the World Trade Center bombing occurred and an American media campaign against Egyptian elements began, although America was the one sheltering them. In the same year, and on the same day of the president’s visit to America in October, the incident of [the attack at the] Semiramis [hotel in Cairo] occurred, in which Americans, French and Italians died by an insane man called Saber Farahat. Before and during the president’s visit to America in 1995, emigrant Copts launched a sharp attack on the Egyptian government. Before the president’s visit to America in 1997, the attack on the church of Abu Qurqas in Minya occurred. At that time, Pope Shenouda sent a speech and a voice message to emigrant Copts to receive President Mubarak in a good a way.
The first incidents of Al-Koshh occurred in 1998 after the declaration of the president’s visit to America, that was postponed later for reasons that had nothing to do with the incidents. In all these cases, a harsh campaign against Egypt was launched either to accuse it of being unsafe or to accuse it of sectarianism. This demonstrates that there are hidden hands that want to harm the safety of Egypt and defame its reputation. It is also made clear in the treatment of press agencies and international media of the latest incidents telling lies and exaggerations about what was happening. For instance, the Israeli media raised doubts in the statement of the Egyptian ministry of interior about the number of victims in the incident and said that the real number of the dead was twenty-seven, claiming that it had got the information from Egyptian Christian sources that it did not specify. The newspaper of Ha’retz and the site of Allah on the Internet claimed that the reason for the problem is the refusal of Muslims [of the idea] that Christians live with them. The Israeli newspaper claimed that in the USA a Christian organization has accused imams of mosques in Al-Koshh and other places of calling for killing Christians and that police do not intervene to stop them, only observe the situation without stopping hundreds of Muslims from attacking Christians, leaving everybody to defend himself. The same lies were claimed in the American and foreign press agencies and newspapers. Reuters claimed that Bishop Wissa of Balyana said: "Muslims are destroying the houses of Copts because they do not want Christians among them." Press agencies mentioned wrong claims about the relations between Muslims and Christians and that they are not treated equally and are considered a minority. It added that the Christian religion is despised in Egyptian schools in which Muslim tutors teach. It also said that Gamaat Islamiyya [Muslim fundamentalist groups] steal the commercial shops owned by wealthy Christians and use them for funding their activities and that these armed Gamaat [Muslim fundamentalist groups] have taken Christians as targets for assassination since the beginning of the nineties. Foreign newspapers claimed that the threatening factor in the incident of Al-Koshh is the Egyptian police officials.
It is also expected that some of the tense emigrant Copts will take that incident and view the picture as if there were massacres for Copts in Egypt.
It was as expected in Washington; as usual, the statements and publications of Freedom House and the American Coptic Union and the Canadian Coptic Union and the International Union of Copts are the fastest to the faxes of the houses, meetings and churches of Coptic Egyptians abroad, immediately after the incident of Al-Koshh.
As usual also, the statements were filled with poisoned and aggressive ideas in an expected attempt to exploit the incident, and considering it a new opportunity to use in [their campaign against] what they called a serial of persecuting Copts, the original inhabitants of Egypt, by the Muslim Arab invaders (!!)
The statements that were accompanied with telephone calls from these organizations to Egyptians abroad carried the spirit of raising sectarianism. Some of them have volunteered to go to the Evangelical churches to speak to the American attendants about those claims. Some of them have collected donations to cover the losses to Christians of shops, houses and [for] families with widowed women and orphaned children. Regardless to what these statements have contained of exaggeration about the numbers of killed Christians or the numbers of houses, shops and injured victims, the titles they carried offended even the most balanced persons. Among these was the statement of the Canadian Coptic Union. It said: "Egypt is entering the new century with a persecution operation for its Coptic minority." They called human rights organizations to save the Christians in Al-Koshh who are still suffering between the hands of the Egyptian police without a reason or an excuse!!
The statement attaches the names of sixteen victims in Al-Koshh.
The statement of the International Union of Copts carries the most offending titles of all, among which is: "An Urgent Call For The United Nations To Save Copts In Egypt".
The statement tells the story of what happened in Al-Koshh in detail through a strange and special reading of the incidents, in addition to exaggerations about the number of people murdered, the shops, the houses and the church that was destroyed. The statement did not forget to remind [its readers] of the incident of August 1998 and [incidents] in a number of Egyptian cities during the last three decades. The list contained ten places for examples. In the end of the statement they said: "The Christian minority in Egypt which is the biggest Christian minority in the Middle East is being subject to ethnic cleansing" (!!)
After that, comes the statement of Freedom House (which is a dubious organization in its relations and work too) that repeated the request of justice for the wronged Christians in Egypt.
These three examples that express somehow the kind, form and direction of speech of organizations and associations to Christians abroad and recently inside Egypt as well, show that they almost speak the same language. We find them all defending certain points using the same expressions. Is that a coincidence? Or is it true that things have developed to that extent in Egypt?!!
Nina Shea, president of the Freedom House, demonstrates great aggressiveness towards the policies of the Egyptian government that seem to have a greater interest in its image around the world through tourism than its interest in preserving the rights of Christians.
The details of that statement and what it included of ideas has hurt the feeling of Muslims and Copts as well. That is what forces us to try to answer the important question: (why now?) [Editor: the last brackets were the authors] Will these incidents continue and will they continue to be dealt with in the same way so that we find ourselves in a vicious circle?
It is clear that the incidents of raising sectarian conflicts will not stop as long as Egypt is witnessing economical success. It is also clear from reading [about] the incidents that there are outside fingers playing a big role in raising conflicts between the children of the same nation while they are celebrating their feasts together and receiving the new millennium. It is also clear that the agenda of these fingers, that are trying to shake any Egyptian attempt to rise, does not only include the sheltering and direction of fanatic Christians, but sheltering fanatic Muslims too. It is a well-known and old political card that they are still trying to use with us unfortunately.
It is known that there are three major sources of income in Egypt, first the income of the Suez Canal, which is hard to control because it is subject to the conditions of the oil market, especially since there were attempts lately to change the transfer of oil from ships passing through the Suez Canal to pipelines outside the Arab area between Kazakhstan and Turkey, planning at the same time to build two other pipelines the same way. America was one of the greatest supporters for building those pipelines. They wore spoken about in detail by Zbignew Breczinski [spelling?] the former American Security Council, and Madeline Albright the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The second source is the foreign currency transfers from Egyptians. We will find that this source is no more as it was before the years of the scarcity of oil.
Lastly, tourism remains. It is a fact that when it witnesses any flourishing, an internal accident is used internationally in an intentional way to destroy anything that was accomplished.
It is noticed that the speech used by a minority of the emigrant Copts is trying to claim that the situation is unstable in Egypt, to raise the fears of tourists visiting Egypt and affect the movement of tourism that has flourished a lot lately. Some have suggested holding marches in front of the building of the Egyptian delegation in New York, the United Nations and the Congress to object about the latest incidents of Al-Koshh. They told everybody that the timing of the marches would be declared during Sunday prayers in all the Egyptian churches in America and Canada.
