On the morning of Monday, November 6, 1972, the quarters of Gamiyyat Al-Kitaab Al-Muqaddas [the Holy Bible society] in the town of Al-Khanka, Qalubia were deliberately burnt, as well as a photography studio and six apartments all belonging to Coptic citizens. Although no-one was killed in the incidents, they shook all Egypt because the Egyptians were not used to Ta’ifiyya [based on religious-distinction; communal] incidents organized on such a scale: Burning a church and houses of Egyptian citizens by what seemed like Muslim citizens. On Sunday, November 12 [,1972], a large number of priests came to Al-Khanka by car with some Coptic citizens and walked to the burned quarters of the Gamiyyat Asdiqa’a Al-Kitaab Al-Muqaddas [Friends of the Holy Bible Society] and prayed there. In the evening, a big number of Muslim citizens gathered in Al-Sultan Al-Ashraf mosque and went out in demonstration against that. Ghali Anis Bishay [a Coptic name] was accused of firing over the heads of the demonstrators from a licensed gun, so some of the demonstrators went to his home and other Coptic places and set them on fire without any casualties [resulting from these actions]. It forced the People’s Assembly, a week after the incidents of Al-Khanka, to form a special committee to investigate the Ta’ifiyya incidents of Al-Khanka. The committee was formed a week after the incidents, on Monday, November 13, upon a request from the president of the republic. The committee was to prepare a report for the assembly about the truth of what happened and it was headed by Dr. Gamal Al-Oteifi, the vice-speaker of the People’s Assembly, and with Mohammed Fou’ad Abu Himila, Albert Barsoum Salama, Kamal Al-Shadhli, Dr. Rushdi Said, Abdel-Monsef Hassan Hozayyin, and Engineer Mohebb Estino as members. In the committee’s report presented to the People’s Assembly on November 26, 1972, they explained that the Al-Khanka incident, which was one of the incidents of that year, generally and primarily suggested the issue of the factors affecting the relationships between the groups of the nation, whether these factors were a part of a conspiracy or not, and how they threatened national unity in this delicate situation where the nation faces the Zionist enemy and the international imperialism [at the same time]. Therefore, the committee regarded the incidents of Al-Khanka as an expression of the unhealthy atmosphere of social relationships in that year. The report then generally covered these relationships, conducted an analysis of them, and made suggestions to solve [the problems besetting] them.
The committee’s report mentioned ten Ta’ifiyya-violence incidents that happened in the period between August 1971 and November 1972. It made a note that these incidents which [were] recurring in an unprecedented way in the history of modern Egypt came after the rising tone in the [then recent] public debate about amending the constitution, especially about the article making Islamic Shari’a [law] the main source of legislation, which stirred the Copts and made them scared that the extremist trends might misuse the amendments.
The report shyly mentioned that the security and media authorities did not do a good job in containing rumors of collisions that began before the matter became so big. In five places the reports also held the preachers at mosques in the cities or quarters where the incidents happened guilty of stirring up Muslims. The report mentioned that one of the priests of a church in Alexandria was responsible for two Muslim young men changing their religions and adopting Christianity. Finally, the committee’s recommendations were to revise the laws and legislations concerning the building and restoration of churches to be accepted by the constitution, stating complete equality among all citizens, and especially [the revision of] Article 46 granting the freedom of religions and the practicing of their rituals. The report insisted on these three points: the responsibility of the media and security, the freedom of building churches, and strict control over preachers in mosques and churches. The committee was sure that the ten incidents, and not the incidents of Al-Khanka alone, were products of this mixture.
Although the report of the Oteifi committee including its recommendations was accepted by the People’s Assembly then on November 26, 1972, not a single recommendation was carried out. The report made it clear that the recurring incidents expressed a state of disorder led by a strong religious current that was lacking proper guidance to eliminate the danger of fanaticism and extremism that some people might contribute to unawares. The report made it also clear that hatred between religions is the weapon imperialism uses to weaken the nation and distract it from its main goal: liberation, and [suggested that] unless we penetrate to the problem deep inside, follow its reasons, and suggest solutions, it was feared that follow up would fade away when calm was restored and the matter settled threatening the return of violence [at some future time].
As a result of the legislative and executive authorities negligence of the recommendations that came in Al-Oteifi’s report in 1972, we have harvested other fruits through the last three decades. The last of them was what happened at the beginning of year 2000 at Al-Kosheh.
Fire is started by the smallest of sparks:
On New Year’s Eve, and while Egypt and the whole world is saying goodbyes to the second millennium at the Giza Plateau, the fire of Fitna Ta’ifiyya [civil disorder and violence between the followers of different religions] starts at the village of Al-Kosheh, Sohag, deep in Upper Egypt. Exactly like the incident in Al-Khanka, the Fitna Ta’ifiyya began by the smallest of sparks: A small disagreement between a Muslim client and a Christian fabric merchant on returning a piece of fabric she had earlier purchased from him. A Muslim owner of a kiosk in front of the fabric traders shop intervened. Why did he volunteer? It was not because she is a woman or Muslim, but because he had his own disagreement with the owner of the Coptic merchant and it was being heard in court. The disagreement was about building the kiosk right in front of the shop. According to one testimony, the intervention of owner of the kiosk soon turned into fist fighting. The people intervened and separated the fighting parties. Some security forces had reached the scene and intervened by that time. When it seemed to the security forces that the fight was over they left. However, everybody in this commercial street in Al-Kosheh remained awake that night. This was the New Year’s Eve and it was in the last days of [the Hijri month of] Ramadan when people usually stay up late, and start shopping for the feast [coming right after Ramadan]. It was also near the Coptic Christmas [of January 7]. The news of the fight that took place early in the evening spread and was expanded by rumors as it did. Of these rumors was the saying that the Coptic merchant assaulted the Muslim woman, and when a Muslim was stirred by that he was assaulted by the Coptic merchant, his son, and relatives. One of the rumors said that the Muslim man was killed in the fight.
To realize how can these rumors stir the feelings of Muslims in Al-Kosheh and the surrounding villages, we have to remember that the village of Al-Kosheh is one of the big villages in the area of Al-Balayna and Dar Al-Salaam. Surrounding it are some smaller villages. Al-Kosheh is inhabited by 35,000 persons. Three quarters of the population are Coptic Christians and only one quarter are Muslims. it means that Muslims are the numerical minority in Al-Kosheh. They are also a poor minority if compared to their brothers the Copts who for a long time worked in commerce and as civil servants. Al-Kosheh became an active center of trade for the surrounding villages which are populated by a Muslim majority.
Therefore, when the rumor of the Coptic merchant assaulting the Muslim woman and then the Muslim man spread, it did not take a big amount of time for the disorder to return. From 11 pm on the same night of December 31 the fronts and lights of the shops in the main street of Al-Kosheh which belong to Copts were destroyed. During all that chaos and tumult commoners started robbing shops and damaging properties. However, no killing took place on that night.
According to most testimonies including the official one, the physical assaults and killing incidents started Saturday and lasted until Monday morning.
Some evil-hearted people started moving between the surrounding villages and used loud speakers to urge Muslims to save their brother Muslims from getting killed, butchered and raped. The people of these villages took off to Al-Kosheh to save their brother Muslims. Another rumor of Copts poisoning water tanks feeding these villages made the situation more dramatic. This of course is in Ramadan when Muslims break their fasting by drinking the "now-become-poisoned" water.
The reader can picture the rest of the scenes which hysterically followed one other. Their final results were twenty dead, more than one hundred injured, and the burning, destruction and looting of about one hundred shops and houses.
The Muslim rumors and Copt victims:
Although a general report from the attorney’s office about what happened in Al-Kosheh during the first three days of January was not issued, there are facts that receive no disagreement on after a month of the incident.
The first fact. Yes, there was a verbal altercation between a Muslim woman and a Coptic merchant on the evening of Friday, December 31, 1999. However, the woman was not physically assaulted.
The second fact. Yes, an Muslim owner of a kiosk who had a court problem with the Coptic merchant interfered. There was a fist fight between them, but it did not result in any injuries or killing until the morning of Saturday, January 1, 2000.
The third fact. Yes, Killing and robbing lasted Saturday, Sunday and until Monday morning.
The fourth fact. Yes, there were rumors and there were people moving with loudspeakers urging the Muslims of surrounding villages to save their Muslims brothers in Al-Kosheh. And yes, there was a rumor of poisoning the drinking water, and Muslims were warned about drinking tap water.
The fifth fact is that all the killed people were Copts. Not a single Muslim was killed.
The sixth fact is that most of the shops destroyed or looted belong to Copts from Al-Kosheh.
Why did what happened... happen?
If these things happened... The question is why?
In our opinion, the reason behind what happened is the general atmosphere forming in recent years, specifically in the last three decades. This atmosphere made it easy to believe a naive rumor such as the one of poisoning the water, or another one of assaulting a Muslim woman or raping her by a Coptic citizen or citizens while the people in a commercial street stood watching.
But what are the components of this atmosphere that lead to these rumors, believing these rumors, and then to this immediate readiness to use violence? In our opinion, there are many reasons:
1. The general education, which is full of not being tolerant of non-Muslims... Education is based on memorization without the development of any critical skills. Ask, wonder, and examine before you believe! Let alone that it is an education that does not admit the other patriot Coptic. It does not teach the young a thing about him, his history, his religion, or his contribution to building Egypt throughout the ages.
2. The media, whether the official media which remained for five decades a monopoly, broadcasting one message in one direction, or the smaller one [Editor: possibly the author here means "private" by "smaller"] which doubled in the last ten years and has adopted the habit of stirring people, spreading the culture of conspiracy, labeling whoever disagrees with it in opinion, in race or gender [Editor: the Arabic word in the original can mean either "race" or "gender"], or in religion, traitors or disbelievers. This type of media is a completion to the bad education [in the sense that it complements it?]. Flattening the mind makes it easy to believe rumors and to be violent.
3. Security malfunctioning and penetration. The workers in security agencies are a product of the same education and media [systems] described above. Because most of them are so, there is doubt concerning [their being or not] being involved in the Fitna Ta’ifiyya incidents. It is strange that this same village witnessed the torturing of hundreds of Coptic youth during the investigation into the killing of two young Coptic men in August 1998. In spite of the national and international rage against this torture then, and despite the promise of the Egyptian government to investigate it, there was no conviction of any of the security officers who were accused by the villagers. Some of these officers were even promoted, as if those who conducted the torturing were ghosts or aliens from Mars who went back there after they finished their job. The question is: Why did the security forces disband and leave Al-Kosheh on the evening of Friday December 31, 1999? And where were they on Saturday and Sunday, January 1 and 2, 2000, especially since it has been confirmed to all that the general atmosphere is ready to explode at any moment?
4. The political vacuum. Since the beginning of the Fitna Ta’ifiyya series, about which Al-Otiefi’s committee report was issued in 1972, there have always been the same indications of malfunctioning in education, shortages in media and security, and absence of political powers especially the ruling party. If this last one was active it could have played an important role in sensing troubles, avoiding them, and containing them when they began. The witness of the incidents of al-Kosheh 2000, as well as in Al-Kosheh 1998 and other incidents since Al-Khanka 1972 finds total political absence of the ruling party. This means that security agencies and the Egyptian bureaucracy run Egyptian society and the relationships between the Muslims and the Copts, and they have not been successful in this. The statistics tell the complete opposite [that is, they confirm that the lack of success of the security agencies and the bureaucracy in successfully running Egyptian society.] The incident of Al-Khanka that shook the county in 1972 was because of the burning of a single church and no-one got killed. In the incident of Al-Kosheh 2000, more than one hundred shops and housed were burned, and twenty citizens were killed.
How many lessons do we need to learn?
Between the incidents of Al-Khanka 1972 and Al-Kosheh 2000, about 40 similar incidents took place - Fitna Ta’ifiyya [communal violence] between Muslims and Copts.
Someone may say that forty incidents are not many, and that 200 deaths in 28 years is very little compared to what happens in other societies like Lebanon, Bosnia, or Rwanda! This is considered flattening the matter, not only because we are a society that has walked a long distance in evolution and human development, but also because we have not witnessed in modern history (the last 200 years) any Fitna Ta’ifiyya [communal violence]. Any previous troubles were individual and scattered in place and time, and they did not make this huge national or international echo. The international echo is not the greatest danger, but what happens to the Egyptian people is. The incident of Al-Khanka in 1972 should have been an early warning, but ignoring it led to these many thorns during the last three decades. Some of these thorns turned into land mines, and these mines have increased in the last ten years. How many of these mines are waiting for their turn to explode before we wake from our collective negligence concerning education, media and politics? When will we stop believing in the conspiracy theory and that the external world has nothing to care about but to prevent our winning march? When will we stop this nonsense and take ourselves seriously?
The Copts of Egypt do not feel protected, whether in regard to security, culturally, or by the media. Until recently they were demanding the freedom to build churches (as Muslims have freedom to build mosques) which is a constitutional, national and ethical right. They were demanding a bigger share in power like their brother Muslims have. But now at the beginning of year 2000, they are demanding more than that. Is it not a shame on the Egyptian state that it escapes from the demands of its Copts to have the simplest human rights? La Hawl Wa La Quwwata Illa Billah [God is Almighty. An expression said by Muslims and Egyptians in general when facing something difficult].
