The pope, during his sermon on December 28, said the cancellation of next week’s sermon is due to preparations by the church to celebrate the Coptic Christmas on the eve of Friday, January 6, 2012.
He said that the churches are witnessing crowds unprecedented since the 1940s despite rumors threatening the Coptic Christmas celebrations. [Ashraf Ghayth, 'Imād Khalīl and Muhammad Jawīsh, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, p. 3, Dec. 30] Read origial text in Arabic
Within preparations for the New Year celebrations, Interior Minister Maj. General Muhammad Ibrāhīm held meetings with senior ministry officials to discuss plans to secure churches, gathering spots, amusement parks and hotels frequented by citizens to celebrate the New Year.
The plan will see cooperation between the police and the armed forces as all police officers will be deployed on the different streets and squares to curb brawls that might occur during those celebrations. [Muhammad Shūmān, Ashraf Sādiq and Muhammad 'Abd al-Hamīd, Al-Ahrām, p. 3, Dec. 30] Read original text in Arabic
In a fear-dispelling step by Islamists, religious parties and entities competed to offer congratulations for Copts on the occasion of the Eastern Christmas and form human shields to protect Christian houses of worship during the celebrations.
“The Salafī Da’wah (Call) Organization has formed human shields and informal groups all over Kafr al-Sheikh to protect the Copts’ houses of worship during their festivities,” said Dr. Tāriq al-Bītār, the organization chief in the governorate that lies 140 kilometers north of Cairo.
He added that the protection of Copts “is a religious and national duty, even if it takes the lives of our young people. Our religion exhorts us to preserve those who live with us in the homeland”.
Rajab al-Bannā, the Secretary-General of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood group, in Kafr al-Sheikh, said the group’s youths formed human shields and informal vigilantes of more than 300 young men to protect churches and Christian houses of worship during their Christmas celebrations, adding this is a national duty.
Meanwhile, Bishop Kyrillos of Naja’ Hammādī and its surroundings said some young Copts in the city have received death threats and contacts about criminal incidents that would copycat the Coptic Christmas massacre in Naja’ Hammādī in January 2010, which left six Copts and one Muslim killed and nine others wounded.
“Qena Governor Major General ‘Ādil Labīb and Qena Security Director Major Muhammad Halīmah about these threats,” said Bishop Kyrillos in statements to al-Shurūq al-Jadīd newspaper.
Halīmah denied he received any reports from Bishop Kyrillos about threats for possible criminal operations on Christmas. “Tight security measures were taken around the churches anyway,” he said. [Yūsuf Rāmiz, Muhammad Nasār and Māhir 'Abd al-Sabūr, Al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, P. 3, Dec. 30] Read original text in Arabic
Political powers, the Egyptian Revolution Union and some revolutionary movements and coalitions in Alexandria refused organizing any demonstrations today (Dec. 30) in response to the coastal city residents’ calls for calm. [Al-Ahrām, Dec. 30] Read original text in Arabic
The Revolutionary Socialists group, however, shrugged off the calls and said they would continue protesting until the objectives of the January 25 revolution are achieved.
‘Isām ‘Abd al-Mun’im, the coordinator of the parties coalition and chairman of the Egyptian Revolution Union, said they decided in a meeting on December 28 not to organize any marches or demonstrations to cool down the situation, adding they will just gather outside the Two Saints Church on Saturday (December 31) in a show of solidarity with Copts and commemorate the first anniversary of the victims of a deadly bombing attack that targeted the church last year. [Fikrī 'Abd al-Salām and Tāriq Ismā'īl, Al-Ahrām, p. 7, Dec. 30] Read original text in Arabic
The persons who launched a Facebook page called Committee to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice in Egypt announced their “total independence” from al-Nūr Party and the Salafī Da’wah (Call) due to “the shameful position of the party that denied any relationship with this page”.
They said that they will embark on administrative work to establish the Committee as of January 1, 2012 and will later start actual activities a month later.
The organizers of this page announced vacancies for the job of mutawa’ for a starting salary of LE500 (roughly $90) per month.
[Reviewer’s Note: The word mutawa’ (singular) or mutawa’īn (plural) most literally means "volunteers" in Arabic and is commonly used as a casual term for the government-authorized or government-recognized religious police (or clerical police) of Saudi Arabia. The mutawa’īn in Saudi Arabia are tasked with enforcing the sharī’ah as defined by the government, specifically by the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV). The mutawa’īn of the CPVPV consists of "more than 3,500 officers in addition to thousands of volunteers...often accompanied by a police escort." They have the power to arrest unrelated males and females caught socializing, anyone engaged in homosexual behavior or prostitution; to enforce Islamic dress codes, and store closures during the prayer time. They enforce Muslim dietary laws, prohibit the consumption or sale of alcoholic beverages and pork, and seize banned consumer products and media regarded as anti-Islamic (such as CDs/DVDs of various Western musical groups, television shows and film which has insults on the Islamic law or Islam itself). Additionally, they actively prevent the practice or proselytizing of other religions within Saudi Arabia, where they are banned].
The persons who launched the Facebook page announced they resignation from al-Nūr Party due to “the shameful position adopted by the party leaders and higher board after we had joined the party upon promises that this committee will be established after coordination with the government institutions concerned in the fashion of what happened in the holy lands [Reviewer’s Note: Saudi Arabia]”. [Mustafá Hāshim, Al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, P. 3, Dec. 30] Read original text in Arabic
Furthermore, Minister of Education Jamāl al-‘Arabī took a decision to postpone the exams of January 1 and 8, 2012 in response to demands by a number of Coptic students who gathered outside the ministry on December 29 who sought the postponement so they can celebrate the New Year and the Coptic Orthodox Christmas. [Sarah Jamīl, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, p. 1, Dec. 30] Read original text in Arabic
