Shooting at Christian wedding in Warraq, Cairo; Three major background reports on Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt

Language: 
English
Sent On: 
Wed, 2013-10-23
Year: 
2013
Newsletter Number: 
51

AWR, Cairo, October 23, 2013

 

On Sunday, October 20, unknown masked assailants on a motorbike opened fire on a wedding ceremony at the Holy Virgin Church in Warraq, a working class neighborhood in Imbaba, Giza, Cairo. The shooting resulted in four dead, including two children of 8 and 12 and the groom’s mother. The assailants were able to escape.

 

Ambulances leave Holy Virgin Church following shooting.
Source: AFP via Getty Images   

 

 Investigative reporter, Ra’id al-Sharqawi, att­­ended the funeral and discovered that none of the armed guards at the church had defended the church. This was most likely out of fear since they were only armed with pistols and were no match for the assailants, who were armed with a Kalashnikov automatic weapon.  “People guarding churches must be better armed,” al-Sharqawi noted.

 

People were angry at the funeral. That they had to wait for an additional two hours for the coroners to finish their work added to their anger. Christians  fumed at the Pope who had made no statement of  any substance. Bishop Yo’annis of Giza spoke at the funeral and further provoked mourners when he praised various security officers. Mourners shouted names at him during his speech. “God will never forget the blood of His sons,” the bishop concluded.

 

Christian mourners accompanied by Muslim friends shouted against the Muslim Brothers and terrorists in general. They knew who to blame: Islamists of different shades and colors.

 

Al-Sharqawi was upset about what he called, “stupid Coptic activists who had claimed this was orchestrated by Egyptian security to add to the problems between Coptic Christians and Muslim Brothers”. He does not trust “these activists who are financed by people abroad who impose their agenda upon them.” When asked to provide names of activists whose agenda has been imposed on them, he mentions the Maspero Youth Union and others. “Father Filopatir Gamil was one of their leaders and is now in Canada where he is raising money from Coptic businessmen in Canada for the Maspero Youth Union in Egypt.”

 

Mourners shouting and screaming against the Muslim Brotherhood shows the deep mistrust many people, particularly Christians, have for the Muslim Brotherhood. There is no evidence that the assailants were Muslim Brothers since they were able to escape, but such evidence is not inconsequential to local Christians who are firm in their accusations.

 

On October 22, 12 leading members of the Maspero Youth Union demonstrated before the Council of Ministers in Cairo. A few members were admitted for a talk with the Council of Ministers and were told that the attack concerns not only Copts, but the safety of all Egyptians.

 

We have documented the origin and background of these Christian-Islamist tensions in a report written for the German organization, Missio, which has been translated by them into German to inform a wider German audience. The Minority Rights Group in London obtained ours and Missio’s permission to publish our report on their website. The text we provide here is different from the text we provided to the Minority Rights Group in that there are improved citations and a literature list.

 

Our report provides a historical overview of the growth of tensions, which ultimately resulted in the tragic burning of tens of churches and Christian institutions, along with police offices, in various parts of Egypt in August, 2013. The report also provides a chapter on Coptic statistics, media analysis, and an analysis of different types of violence against Christians.

 

The second report we placed online was written in 2004, also commissioned by Missio, but was never published because we had been long waiting for Egyptian authorities (Dr. Usama al-Baz) to provide additional information on the Constitution, which has not come. Yet, we are placing this report online now because it provides detailed information about various Egyptian laws and the application of these laws in Egypt. Of course the January 25 Revolution has changed much of this, but the problem of Egyptian authorities enforcing the laws among Egyptian citizens has worsened.

 

The third report centers on the formation of the Egyptian Constitution in 2012, the Constitution that is now being revised. This report was completed on May 1, 2013, in the days of President Morsi. This report was also commissioned by Missio and translated into German for a German readership.

 

All three reports are now available as Arab-West Report papers and provide valuable background information for anyone interested in expanding their understanding of the complicated relations between peoples of diverse convictions in Egypt.

 

 

Cornelis Hulsman,

Editor-in-chief, Arab-West Report