Is there religious discrimination in Egypt? [1]
Ismail Imadudeen
July 24, 2008
It was a beautiful day; I still remember one of my earliest days; my childhood days, when my mother woke me up in the morning of January 7th, as my friend was waiting for me to go out with him to play and enjoy in the street. It was the Eastern Christmas, and my friend was dressed with his new clothes and waiting for me to join the fun along with other friends who were all Christians. He was our neighbor and his mother. prepared Egyptian cookies famous for this occasion or 'Eid´, the Arabic word for 'festival´. Those cookies I used to see and eat in both the Muslim and Christian festivals in our fantastic country, Egypt. It's the beautiful Egypt with all its citizens let them be Christians, Muslims or Jews. We all speak one slang, behave the same manner and exchange the same jokes. Neighbors swap food and visit each other regardless religion or beliefs. In weddings or other occasions we hear the same beautiful 'Zaghroota,' a tongue twisting musical sound that women create as a sign of joy and happiness. We hear the same in the Churches or in the mosques from all the attendees; Muslims or Christians.
I regret that I didn't meet any Egyptian Jew, but my grandmother used to tell me that the Egyptian Jews were no different from the Egyptian Muslims or Christians; everybody lived in peace and complete harmony. My grand mother used to have
Egyptian Jews as neighbors, and she has wonderful memories with them. The Egyptian Jews represented a very effective and entrepreneurially-motivated group in the society, and they contributed significantly to the development of Egypt in the early stages of the twentieth century. Today, there is a tiny fraction of them left in Egypt. Where did the others go? Mainly to Israel of course; the political transformation and disturbances in Egypt in the early fifties encouraged many Egyptian Jews to migrate to Israel either for seemingly better chances, or as a reaction to the pessimistic atmosphere that was perturbing the region because of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Egypt, the land of peace where Joseph, Moses, the Christ and Mother Mary found refuge and safe haven, is being accused by some suspicious groups, mostly Egyptian Christians abroad, that it is a place where there is a systematic religious discrimination against the Copts [the name given to the Egyptian Christians who belong to the ancient Christian Church of Egypt].
Those fractional, but vocal groups claim that the Egyptian government discriminates against the Egyptian Christians, and that the Egyptian Muslims are being treated better than the Coptic and get preferential treatment when it comes to government jobs and benefits. In fact, many Muslims and Christians here in Egypt don't understand those groups or their ideologies because they seem to be talking about another country, not Egypt. This doesn't mean that the Egyptian Christians have no problems at all, but I would like to say that all Egyptians, whether they are Muslims or Christians, face the same problems let them be unemployment, poverty or inflation.
However, the Egyptian Christians, in particular, do have some demands to ratify some laws that might not be applicable anymore and needed to be revised, like the demand for regulating the building of religious facilities. In fact, I would like to emphasize the point that there are many other laws that the whole Egyptians, regardless religion, ask the government to ratify, for example the laws related to the work of political parties and even laws related to taxation, monopoly and building permits.
What I would like to say is that the Egyptian people whether they are Muslims or Christians are getting politically aware day by day, as a result of a long process that President Mubarak started since his resumption of office in 1981 that aimed mainly at a gradual and studied democratization of the Egyptian society. The Egyptian society is talking now about change, modernization and democratization, but the means to achieve that are not so clear to many; this is a result of an inheritance of hundreds of years of totalitarianism in governing.
We have to understand then that it's not only the Copts who have some demands; the whole Egyptian society has demands; and the government, on the other hand, is trying to understand and it is rationally responding so as to assure stability and avoid shocks and bottle necks. What is happening in the region around Egypt proves that the Egyptian government is going on the right path, for example, when the US tried to democratize Iraq using the 'shock and woe' technique, it resulted in a complete chaos and failure. The Western style democracy, on the other hand, has clashed dramatically with the Iraqi culture leaving no room for progress in that aspect.
The strong reaction of the Egyptian government to the humiliating security check of the highest Christian figure in Egypt, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, when he was in the UK, proves the kind of respect that the Egyptian government places on the ancient Egyptian Church and its figures. It is worth mentioning that the H. H Pope Shenouda III is a respected figure for many Egyptian Muslims as well, and scores of of his religious lessons and teachings that promote love, peace and understanding, prove to be popular among several Muslims here.
I wouldn't call those minor groups of the Egyptian Christians abroad traitors, but I would call them misguided. I hope that they would stop disfiguring their country and instead do something to help her like bringing- in funds to finance projects that aim at preserving our culture and heritage, build schools, churches and mosques, create businesses to alleviate unemployment and poverty, the main triggers of extremism and hatred. Also, construct bridges between the West and Egypt to promote civilization and cultural understanding.
I regret that I didn't meet any Egyptian Jew, but my grandmother used to tell me that the Egyptian Jews were no different from the Egyptian Muslims or Christians; everybody lived in peace and complete harmony. My grand mother used to have
Egyptian Jews as neighbors, and she has wonderful memories with them. The Egyptian Jews represented a very effective and entrepreneurially-motivated group in the society, and they contributed significantly to the development of Egypt in the early stages of the twentieth century. Today, there is a tiny fraction of them left in Egypt. Where did the others go? Mainly to Israel of course; the political transformation and disturbances in Egypt in the early fifties encouraged many Egyptian Jews to migrate to Israel either for seemingly better chances, or as a reaction to the pessimistic atmosphere that was perturbing the region because of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Egypt, the land of peace where Joseph, Moses, the Christ and Mother Mary found refuge and safe haven, is being accused by some suspicious groups, mostly Egyptian Christians abroad, that it is a place where there is a systematic religious discrimination against the Copts [the name given to the Egyptian Christians who belong to the ancient Christian Church of Egypt].
Those fractional, but vocal groups claim that the Egyptian government discriminates against the Egyptian Christians, and that the Egyptian Muslims are being treated better than the Coptic and get preferential treatment when it comes to government jobs and benefits. In fact, many Muslims and Christians here in Egypt don't understand those groups or their ideologies because they seem to be talking about another country, not Egypt. This doesn't mean that the Egyptian Christians have no problems at all, but I would like to say that all Egyptians, whether they are Muslims or Christians, face the same problems let them be unemployment, poverty or inflation.
However, the Egyptian Christians, in particular, do have some demands to ratify some laws that might not be applicable anymore and needed to be revised, like the demand for regulating the building of religious facilities. In fact, I would like to emphasize the point that there are many other laws that the whole Egyptians, regardless religion, ask the government to ratify, for example the laws related to the work of political parties and even laws related to taxation, monopoly and building permits.
What I would like to say is that the Egyptian people whether they are Muslims or Christians are getting politically aware day by day, as a result of a long process that President Mubarak started since his resumption of office in 1981 that aimed mainly at a gradual and studied democratization of the Egyptian society. The Egyptian society is talking now about change, modernization and democratization, but the means to achieve that are not so clear to many; this is a result of an inheritance of hundreds of years of totalitarianism in governing.
We have to understand then that it's not only the Copts who have some demands; the whole Egyptian society has demands; and the government, on the other hand, is trying to understand and it is rationally responding so as to assure stability and avoid shocks and bottle necks. What is happening in the region around Egypt proves that the Egyptian government is going on the right path, for example, when the US tried to democratize Iraq using the 'shock and woe' technique, it resulted in a complete chaos and failure. The Western style democracy, on the other hand, has clashed dramatically with the Iraqi culture leaving no room for progress in that aspect.
The strong reaction of the Egyptian government to the humiliating security check of the highest Christian figure in Egypt, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, when he was in the UK, proves the kind of respect that the Egyptian government places on the ancient Egyptian Church and its figures. It is worth mentioning that the H. H Pope Shenouda III is a respected figure for many Egyptian Muslims as well, and scores of of his religious lessons and teachings that promote love, peace and understanding, prove to be popular among several Muslims here.
I wouldn't call those minor groups of the Egyptian Christians abroad traitors, but I would call them misguided. I hope that they would stop disfiguring their country and instead do something to help her like bringing- in funds to finance projects that aim at preserving our culture and heritage, build schools, churches and mosques, create businesses to alleviate unemployment and poverty, the main triggers of extremism and hatred. Also, construct bridges between the West and Egypt to promote civilization and cultural understanding.
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