Copts at risk

With the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power, the fate of Egypt’s non-Muslim minorities, especially the substantial Coptic minority, is uncertain. This week the Institute of World Politics discussed “The Rise of Islamists: The Challenges to Egypt’s Copts.”  Samuel Tadros and Nina Shea discussed discrimination against Copts in pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary Egypt as well as the future perils, as manifested by the experiences of other religious minorities in the region.

Samuel Tadros, Research Fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom of the Hudson Institute, is an Egyptian Copt.  He focused on the situation within Egypt, where in the Mubarak era the interaction of four factors ensured discrimination against Copts:

  1. the Egyptian state, while claiming to protect minorities, treated the Copts as a collective rather than as equal citizens;
  2. the Islamists viewed Copts as a challenge to Egyptian identity;
  3. the Egyptian religious establishment;
  4. society at large.

Post-revolution, exclusion from positions of authority in the police, the army, and intelligence service has continued.  New factors include collapse of the state, which has removed constraints on anti-Copt behavior, the rise of emboldened Islamists, the filing in court of blasphemy cases, and an increase in attacks on Christians. The country’s new constitution, with its many loopholes and Sharia-based limitations to freedoms, will make religious minorities worse off than before. Tadros concluded his discussion:

It is not Christians as individuals who are being attacked. It is any manifestation of Christianity.

Nina Shea, Director of the Center for Religious Freedom of the Hudson Institute, focused her attention on discrimination against religious minorities and sectarian-related violence in the region.  The situation is not just a human rights issue but also a security issue. The Islamists could pose additional security threats to the region if members of Al Qaeda find a place among radical Salafis.  Shea also said:

If Copts disappear, the region will be Islamized for the first time in history.

In her view, it is the responsibility of the US government to ensure the well-being of religious minorities.  It should halt its military aid to Egypt until it can ensure that no massacres like the Maspero killing of Christian protestors by the military forces in 2011 will occur again.  Shea thought there might be systematic violence against the Copts, suggesting that another Iraq may develop in Egypt and that the Copts might even “disappear.”  Any sectarian strife in Egypt would destabilize the country and have spill-over effects throughout an already turbulent region. Tadros thought that genocide would not occur but that mass emigration may take place.  A Coptic exodus would undermine pluralism in the Middle East.

It went unremarked, but is important to note, that the Islamists are not only a threat to the Coptic community.  They also represent a threat to Muslims who have different interpretations of Islam or seek to incorporate Islamic norms with non-Islamic ones. Egypt’s Islamists seek to monopolize the right of interpreting and defining what is and what is not Islamic. Their rise is not only a threat to a certain community or group of Egyptians, but rather to Egyptian identity as developed over more than 7,000 years of history.

Aya Fasih

AYA FASIH Email: Ayaefasih@aucegypt.edu Current Address: 4440 Willard Avenue, Apartment 1012, Chevy Chase, MD 20815. Permanent Address: 21 Merghany Street, Helioplis, Cairo, Egypt. Cell phone: 2023519522 EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts, The American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt. School of International Service, American University (AU), Washington DC. • Major: Political Science • Specializations: Middle East Politics and International Relations. • Minor: Economics • GPA: 3.523 • Expected Date of Graduation: June 2013 • Course work: Special Topics in the Middle East: Islamic Politics and Thought, Arab Political Thought, International Relations of the Middle East, US Foreign Policy towards the Middle East, Protest and Change in the Middle East, Comparative Politics of the Middle East, Israeli Politics and Society, United States Foreign Policy, Political Economy, International Relations, Foreign Policies of the Major Powers, Human Rights, Global Politics in the Twentieth Century, Comparative Politics, Economic Development, Microeconomic Theory, Macroeconomic Theory, Labor Economics and Public Finance, International Organizations. International Baccalaureate Diploma and American Diploma, The American International School in Egypt, 2009 AWARDS • The American International School Award for International Baccalaureate Higher Level Economics of 2009 • Dean’s List of Honors, AUC Egypt. WORK EXPERIENCE Research Assistant, Middle East Institute, Washington D.C., USA. January 2013-Present. • Researched in collaboration with John Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Professor Dr. Daniel Serwer. • Edited and wrote for www.peacefare.net. • Reported on Middle East-related events in Washington D.C. Research Intern, Habitat International Coalition, Cairo, Egypt. February-May 2012. • Conducted extensive research on informal housing in the Greater Cairo Region (GCR). • Gathered data on the Egyptian government’s violations of land and housing rights in the GCR. • Conducted field research on the living conditions in Batn Al Baar through surveying the inhabitants of the slum area. Gathered information on the conditions of the infrastructure in Batn Al Baar trough contacting non-governmental organizations that work in the area and local inhabitants. • Presented a report assessing the current material and nonmaterial living conditions of the inhabitants. The report provided a set of recommendations on potential projects that HIC should initiate in the area. Research Intern, New America Foundation—Middle East Initiative, Washington D.C., USA. October-December 2011. • Researched current events in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Libya, and Palestine-Israel. • Reported information in articles and blogs posted on the Middle East Channel. • Followed and reported any decisions taken by the White House, Congress, and the foreign ministries of the USA and EU countries regarding the developments in the Middle East. Researcher, Corporate Social Responsibility Project by Marketeers Firm for the UNICEF, Cairo, Egypt. June-August 2011. • Conducted market research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), initiatives in Egypt. • Contacted and gathered data from top executives in more than 30 firms and banks including Proctor and Gamble, Orascom Telecommunications, Pfizer, Henkel, FedEX, Duravit, CitiBank, CIB, and HSBC. • Analyzed the data and presented the results in an extensive report that was submitted to the UNICEF Egypt office. Assistant Correspondent, Fox News, Cairo, Egypt. January-February 2011. • Summarized and translated key articles in Egyptian state-owned and opposition newspapers on a daily basis. • Brainstormed and contributed to topics of interviews. • Recommended and Contacted Naguib Sawiris, The Chairman of Orascom Telecommunications, for an interview to discuss the impact of the Tahrir protests on the Egyptian economy and how the accomplishment of a democratic environment might impact the business prospects and Egyptian economy. • Recommended and Contacted Dr. Kamal Abouelmagd, An Egyptian Lawyer, Islamic Thinker and member of the “Council of the Wise”, for an interview on the constitutional amendments and the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian politics post-Mubarak’s regime. • Contacted a member of the “Youth of Egypt” for an interview. Research Assistant, Tunrkey Group Interiors (TKG), Cairo, Egypt. June-September 2010. • Researched existing projects, and development initiatives in the Greater Cairo Region in the field of Low-Income Housing. • Wrote reports on the Market of Low-Income Housing in Egypt. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Editor and Senior Writer, AUC Times, AUC Egypt. February 2012-Present. • Edited articles published under the English Department of publication. • Wrote “Where Do We Go Now?”, “A Divided Muslim Brotherhood in Post-Revolution Egypt”, “Orientalizing the Arab Revolutions”, “Egypt’s Emerging Non-Islamist Parties: Ambiguities, Alliances, and Hope”, and “Post-Revolutionary Al-Azhar.” Campaigner, Abolfotoh Presidential Campaign 2012, Cairo, Egypt. April-June 2012. • Campaigned for the presidential candidate in the Heliopolis district of Cairo. Helped organize events in the district for the candidate. • Cooperated with Shayfenkom and Masrena organizations in documenting illegal acts during election dates. Organizer, Gessoor, Cairo, Egypt. January-March 2011. • Co-organized Cairo’s first town-hall meeting on February 20 2011. • Developed a platform for the interchange of ideas of Egyptian youth on reconstructing Egyptian society and economy in the post-revolution period. • Provided an unbiased medium of idea-exchange comprised of representatives of the opposition groups and parties, and non-governmental organizations. • Contacted the founder of the Egyptian Movement for Change, George Ishak, to be a member of Gessoor’s panel. COMPUTER AND LINGUISTIC ABILITIES • Fluent in both spoken and written English. • Fluent in both spoken and written Arabic. • Proficient use of Microsoft Office, Excel and excellent in Internet research. PERSONAL DATA • Date of Birth: September 11, 1991. • Place of Birth: Cairo, Egypt.

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