Egypt's Copts: Is what’s good for France also good for Egypt?

And this one’s in Egypt…

In the aftermath of France’s feu des voitures, many observers have noted (quite correctly) that the violence follows decades of neglect, limited economic integration, and social exclusion. But while most of the attention has been focused on Europe, a parallel universe has existed in Egypt for decades, where Coptic Christians number about 10% of Egypt’s 77 million people.

In late October, three were killed after thousands of Muslims demonstrated against Copts in the northern city of Alexandria. In this case, not only was it the majority protesting against the minority, but the reason was the offense taken by the (reportedly inadvertent) release of a video of a Coptic play depicting a Christian converting to Islam (under pressure from extremists) and then abandoning it.

“Copts would never tolerate anyone insulting Islam,” said Coptic Bishop Armia after the incident. The Egyptian government called the protesters “fanatic elements” who “escalated a negative reaction to a play.” Others speculated that the videos were intended to spark protests by Muslims against a Copt running with Egypt’s ruling NDP in this week’s parliamentary elections (he stepped down to defuse tensions).

To be fair, the vast majority of Egyptians have generally good relations with Copts, who have also had their share of (sometimes violent) protests. And like France, Egypt’s top Muslim leaders stepped in to ease tensions. But it is also true that many of the grievances noted by French Muslims are also shared by Egypt’s Coptic Christians.

In the early 20th century, when Copts and Muslims worked together to end British occupation, Copts constituted a proportional 10% of parliament. “Now it’s almost zero percent,” says Coptic writer Milad Hanna. “The texture of society and culture has changed. The government would like to have candidates from the Muslim community because they are the majority and they are the leaders.”

In Egypt’s parliamentary elections Wednesday, the Muslim Brotherhood were expected to triple its numbers, though they could only run as independents (and say they would protect Christians). Other demands made by Copts include equal access to public funding, government appointments, and the right to freely express their language and culture (sacrebleu!), though overt prejudice is hard to find. “I never felt discriminated against here. There was no hint of this kind of sectarian violence in Alexandria,” said Girguis Kamel, a Coptic pharmacist. “Why, then, won’t the church apologise and hold those responsible to account?”

But regardless of the grievances, violence has its own raison d’etre, stemming often in Muslim communities from a purported right to be free from offense (see Rushdie, Salman), and not necessarily from disenfranchisement. New threats have since been made by extremists and a nun has also been stabbed in the aftermath. Ultimately, if a state can be judged on the well being of all its citizens, then Muslim majority populations, as in Egypt, will have to consider the weight of their credibility when Muslim minorities are threatened elsewhere.

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com. He is based in London, England.