A man should avoid extremism and always think about other people. Thus, I decided to imagine what would I feel if I were a Coptic and hear about shooting 6 people dead in Nag Hammadi on Christmas eve, just for being Christians. This attack that is described as hate crime.
The state announces that the Constitution and law deal equally with Egyptians, but Copts don’t enjoy freedom of worship and the religion mentioned on the Egyptian national ID is clear reason for such discrimination. Media is also increasing such discrimination by supporting religious identity of Egypt and mix it with politics.
In my book, the revolution of woman, I said that our problem is not in the law, but in how community sees them and the general atmosphere. Extremism works against citizenship and takes away equal citizenship from Coptic Christians. Some religious scholars encourage their followers to avoid dealing with Christians as infidels or unbelievers!
The statements of the national football team coach Hassan Shehata in which he stated that adherence to the Islamic religion is a basic criterion for playing in the Egyptian national team! It is true that he retracted this statement and confirmed that they were misunderstood, but indeed they reveal the real situation.
The criminals who commit such sectarian incidents don’t represent the majority of Muslims, but they do reflect such rotten atmosphere that I mentioned earlier.
I believe that some Coptic activists are trading on the Coptic issue and may offend the case as well as the Copts who decided to stay in Egypt. The Copts who live in Egypt may have heard some people calling them infidels whom shall go to hell, but they love Egypt above all and are willing to sacrifice their souls for their beloved country. This article was published in Al-Ahram and was republished by Ibrahim Saadah in Akhbar Al-Youm, saying I was hoping that I was the author of this article.
