Front Page
Politics
Economy
International
Sports
Society
Culture
Videos
Newspapers
Ahram Online
Al-Ahram Weekly
Albawaba
Almasry Alyoum
Amwal Al Ghad
Arab News Agency
Bikya Masr
Daily News Egypt
FilGoal
The Egyptian Gazette
Youm7
Subject
Author
Region
f
t
مصرس
Finance Minister enhances Primary Dealers system to strengthen government securities market, alleviate debt service burden
Valu Partners with Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation to streamline donations for New Cairo centre
Australia retail sales inch up 0.1% in April
UK retail sales rebound in May – CBI survey
ECB should favour QE in Crisis – Schnabel
Kremlin accuses NATO of direct involvement in Ukraine conflict as fighting intensifies
SCZONE aims to attract more Korean companies in targeted industrial sectors: Chairperson
30.2% increase in foreign workers licensed in Egypt's private, investment sectors in 2023: CAPMAS
Cairo investigates murder of Egyptian security personnel on Rafah border: Military spox
Al-Sisi receives delegation from US Congress
Madinaty's inaugural Skydiving event boosts sports tourism appeal
Russia to build Uzbek nuclear plant, the first in Central Asia
Arab leaders to attend China-Arab States Co-operation Forum in Beijin
East Asian leaders pledge trade co-operation
Abdel Ghaffar highlights health crisis in Gaza during Arab meeting in Geneva
Tunisia's President Saied reshuffles cabinet amidst political tension
Hassan Allam Construction Saudi signs contract for Primary Coral Nursery in NEOM
US Embassy in Cairo brings world-famous Harlem Globetrotters to Egypt
Instagram Celebrates African Women in 'Made by Africa, Loved by the World' 2024 Campaign
US Biogen agrees to acquire HI-Bio for $1.8b
Egypt to build 58 hospitals by '25
Giza Pyramids host Egypt's leg of global 'One Run' half-marathon
Madinaty to host "Fly Over Madinaty" skydiving event
Coppola's 'Megalopolis': A 40-Year Dream Unveiled at Cannes
World Bank assesses Cairo's major waste management project
Egyptian consortium nears completion of Tanzania's Julius Nyerere hydropower project
Sweilam highlights Egypt's water needs, cooperation efforts during Baghdad Conference
Swiss freeze on Russian assets dwindles to $6.36b in '23
Egyptian public, private sectors off on Apr 25 marking Sinai Liberation
Debt swaps could unlock $100b for climate action
Amal Al Ghad Magazine congratulates President Sisi on new office term
Financial literacy becomes extremely important – EGX official
Euro area annual inflation up to 2.9% – Eurostat
BYD، Brazil's Sigma Lithium JV likely
UNESCO celebrates World Arabic Language Day
Motaz Azaiza mural in Manchester tribute to Palestinian journalists
Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban
It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game
Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights
Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines
Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19
Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers
Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled
We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga
Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June
Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds
Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go
Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform
Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.
OK
Unprecedented show of Coptic anger
Nadia Abou El Magd
Published in
Al-Ahram Weekly
on 21 - 06 - 2001
Thousands of Copts, for the first time ever, have staged angry protest demonstrations at the Coptic Cathedral in Abbasiya, disrupting traffic for three consecutive days. Nadia Abou El-Magd was there
Hundreds of anti-riot police cordoned off the Abbasiya Cathedral on Tuesday for the third day in a row as thousands of furious Copts assembled inside the building, chanting angry slogans.
The protests began on Sunday night when thousands of Coptic demonstrators took to the street, some hurling stones at shops in the neighbourhood of the cathedral and later at police who arrived at the scene. At least six policemen, including three officers, and some protesters, were injured on Sunday. There were no reports of any arrests. At least three ambulances and a few fire engines were stationed outside the cathedral.
The unprecedented demonstrations came as a reaction to three pages of text and pictures of a defrocked monk having sex with women at what Al-Nabaa weekly claimed on Sunday to be Deir Al- Muharraq monastery, near the southern city of Assiut. The monastery, which was built in the 4th century, is revered by Copts, who believe it was one of the sites visited by Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus during the Holy Family's flight to
Egypt
.
Brandishing large wooden crosses and pictures of Mary and Jesus, the crowds chanted: "With our blood and soul we sacrifice ourselves for the cross!" and "We are not afraid, we are the sons of saints!"
About 1,000 people staged protests at Deir Al-Muharraq monastery on Monday morning.
Despite Pope Shenouda's pleas for Copts to remain calm, protesters were still gathering in Abbasiya Cathedral until Tuesday evening.
Some protesters tore up copies of Al- Nabaa newspaper.
"This is part of an ongoing campaign to defame the church," shouted Salib Abdel-Malak, a 21-year-old student. "What do they want from us and from our church?"
Abdel-Malak cited incidents of sectarian strife in the southern village of El- Kosheh at the dawn of last year, in which 21 people were killed, 20 of them Copts. He also complained about Awan El-Ward (Time of Roses), a controversial television series about an inter-marriage between a Christian woman and a Muslim, which was screened in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Many protesters were puzzled that the pictures found their way to the press. They were also shocked by the indecency of the photographs and language of the article, which failed to mention that the monk had been ex-communicated.
"We have no voice. If our government doesn't protect us, who will?" screamed an angry woman.
"When the honour of our religion is violated, and when our most revered monastery is portrayed as drenched in sin, this sort of reaction is even less than was to be expected," Bishop Youaness, an aide to the Pope, told the Weekly. Youaness was with the protesters at the Cathedral. A young man, screaming and crying, interrupted by saying: "Mahran (Al-Nabaa's chief editor) should be executed."
Milad Hanna, a renowned Coptic intellectual and the author of several books on the Copts, said that what happened was an individual and exceptional case and not a general phenomenon. "Copts shouldn't be so angry," he said.
Samir Morcos, an expert on Coptic affairs, said that the Copts' reaction was "an unusual and novel phenomenon, which will impact, for a while, the sensitive Muslim-Christian relations." According to Morcos, such protests were the first to be staged by Copts in their history. "Throughout history, the Church has been the Copts' safe haven at times of tension and pressure. This time the unexpected stab targeted and defamed the church itself. This is the message that hurt Copts, even the secularists among them," he argued.
Morcos said the timing was also bad because, since the El-Kosheh incident, relations between Muslims and Christians have been less strained, with both sides addressing sectarian issues openly and frankly. "Thanks to the government's speedy and decisive action, and judging by previous experience, this affair will be soon behind us," he said.
Recommend this page
Related stories:
We are all shaken
Tabloid's outrageous toll
The cold shoulder 29 March - 4 April 2001
Al-Kosheh rioters released 14 - 20 December 2000
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor
Clic
here
to read the story from its source.
Related stories
Going for the roots
'We were all shaken'
42 security members injured, minister attacked in Cathedral protest
Anger and solidarity
Tuesday''s papers: Copts continue nationwide protest amid calls for national unity
Report inappropriate advertisement