Several writers continued to comment on sectarian attacks on Copts, which took place last week in Minya in their op-eds on Wednesday. In state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, Gamal Zaida advanced the principles of citizenship, which characterises modern states as opposed to pre-modern states, which use religion to maintain power. The writer blamed the issue on a flawed religious discourse on both Muslim and Christian sides. On the same topic, Samir Morkos in the private Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper opinionated that there was a setback in treating religious tensions. Morkos stated that despite President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's serious will to approach the problem, political and civil efforts are hindered and unable to truly evaluate the situation on the ground, which results in unofficial customary reconciliation and lack of law enforcement. Al-Masry Al-Youm's Newton wrote that the issue was not sectarian because such crimes have nothing to do with religion, but rather the "beast", which takes over humans, which should be faced by law enforcement and "merciless" punishment. Meanwhile, Osama Al-Ghazaly Harb wrote in Al-Ahram about US President Donald Trump's "slaps" in the face of Arabs and the Palestinian cause throughout the past months. Harb argued that Trump is not punishing the Palestinian people for attempting to hold Israel accountable to the International Criminal Court, as much as he is trying to pressure them to make the deal of the century. At the same time, Arabs remain silent, according to the writer. As for the newspaper's Ahmed Abdel Tawab, the upcoming US mid-term congressional elections will determine whether Trump will be isolated and tried for his "radical" policies or whether he will be able to go through with them under the slogan of "American interests first," even if they bypass international legitimacy. On a different topic, Al-Ahram's Morsi Atallah praised President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi for conducting different field visits and staying in touch with his people on the ground arguing that the message being sent is that work is the only way to success and that this should be the approach focused on in the media. On the other hand, Akram Al-Qassas in the private Al-Youm Al-Sabea newspaper warned of what he called "fake trips" referring to field trips conducted by local governors that only aim to give the appearance of their care and close ties to ground people by exaggerated propaganda through social media channels.
