CAIRO: Egypt`s press last week focused on the bombing of a church in Alexandria which killed 23 and injured 100. The press highlighted solidarity movements with the victims and the attendance of the Coptic Christmas mass Thursday night by high-profile persons. Services were held amid protests, silent marches, and hundreds mourning the victims of last week's attack on the Saints Church. In a show of unity and support, Gamal Mubarak, son of Egypt's president and head of the ruling party's Policies Committee, twelve ministers, and prominent intellectuals, politicians, cinema stars, and TV presenters were among those who attended the Christmas mass led by the Partiarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III. The service was held in Egypt's largest patriarchate, located in Abbasiyya, a district of Cairo. The event was aired live on several Egyptian television channels under a special title, ‘The Egyptians,' and featured interviews with prominent figures, all of whom spoke of the importance of national unity in Egypt. Heavy security surrounded the mass, which was attended by many high-profile figures in addition to Gamal Mubarak and his brother. Coptic Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali, the president's Chief of Staff Zakaria Azmi, Information Minister Anas El Fiqi, former Minister of Environment Nadia Makram Ebeid, movie stars Adel Imam and Yousra, liberal Wafd party's deputy Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, and members of the prominent Coptic Sawiris family as well as the French and US ambassadors were present. Pope Shenouda thanked President Mubarak, who had called him earlier in the day to console him over the victims of the church bombing and also to offer his greetings for Christmas. Local newspapers also highlighted statements by officials from the Egyptian Government made on Coptic Christmas. Egypt`s Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al –Tayyeb, told the Egyptian Official News Agency MENA that the protection of churches and Jewish synagogues is a duty for Muslims as much as the protection of mosques. He described the New Year's Eve attack as a “cowardly, terrorist” act, adding that a terrorist act is one that targets people indiscriminately and has no clear political objective. He said he will form a joint committee that includes scholars from both Al-Azhar and the Coptic Orthodox Church to focus on the value of tolerance in Islam and Christianity and on eliminating any causes of tension between followers of the two religions. The local press also highlighted statements by European officials regarding the bombing, quoting German Chancellor Angela Merkel as saying, “We are all obliged to advocate religious freedom – just like freedom of opinion, press freedom and other basic freedoms.” Merkel added that Germany will always adhere to those basic freedoms and that people of every faith could practice their religion there. She vowed to advocate internationally that religious freedom can truly be lived. French President Nicolas Sarkozy deplored the attack during his annual New Year's address to religious leaders last Friday, describing the recent wave of violence against Christians in Egypt and Iraq as a “perverse plan of religious cleansing in the Middle East”. He said religious and cultural diversity cannot disappear from the region. His remarks referenced the attack on a Christian church in Baghdad by an al-Qaeda affiliated group last October as well as the recent bombing in Alexandria. Egyptian Newspapers also highlighted statements by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who rejected a “free-for- all” policy to build mosques and churches, referring to increasing demands by Coptic Christian to build more churches. However, he said the government will make sure that there are enough worship places for both Muslims and Christians. The unified places-of-worship draft law was first proposed by the ruling National Democratic Party in 2005 in an effort to regulate the construction of mosques and churches in Egypt, but was never officially passed despite calls by intellectuals and human rights organizations to pass the law as an attempt to reduce sectarian tensions. The current law regulating construction of places of worship conditions the building of churches on Presidential approval. In his weekly column in Al Youm Al Saba`a, Saeed Al Shahat commented on the calls for unity and citizenship following the recent sectarian incidents and the terrorist attacks, saying that citizenship should be achieved away from vulgarity. He said in his article that “citizenship” is a political expression that the Egyptian government continuously resorts to when sectarian tensions break out, and when it tries to address and explain the meaning of it, we get nothing at the end. He said the “sweet words and expressions” used by the media and the government are not genuine because the government fails to translate these words into reality. Muslims and Christians cannot comprehend the meaning of “religion is for God, homeland is for everyone” as long as they do not enjoy good living standard and humane circumstances and as long as they suffer every day of their lives from the widespread corruption and nepotism. Al Shahat added that the right citizenship is the confidence of citizens in the existence of a constitution that governs them, that all be equal before the law, and that the vast majority of Egyptian people are not ruled by a minority accounted for prestige, influence and power. BM
