CAIRO: Christian girls have been forced to wear a veil covering their hair at a number of schools in Egypt's Minya province, south of Cairo, local newspapers reported this past week. Although it is difficult to verify the reports, with schools' officials denying “discrimination” in short statements to Bikyamasr.com, Egyptian journalists and observers say they are not surprised by the reports. “In upper Egypt and in rural areas, this sort of thing has been often reported, but it is so difficult to get behind because the administration will simply deny the situation and the girls will return to school,” said one Egyptian freelance reporter, who asked not to be named as they often travel to the city to report from. “I don't think this is part of the ‘Islamization' of the country, just conservative views in smaller areas of Egypt. It is still wrong,” the journalist added. According to the reports, at one school in Minya, a 14-year-old girl was barred from entering the school for one week until she complied to the regulation. “Coptic students were forced to obey for fear of the school management's threats,” said Mr. Wagdy Halfa, the attorney for the girl, “except for 14-year-old Ferial Sorial Habib, whose family refused this decision because it is inconsistent with religious freedom and a blatant Islamization of education.” The comments were made to the AINA news agency, an often virulent anti-Islamic website that has been known to misrepresent the facts on the ground. “It is frustrating to see them write in this way because it misses the point of the story,” said Coptic Christian Farid Zaky, a 32-year-old marketing executive in Cairo. “They might be right about the story, but the commentary they add in defeats the purpose and is often violent in nature, blaming Muslims for everything that is wrong in Egypt.” AINA reported that Halfa said the school administration of Shaikh Fadl Secondary School, a public school in Bani Mazar, had sent a warning to Christian students compelling them to wear a head covering and not to reveal their hair, “otherwise they would be refused entry to school.” Although the story was reported this week, it is unclear if it has been resolved, with a school official at Shaikh Fadl telling Bikyamasr.com “the rules for attending class have not changed and we are unaware of any lawsuit against the school.” Since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak on February 11, intermittent violence and antagonism between Coptic Christians, who make up some 10 percent of Egypt's population, and the Muslim majority have occurred, but for the most part civility has prevailed. BM
