CAIRO: “We used to trust the SCAF to an extent, but not anymore,” Amira Ramzy, a Coptic student at Helwan University, told me. The first thought that struck Amira's mind when she heard of the clashes in Maspero was to turn on the TV to see if the media had changed its ways of misleading the people. “Unfortunately, state media has become worse than it was under Mubarak,” she said. So, disappointed with the “misinformation” she was receiving, she decided to go to the Coptic Hospital on Sunday at around 9:00 AM to see the extent of the damage for herself. Amira and her family got to the hospital, but the tension around it forced them to go back to their house – but not before they witnessed a horrifying incident. “There was a mob running after a girl, but thankfully an older man on a motorcycle saved her life. The mob was shouting, ‘She's Christian!'” Amira said, adding that she blames the entire situation on the Military Council for “giving orders to the media to report falsified information and turn people against each other.” “This is not a Coptic issue – this is a humanitarian issue,” added Amira, her eyes were now filled with tears. She added that the reason she says this is that there are Christians in the army as well the fact there were Muslims marching in support on Sunday when the deadly clashes took place. On the opposite bench sat Shaimaa Khairy, who listened to my conversation with Amira quite closely, perhaps wanting to join. Shaimaa later told me that she was very upset when she heard the army was being attacked. “The army is there to protect us, we should let them do their job,” she said. Shaimaa believes protests and sit-ins are harming Egypt, “dialogue is a lot more efficient!” she told me, adding that despite her view of protests, she sympathizes with Sunday's victims because “humans are humans regardless of their religion.” The 21-year-old veiled university student watches state TV on a regular basis, but doesn't trust everything she hears. On the other hand, 47-year-old Magda Ramadan who works as a cleaner and has three children is so busy with work that she hadn't actually heard of the clashes. “I'm usually too tired when I finish work, so I sleep,” she said, with a big smile on her face. She told me that she generally has no problems or a reason to keep up with politics. “I didn't care when I heard Mubarak stepped down. I just want to live in peace with my family, and as long as my kids and I have jobs, we are very thankful to God and happy with our lives,” Magda said, making me consider for a moment how happy I'd be as well if I didn't know what was going in the country. For all reports on the military attack on protesters October 10 BM
