CAIRO: Egyptian satellite company Nilesat recently approved the launch of three Coptic television channels amid fears by right groups that extremist waves will gain ground in space. Aghaby, which represents the Egyptian Orthodox Church, started broadcasting last Wednesday. The two other channels are Al-Malakoot, representing the Evangelical Church, and CTV which is owned by deputy director of the Coptic Orthodox Community Council Tharwat Bassily. Approving the broadcast of Coptic channels through the Nilesat will have a huge effect on delivering religious messages to a larger group of Copts, Bassily told Daily News Egypt in a phone interview from Chicago, adding that current broadcast on HotBird, another satellite, will continue in order to reach the maximum number of viewers. The channels say they aim to spread religious teachings to Copts both inside and outside Egypt, and to reinforce virtues advocated by Christianity such as love and forgiveness. The decision spurred controversy among rights advocates who fear that religious channels, both Muslim and Christian, can become powerful tools that add fuel to the fire that already exists among religious sects in Egypt. Mamdouh Ramzy, a Coptic lawyer, views the approval as the government correcting its stance, an opportunity to spread Coptic history and culture which he says has been neglected in the media, history books and text books. There is no medium for spreading the Coptic culture in the Egyptian media, which constitutes a huge part of Egyptian history, said Ramzy, who is hopeful that the new channels will act as educational tools and give Copts a chance to share their history and cultural background. According to Gamal Eid, director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, the decision to broadcast the channels is an economic one. The approval of broadcasting Coptic channels does not signify that the government has changed its position with regards to the Coptic minority. It is a purely economic one; wealthy Coptic investors could have gone to any other satellite company for broadcast. Besides, the Egyptian company clearly wants to make profit, he said. It is the right of every religious group to have a channel that voices their beliefs and opinions. What is scary however is that religious extremists, from both religions, gain control, transforming it into a platform for religious confrontations, he added. Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, warned that religious channels are used for promoting extremism. It all depends on the content being broadcasted; the extent to which it strays away from provocative issues and it adheres to charters of media ethics. If that doesn t happen, those channels will be used as tools to flame sectarian tensions.
