CAIRO - The tragic attack on the Al-Qiddissein Church in Alexandria, which claimed 23 lives on Saturday, has forced many Copts to cut back on traditional Christmas features and activities that are to start on Friday, market observers said. Many Copts, who account for 10 per cent of Egypt's total population of 80 million, have cancelled their plans for buying new clothes, meat and sweets to celebrate the one-day feast, which falls on January 7 according to the Middle Eastern calendar. "We've noticed a big slowdown in sales of new clothes and foodstuffs including meat and sweets after the attack. In the last four days, the Copts have refrained from buying these three items for Christmas that usually includes wearing new clothes, elaborate meals and consuming huge amounts of sweets," Lewis Attiya of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce has said. The sales of new ready-to-wear-clothes have fallen by an average of 40 per cent within the past four days, Lewis added. "And what is worse, the outlook for this year's Christmas is not good because the Copts have stopped buying meat, chicken and fish to celebrate the feast," Nasser Ayyoub, a butcher and Chamber member, has said. Nasser said millions of Coptic families nationwide used to buy meat products before the feast, but sales have remarkably fallen after the Alexandria attack. "Because of the tragedy, many Coptic families have cancelled plans to buy meat, or the traditional turkey to celebrate the feast," Nasser said. The Copts have lost their appetite for buying sweets and pastries in solidarity with the family members of their co-religionists who had fallen victims after the attack, Haj Ahmed el-Aabd, the owner of a well-known shop in Alexandria, said. "We have cut the production of the traditional Christmas sweets, chocolates and cookies because of very low demand by our Coptic customers," el-Aabd said. Meanwhile, the workers of a famous supermarket said that the attack was having a significant impact on sales especially in the dairy and processed meat sectors. "Over the past four days, milk and cheese sales have remained the same though we expected them to rise after the Copts break their 45-day fast, which ends on Thursday night. However, because of the current crisis the situation is the same as in many other sectors of the supermarket," a shop assistant, who asked not to be identified, said. The effect of the bombing on the supermarket's sales has been felt, especially on the Christmas decorations and confetti section, he said. "The decoration and confetti section was among the most severely affected as the Copts have cancelled any plans to buy Christmas trees or decorations after the Saturday attack," he added.
