Five thousand Coptic Christians rallied in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in the Netherlands yesterday in protest of the Kingdom's role in recent sectarian violence in Egypt. The embassy closed its doors and refused to meet with demonstrators who had formed a delegation to meet with the Saudi Ambassador to give him their statement of protest. The statement showed their disapproval of Saudi Arabia's financial aid to Salafis, a fundamental Islamist group blamed to have incited sectarian tensions in Egypt. Another delegation of protesters headed to the Egyptian embassy in Amsterdam. The protesters held placards that read "Where are Salafis, we are Copts", "A Copt's blood is not cheap", and "Pope Shenouda, we support your decision." A statement by the Dutch Coptic Organization distributed in front of the embassy said, "What happened in Imbaba is neither the first nor last incident. The plan to remove Copts has started." The statement also said sectarian assaults against Coptic Christians increased during the regime of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, in which they had occurred as a way of distracting attention from the corruption of the state. The statement further said Coptic Christians hoped the January 25 Revolution would strengthen the principles of citizenship and remove discrimination, brining about national union. They, however, found themselves facing a number of assaults against their churches, property and people. The statement said Egyptian Copts want a new constitution that ensures equality regardless of religion or sex. The statement criticized the insistence on keeping Article 2 of the 1971 Constitution, which defies Egypt as an Islamic state and says the principle source of legislation is Sharia, Islamis Law. The statement said the article goes against the interests of Christians. They demanded removing the article as a way of establishing a civil state.
