http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1047/fr1.htm
12 - 18 May 2011
Issue No. 1047
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
Sectarianism rears its ugly face
Anger and anxiety have spread across the country following fierce sectarian
clashes in Imbaba that claimed 15 lives, Amira Howeidy reports
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Click to view caption
A Coptic Christian inspects a mosaic inside Mar Mina church which was set
on fire during clashes in the Imbaba neighbourhood on Saturday
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Restoration of the Virgin Mary Church in Imbaba, the lower class district north
of Cairo, which was looted and burnt in the late hours of Saturday 7 May by a
mob of angry Muslims, is expected to begin soon, according to officials. The
strong smell of charred wood that originally covered the walls, ceiling and
floor of the church before they were set ablaze will continue to fill the
church until it is replaced, the church freshly painted and floored. Renovation
is expected to take several weeks or more. But nobody can predict the amount of
time it will take for the emotional, political and sectarian damage done by the
church attack to heal.
Fifteen people were killed and approximately 240 injured in sectarian clashes
that erupted on Saturday afternoon after a group of Muslims attempted to enter
Mar Mina Church in Imbaba's Luxor Street in search of a Christian woman who
converted to Islam and was believed to be held captive there. The church
rejected the accusation, but the woman's alleged Muslim husband insisted. The
situation escalated quickly and a violent skirmish followed when some Copts
started shooting at the crowd, which retaliated. Six Muslims and six Copts were
killed right there as an exchange of fire, Molotov cocktails and rocks
terrorised the area in scenes that resembled a civil war, another three died in
hospital. It's unclear why, after it was almost over, a group of Muslims then
decided to march to another church -- the Virgin Mary -- that is a few
kilometres away to burn.
Muslim and Coptic eyewitnesses in Imbaba who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly said the
police and army were notified of the clashes as they were breaking out, but the
police only showed up after the first church was attacked. They insisted that
the two kilometre march from Mar Mina to the Virgin Mary, where a crowd of
angry Muslims, some bearded, some dubbed "Salafi", and "many thugs" carrying
knives, guns and Molotov cocktails, passed uninterrupted by the military police.
Details of the investigations that emerged through the week pointed an
accusatory finger at "remnants" of the former ruling National Democratic Party
(NDP) for provoking the violence. The Interior Ministry said it arrested the
"mastermind" behind the violence, without naming him. Prosecutors said that the
man who alleged to be the convert's husband was arrested together with a Coptic
businessman, a member of the NDP with a "record" in inciting sectarianism, and
who started the shooting.
Some 190 people were arrested Saturday evening, according to a statement issued
by the Higher Council of the Armed Forces in the early hours of Sunday. The
statement said all 190 would be referred to military courts. But on Monday, a
government spokesman said only 26 would be tried before a state security
(civilian) court. On Tuesday, prosecutors said that 23 more were arrested in
connection with the clashes. In the same vein, the Interior Ministry said it
arrested 10 "Salafis" for uploading video clips online that incited attacks on
churches. Salafist groups embrace a literal understanding of Islam.
The attacks triggered shockwaves across the nation, as the spectre of wider
sectarian escalation loomed large. A group of 15 human rights groups went as
far as suggesting that Egypt could be at the brink of "civil war" in a
statement issued Monday.
In Imbaba -- one of the most densely populated areas in Egypt with a history of
sectarian conflict -- anti-Muslim sentiments ran high. "Did we ever attack a
mosque?" screamed a young man who was standing in a crowd of angry Copts in
front of the Virgin Mary Church on Sunday morning. "We don't resort to
violence, because it's against our religion," he added.
Inside the Virgin Mary Church, a late morning service in the third floor was
proceeding in silence, interrupted only by occasional sobbing. A pool of water
from the previous night's attempts to extinguish the fire covered the entire
ground floor, which was completely torched. It was there that the body of the
church's guard, Salah, 38, who was reportedly shot in the shoulder, was found.
"It was scorched," the church's priest, Metias Elias, told the Weekly.
The dual attacks of Saturday are set against a backdrop of recent sectarian
violence in the country. In March, a church in the village of Sol in south
Cairo was completely destroyed following a dispute between a Coptic and Muslim
family because of a romantic affair between a man and a woman from the two
sides. It was followed by angry rioting in east Cairo that left 13 Copts and
Muslims dead and 140 injured. Although the two incidents had no connection to
them, the events fed growing fears of the rise of Salafi groups who were
persecuted under Mubarak's regime and now -- in post-revolution Egypt -- enjoy
unprecedented freedoms.
These fears were exacerbated after Salafis held a large demonstration two weeks
ago in front of the Coptic Cathedral to demand that the release of a Christian
woman -- Camilia Shehata -- they believe converted to Islam but was held
captive by the church against her will.
Ironically, when Camilia finally decided to make her first TV appearance, she
did so Saturday on a Christian channel, denying that she converted to Islam. A
few hours later, the violence in Imbaba ensued in search for Abeer, another
convert "sister". The crowd that gathered in front of the Virgin Mary Church
after the attacks was deeply sceptical, dismissing her existence as "a myth"
and excuse to attack Copts. They were equally suspicious of the ruling military
council's "intentions".
"They never brought the culprits of the March attacks on Copts to justice,"
Said Abdu El-Adawi, a carpet shopkeeper, told the Weekly. "How can we trust
them?"
His sentiments seem to reflect the general mood within the Coptic community and
also a growing fear among Muslims as well. The statement issued by 15 rights
groups on Monday accused the authorities of laxity and blamed the security
apparatus's indifference for the violence. Several op-eds took it further,
calling on the army to impose martial law, refer civilians to military trials,
and extend an "iron fist". The sentiment has been promoted by the volatile
security situation since the revolution: thug attacks on hospitals were
reported in April in addition to recurring attacks on police stations to free
convicts.
But it turns out Abeer Talaat exists. The 25- year-old woman from Upper Egypt
was interviewed by Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya website Monday. She was quoted as
saying that she was indeed held captive in Mar Mina Church after she converted
to Islam last year to escape her husband's abuses. In this interview, and in a
series of phone interviews with evening talk shows on Monday and Tuesday, Abeer
said her family handed her over to the church in early March to persuade her to
return to Christianity. She handed herself over to the military on Tuesday
evening. Despite the revelations that came with Abeer's interviews, which
implicate the church, her story now appears irrelevant.
"It doesn't justify the attack on the churches, nor the loss of life," Nasser
Amin, a member of a fact-finding mission for Imbaba formed by the National
Council for Human Rights, told the Weekly. "What happened on Saturday is
tantamount to a war crime," he added.
Diaa Rashwan, a prominent researcher on Islamic movements and another member of
the fact-finding committee, said Egypt's economy is reeling from the overall
state of lawlessness. "Egypt lost $7 billion Bahrain was going to give us when
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf cancelled a scheduled visit earlier this week to
attend to the sectarian violence," said Rashwan.
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