رئيس مجلس حقوق الأنسان

د. صبرى فوزى جوهرة

06 يونيو 2005	صفحة كُتاب الأقباط متحدون	info@copts-united.com


The Egyptian political summer is getting hotter. Most observers think that major events are going to take place during the coming few months. The regime is taittering and the opposition is crystallizing.

The regime now is a chimera of an old demented person hurling insults and threats on its opponents, but knows that he is so weak that he can not carry on his threats. The other part of the chimera is a rabid unleashed dog running around attacking whoever it runs across!

Such behavior will obviously stir up more motion in the previously long stagnant Egyptian political arena. Dormant and nascent figures are erupting and waking up from deep coma, and shaping up to be an increasingly vocal and active opposition. The most active and vocal being the Moslem Brothers. They were prepared for the fact that sooner or later the current regime will falter and fall. Long ago, they continued to position themselves so that they become the de facto heirs and automatic replacement of the regime when it falls. They infiltrated about every aspect of the social and political life in the country and established alliances with the police state security forces when it came to persecuting the Copts and harassing them. I am also almost certain that they have implanted agents in the army as well. The proof is the Sadat assassination.

The Brotherhood activism is extending to the "intellectual" circles as well. The news from Cairo reported that a meeting of "intellectuals" took place, to issue a sort of declaration calling for radical changes in the Egyptian political life. This meeting included symbols of Moslem fanaticism such as Selim El 3awwa and Tareq Al Beshri. Any recommendations or declarations emanating from such a gathering will have as the first, and perhaps the only, purpose the grab of power and ruling the country eventually as a theocracy. This is regardless of what the Islamists say. It is impossible for them to shed off their old skin. This is simply so because their experience in the field of politics is nothing but the adoption of violence and terror against their opponents. They have never been known to distinguish themselves as negotiators, legislators, or executives. The only political experience they have is that of violence against their opponents.

And in case anyone has doubts about their intentions and means, and think that they really had a change of heart, let us remember what the Moslem Brothers Guide (fuhrer) have declared recently when he openly threatened and warned the government that the Brotherhood could resort to violence and terror again in response to the stupid and shameful government behavior during the "Black Wednesday" when government thugs physically and sexually assaulted and groped female demonstrators in the streets of Cairo. While we are all disgusted and resentful of the government boys indecency and lack of honor, I do not believe that wise man or woman thinks that wanton killings and bombings by the Moslem Brothers would heal the wounds created by such cowardly offence. The Moslem Brothers still believe in violence despite their sweet talk about conforming to democratic standards. Violence is the only language they speak. Nothing new about this.

Politicians, or want to be politicians, representing the right, left, and the center are also moving and voicing their demands, some even drawing the broad outlines of how they think Egypt should be ruled in the future. One missing group is the Copts.

While they share with the non-Coptic Egyptians all of their grievances, the Copts are a special case. This is because of the marginalization and the persecution that they have endured for the last 53 years. The Copts should list their grievances, spell them clearly and make them publicly known. A Coptic Manifesto is urgently needed. More important than the declaration itself and the way it is proclaimed, is to find the political channel that is willing to adopt the Coptic demands and include them it as an integral component of any real reform.

It is said that one the reason the soldier's coup marginalized the Copts was that they did not participate in their conspiracy. The Copts were right then. Throughout their history, they never felt comfortable participating in clandestine activities and conspiracies. Their sense has always been that they should do everything in the open. Looking back at their lack of participation in the July 23, 1952 catastrophe, they fortunately kept themselves clear from the responsibility of the failure and regression that characterized the last half a century of the Egyptian history. The Copts most definitely paid a high price for their lack of participation in this failed episode, but I believe that it was worthy for them to pay such a price. No one can blame them for the mess that is Egypt today.

The situation in the summer of 2005 is much different. There are no brewing conspiracies. There is a universal and declared determination among all the Egyptians to implement overdue serious and true reforms. However, there are already plans to steal this initiative and convert the country into an Islamic theocracy, Perhaps the only worse outcome than the current offensive state. Today, the Copts should declare their strong opposition to the continued Islamization of Egypt. After all, there is a very sizeable Christian presence in the country, in addition there are many Moslems who know better than accepting such a regression. The Copts, as well as all the liberal forces in Egypt, should do all what they can peacefully do to abort any attempt at converting Egypt into another Iran. The tide of history, and the expectation and the support of the rest of the civilized world are behind them.

The Copts have to get their act together, shed off their fear and passivity, and join the other secular and liberal forces in the country, thereby lending them and themselves strength, and carrying on the duty of pulling Egypt out of the current rut. Openly supporting a political party that adopts their reform demands and expectations is the least and first step they can take to exert their political weight in the future. Minorities in real democracies are known to be the king makers if they know how to play their cards right.

The Copts obviously should be the first to oppose a religiously based political party. They are unanimous in their refusal of such an entity. They should consolidate themselves as a big voting block and declare their unabashed support for the party that sincerely believes in their cause and promises to adopt it.
I believe that such a political party already exists. At the expense of repeating myself, I urge every Copt to look at what the newly formed "Masr Al Omm" party is offering for Egypt and her Copts.

And since we all know that the Copts do not have a political organization, it is the responsibility of the educated laity among them to lead a campaign to urge the passive, the scared, and the ignorant to get out of their hiding, unite as one voting block, declare their demands, refuse religious parties, insist on a totally and genuinely secular state, join a political party that promises to promote their cause and demands, and hold this party to its promise.

The time to carry on this grave responsibility is very short, but we may be living at a time when we can correct mistakes committed by our forefathers over the last fourteen centuries. Such chances do not present themselves every day. If we fail to act now there will be no one else to blame but ourselves.