The First International Coptic Symposium 

A Watershed Event

Perhaps only a few of us are aware of a very important event that took place in Zurich, Switzerland, between September 23 and September 25, 2004. It was the gathering of an international symposium titled "Egyptian Copts: A Minority Under Siege." This important event was largely organized by a very well respected pioneer Diaspora Copt, Mr. Adly Youssef, who lives in Switzerland, and was one of the first Copts to seek emigration from his native land to escape the bleak and oppressive rule of the soldiers.

 A constellation of scholars and human rights defenders participated in this momentous event. It was sponsored by "Christian Solidarity International" (CSI), a coalition for the defense of human rights.

 In addition to the illustrious Mr. Adly Youssef, other participants included such internationally recognized figures as the Reverend Hans Stuckelberger, and Dr. John Eibner, both of the CSI, the Harvard scholar Dr. Daniel Pipes, Dr. Paul Marshall of the Freedom House, USA, Mr. David Littman, the Non Government Organizations Representative at the United Nations, Mr. Nir Boms of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East, USA, the Reverend Dr. Keith Roderick of  the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, Mr. Wilfred Wong of the Jubilee Campaign, UK, Mr. Kurt Johansen of the Christian SAT 7 satellite, broadcasting from Cyprus, Mr.Youssef Sidhom, the editor of the weekly Coptic newspaper "Watani,"  Mr. Michael Munier of the US Copts Association, Mr. Adel Guindy, the Coptic intellectual and writer who lives in France and who has been a long time fighter for the Copts' rights, Mr.Milad Iskander, the President of the American Coptic Association who replaced the irreplaceable the late Dr. Shawky Kara's, an exceptional enlightened Egyptian of great talent, honesty, and courage: Mr. Mohamed Sami El-Behiri and the equally courageous and honest writer Mr. Nabil Sharaf El Deen an Egyptian thinker and writer who participates in the successful and well respected electronic publication "Elaph", as well as Mrs. Nadia Ghali, an activist Australian Copt, Dr. Ibrahim Habib, a UK Copt, Dr. Fouad Ibrahim, a Copt from Germany, and Mr. Medhat Habib, a Swiss Copt.

 Papers were also presented on behalf of such eminent contributors and thinkers as the Tunisian philosopher Lafif Lakhdar who lives in France and is experiencing health problems that prevented him from attending the Symposium, Father Bassily Pigol, a Coptic priest in Germany, the rising star of Coptic journalism, and well respected political thinker Magdy Khalil, and the active journalist Mr. Sameh Fawzy of "Watani." These contributors could not be physically present. Their papers were read by other participants on their behalf.

However, in my humble opinion, the most striking achievement realized by this Symposium other than the unusually high caliber and status of the speakers and participants, was the gathering of Copts from North America, Europe, Egypt, and Australia to speak up in unison. From the same podium, at the same gathering, they made the world aware of the discrimination against the Copts in their native land, and of the dangers to their very existence as an ancient Christian community of native Egyptians, posed by the Islamic pressures and the unwillingness of the Egyptian authorities not only to address the injustices committed against the Copts, but its abject failure to protect them physically and render justice to them when needed. The usual signs of a failing state.

As we all know, several attempts were made in the past to get the different Diaspora Coptic Diaspora activist organizations together without success. This lead our tormentors and distracters to accuse us of not representing the real feelings and aspirations of almost every living Copt, whether he or she voices it or keeps to to himself or herself. They often accuse us of being sham organizations, each made of one or two individuals with a "fax machine." The fact that this symposium achieved the basic and long sought need for unity is perhaps its most important and valuable achievement.

 We should look forward to many "encores" in the future.

 Of course, an event such as this will leave the sclerotic semicomatose authorities in Egypt shaken. They were counting on our splintering, and now they have faced, perhaps for the first time, the beginning of a unified international effort to inform the world of the truth of the discrimination and dangers threatening the most Egyptian of Egyptians in their own land.

The immediate result was the expected: denials of discrimination, and accusations thrown at the activists of dealing with Egypt's enemies; the same old broken record, the usual conspiracy theories that led them to announce at one point that the September 11, 2001, events were the doing of the "Jews" and not criminal Moslem terrorists!

 Notorious sycophants were immediately called upon to act. "Metropolitan" Youhanna Kolta, of the Coptic Catholic Church, was recruited. Those who know of His Grace remember that he is the "scholar" who called the prophet of Islam his "lord", "Allah's Messenger", and heaped upon him lavish words of praise bordering on adoration! A hypocrite of the first order who left even the decent Moslems feeling nauseated by what they perceived as obvious and excessive brown nosing. His Grace surprisingly did not deny that their are problems facing the Copts in their country. He "wisely" advised the Copts to wait. To be patient about getting their rights as first class citizens in their own country. His Grace thinks that there is no need to hasten the abrogation of the Ottoman era laws that restrict church building. He favored waiting for more than the 20 years (presumably the duration of Mobarak's rule) or more that lapsed since the Copts started to ask loudly for their abrogation. Well, may be His Grace can wait, because he does not have an urgent need to build more churches as the rest of the Egyptian Christians do. His Grace perhaps does not have much of a following or congregation to build new churches for. After all, who is the Christian who would want to go to a church whose leading metropolitan writes odes in the praise of the very founder of a faith that stamps his as corrupted and describes his followers as infidels? How can His grace be sincere about his commitment to the Divinity of Jesus Christ when he lauds and extols a person who based his "mission" on denying Christ's Divinity and urging his followers to kill those who believe in it? His Grace once described the prophet of Islam as his "lord, the messenger of Allah", but by definition, if he were a Christain, he should address Jesus Christ also as his Lord. Which one of the two is Metropolitan Kolta's lord therefore? It must be one. Only one of the two since Christ taught us that one can only have one Lord. 

 Of course there were other inconspicuous hypocritical mercenaries, members of the "dwarf battalion" of the dead political parties of Egypt and the critters of the tabloid yellow press such as a Baha Habib, Gamal As3ad, and a Nahed Sadek. The latter especially is a very interesting caseof ignorance and an example of a robot parroting what her masters told her to say without seeking the truth for herself as any journalist, even the least respected, should do! In a piece of rubbish that she secreted in the infamous petrodollar tabloid "Al Ossbou3," Miss Nahed Sadek reiterated the Coptic demands for justice and fairness without mentioning why she thought that they were unreasonable or extravagant. She did not say what is her point of objection if she had any. Neither did she urge her comatose masters in the government to render justice to 10% of her country's population. This is, of course, assuming that she cares about Egypt and not some other country. Her biggest sign of ignorance, inadequacy, and failure (kheiba) however became unquestionably clear when she wrote in her worthless article that the late Dr. Shawky Karas presented a paper in the symposium! The great Egyptian patriot and leader has been dead for a year now! Yet in an unprecedented event in the annals of the press, even the most lowly of the press, Miss Sadek, perhaps typical of other mercenaries who fill up the colums of the wortheless Egyptian neaspapers with their rubbish, she made a dead person make a presentation at the Zurich Symposium of September 2004! ! Obviously, the Mokhabarat officer who dictated her "article" to her, must have mentioned the name of the deceased leader, but the "khaiba" screwed up and claimed that the man who has been dead for a while made a presentation at the symposium!  

 Miss Sadek is typical of the sort of people who are undeservedly leading or, better said, exposing since she can't be a leader, the Egyptian masses to the heaps of rubbish that they are being fed day and night. Failed media in a failed state. Nothing unusual.

 This is the type of weapons that the Egyptian State is using to fight its hopeless war against the tide of history. Recruiting hypocritical, incompetent and ignorant mercenaries to defend indefensible cases and causes.

 To all of these dwarfs and their pay roll masters we say that you can fight the tide of history only for so much. After that you end up in a spider hole just like another mighty tyrant di on December 13, 2003.

 Having said all what I said above, my greatest fear is that the Copts waste this opportunity and forget about the spirit of unity that prevailed in this symposium. The solidarity and unity presented to the world is crucial. Without this unity, the world will not listen to us, and our tormentors will not feel the urge to respond to our fair demands. We shall remain individuals, or groups, of two or three "deviants" each with fax machines who re "tarnishing Egypt's reputation" and don't represent the demands and the aspirations of their kin in Egypt.

 Finally, I would like to express my profuse thanks, admiration, and appreciation to the Coptic leader Mr. Adly Abadir Youssef of Switzerland who organized the Symposium and achieved the miracle of unity. I would like also to thank our honest and enlightened Moslem brothers Mr. Mohammed Sami El Behiri and Nabil Sharaf El Deen. My special thanks go to the other Coptic leaders who put their differences aside, got together and shared in the success of this remarkable event. It is going to be a watershed mark, just like the Assiout Conference of 1911.

 Let us not wait another century to hold such important events.

 Regardless of the hypocrisy and the sycophancy of His Grace Metropolitan Yohanna Kolta, and such other dwarfs as Baha Habib, Gamal As3ad 3abdel Malak, the unbelievably incredible Nahed Sadek, who made the dead speak, and other unmentionables, Egypt will be fine. Her Copts and honest patriotic Moslem sons and daughters will see to it that she does not fall into the hands of Talibans ayatollahs or Wahabis.