In the News

OPINION: Egypt’s Coptic Christians are in trouble

By  Henry Srebrnik

 The Copts of Egypt are over 10 million strong and have lived in the country as Christians for two millennia.

Discriminatory state policies and political violence have historically marginalized Copts. There have been widespread attacks on Coptic churches and institutions in Egypt.

All this provides the backdrop to the mission of Coptic Solidarity, an advocacy group located in the Washington, DC region.

Their ninth annual conference, held in Washington June 21-22, included six members of the U.S. Congress; Lord David Alton of the British House of Lords; and Alberta Conservative MP Garnett Genuis.

Coptic Solidarity president Dr. George Gurguis contended that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pretends to be a “saviour” protecting Copts from extremists like the Islamic State, in order to advance his standing on the international stage.

Sisi’s “friendly” gestures towards Copts have remained just that, as his government continued its severe discriminatory treatment and failed to protect them, their churches or their property from violence by fanatics.

More importantly, attacks on the Copts have continued with a ferocity that exceeds those observed during former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.

The Coptic Church itself, he stated, has been co-opted and remains under immense pressure. It is in no position to provide moral support for the Copts in their struggle for religious freedom and equal civil rights.

Representative Dave Trott, a Republican Congressman from Michigan, also criticized Sisi, who frequently insists that all Egyptians are equal.

“So why is it that there are no Copts in senior positions in the defense department, in the foreign ministry, in the intelligence department in the military? There are no Coptic governors and most significantly there are no Copts on the national soccer team. I think the bias and bigotry continues.”

Republican Congressman French Hill of Arkansas, who in 2017 introduced Resolution 673 in the U.S. House of Representatives, expressing concern over attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, was the recipient of Coptic Solidarity’s annual leadership award.

“I’ll continue to get engaged with the U.S. government, our partners and other governments and those groups like Coptic Solidarity that continue to speak out against the plight of intolerance and fear that many Christians around the world face on a daily basis,” he indicated to those attending.

Genuis called on the international community to hold Egypt and other Muslim majority countries to the same standards, saying, “We should not be subject to the soft bigotry of low expectations when it comes to the issue of religious liberty.”

Toronto-based Raheel Raza, president of Muslims Facing Tomorrow, addressed the problem of the large number of Coptic women and girls who are being kidnapped, forcibly converted and married to Muslims in Egypt. Often, she contended, Egyptian police and government officials are complicit, and kidnappers receive pay for each kidnapped woman.

The consensus that emerged from the conference is that the situation for Copts in Egypt is dire.

Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.