Corruption in Egypt Spring 2014 | Page 9

Religion Behind Bars

9

“After all this people ask why they burn the churches,” the statement read. “For every action there is a reaction." (2013, Bohn) The burning of more than 60 of Egypt's coptic christians' churches, as well as their cars, schools, and homes is cruel and unfair. These terrorist actions committed by the Muslim Brotherhood, have greatly affected so many lives.

The burning of the Coptic Christian churches affects more than the obvious fact that they have lost the place where they used to practice their religion. These actions toward them, clarify the approval of their religion in Egypt. The burning of the churches is a clear sign that they are not welcomed by the quite unaccepting Muslim Brotherhood and it proves that the Coptic an easy target for blaming political issues.

Christians make up 10% of Egypt's population which shows how different and difficult it is to be a Christian in a country full of many Islamists who do not support their beliefs. They also have little say in political matters, particularly when Morsi was in office as well as many other Muslim Brotherhood members who possessed a lot of political power appointed to them by Morsi. Many of these Muslim Brotherhood members are now in jail.

“These are the same tools that Mubarak used to strengthen his regime,” says Galal Abdel Sadek, who heads the Muslim Brotherhood in Assiut. “For years he acted like he protected the Christians, but he just used them to politically divide his own people. And it worked.”(Bohn, 2013) This shows how Egypt's leaders use religion to divide the country so they can gain more power. It will take a long time for Egypt to fully accept the Christians, and their population is likely to decrease more and more in the future.

The ousting of Morsi was also a positive thing for the Coptic Christians because he was of the Muslim Brotherhood which is an Islamist organization that doesn't support them in Egypt. Morsi's absence may be an opportunity for more freedom.

A presidential election is soon to come for Egypt. One presidential candidate, who recently announced he will be running, is Hamdeen Sabahi, a left-wing Egyptian politician. Along side Hamdeen Sabahi, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the army chief, is expected to run and win the race, but he hasn't yet announced his candidacy. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi running for president is suspicious because the military is supposed to be neutral, yet they ousted Morsi because they didn't like the direction he was taking Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood is shut out of the election. The Election is scheduled for mid-April and it should have interesting results that will result in Egypt changing. The question is if it will be good or bad change to come in the future.(Aljazeera, 2014)

“There is a wound in my heart, always, from living in Egypt as a Christian, as a second-class citizen,” says Youssef Sidhoum, editor of the Coptic newspaper al-Watani.“The attacks from the Muslim Brotherhood are painful, and I don’t want to underestimate the pain I feel, but we must move on,” he says. “Now isn’t the time to cry. We must protect the national solidarity of June 30, the day we took down Morsi … the day the revolution became alive again against terrorism.” (Bohn, 2014)

Citations:

Bohn, L. E. (2013, August 26). Egypt's Christians Caught in Cross Fire. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/egypt-assiut-minka-revolution-coptic-christian-muslim-brotherhood

Egypt profile. (2014, February 26). Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13315719

Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website. (2010, February 1). Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=813

A. (2014, February 09). Left-wing outsider to run for Egypt president. Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/leftist-politician-run-egypt-president-20142914424645634.html

Profile: Hosni Mubarak. (2013, August 22). Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12301713