A Tahrir Refrain: "Raise Your Head Up High, You are a Copt"

News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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When the Egyptian masses rose up on January 25, 2011 to throw off the yoke of the Mubarak regime, they raised in Tahrir both the crescent and the cross.  That is Egypt at its best: inclusive, cosmopolitan, moderate and diverse.  As of that date, all of its population (90 million - one fourth of all Arabs) aspired to a bright tomorrow, with Egypt, both of its Muslims and Christians (Copts) charging forward, leading the region towards democracy, development, and, above all, dignity.

Then came the Maspero massacre of Wednesday, October 19 (see our earlier blogs).  Thousands of Copts clashed with security and armed forces guarding the Egyptian TV building in the area of Cairo called Maspero.  Several from both sides; more were wounded.  It was the Egyptian Revolution darkest hour.  Egyptian blood on Egyptian hands.  Some expatriate Copts even called for internationalization of "the Coptic question."  The unthinkable became almost thinkable.  It was a jolt which caused Egyptian leadership and institution to spring into action.

Consequently on October 24, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the de facto and interim Egyptian Head of State, met with Pope Shenouda, the Pope of Alexandria, and the head of the Coptic Church -one of the most learned personalities whom I know of in that part of the world.  The agenda carried an assuring message: Egyptian Copts and Egyptian Muslims are one and inseparable body politic.

At that historic meeting, there were issues to be discussed, solutions to be put in place, national harmony to be strengthened.  The purpose was to emphasize that Egypt's national interest was supreme, and that Coptic grievances which resulted in the Maspero massacre needed to be addressed.  On top of the list was, not only to investigate the events and the wrong-doers of the Maspero massacre.  But also to deal with the perennial delays in the construction and refurbishing of Coptic churches all over Egypt.  The triggering events which flared as a result of the attack on the Marynab Church in Egypt's deep south had to be addressed.

For his part, Pope Shenouda was eloquently reassuring at this meeting with Tantawi.  The spirit of amity and peace should always govern all dealings between Egypt's Muslims and Copts.  They are, as the Pope of Alexandria said, the sons and daughters of the Egyptian homeland.  Sedition was a danger that should not confront Egypt.

The following day, the Egyptian Cabinet considered a new law governing the zoning, construction and authorization of all places of worship, both churches and mosques all over Egypt.  This law was the product of committees on social justice and legislation, and of "the Family's House" (Bait Al-Aaelah) -an interdenominational institution created by the Grand Imam, Dr. Al-Tayeb, of Al-Azhar, the citadel of Islamic learning located in Cairo for more than one-thousand years.

How is this reflected within the Egyptian community in the U.S.?  In the monthly newspaper entitled Voice of Belady (My Country's Voice), its editor-in-chief, Mr. Mouhib Ghabbour (a distinguished Copt) celebrate with members of the New Jersey Egyptian community, both the end of Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting) (in August) and the feast of the Virgin Mary in one sitting. The motto of his more than 70 pages in both English and Arabic is fascinating.  It reads: "Separation Between Religion and State -No Turban Is Above the Law."  AMEN, Mr. Ghabbour!!

These expatriates have now been given a potential voice in running the new Egypt.  By a decision of the Egyptian Court of Administrative Justice in Cairo, the Government were instructed to allow Egyptians abroad to vote at their respective Consulates and Embassies.

Said Al-Azhar, through its delegation to Pope Shenouda on October 25: "The Maspero event shall be the last of Egypt's deep sorrows."