“Muslims and Christians Hand-in-Hand:” The Voices that Need to be Heard if Egypt Stands a Chance .

by Nathan Patin

The bloody scenes emanating from Cairo’s Maspero district on October 9th were redolent of clashes that took place earlier in the Egyptian revolution between pro- and anti-Mubarak demonstrators. Both featured Egyptians who peaceably took to the streets to air their grievances and were consequently attacked by armed thugs. This time, however, the armed thugs were in league with the formerly estimable Egyptian military—not the disreputable police force—and it was Coptic Christian protesters who came under attack. In all, 27 people were killed, and more than 300 were wounded.

Many are directing their ire at the interim military regime, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), and rightfully so. But what about the scores of ultra-conservative Muslims who answered the call by state TV to “go down and protect the armed forces?”

At the start of the revolution in late January, many in the West, especially in the media, lauded the revolution as a chance for a homegrown liberal democracy to take root in the Middle East; interviews with English-speaking, pluralistic, liberal Egyptians in Tahrir Square were legion. But now, almost nine months since the “Day of Revolt” on January 25th, sectarian strife may be increasing. When anecdotes of discrimination are combined with supporting survey data, the fact that a number of Muslims turned against their fellow countrymen and women at Maspero solely because of their religious affiliation does not come as a surprise.

Based on data collected by the Pew Research Center, it would seem that the liberal Muslims who granted interviews to Western media outlets in Tahrir may in fact be in the minority. According to a 2010 Pew report, for instance,

At least three-quarters of Muslims in Egypt ... say they would favor making each of the following the law in their countries: stoning people who commit adultery [82%], whippings and cutting off of hands for crimes like theft and robbery [77%], and the death penalty for those who leave the Muslim religion [84%].

In a May 2011 Pew survey, when asked the question, “Do you sympathize more with Islamic fundamentalists or with those who disagree with them?” Egyptian Muslims were split, with 31% sympathizing with fundamentalists and 30% siding with those who disagree (the rest were more or less evenly divided between “both,” “neither,” and “don’t know”). Moreover, both confidence in Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s favorability hover around 20% in this country of roughly 72 million Muslims.

Finally, a little less than half—48%—of Egyptian Muslims polled had a favorable view of Christians according to a July 2011 Pew report. (Interestingly, Americans’ views of Muslims aren’t a far cry from this figure, with 57% of respondents having a positive view of Muslims.) Also, only 2% of Muslims expressed a positive view of Jews, which shouldn’t shock anyone familiar with the political dynamics of the Middle East.

This survey data doesn’t by any means show that all, or even most, Egyptian Muslims are willing to use violence against religious minorities. (Punishment for adultery, robbery, and apostasy, though, are a different story.) What the data does seem to indicate, however, is that there is a significant illiberal streak among a subset of Egyptian Muslims.

This does not have to be a problem. People are entitled to have their own opinions, no matter how repugnant they may be. But they are not entitled to act on them when they involve harming others. This is where the SCAF or any other government should come to bear. But, as Michael Whaid Hanna over at The Atlantic writes, sectarian attacks are being carried out with greater impunity than ever before:

During the Mubarak era, the criminal justice system was often used selectively or manipulatively in response to anti-Christian attacks, exploiting Egypt’s sectarian tensions for Mubarak’s benefit. It was used as a political tool to deepen Coptic dependence on the state. Since Mubarak fell on February 11 the new leadership has appeared largely indifferent to sectarian incidents. This has triggered widespread concern and outrage among Copts as well as their many sympathizers, and further undermined the concept of what it means to be an Egyptian citizen. While the SCAF has supposedly prioritized law and order and stability, the machinery of the state has not been brought to bear against the perpetrators of sectarian violence, further eroding conceptions of citizenship.

The SCAF seems to be in damage control mode now. It has issued a decree toughening penalties on discrimination, including on the basis of religion. It also promised to review disputes regarding church permits and revise laws that make it more difficult for Christians to build and repair churches than for Muslims to do the same with regard to mosques. Laws and decrees are only effective, though, insofar as they are enforced, and such a fundamental attitudinal shift doesn’t appear to be forthcoming: the SCAF still maintains that the military acted appropriately in self-defense against weapon-yielding Christians. It has also taken over the once-independent investigation into the causes of the Maspero violence.

Egypt’s Copts, then, face a twofold problem. First, among the 72 million Egyptian Muslims are those who would kill Christians and burn their houses of worship. While it’s not entirely clear how large this intolerant and violent subset of ultra-conservative Muslims is, what is clear is that the hatred between the two religious groups is deep-seated and pervasive. Second, the government— the entity tasked with keeping these hatreds in check and defending the rights of all its citizens, including religious minorities—is more concerned with “stability” than its obligations towards Copts.

Sadly, neither of these features of Egyptian life is likely to change in the near future. As ultra-conservative Muslims assert themselves in the new post-Mubarak era, and the SCAF remains apathetic to the plight of Copts, the circumstances of Christians in Egypt will likely only get worse.

What does give one hope, however, is that there were in fact Muslims who risked their lives to protest in solidarity with the Copts on October 9th (see the 2:30 mark of this video report, for instance); and that the following Friday, more than 2,000—mostly Muslims—turned out for a “unity rally,” where slogans like “Muslims, go on, tell your fellow Christians that we are all in the same boat” could be heard. If Egypt is going to be a country where Muslims and Christians can live together peacefully, it’s these voices that need to be the loudest.