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"Equal treatment for attacker and attacked: Since President Sadat's espousal of the accursed policy of equalizing the attacker with the attacked – which developed into claims about clashes between extremists from both sides, our lives became a nightmare. By what logic, law, or religion is the attacker compared to the attacked? After every brutal attack on the Copts come arrests of groups from both sides; this show ends in the victim relinquishing his rights… This means that the state is not neutral, and it encourages crime against the Copts", the writer added.
Did the Mubarak government attempt to protect the Copts? Asked the writer: "Rewarding the aggressor...: Every time, the state rewards the extremists for their crimes instead of punishing them. Thus, the extremists manage to impose their will. In the village of al-Timsahiya, in the Assyut district, when the Muslim mob went wild because of the height of a church, it was agreed to make the mosque's minaret higher so that it would be taller than the church. In exchange for rebuilding the church destroyed by a Muslim mob in the recent attack, the housing minister launched a fundraising campaign for the construction of a mosque. Why should they [the Muslim mob] refrain from running wild if it ends in the burning of Christian homes and churches, while at the same time they accomplish their goal building a mosque?" the writer exclaimed.
Exposing the oppressive nature of the Mubarak regime and its double standards in dealing with Copts, the writer added: "Oppressive, arbitrary laws: Clearly, the laws for establishing Christian houses of worship in Egypt are oppressive and unconstitutional. Because of this injustice, the Christians have paid dearly, in blood and property, for attempts to establish houses of worship. Government behavior that fosters extremism: When the government destroys a four-story church in Shubra al-Khayma, that same government destroys the walls and foundations of the al-Ubur Church; when the government prevents the Church of the Virgin in al-Zeytoun from being made higher on the pretext that it would interfere with air traffic – although the church is quite far from the airport!; when it builds a mosque in the middle of the road in al-Abbasiya so that it faces the cathedral; when the government thinks with this kind of mentality – what signals does it send to the Muslim mob?"
Aladdin Elaasar is author of The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Obama Age (Excerpts from The Last Pharaoh in this article by permission of Beacon Press). Email: omaraladin@aol.com
