Sectarian Violence Erupts in Alexandria

By Michael Fournie

Several questions remain unanswered a week after deadly sectarian tensions erupted in Alexandria and 5,000 Muslims marched on Saint George's Coptic Church, clashing with police who were forced to use rubber bullets and tear gas to fend off the mob. At least three died, trampled in the melee, and nearly a hundred were reported injured. Competing theories have tried to assign blame for the incident, which took place during campaigning for parliamentary elections and in a district where one of only two Coptic candidates, out of 444 nation-wide, is running on the National Democratic Party's (NDP) ticket.

The Muslim rioters, who began their rampage just after Friday prayers on October 22, were apparently galvanized by the release of a two-year old DVD capturing a one-time performance of a play staged at St. George's and entitled The play depicts a young Christian drawn to Islamic militants only to become disillusioned. The rioters, few of whom actually viewed the DVD, deemed it an affront to their religion and demanded an apology from the Church, which maintains that the play described the dangers of radicalism in general, without pointing a finger at Islam.

Egyptian Copts, who make up roughly 10% of the country's 71 million citizens, are sorely underrepresented in political lifeoccupying only seven seats of 454 in the Egyptian parliament-and hold warranted complaints of systematic discrimination occurring during the authoritarian era since 1952. After the Coptic patriarch, Pope Shenouda, openly supported President Mubarak's bid for reelection, Copts are undoubtedly disappointed that they still comprise less than 5%of the NDP's candidates.

Moreover, the timing of the DVD's release leaves little doubt that political motives played a role. The Ghorbal district where the incident took place has a large Coptic constituency and the NDP's Coptic candidate has since issued a request to withdraw from the contest after his campaign headquarters were overrun. Maher Khellah's request for withdrawal, submitted to the President, indicated that he was taking the step in the interest of the NDP. His rival for the district's seat is a Muslim Brother running as an independent.

The two most plausible theories emerging in the Egyptian press are that Islamists sought to tarnish the Coptic candidate while galvanizing their own constituency; or that the State Security apparatus saw this as an opportunity to justify its own existence and the continued use of emergency law in order to maintain stability in the face of such outbreaks. Most Egyptians are aware that periodic flare ups of sectarian tensions, such as this one, are indicative of a deeper problem. Only the realization of long overdue democratization with full citizenship rights for all Egyptians regardless of their creed, can truly mend the rift.