Egyptian Coptic priest blasts military handling of protests

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – Coptic priest Fr. Philopater Gameel of Giza’s Church of the Virgin Mary, who called on Coptic youth and the [Coptic] Maspero Youth Union, to take to the streets and march in Caro on Sunday – as part of what he termed a “noble day of rage” – stressed that he did not expect this Coptic protest to turn into a bloody confrontation with the Egyptian army which resulted in the death of 25 people and the wounding of some 300 others.

Coptic priest Fr. Philopater Gameel told Asharq Al-Awsat that “when I called for this demonstration, I believed that we had intellectuals and officials that possessed sufficient political awareness to deal with the anger of the youth with a sense of restraint and experience.”  He stressed that “the Maspero Youth Union did not intend a bloody confrontation; this was supposed to be a peaceful march that should have lasted no longer than a couple of hours in order for the [Coptic] youth to express their objection to the manner in which the Coptic community is being treated.”

As for his analysis regarding the violence that broke out, the Coptic priest told Asharq Al-Awsat that “what happened is that as soon as the peaceful march reached Maspero [the building that houses Egyptian State TV], excessive force was used against the [Coptic] youth.  The violence against them began with sticks and batons, and then they were attacked and run over by [military] armoured cars that were travelling at very high speeds in the midst of the demonstrators in order to kill as many of them as possible.”

He added that, “the proof of this can be seen in the presence of one of these armoured cars which overturned near the 6 October Bridge.  This is because the driver was driving at such a high-speed that when he took the turn the armoured vehicle overturned.”

Coptic priest Fr. Philopater Gameel denounced the hardline stance taken by the Egyptian military against the Coptic youth, stressing that “in the past, such issues were dealt with in a calm manner and with dialogue.  Officials would come out and speak with the youth in an attempt to calm the situation; however what happened [on Sunday] was that violence was carried out against the protesters as soon as the march reached Maspero [building], without any prior warning.”

As for the reasons behind the Coptic protests, Fr. Philopater Gameel said that the Coptic youth were calling for three major demands, namely the dismissal of Aswan Governor [Mostafa al-Sayed] for his failure to contain the crisis [following the attack on a Church in Aswan], the Muslim Sheikh who incited sectarian violence which led to the attack on this church being held accountable, and the issuance of a decision to rebuild the Church [which the Aswan governor is claiming was a “service center”].

The Coptic priest also told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Coptic issue has become even more complex today, stressing that “following the events of the noble day of rage which became a massacre, there has been an explosion within the Coptic community, and whilst things in the past were moving towards calm, today the situation is moving towards escalation and the situation has become more complex.”

He also denied that there had been any contact between the ruling Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] or the Egyptian Prime Minister and the Maspero Youth Union, since the outbreak of clashes on Sunday.

As for whether the events on Sunday may lead the Copts to boycott the forthcoming parliamentary elections, as some reports have claimed, Fr. Philopater Gameel rejected this, saying “boycotting the parliamentary elections will be a negative response that is not appropriate and will not achieve anything.  We have a voice and it is our right to express this.

Fr. Philopater Gameel also told Asharq Al-Awsat that he was prepared to appear in court, after one Egyptian lawyer raised a lawsuit to the Egyptian Attorney-General, accusing him of inciting sectarian violence.  Gameel said “whoever possesses the documents to support what he is saying has every right to raise this [to the Egyptian Attorney-General], for I trust the Egyptian judiciary and its fairness.”  He stressed that “when I called on people to march, this was as part of a peaceful march to express their legitimate demands, and this is the right of any citizen in a civil state.”

He also stressed that Pope Shenouda III’s call for Egypt’s Coptic community to take part in a three-day fast to protest the clashes to be an important and meaningful act, saying that “we believe in God, and when the earthly doors are shut in our face we resort to the heavenly doors, and this is what was meant by the announcement that we [the Copts] will fast for three days until God lifts the sorrows from Egypt.”

Last March witnessed the first public appearance of the Maspero Youth Union on the Egyptian political scene, against the backdrop of the burning of the Two Martyrs Church in Afteeh, Helwan [south of Cairo].  In response to this attack, a group of Coptic youth marched on the Maspero building in Cairo to protest against this sectarian attack which resulted in two deaths.  One of the Maspero Youth Union founders, Sameh Saad, told Asharq Al-Awsat that this organization “is based on the beliefs and convictions of the Coptic youth.”  He added “we believe in the justice of the Coptic cause and the necessity of establishing a genuine civil state that protects the rights of all Egyptians.”

The Maspero Youth Union founding member said that the name of this group, and the choice of demonstrating outside of the Maspero building in Cairo – home to Egyptian State TV –  held specific significance for Egypt’s Coptic community.  He said “we chose the name Maspero, and not Tahrir Square which witnessed the 25 January Revolution, in order to expose the misleading and corrupt state media, which sold out our cause and continues to broadcast lies and obscure the truth, therefore we wanted to confront [the state media] face to face in our protests.”

Sameh Saad denied that the Maspero Youth Union had any ties to the Coptic Church that is led by Pope Shenouda III.  He told Asharq Al-Awsat that “we are a political group, not a religious one.  When we demonstrated in front of Maspero we were demanding political rights of citizenship, we were not carrying out religious prayers, and we have no connection to any [Coptic] Church figure.”