Egypt’s neglect fuels religious struggle

In a critical assessment of his own government, Egyptian citizen Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim expresses his discontentment with Egypt’s handling of conflicts between Muslims and Coptic Christians. “The modern Egyptian state does not respect the social contract between her and her citizens,” writes Ibrahim in an op-ed article featured on the website of the Coptic Assembly of America.

Ibrahim’s words come in response to a recent clash between Muslims and Copts in the city of Bahma on May 11. Muslims attacked in an attempt to prevent local church construction. Ibrahim notes that the Egyptian government honors “rotting Ottoman law from the 19th Century” that allows the Muslim population to dominate the area. He then goes on to say that when the Copts learned of the planned attack, they called the police to ask for protection but “the police did not give any importance to the matter.”

Ibrahim’s final point of frustration is what he refers to as “the stupidity of the state,” meaning the government’s inability to learn from the past and improve the future. “They do not read, hear, or learn,” he writes, “not after the 1st time or the 70th time.”

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