Katherine Stanley, Helen Huiskes, Joey Jin

Dr. McKoy

IR - 175

7 December 2020

Church Persecution: Egypt

Egypt is a state that has experienced frequent changes in authority and political turmoil in

the recent past century. It has not been long since the Egyptian administration has taken the form

in which we are familiar with today. Contrary with the rich history and military might of Ancient

Egypt, Egypt in more modern history has been subject to the influence of other countries – most

notably, Western Europe.

Since the late 19th century, Egypt was under an administration split between Britain,

France, and the Ottoman Empire. More specifically, Egypt, like the other Middle East countries,

had been a province of the Ottoman Empire. European influence began with Napoleon’s

campaign in the years 1798-1801 and continued with the occupation by the British in 1882.

However, the people of Egypt continued to feel uncomfortable and agitated by the European

influence in their state. Public outcry began to spread across the country, eventually leading to

the British parliament allowing for an elected Egyptian parliament – the first step towards

independence for Egypt.

World War I, however, forced Egypt into a political dilemma. The Ottomans, to which

Egypt was a province, and UK/France, by which Egypt was occupied, were on the opposite sides

of the war. The Europeans ultimately took control of the state with Britain declaring Egypt as its

protectorate. As a result, Egypt was forced to aid Britain in the war, leading to an influx of
British soldiers and refugees. This led to a mass shortage of resources across the country

throughout the war. As a result, the people demanded that the Europeans withdraw from the

country. After violent protests, Britain finally granted the state its independence in 1922 – with 4

conditions: 1.) Britain could force Egypt to go to war for British interests, 2.) Britain was

responsible for the administration of the Suez Canal, 3.) Britain was allowed to maintain its

business and holdings in Egypt, and 4.) Britain and Egypt would jointly be responsible for the

Sudan protectorate. All in all, the independence was very much only on paper, not in practice.

The year of 1936 again offered an obstacle towards Egyptian independence as the state signed

the “English-Egyptian agreement,” which classified Egypt as under the Commonwealth of

Nations, with Britain holding Egypt under its supervision. It was not until the 1950s that

European powers discontinued their influence in the state.

As a result, Egypt pushed anti-Britain policies in the mid-20th century, which were

strongly supported by the Soviet Union. These policies were enforced by Jamal Abdul Nasser,

who had gained control of the state through a coup. Before his upheaval, the state was ruled by

monarchs, who were in general favorable to the British, in fear that they would lose their power.

Nasser continued to move Egypt closer to Soviet Union and modeled their economic models

until his collapse of power after his heavy defeat in the Six Days War (1967). In 1967, Egypt

conspired with Syria to attack Israel. However, Israel quickly learned about the plan and attacked

first, before either Egypt or Syria could mobilize their own forces. As a result, Israel was able to

destroy the entire Egyptian air force and occupy the Sinai Peninsula up to the Suez Canal. Egypt

was greatly hit by this war economically and politically.

 After Nasser’s death in 1970, Anwar Sadat, Nasser’s deputy, took over the presidency of

Egypt, and unlike his predecessor, was supportive of capitalist economic policies and encouraged

foreign investment. He was also much more amiable towards his political neighbors as he

extended the ceasefire agreement with Israel until 1971, and eventually agreed to a more

permanent peace treaty by agreeing to the Camp David Accords. This also significantly moved

Egypt towards positive relations with the U.S. These foreign policies were not greeted by all of

the people in Egypt, however, as many thought that Sadat was against the Arab cause. Sadat had

also tried to neutralize the power the Muslim brotherhood, an Islamic group that strived to turn

Egypt into an Islamic republic.

Sadat later died from an assassination attempt by his political opposers in 1980. His

successor, Hosni Murabak, sought to implement many reforms throughout the country. In a

period of time in which the Soviet Union was dwindling and democratic movements developed

around the world, the Murabak administration also expanded certain human rights and adopted a

liberal approach to economic and political reforms. However, these measures were limited and

did not fulfill the demands of the people. Rather, Murabak was more focused on his own political

power, continuing to move Egypt in favor of the U.S. and Israel, while also trying not to offend

the Islamists. Murabak was eventually forced to resign in 2011 amid protests in Egypt part of the

Arab Spring movement.

The racial/ethnic composition is largely uniform, with the CIA reporting that the

population is 99.7% Egyptian and 0.3% classified as “other.” The diversity in the Egyptian

population had greatly declined since its independence. As a result, the religious composition is

also predominantly Muslim, with 90% of the population reported to be Muslim (mostly Sunni).
The remaining 10% are reported as Christian according to CIA data from 2015. 90% of the

Christians in Egypt identify as part of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Many of these Christians are

located in Upper Egypt and in some sections of Cairo and Alexandria.

However, Christians face some political hardships in Egypt as they are largely absent

from prominent roles in the government. In addition, although the religious quota guarantees

them seats in Parliament, 24 seats out of 596 is not enough to have a distinguishing impact.

Christians are also categorized as second-class citizens as the 2014 Constitution establishes Islam

as the official religion of the state and prohibits the conversion to any other religion. Coptic

athletes are also often discriminated in the sports field, with several athletes being excluded from

competitions due to their religious identity.

Within Egypt, the central group of Christians being persecuted are apart of the Coptic

church. The Coptic church’s opposition and violence are inflicted by the Islamists, the

government, and the general population of Egypt (Tadros, 2011). As reported by Christian

persecution organization, Open Doors USA, “Egyptian Christians are often victims of social

exclusion, and face constant discrimination in areas such as justice, education, and basic social

services,” (Open Doors, 2020). Most of this opposition comes from a large disagreement of

beliefs between the Coptic church and the rest of the Egyptian population. For instance, between

the 1980s and the 1990s, Islamists posed as the Copts greatest threat as they often attacked out of

an insurgency against the government in southern Egypt (Tadros, 2011). The pattern of these

attacks has continued to occur since, along with the same lack of government action to promote

religious freedom and protect the Christian minority from discrimination. The majority of the

persecution is committed through violent acts and there is a very high occurrence of them.
 Many discriminatory laws that have been into place by the Egyptian government have

been long standing for decades, but there have been no changes or actions made in order to bring

about freedom of belief and practice. For example, there are laws restricting the building of

churches that are rooted in the Ottoman-era, there are no Christian school headmasters or

university deans in public schools, and Christian heritage is not mentioned in schoolbooks and is

completely absent from the political landscape (Tadros, 2011). With this, there is almost a

guarantee that there will be no punishment to follow any attacks made against Coptic Christians.

The government is fully on board for mistreatment of Christians residing in Egypt. Proving this,

in June 2019, a group of Coptic Christians was attacked by a mob after one of the Christians had

written a supposed “blasphemous Facebook post (Open Doors, 2020). After police got involved,

not a single violent protester was arrested, but a few of the Coptic men were arrested and one

was imprisoned as he was found responsible for the Facebook post. In addition, although the

government continues to allegedly follow through with the legalization of churches under the

Church Construction Law (2016), thousands of churches are waiting to be recognized (Open

Doors, 2020). Many of these requests are either never answered, are met with mob violence, or

there is the closure of a church by the security services (Open Doors, 2020). In each testimony,

there is no government action, but rather a blind eye turned towards injustice done against

Egypt’s minority group, the Copts.

The persecution of the Copts is rooted out of much more than just an opposition of the

structure and details of religious beliefs, but one that falls into the political realm. There is not a

distinct line that separates religion from politics. With this, there is a deeper divide amongst the

Copts and the Egyptian population, and it has been manifesting for over a century. As claimed by
an article in “Middle Eastern Studies”, by Paul Rowe, “By the late 1930s, Copts were

increasingly marginalized by the nationalist governments as a penalty for their perceived

Western loyalties…” (Rowe, 2009, p. 113). For many years, the Christian faith has been greatly

associated with that of Western culture, which poses a threat to many middle eastern values and

beliefs. In building up their church and continuing to withstand great discrimination and

prejudice, the Copts have received various accounts of foreign support led by Christian

organizations. The Egyptian government is not sanctioning persecution, rather foreign supporters

are taking the initiative to build up the highly persecuted minority.

The foreign supporters truly do serve as a “lifeline” as there is no sense of security or

provision coming from the security apparatus, the jurisprudence, and the society as a whole.

Along with laws based on the Ottoman-era restricting the building of churches, the Sharia law is

Egypt’s main source of legislation. A few examples of consequences of the law are as follows:

the law does not recognize the marriage between a Muslim woman and a Christian man, a

Christian child of a parent that converts to Islam automatically is considered Muslim, and in

every instance as the law pertains to inter religious disputes; there is a bias favoring Muslims

(Lundberg, 2011). Specifically, there is bias favoring Muslim men. Women are particularly

vulnerable in Egyptian society as, “…a raped woman can be left with the choice of remaining

unmarried, and therefore, without a social status, or potentially marry her rapist,” (Lundberg,

2011). The Egyptian government is built off of principles found within the Quran, which

oftentimes devalue the life of a human, specifically a woman or one who presents opposing

faiths to their own.

Other people groups that are facing persecution alongside the Coptic Christians are the

Nubians, Baha’is, and the Jews. Although the Sharia law highly marginalizes the Copts, the
group is at least recognized. The Baha’i community is so small that there is absolutely no

recognition or tolerance for their people group under the law. Baha'is believe, “…God’s word is

passed to humans through an ongoing series of revelations,” which ultimately clashes with the

Islamic view of the final revelation that the prophet, Mohammed, presents (MRGI, 2020). By the

19th century, the Jews gained an improved status and achieved prominence in commerce and

industry, but quickly began to decline as the persecution of their people began to increase. Many

Jews fled as there were hundreds of Jews arrested, their property and businesses were

confiscated, and there were bombings in Jewish communities that killed hundreds (MRGI,

2020). Approaching 1970, there were only 1,000 Jews in Egypt and their population has

continued to diminish in size as years have passed. Each differing and unique community of

people outside of the Islamic faith has been blatantly unwelcomed and treated unjustly by Egypt

as a whole. Yet, the Coptic Church is the primary group facing the most extreme and highest

cases of persecution today.

Response to Christian Persecution in Egypt

When faced with persecution by governments and other religious sects throughout

history, Christians in many different parts of the world have responded differently. Some flee to

start a new life abroad where they are more free to worship as they please, while others protest

for better treatment within their society. In one of the oldest civilizations on the planet, the

commitment to the ancient homeland is important, and therefore warrants a response that

encourages social change and government intervention. Coptic Christians in Egypt have

responded to persecution primarily through demonstrating, in addition to receiving help from

organizations and the United Nations.

 Demonstrating is one of the major ways Coptic Christians have reacted to patterns of

discrimination and persecution. Increasingly since 2010, Coptic Christians have staged protests

in response to government and societal discrimination against Christians, as well as Islamic

terrorist attacks on Christians. According to the 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom

from the US Embassy in Egypt, after a church in the city of Kom el-Raheb was closed by

authorities, local Copts “stormed into the closed church and staged a sit-in protesting the

church’s continued closure” (United States). Protests and other types of demonstrations by

Coptic Christians have occurred more and more since the Arab Spring of 2011. “It would be

difficult to account for the full number of protests around which Egyptians mobilized on

political, economic, and social matters more broadly as these were occurring on an almost

weekly (and in some cases daily) basis, to the extent that the news media stopped reporting on all

of them,” said Mariz Tadros in his book Copts at the Crossroads (3). Between 2008 and 2011, as

Tadros explains, Copts participated in an increasing number of protests and demonstrations led

by organizations such as the Maspero Youth Movement. This increase in protests shows that

Coptic Christians have been taking a more direct approach to the persecution they face.

Additionally, Copts have responded to discrimination and persecution by simply refusing to

cooperate in government-organized reconciliation sessions. According to the 2019 US Embassy

report, “at least one Coptic Orthodox diocese in Upper Egypt refused to participate in

reconciliation sessions due to criticism that they frequently were substitutes for criminal

proceedings to address attacks on Christians and their churches.” This method is another form of

protest, but as the report goes on to explain, the diocese’s refusal to participate in these sessions

was intended to put pressure on the government to more effectively respond to the persecution

itself, namely through legal proceedings and crackdown.

 However, Coptic Christians have not been completely alone in their pursuit of response

to continued persecution. Certain non-governmental organizations have attempted to intervene or

at the very least, spread awareness and report facts about the persecution occurring in Egypt.

According to the US Embassy report, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, or EIPR, was

continually vocal about the involvement of the Egyptian government authorities in the

persecution and discrimination towards Christians: “In April EIPR condemned the involvement

of the security services in the closure of the church and called for the reopening of churches

closed since the implementation of the 2016 church construction law” (United States). This

particular organization, while not directly interventional, served as an accountability watchdog

for the involvement of the Egyptian government in these responses. Additionally, the

demonstrations in which Copts took place were sometimes organized by either the Maspero

Youth Movement or Copts for Egypt, or some combination of both. According to Tadros, the

Maspero Youth Movement managed high participation and interest due to the appealing nature

of its causes:“The [..] cause of raising the status of Copts so that they enjoy the full rights of

citizenship is one that has much credibility among most Copts” (Tadros 6). The involvement of

these organizations in the direct demonstrations mobilized more protesters to speak out against

the persecution, and therefore allowed for more legitimate and increased response. The other

primary source of help for the many victims of church persecution in Egypt has been the United

Nations and its various agencies. The US Embassy report details the story of how “a group of

UN special rapporteurs publicly called on the government to end the detention and ill treatment

of Ramy Kamel Saied Salid, who worked to defend the rights of the country’s Coptic Christian

minority” in December 2019. In a similar fashion to EIPR, these UN officials’ work showed

international solidarity with the persecuted Christians and held the Egyptian government
accountable for their treatment of Salid. In November 2019, the UN Human Rights Council

encountered a full report of the actions taken to persecute Coptic Christians in Egypt when

conducting its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Egypt’s commitments to human rights under

the ICCPR. “In submissions for the UPR, NGOs stated discrimination and sectarian violence

against Copts persisted at the local level, often with inadequate intervention from security

services to prevent it; many religious minorities lived in fear of societal persecution; Christians

still faced discrimination in education and workplaces,” explained the US Embassy report. This

review of the conditions, upheld by lack of sufficient government intervention, prove the

faltering of Egypt on its international commitments to human rights and religious freedoms.

Thus, the UN role serves a primary purpose of keeping an eye on the events in Egypt and the

discrimination Copts face. In a country where Christians are a minority and Islamic sentiment is

highly normalized within the society and economy, any form of supervision from an

international body such as the United Nations can be effective in limiting or at least discouraging

religious persecution.

The fragility between Coptic Christians and the Islamic society in which they live creates

a vulnerability for the Copts, but with Christian determination, they continue to protest,

demonstrate, and receive support from NGOs both in Egypt and through the rest of the world.

These responses align with a pattern of Christian resistance to persecution that echoes back into

the early days of Jewish and early church history.

 Works Cited

Islami, Islam. “Political History of Modern Egypt.” ILIRIA International Review, vol. 6,

no. 1, 2016, p. 191., doi:10.21113/iir.v6i1.231.

Tadros, Mariz. “Coptic Protest and Copts in Protest.” Copts at the Crossroads: the

Challenges of Building Inclusive Democracy in Contemporary Egypt, by Mariz Tadros,

The American University in Cairo Press, 2013.

Tadros, S. (2011). The Coptic Winter. National Review, 63(21), 25-26.

Lundberg, Sanne. “Blessed Are They Who Are Persecuted, for Theirs Is the Kingdom of

Heaven: Religious Resistance among Coptic Christians in Egypt.” 5 May 2011, pp. 1–46.

“Languages.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,

www.britannica.com/place/Egypt/Languages.

MRGI. “Egypt.” Minority Rights Group, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples,

17 Nov. 2020, minorityrights.org/country/Egypt/.

Nasreddine, Hala Nouhad. 2018. Egypt: Resurrecting the Deep Nasserite State in the

Post-Muslim Brotherhood Era. Issue brief no. 10.05.18. Rice University’s Baker Institute

for Public Policy, Houston, Texas.

Open Doors. “Egypt.” Open Doors USA, 15 Jan. 2020, www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-

persecution/world-watch-list/egypt/.
Rowe, Paul. “Building Coptic Civil Society: Christian Groups and the State in Mubarak’s

Egypt.” Middle Eastern studies 45.1 (2009): 111–126. Web.

20th Century Cairo, www.laits.utexas.edu/cairo/history/modern/modern.html.

“The World Factbook: Egypt.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency,

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_eg.html.

U.S. Mission Egypt | 21 July, 2020 | Topics: Official Reports. “2019 Report on International

Religious Freedom: Egypt.” U.S. Embassy in Egypt, 21 July 2020, eg.usembassy.gov/irf-

en-2019/.

United States. Embassy in Egypt. 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom:

Egypt. 21 July 2020.