ICC Note: The past year has been incredibly difficult for Christians in Egypt. When the persecution of Christians has made it into the news it has been the reports of attacks on churches or kidnappings. Lost in the reporting is the level of hostility that Christians face on a normal day while trying to carry out simple tasks from riding on public transportation to buying goods from a store. The hostility shown towards Christians by some reinforces the idea that their rights and their place in Egyptian life are not secure.
By: Jayson Casper
1/10/2014 Egypt (Christian Today) – Life is not easy for Christians in Egypt, and the strain is taking its toll. Beyond the reports of churches burned and homes attacked, there is also a more subtle hardship affecting ordinary families. While not universal, mistreatment and discrimination are unfortunately all too common.
“Every day we leave our house, not knowing what will happen,” says Girgis, an Egyptian Catholic from Helwan, a city south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, who preferred not to use his real name.
A Catholic family in Egypt“But this is the Christian way, to take things day by day,” he added.
Girgis describes his normal routine as commuting to work, coming home, going to church, perhaps visiting relatives, but avoiding for the most part significant interactions with society.
Many Christians increasingly tend toward such isolation, he explains, though as a man, he says, he can blend in and escape the worst.
For his wife Maria (also not her real name), things are much harder. Christian women in Egypt, especially in lower-class neighbourhoods like the one in which she and her family live, stand out for not wearing a head covering, which sets them apart from the great majority of Muslim women.
A mother of a three-year-old daughter and a one-year old son, she says their modest neighbourhood in Cairo is all they can afford.
Reliance on public transportation is part of the family’s lifestyle. Beat up minivans cram up to 12 passengers in like sardines, taking them across town for the equivalent of 15 cents.
“The other day, I was climbing into the van with my two children as usual,” Maria tells her story, “and I called out the name of my neighbourhood just to confirm. But the driver said he wasn’t going there, so I got out to ride in the correct one.”
“But then a Muslim woman came on board and asked for the same neighbourhood, and the driver let her in, taking the last place. I was outraged and complained, but the man replied, ‘I’m free to let in who I like and force out who I like.’”
Within the past year, similar incidents happened half a dozen times. It is not a daily occurrence, but it leaves a painful wound, especially when repeated with such regularity.
“I was walking with my daughter, carrying my son, on a very hot summer day,” Maria relates. “So I asked a merchant to sell me an umbrella for shade, but he said he didn’t have any. ‘Sure you do,’ I said, pointing, thinking he didn’t see them in the back. He replied coldly, ‘Yes, but I’m not selling them to you.’”
…
[Full Story]