Yesterday, 24 March 2011, I attended the first of the series of consciousness-raising event announced over the Facebook page of the Youth Bishopric. It took place in a church in Wikalat al-Balah (Bulaq) a rather poor area right behind the Corniche skyscrapers between Downtown and Shubra. The audience were apparently mainly lower-class people from that and neighbouring areas. A local sheikh also attended. Three intellectuals were invited: The Muslim secularist writer Fatma Naout, the Coptic lawyer Amir Ramzi, and the Coptic writer, journalists and caricaturist Philip Fikri.
The mood was good and people were listening quite attentively. Naout was applauded for arguing that friction between Muslims and Christians came after the import of "Eastern" and "uncivilised desert" values and attitudes from Saudi Arabia. She criticised that most Muslims know too little of the Copts, and urged the Copts not to remain silent in the face and provocation and intolerance, but to speak out and defend the truth. Because of this silence, injustice has become the rule and most Muslims do not even notice. She praised the mourners at the Mari Mina monstery, where the wake for the victims of the Alexandria terror attack was held, for refusing to accept the condolences of President Mubarak and the Governor of Alexandria. Only through speaking up, Naout said, the culture of citizenship can be regained.
The lawyer Amir Ramzi explained the meaning of the constitution and of the concept of citizenship. He urged people to discuss political matters in a rational way and to explain, not to use a language of orders. Egypt is threatened by a fourfold aggression, he argues: ignorance, poverty, disease, and chaos. Israel might be the fifth enemy, but the first four are more important. Finally, he explains the meaning of article 24 (as far as I remember), which states that everybody has a right to a share of the national product. Everybody should remember that they do receive services from the state. However, they have a right to complain that the quality of these services is bad because of mismanagement. Mismanagement is a bigger problem that corruption (he probably means arbitrary exclusion/inclusion from services).
Philip Fikri writes for al-Kawakib and has recently published a book in which he describes his everyday experience as an Egyptian Copts: "Ana mi l-balad di". He presents a short film that gives some thought about life in Egypt as a Copt and as an Egyptian. The video ends with the well-known shocking footage from inside the church at Sidi Bishr, Alexandria at the moment of the explosion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTlmo-EnOMY), and then the mentioned moment when mourners refuse to accept condolences from the regime.
Both Ramzi and Fikri were quite positive about the revolution and effortlessly managed to portray Coptic concern as part and parcel of a general Egyptian longing for more freedom, more justice, a better state, and more religious tolerance. It was remarkable that although Coptic concerns were addressed quite openly and offensively, the mood was not sectarian at all. Criticism was however directed at the Salafi movement and the Muslim Brotherhood - and at the army.
The mood was good and people were listening quite attentively. Naout was applauded for arguing that friction between Muslims and Christians came after the import of "Eastern" and "uncivilised desert" values and attitudes from Saudi Arabia. She criticised that most Muslims know too little of the Copts, and urged the Copts not to remain silent in the face and provocation and intolerance, but to speak out and defend the truth. Because of this silence, injustice has become the rule and most Muslims do not even notice. She praised the mourners at the Mari Mina monstery, where the wake for the victims of the Alexandria terror attack was held, for refusing to accept the condolences of President Mubarak and the Governor of Alexandria. Only through speaking up, Naout said, the culture of citizenship can be regained.
The lawyer Amir Ramzi explained the meaning of the constitution and of the concept of citizenship. He urged people to discuss political matters in a rational way and to explain, not to use a language of orders. Egypt is threatened by a fourfold aggression, he argues: ignorance, poverty, disease, and chaos. Israel might be the fifth enemy, but the first four are more important. Finally, he explains the meaning of article 24 (as far as I remember), which states that everybody has a right to a share of the national product. Everybody should remember that they do receive services from the state. However, they have a right to complain that the quality of these services is bad because of mismanagement. Mismanagement is a bigger problem that corruption (he probably means arbitrary exclusion/inclusion from services).
Philip Fikri writes for al-Kawakib and has recently published a book in which he describes his everyday experience as an Egyptian Copts: "Ana mi l-balad di". He presents a short film that gives some thought about life in Egypt as a Copt and as an Egyptian. The video ends with the well-known shocking footage from inside the church at Sidi Bishr, Alexandria at the moment of the explosion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTlmo-EnOMY), and then the mentioned moment when mourners refuse to accept condolences from the regime.
Both Ramzi and Fikri were quite positive about the revolution and effortlessly managed to portray Coptic concern as part and parcel of a general Egyptian longing for more freedom, more justice, a better state, and more religious tolerance. It was remarkable that although Coptic concerns were addressed quite openly and offensively, the mood was not sectarian at all. Criticism was however directed at the Salafi movement and the Muslim Brotherhood - and at the army.
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