I will start by looking backwards in time (only a few decades). The modernn day attrocities against Christians in Egypt started roughly in 1972 in Khanka where a church was burned and Christians were attacked by Muslim fundamentalists. Then in 1981 AlZawya Al Hamra in Cairo witnessed the most horrible acts of senseless attacks on Copts. 81 killed. Between 1998 and 2000 around 30 Copts were killed in Al Kosh'h in Southern Egypt. The Alexandria death toll could be as high as 50 and this was the first time explosives have been used to kill and maim such a big number of Christians.
In between the incidents mentioned above was a string of many smaller scale attacks that involved killings, stabbings, burning churches and destroying property and all of that happened in an environment that was getting more intollerant and discriminatory towards Copts thanks to the rise of Islamic extremism.
The Egyptian government can blame external elements or green aliens as much as it likes, but the sad reality is that Christians in Egypt are targetted and after every attack we just give them a pat on the back and ask them to get on with it because we love them and we are all Egyptians and all the rest of that crap.
I hear harrowing stories from Copts about the discrimination and abuse they experience in their everyday life, when they apply for jobs or even att schools and universities.
It now seems inevitable that Copts will hit back and become militant and hostile and thats a normal reaction. I would be like that if I grew up as a child to be told that my father or mother were killed by a scumbag who shouted Allahu Akbar before detonating his belt.
As long as we have a government that is pandering to the Muslim extremists and using them to justify their autocracy attacks on Copts will increase and spiral out of control.
Labels: Alexandria, Church, copts, explosion
