The Economist - UK Edition by The Economist

Author:The Economist
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: The Economist
Published: 2016-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

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CHRISTIANS IN THE ARAB WORLD (1)

Crimes and no punishment

Violence is only one of the problems faced by Christians in Egypt655 words

MINYA

IT BEGAN with an argument over money, says a resident of Karam village in Minya. A shop-owner called Ashraf, a Coptic Christian, could not pay his Muslim suppliers. So they started a rumour that Ashraf was having an affair with a Muslim woman. In May a group of enraged Muslim men burned down his house along with several other homes owned by Christians. Ashraf’s elderly mother was stripped naked and dragged around the village.

Tensions are rising between Egypt’s two largest religious communities. The head of the Coptic church, Pope Tawadros (pictured), says attacks against Christians, who make up between 5% and 15% of the population, occur about once a month. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), a pressure group, counted 77 incidents of sectarian violence and tension in Minya, where there is a large Christian minority, since 2011. At least ten incidents this year have resulted in discord, death and destruction.

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