The Forgotten Christians of Egypt

BCF : Coptic Christians, once hopeful after the Arab Spring, now endure renewed marginalization under a regime praised abroad for stability but criticized for repression.More than a decade ago the Egyptian military ended Cairo’s short-lived experiment with democracy.

When Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, both Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense, seized power in July 2013, he did so with the public support of Coptic Pope Tawadros II. Unfortunately, el-Sisi has betrayed the estimated 15 million Copts in Egypt, the largest Christian population in the Middle East. 

Although Cairo is a nominal American ally, it oppresses religious minorities as well as political dissidents. These practices contribute to the instability and violence which continue to bedevil the Mideast and entangle the United States. Throughout thousands of extraordinary years of life, Egyptians have never enjoyed the blessings of liberty or democracy. 

The overthrow of Hosni Mubarak during the celebrated Arab Spring in 2013 briefly offered hope of change, but newly elected Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, proved to be a maladroit Islamist, sabotaging his own presidency. El-Sisi, though appointed to his positions by Morsi, became an enthusiastic frontman for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which helped finance his coup. 

El-Sisi proved to be a more effective authoritarian than Mubarak, creating a brutal dragnet for opponents, critics, and most anyone exhibiting even minimal antagonism toward the regime. Indeed, el-Sisi learned from the Chinese government, staging a repeat of Tiananmen Square, only in Cairo. The military violently dispersed demonstrators from Rab’a Square, killing more than 800 people there alone. 

As many as 65,000 Egyptians were arrested and imprisoned. Torture is widespread, and the regime also shut down NGOs that had monitored the Mubarak government. I visited one of them, the Al-Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture, which had survived Mubarak’s dictatorship but was closed after publicizing al-Sisi’s abuses.

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