Christians and Muslims march together against Islamist hegem

[Hannani Maya]

Christians and Muslims march
together against Islamist hegemony
Mina Magdi, an activist of the Maspero Youth Union,
denounces attempts by extremists to divide Christians and Muslims. The sectarian
clashes that took place on April 7 in front of the Coptic Orthodox cathedral
were manipulated. With false news reports by media linked to the Muslim
Brotherhood accusing the Copts of attacking first.


تكبير الصورةتصغير الصورة معاينة الأبعاد الأصلية.


تكبير الصورةتصغير الصورة معاينة الأبعاد الأصلية.

Cairo (AsiaNews): "There is no
division between Christians and Muslims, both communities are for the unity of
all Egyptians", says Magdi Mina, 27, spokesman for the human rights organization
Maspero Youth Union, that works in the country speaking to AsiaNews. To the cry
of "Muslims and Copts hand in hand to build a new dawn" and "Copts and Muslims
are sons of Egypt," more than 5 thousand Egyptians demonstrated April 9 against
the attack on the Cathedral. The activist, one of the organizers of the march,
speaks of the recent violence that took place on April 7 in front of the Coptic
Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mark, and the critical articles that have appeared in
recent days accusing the Copts of having attacked first, forcing the police to
intervene .
The attack - he says - was launched by some
people who infiltrated the funeral procession for the four Christians killed in
a previous clash in the al-Khosoos suburb. These thugs began throwing stones and
petrol bombs against us. The police responded by firing tear gas into the
Cathedral, but some even fired on the crowd and killed two people". Mina Magdi
maintains that the Muslim Brotherhood, chief among them President Morsi,
continue to lie saying that they are completely extraneous to the facts and
declaring their moral support for Christians.
We know - the activist continues - that many of
their members have written articles that say that the Christians attacked first.
I was there and it did not go at all the way some newspapers are trying to make
people believe." In protest against the regime, on the 9th of April, Christian
deputies resigned from the Islamic majority Shura Council.
Beginning at five in the afternoon in downtown
Cairo, the march made its way to the Coptic Cathedral square. The event was
organized by the Maspero Youth Union and other movements that have arisen after
the revolution. The event was also attended by many ordinary people, mainly
Muslims. They have chosen to take to the streets to show their solidarity with
their Christian friends, colleagues, neighbors. One of them, Hisham el-Shazly, a
Muslim, said: "I swore to myself that I would march today. My neighbors are
Copts so I could not let them down." He declares that "there are no issues that
divide Christians and Muslims, we are all inhabitants of this country.
Christians are not allies of the Muslims, allies come and go, the Christians -
just like us - are people of Egypt. But this regime is trying to divide brothers
and sisters, fathers and sons. " According to el-Shazly the regime wants to pit
communities against each other to gain power and maintain control over the
country: "These days I told my friends to open their eyes because there is no
difference between Christians and Muslims."