Copts at the Crossroads : The Challenges of Building Inclusive Democracy in Egypt PDF
Preview Copts at the Crossroads : The Challenges of Building Inclusive Democracy in Egypt
Copts at the Crossroads Copts at the Crossroads The Challenges of Building Inclusive Democracy in Contemporary Egypt Mariz Tadros The American University in Cairo Press Cairo New York First published in 2013 by The American University in Cairo Press 113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt 420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 www.aucpress.com Copyright © 2013 by Mariz Tadros Some of the material in this book appeared previously in articles by Mariz Tadros published in the Middle East Research and Information Project: “Egypt’s Bloody Sunday,” 13 October 2011; “A State of Sectarian Denial,” 11 January 2011; and “Behind Egypt’s Deep Red Lines,” 10 January 2010. Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Dar el Kutub No. 13835/12 ISBN 978 977 416 591 7 Dar el Kutub Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tadros, Mariz Copts at the Crossroads: The Challenges of Building Inclusive Democracy in Egypt / Mariz Tadros.—Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2013. p. cm. ISBN 978 977 416 591 7 1. Egypt—History 2. Copts 962 1 2 3 4 5 17 16 15 14 13 Designed by Adam el-Sehemy Printed in Egypt To Dr. Khairy Abdel Malek, Dr. Ra’if Yanni, Dr. Marie Assaad, and Akram Habib In memory of the late Dr. Samer Soliman, professor, activist, and co-founder of Egyptians Against Discrimination Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface xi Introduction:AFutureofCrescentwithoutCross? 1 1. TheCoptsofEgypt 23 2. OverviewofSectarianIncidents(2008–2011) 45 3. ThePatriarch–PresidentPactandthePeopleinBetween 61 4. ThePoliticsofBackroomVendettas:TheStateSecurity InvestigationsApparatusversustheCopticChurchLeadership 83 5. Mitigation,Management,andResolution ofSectarianismunderMubarak 97 6. AgainstAllOdds:TheCoptsinthe25JanuaryRevolution 119 7. TheBeginningoftheEndoftheTahrirSpirit 139 8. CopticProtestandCoptsinProtest 161 9. Egypt’sBloodySundayandItsRippleEffects 183 10. TheCopts’IslamistExperience 201 11. WinningforGod:SectarianismintheParliamentary andPresidentialElections 219 Conclusion:WalkingnexttotheWall,insidetheWall, andawayfromtheWall 235 Notes 251 Bibliography 265 Index 275 vii Acknowledgments T hisbookwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthesupportofmany people.FirstandforemostIwouldliketothankmyhusband,Akram Habib,forhisimmensecontributionindevelopingtheideasand argumentspresentedinthisbookandinchallengingmetodigdeeper, probefurther,andquestioneverything.Mydeepestgratitudegoestomy parents,FikryandMary,fortheirunfalteringencouragementandsupport. Thisbookbenefitedimmenselyfromtheverycapableresearchassist- anceofRobeirelFares,theassistanteditorinchiefofWataninewspaper andoneofthemostinfluentialCopticwritersandactivistsinEgypttoday. Chapters6and8reliedheavilyoninterviewsundertakenbyElFares.I oweHaniMorsi,doctoralstudentattheUniversityofSussex’sInstituteof DevelopmentStudies(IDS),mydeepestthanksforhisresearchassistance incollatingthequantitativedatathatwasthensynthesizedandpresented inchapters2and7.IamdeeplyindebtedtoDr.SinoutDelwar,Dr.Ra’if Yanni,andtheCopticCultureCentreatal-Dahir,Cairo,forsharingwith usthedatabaseofallthepressarticlespublishedonsectarianismfrom 2007onward.Iowemuchtoalltheinformantsandintervieweeswho gavemeoftheirtimeandsharedallthattheyhaveinbothformaland informalcapacities.IwouldliketothankChrisToensing,editorofthe Middle East Research and InformationProject(MERIP),forkindlyallow- ingmetoreprintsomearticlesthatappearedinthemagazine.Aspecial thankyoutoRichard(Dick)Douglasforhisincomparableeditingskills andsubstantivecommentary.Iwouldliketothankallthemembersof the“participationtribe”attheIDSfortheirconstantsupportandmy friendsinCairo,inparticularLilianAwadandFaizaRady,fortheircon- stantencouragement. ix
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