Judge not, that ye be not judged!

Judge not, that ye be not judged

Regardless of being students at an American institution, we do still have the right to speak and criticize America and to register our situation toward any political crisis all-around the world, thanks for Liberal education and freedom of speech. Thus as a loyal Egyptian, Arab and Muslim, I find myself obliged by my Arab conscience to register a situation towards the American foreign policy towards Egypt, and the Arab world.

These days, the Egyptian newspapers and media talk are about the American bill proposed by some senators of the American congress. This law is concerned with religious discriminations against minorities in some countries, from which is Egypt. The law bill includes some disciplinary actions against these countries, that may include some kind of embargo.
The law claims that the Christians are ill-treated in Egypt, and that they are under severe discrimination. The idea was brought up mainly by some Egyptian Christians, who were Egyptians but they migrated to America. Some of them were invited to conferences organized by the Republican and the Democratic parties. In one of these conferences, an Egyptian Christian girl stood and she said: "They look at me in disdain in Egypt. The look in their eyes to the cross I wear on my breast shows that." This girl has never been to Egypt except for a few times, and for a few days. However, there is some somewhat mysterious motivation that encouraged her to do that.

The Egyptian foreign ministry declares everyday that this campaign is launched against Egypt, and at the current timing with its critical circumstances, for certain reasons; specifically the Egyptian situation from the Middle East peace process. All these facts require a certain sociological look towards the rights and wrongs of these claims.

The Egyptian Christians, referred to as Copts, were never a minority. When a certain research center in Egypt was going to organize a conference about the rights of the Copts as a minority, the conference was absolutely destroyed by the Egyptian elite writer Mohamed H. Haykal and Pope Shenouda III.
Referring backwards to history, before Egypt Islamic conquest in 644 AD, the Muslims were given an order from the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to protect the Copts of Egypt and defend them because they were on the nearest religious trend to Islam. The prophet (PBUH) married from an Egyptian Copt. In addition, the Quran mentioned verses about the Copts, which mentioned candidly that the Christians are the nearest group to Muslims. Referring to the near past, in 1973 war the Coptic soldiers were fasting with the Egyptian soldiers. The Israeli bullets did not differentiate between a Muslim and a Copt.

However to what extent do the Egyptians grasp these facts? It might be so ridiculous trying to claim that there is no fanaticism in Egypt. This seems like trying to claim that we all live in a utopia. Nevertheless, a big percentage of the Egyptians grasps this fact. When the Egyptian writer Mustafa Mahmoud wrote in one of his articles in Al-Ahram an article entitled "The American Civilization", where he distinguished between Christianity in Europe and Egypt, some Copts sent him letters saluting his opinion.(The flaming tomorrow: Mustafa Mahmoud). They mentioned that the distinction between the European and the Egyptian Christianity is the absolute freedom that the European Christianity offers. A Coptic doctor mentioned that what pope John Paul did by the absolution of the Jews from the blood of Jesus is absolutely unacceptable. Moreover, pope Shenouda III did not allow the Egyptian Copts to visit Jerusalem because it is still an occupied land, the same as what Sheik Al-Azhar announced.

One of the best replies to this issue was a program by NILE TV, presented by AUC graduate Sami Zeidan. The program interviewed some of the people working at AUC’s media center. From one of the best comments one that said: "America cares for Copts and ignores discrimination against the blacks in the states, that is even much worse than the claimed discrimination in Egypt."
Perhaps the best thing that can be said for those who are searching about a problem to cause for us is "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Directory Home