Correction: The original version of this article contained an error. Wesam Gabran was misquoted.
More than a month after a drive-by shooting killed six Christians who attended a Coptic Christmas Eve Mass on Jan. 6, Egypt is still recuperating from the escalation of religious tension.
The assailants were Muslims who were reportedly avenging the alleged rape of a Muslim girl by a Coptic Christian. The alleged rape ignited the buildup of religious pressure between the two groups; it was the spark ““ and the violence the flame.
Wesam Gabran, a member of the Coptic Orthodox Christian Club at UCLA, was present in Egypt on Coptic Christmas Eve, but said he did not sense any extra tension due to the shooting.
“Incidents of that sort (have) been happening a lot, but only that one was really covered in the media,” Gabran said.
Angelo Mishriki, a member of the club, said he is concerned with this lack of reaction.
“Since it’s assumed that (the violence) is going to happen, it leads to more violence,” Mishriki said.
He said the shooting is perceived as an everyday story in the news because this type of thinking is embedded in the institutions themselves ““ in the police, the military and the way people act.
Faisal Attrache, president of the United Arab Society, explained the motive behind the violence.
“It’s sort of a Muslim identity they want to preserve in Egypt; they’re finding a way to put down the Coptic population, and that’s such a religious problem,” Attrache said.
The UCLA club responded with a protest in January on Wilshire Boulevard in front of the Federal Building.
According to Maryanne Ibrahim, representative of the Coptic Club, the protest aimed to put pressure on the American government and to seek media attention to increase awareness of the violence in Egypt.
“Any use of religion as justification for killing is never right, even if it’s for some form of revenge,” said Julie Soliman, a member of the club.
She suggested that punishment could have been done through the legal system.
In addition, Mark Hanna, a fourth-year anthropology student, expressed his concern for safety in Egypt.
“I used to be very scared for my family when I went to Egypt … because there is no real protection,” he said.
The Coptic Christians and the Muslims had held relative peace since the ninth century revolution, although friction inevitably exists.
When Egypt was conquered by the Arabic dynasty, the Arabs brought about 12,000 inhabitants to the country, according to Hany Takla, lecturer of Coptic Christianity at UCLA and president of the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society.
While Egypt was completely Christian in the seventh century, scholars believe there was massive conversion after the revolution, Takla said.
According to Gabran, who is a graduate student in electrical engineering, the Christians were faced with three options: convert their faith, pay higher taxes, or leave the country.
Takla added that currently, Christians populate about 10 to 15 percent of Egypt.
Amgad Ellaboudy, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and member of the United Arab Society, said he anticipates a positive change in the future and that the violence will ease.
“The new generations are becoming more educated, more tolerant with other religions,” Ellaboudy said.
Both groups compromise on one aspect ““ a need to reform the Egyptian government.
“The government doesn’t want to cause instability, so it tries to play it on both sides (and) no one’s happy,” Takla said.
Ellaboudy agreed with the need for governmental reform and proposed legitimate elections as opposed to the current delegation of power system that Egypt currently operates.
As for the future, Gabran said, “I would like to see this problem solved without foreign interference (since) you wouldn’t trust the motivation behind this interference.”