CAIRO: When Moussa Attalah woke up on Saturday morning he was looking forward to the day. Village life is like that, he told Bikya Masr in a phone conversation from his southern Egypt home, but Saturday was unlike anything he had witnessed in recent memory. According to him, and police reports from the area, hundreds of Muslims attacked Christian homes in the Farshut town after police had arrested a man accused of raping a Muslim girl.

“It was crazy. People were everywhere on the streets throwing things and trying to light our shops on fire,” he began. “What was scary is that my two daughters (20- and 19-years-old) were worried that if they went onto the streets they would be assaulted by the people. That is what a mob does when these things happen,” he continued.

According to police reports coming from the southern Egypt town on Sunday, a Muslim mob attacked and burned Christian shops and attacked the local police station where the man accused of raping the girl was allegedly being held.

Police were forced to repel the demonstrators with force and tear gas. At least 60 people have been arrested, a police official confirmed.

“They just kept coming and attacking our shops. I think it is something that happens when these things happen in this country. People just go crazy. We Egyptians need to calm down,” Attalah said.

But, when a 12-year-old girl is allegedly sexually assaulted, it is hard to keep people calm, added the 56-year-old milkman.

“It is part of the wider belief that Christians and Muslims are the enemy when these things happen. If it were a Muslim guy who attacked a Christian girl, I am sure the scene would have been similar, but that doesn’t mean it is all right,” he continued.

Sectarian violence have become all-too-frequent in Upper Egypt, where large proportions of Christians and Muslims inhabit local villages. Like Moussa, Coptic Bishop Markos in Alexandria, says that the issues had hand are more difficult to digest when “stupid people do stupid things.”

He said that the community leaders in these areas, both Christian and Muslim, must come together in order to learn that the actions of one person does not represent the entire community.

“We see this kind of violence occurring more and more these days, and especially in southern Egypt, but people need to understand and learn that they lived together just fine on Friday, so this violence is just an emotional response to show their ‘honor.’ I hate it, but we are partly to blame because we don’t educate people,” the Bishop said.

With nearly 10 percent of Egypt’s 80-million people, Christians have often complained of discrimination and ill-treatment by the Muslim majority. Sectarian violence often spurs up following an incident similar to what occurred in Farshut.

“We can live together, and I have many Muslim friends I see on a daily basis, so we just have to try and realize we are all Egyptians and end this violence. It doesn’t get us anywhere,” added Attalah.

For now, the town is in lockdown mode as police are on high alert for more violence. The Bishop says that it is time for religious institutions and the government to take action before extreme violence ensues.

“If the man assaulted this young girl, he must be held responsible and punished. But, so must the people who attacked the shops. Without justice, we will continue this dark circle,” he said.

BM

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