Sam Tadros, author of “Motherland Lost: The Egyptian and Coptic Quest for Modernity,” on the military’s signal it might soon intervene to preserve the Egyptian state.
Egypt, an Arab nation with a predominantly Sunni population, has never been a happy place for minorities. Yet it was usually Christians—estimated at around 10% of the population—who had to suffer from the country’s ever-growing bigotry. Now antagonism against the tiny Shiite minority is rising as extremists make use of their newly found freedom after President Hosni Mubarak’s fall in 2011. Ultraconservative Sunnis hold Shiites as archenemies.
Egypt’s new president, Mohamed Morsi, apparently does not object. A week ago he listened approvingly to clerks insulting Shiites during a rally against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, a Shiite himself. Taking their cue from the president, sheiks in Zawyat Abu Musalam have ratcheted up the anti-Shiite rhetoric in recent weeks. Eyewitnesses to the tragedy say the sheikhs accused the village Shiites of insulting Prophet Muhammed and spreading debauchery. One video shows members of the mob, covered in blood, justifying their doings saying the Shiites were holding “group sex” parties.
The bigger problem here is that those who committed the attacks are not some rogue elements schooled in religious extremism. On the contrary, they are average citizens who thought they were doing the right thing. Yes, Mr. Morsi was elected, and some might say that these are the growing pains of a young democracy. You keep on making mistakes until you reach a working formula. Maybe. But in Egypt, such mistakes could come at high cost.
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By Ahmed Feteha, The Wall Street Journal