All day, women move from one house to another to give their condolences, while priests pay visits to the households of the victims and hold continuous sermons in the Virgin Mary Church at the center of the village.
There is sadness in the village, but also a sense of submissive acceptance of the brutal killing. A fast, official response to the beheadings has been made in the form of Egyptian airstrikes on alleged Islamic State (IS) holdouts in Libya, along with soothing preaching about martyrdom by religious authorities, which has left families in a state of tearful gratitude.
“We are not angry for those who died. We’re concerned for our country. Egypt is being targeted, but it will never be like Libya and Syria.”
In a statement issued following the release of the video on Sunday, the Coptic Orthodox Church mourned the victims and asserted its confidence in the role played by the state and its officials, which it says was obvious from the start.
The families of the victims, however, had repeatedly protested the slow government response to the crisis since the kidnappings took place two months ago.
Last month, the families held a press conference in Cairo complaining that the Foreign Ministry and other officials they had met with had not yet taken steps toward resolving the crisis, and had kept them in the dark about their kidnapped relatives.
The crisis began on December 29, when seven Egyptians returning from Sirte to Egypt were kidnapped by Islamist militants. Five days later, 13 more Egyptians were abducted from their houses in the same city.
The news of the beheadings came in excruciating stages. The Islamic State released pictures of the victims lined up on the beach and dressed in jumpsuits. Three days later, the video of their beheading was broadcast.
Following the confirmed of their deaths, anger has subsided, and loss has presided over the village of Our.
Only one of the relatives mentions the slow official response to Mada Masr on Tuesday, in hushed tones, as he adds that the people of the village are nonetheless wholeheartedly with the government.
Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher on Coptic rights at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, says that the state response to the crisis changed at this point, and the quick moves that followed succeeded in absorbing the anger.
Hours before the video was released confirming the deaths of the workers on Sunday, officials met with some of their families in Cairo and announced that they would issue a special pension of LE2,400 for each family.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave a speech in which he said that Egypt reserves its right to respond to this violation against its citizens.
The next day, the Egyptian military announced that it had launched an airstrike targeting Islamic State holdouts in Libya. The commander of the Libyan Air Force announced that the strike killed 50 Islamic State members, including some of those in power.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and other officials came to the village of Our on Monday to pay their condolences. Mehleb verbally approved their request to build a church in the village in commemoration.
“[The families] feel that the victims didn’t die in vain,” Mehleb says.
Emad Maher lost a cousin, a nephew and two in-laws in the tragedy. In the small village with a custom of intermarriage, most residents are tied by family bonds. Despite his loss, Maher is grateful for the state's response.
“Sisi has avenged them, he has done more than what is required. The moment we learned the news, [we felt that] he avenged our children right away,” says Maher.
Although he thinks providing work for the youth of the village can save them from perilous travels, in which they face risks other than death, Maher says it’s not the right time to blame the state.
“We don’t want to ask anything from the state now, it already has plenty of sorrow and a heavy mission. We want work for our youth, but later on, when things stabilize,” Maher adds.
Our is a small village that survives on agriculture. Men traditionally engage in seasonal labor that earns them roughly LE15 a day, according to residents. They often go for days without finding a job, and this is what prompts them to travel for work, even if it is laden with risk.
Abanob Abdel Messih, whose brother, 30-year-old Hany, was among the victims, mildly reproached the government for giving his brother a visa to go to Libya eight months ago, given the danger.
As for why his brother, who is a father of four, took this risk, Abdel Messih says, “He had to throw himself to his death to avoid what’s more bitter,” referring to the lack of income and inability to provide for his family.
With teary eyes, Abdel Messih still echoes the words of his fellow villagers, “It’s the first time that Sisi strikes a foreign country. It’s a cause of pride for us and for all Egyptians,” he says.
Abdel Messih carries the video of his brother’s death on his phone as a sign of pride of his composure and strength until the last minute.
The stricken village has welcomed the soothing discourse of the church, largely in support of the state. This rhetoric has framed helplessness with spirituality and hope.
During his speech at the memorial held in the cathedral for the victims, Pope Tawadros said that the speedy military response soothed the pain of Egyptians and cemented the position of the Armed Forces as protector of the nation.
According to Amr Ezzat, a researcher in the field of freedom of belief at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Church’s alignment with the state is a natural byproduct of Islamist extremism.
In recent decades, the Church has been a bastion for the Christian community and an overall moral authority for it. This crucial position has turned the Church at times into a proxy for the state and a defender of its policies, as several scholars on the matter have noted. As part of this role, the Church has, for example, encouraged Christians to forget about the tragic deaths of 23 Copts under the wheels of military tanks in Cairo in October 2011 in the context of a larger fight.
In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Pope Tawadros said that it is not wise to discuss the Maspero massacre.
Ezzat explains that the Church has a strong hold on its following, especially in Upper Egypt and in rural areas. In similar situations involving sectarian unrest, the Church, large Coptic families and security forces tend to coordinate in order to contain people’s anger and any potential for agitation, Ezzat adds.
In Our, the families say they have found solace in the fact that their loved ones died as martyrs for their religion and country. Priests giving continuous sermons in the village church have reiterated this belief.
“This is a tragedy that is not really a tragedy. In our sorrow, there is happiness and in our grief, there is peace,” one priest said to the village church filled with residents.
The priest commended the strength of the victims, romanticizing their deaths and likening them to saints in Coptic history. “Their strength exceeded that of their killers, not a hair on their heads was shaken,” he said, shortly before adding, “We thank President Sisi because he knows how to bring back the dignity of Egyptians.”
Ultimately, the Church discourse, echoed by the people, is one in which it is okay for the individual to sacrifice for the nation.
Araoz Nassif, the aunt of 24-year-old Youssef Shoukry, one of the slain Copts, speaks to Mada Masr from the house where he lived with two brothers, two sisters and his mother. The house consists of two rooms made of bricks and no furniture. Shoukry traveled to be able to build himself another house where he could get married and settle.
She says that the crisis the country is going through takes precedence over personal loss.
“We are not angry for those who died. We’re concerned for our country. Egypt is being targeted, but it will never be like Libya and Syria,” she says.
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http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/minya-more-sorrow-and-less-anger