The terms of the reconciliation were announced by Counselor Mahmoud Ghallab, head of the dispute settlement committee at Abu Qurqas. Both parties, Muslim and Christian, have to pay 110,000 EGP in compensation to a Copt whose car was burned down during the events.
The conditions also stated that Copts should pay blood money for the dead Copts, while Muslims should pay blood money for their dead, despite all four victims being randomly murdered, during the random shooting carried out by Muslims of Hawarta.
The Copts of Nazlet Ebeid were also indefinitely prevented from establishing buildings on the border with Hawarta village, or entering through Hawarta’s western bridge.
Several security leaders, headed by director of Minya security and director of Minya’s CID attended the meeting. A penalty of 2 million EGP was agreed upon for anyone who violates these terms.
“Muslims and Copts are one. We must take serious steps to respond to these acts, which are alien to our Egyptian community, by educating our young on equality.” Said Maj. Gen. Osama Metwali, Minya’s director of security.
A banner suspended over the heads of the audience at the meeting, made it clear that the meeting was held “under the sponsorship of the Egyptian Council for Arab and Egyptian Tribes.”
A state of anger has prevailed among Copts of Nazlet Ebeid, following the announcement of these terms, and many have described them as “unfair.”
“Reconciliation meetings” are Bedouin traditions, usually applied after attacks on Copts in order to force them to drop their court cases, are encouraged by security forces.
Hawarta Muslims Besiege Copts, in Absence of Security
MCN has seen the suffering of Copts in the predominantly Coptic village of Nazlet Ebaid, Minya (Upper Egypt), after attacks, threats, and the siege imposed on them by Muslims from the nearby village of Hawarta before the so-called “customary reconciliation meeting” scheduled for Saturday.
Copts said there is no other practical choice for them but to accept the reconciliation meeting in the absence of the state or rule of law. They said they have not been to their jobs for 15 days because Hawarta’s Muslims have laid siege to their village following recent attacks, which resulted in death of two Muslims and two Copts and injured dozens.
The clashes took place because the Muslims of Hawarta objected when a Copt wanted to build a house near their homes.
Consequently, they imposed a siege on Copts in Nazlet Ebeid, who have no way out of their village other than the road passing through Hawarta. Hawarta residents attacked a number of cars owned by Nazlet Ebaid Copts, who cannot go to their businesses as they are working in quarries. Their village is one of the largest villages in the province in the industry of quarries.
Several students could not go to their school and colleges because they fear they would be victims of violence. All these challenges forced Copts to accept the so-called “reconciliation meeting” which was attended by a number of senior family leaders and popular figures to put controls between the two villages to resume work and to prevent attacks between them. Copts had no choice but to accept the meeting to save the lives of their children.
The terms reached by the meeting included payment of 110,000 EGP for the car that was burned outside Hawarta village by Muslims. The car is owned by a Copt from the village of Fargalla, adjacent to Hawarta. The terms also prevented passing to Hawarta village through the western bridge indefinitely.
The conditions also necessitated non-payment of blood money to anyone from the two villages even after the reconciliation. Copts of Nazlet Ebeid are not allowed to build on the border with the village of Hawarta, and they cannot leave their homes for 15 days after the reconciliation. This last condition was rejected by the Copts of Nazlet Ebeid, who started a dialogue again about this last condition, which they believe unfair.
Bishop Makarios of Minya told MCN that the church and clergy will not participate in the customary reconciliation meeting.
“We will not participate in the meeting and will not bless it. We did not recommend it and our position is clear. We reject these meetings because they do not befit a modern state where the rule of law is supposed to be above all, and it must be enforced,” the bishop said.
He pointed out that such meetings waste the rights of the society and the prestige of the state, and do not solve the problems suffered by Christians for many years. Copts are usually forced to compromise in order to co-exist in the absence of the rule of law, which caused an increase in sectarian incidents in recent years.
Bishop Makarios called on the state to consider the sectarian crisis as a whole and discuss its roots and do not provide temporary solutions through these meetings in which the weaker party yields to terms. He added that the state should tackle these problems by fighting extremism, developing education and religious discourse and solving problems of poverty and illiteracy.
The brother of Gerges Kamal Habib, one of the killed Copts, said his brother came out to defend the church of St. George when he heard about the attempt by Hawarta’s Muslims to attack it and he was shot.
He added that Muslims of Hawarta have been harassing Copts since the ouster of former President Morsi on July 3. They also envy Copts because of the high living standard in the village, so they attacked cars owned by Copts several times and Copts had to accept reconciliation for peace.
Antonious Adli, one of the village’s Copts, said the reconciliation meeting is a product of the absence of law. He added that they were attacked and their cars were damaged by Muslims of Hawarta and this was not the first reconciliation meeting, but after the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood intolerance increased.
After the breakup of the Brotherhood’s sit-in, they attacked Copts and remained chanting against them. They damaged cars and property of Copts and no legal action was taken against them, so Copts accept reconciliation meetings after every attack.
“We have no other choice but to reconcile to resume our businesses, because there is no decisive action against the aggressors and all our quarries have stopped working for 15 days. Students do not go to their schools after Ayad Abdel Massih was killed on his way to his farm,” Adli added.
In a related context, Boutros Wagih, one of the injured, said, “I was at home and we were surprised by an attack launched by Muslims of Hawarta against our village. They fired gunshots so we went out to defend the church. They burned agriculture machines and two houses. As were heading to our villages, I was hit by a shot in the leg in the presence of the police.”
“I could not go to hospital in an ambulance because they stopped ambulances to attack the injured,” Wagih added. “The police raided our homes, destroyed contents and terrorized children. They arrested 11 Copts who had nothing to do with the events. They raided houses under the pretext of searching for weapons. The police did not come to protect the people but to loot the houses.”
Wagih noted that they rejected the terms of the reconciliation meeting in the beginning when Muslims insisted on holding the reconciliation in their village. He added that Christians later accepted the reconciliation after a suggestion to set up a pavilion between the two villages in a neutral zone, but there are still no guarantees to prevent repeated attacks, especially as there are no penalty conditions against attackers.
Coptic resident Megalli Moharib talked about the pressure Hawarta’s Muslims places on Copts, forcing them to sell their land. He said his relative Helmi Abu Kamel owned a piece of land on the main road next to Hawarta village and Muslims refused his presence near them and forced him to sell the land after threatening to kill his sons. They offered to buy the land at a price of 300,000 EGP, although the land’s value was roughly two million EGP. He was forced to sell the land to avoid threats.
Mary Youssef and Tawfiq Abu Sharma are two Copts who were also forced to sell their land at a low price.
“We are forced to sell because they are putting pressure on us and they leave their cattle to destroy our crops. They are convinced that our money is ‘booty’ and say this explicitly,” Moharib noted.
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