Cries for Help from Egypt’s Copts/Come to Their Aid

At the heart of a reality dripping with injustice where persecution, oppression, discrimination, exclusion, marginalization, and systematic sidelining continue to intensify against no fewer than twenty-three million Egyptian Copts inside Egypt at the hands of the ruling authoritarian military regime, a regime that is Daesh in its very disposition Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, made one of the most astonishing public statements in recent memory. He declared that “following Egypt’s national team in the World Cup is not merely about supporting a football team; it also carries profound human and spiritual meanings.”

The statement left broad segments of the public bewildered, because the national team to which he referred is commonly nicknamed “The Prostrators” a designation that, in practical terms, conveys the message that there is no place on the team for any Christian player. Beyond that, the nickname itself carries an exclusionary and discriminatory message, one that appears deliberately crafted to instill despair and hopelessness in the hearts of Coptic athletes.

The Pope’s remarks immediately ignited widespread controversy. That controversy intensified even further when Israeli scholar and researcher Idit Bar, a specialist in Arab affairs, entered the debate. In a video lasting no more than a minute and a half, she explained with remarkable precision and clarity the implications of the nickname “The Prostrators.” The reaction was explosive. Heated discussions erupted across social media, prompting a number of Egyptian Copts to share personal testimonies that laid bare, with striking clarity, the reality of the conditions under which they live. These testimonies should alarm every person who still cares about Egypt’s future a future that increasingly appears headed toward the same fate as countries that have collapsed into ruin and, to this day, have never recovered.

For that reason, I have chosen to present the reality of Egypt’s Copts today through three testimonies. The first appeared as a comment on a Facebook post in which I criticized the Pope. The second circulated widely on social media. The third comes in a different context altogether: it concerns the shooting of monks at the Angel Monastery (“Abu Khashaba”) in Egypt’s Fayoum Governorate. It is the testimony of one of the monks, revealing how Egypt’s justice system, in this particular case, donned the robes of Daesh. As usual, while I was writing this article, the defendants were released.

Because human testimony is often more truthful than any analysis or commentary, I will allow the witnesses to speak in their own words, without interference or editorial rewriting, so that their message reaches you exactly as they intended it.

((The First Testimony))
The first testimony originally appeared as a comment on my Facebook post criticizing Pope Tawadros, as mentioned earlier. Withholding the author’s name, I reproduce it below:

«“What loyalty or sense of belonging does Egypt expect from me when I, one of thirty million Christian Copts, am denied the honor of representing my own country? What kind of fabricated patriotism is demanded of me when I am nothing more than a security file in the archives of Military Intelligence and the National Security Agency, where my loyalty itself is regarded as suspect? That is precisely why people like me are excluded from every center of decision-making within the state.

The State Council, General Intelligence, National Security… and so on, and so forth.

Yes, my genes are Egyptian. But the occupying usurper has stolen my loyalty to my homeland, deprived me of representing it in every sphere, while they themselves have become the ones portrayed as more patriotic, more honorable, and more worthy of representing Egypt than we are.

We are the ones who were driven to leave our homeland, yet we continue to support Egypt’s economy with more than fifty billion annually in hard currency. Even so, we remain marginalized and our patriotism is questioned. Meanwhile, those who claim to be more patriotic and more loyal than we are have plundered the country, starved its people, impoverished them, and humiliated them. So tell me which of us is truly more patriotic?”»

((The Second Testimony))

The second testimony is even more painful, because it does not merely describe a general feeling of discrimination. Rather, it recounts a specific incident in which an Egyptian mother witnessed with her own eyes how the spirit of an exceptionally talented young girl was crushed for one reason alone: her Christian identity. The incident took place inside an institution that is supposed to represent the Egyptian state and all of its citizens equally, with its doors open to everyone without distinction. The mother recounts:

““To those who are upset about a football team built around religious identity…

Back in 2017, a committee from the Military Sports School, which is affiliated with Egypt’s Ministry of Defense, came to several primary schools and randomly selected students to participate in sprinting trials.

My daughter took the test.

She finished in second place.

They repeated the test, and she came in first.

At that point they knew nothing about the students except their telephone numbers.

Then they called us and informed us that another qualifying stage would take place. We went on the appointed day.

Thank God, my daughter came in first once again.

Then we reached the most critical stage of the evaluation.

Her full name was requested… (Oops…).

The young woman registering the names turned to the coach and, with utter shamelessness, said: ‘She’s a Christian.’

Of course, my daughter heard the remark but said nothing. The coach also said nothing.

My daughter walked away heartbroken, as though she had committed some disgraceful crime.

I asked her when the next stage would be.

She replied, ‘Forget it, Mom.’

I asked her why.

She told me about the coach’s reaction and the filthy remark made by the girl recording the names. Then she said: ‘They’re not going to call me because I’m a Christian.’

When the coach came out, I asked him how my daughter had performed.

He said, ‘Excellent.’

I asked whether there would be another appointment.

He answered, ‘Of course.’

‘Goodbye, Coach.’

‘Goodbye,’ he said, patting my daughter on the shoulder.

That was the worst experience my daughter ever went through at the age of twelve.

Rejected because of her religious identity by an institution that is supposed to embody patriotism, and whose foremost duty is to protect the Constitution and the principle of equal citizenship.”

((The Third and Final Testimony))

As for the third and final testimony, I personally transcribed it from a video published by Monk Azer Al-Naqlouni, one of the monks of the Angel Monastery (“Abu Khashaba”) in Egypt’s Fayoum Governorate. He was among the monks who came under gunfire and were assaulted by a group of individuals protected by the Egyptian security services, while the defendants were subsequently released.

This testimony comes at a time when attacks against monastery monks in Egypt have been increasing in a striking manner. Ironically, such attacks often follow criticism or calls for reform issued by the U.S. administration regarding the state of Christian rights in Egypt, as though the authorities wish to send the following message: “They are our hostages. We can do with them whatever we please, whenever we please.”

Monk Azer Al-Naqlouni stated in his testimony:

«”The peace of Christ be with you all. I am Monk Azer Al-Naqlouni. I was with Father Justus when we were on our way to the Monastery of Anba Our. In short, what happened is that we were brutally assaulted, and Father Justus was shot. We went to file a complaint. We brought the police officer with us, and while we were there” meaning at the police station “it turned out that there had already been a premeditated plan against us: one case was to be filed against another. Naturally, we were then taken to the police station, placed in the police vehicle, transferred to the Public Prosecution, and subjected to endless questioning.*

«We spent three days without sleep. The way they treated us as monks was extremely harsh. Even when you wanted to go to the bathroom, they would ask, ‘Where are you going?’ I waived my rights, but I do not accept that waiver because it was extracted under tremendous pressure. Everyone knows there was enormous pressure placed on us to withdraw our complaint. Pressure was also exerted on His Grace Bishop Boram to withdraw it. He came to me there and told me that they could implicate other people, and that we feared for Father Lucas. Personally, I have no problem going to prison if that is what it takes for justice to prevail so that we are not attacked again in this country.»

«We were treated terribly at the Public Prosecution. Every person questioned me and asked me to recount what had happened. I would say, ‘I have already told you.’ They would reply, ‘Tell it again.’ They kept insisting that the men who assaulted us had been masked. I told them, ‘No. I saw that they were not masked. I do not know them personally, but Father Justus may know who they are because they are the road guards from the New Fayoum City Authority. They have been harassing us for a long time. There had even been an earlier case in which they came, set one of our caravans on fire, and walked away without being held accountable.'”

«I asked Father Justus, ‘Who are these people?’ The land on which Father Justus fell is completely separate from the land in dispute. It belongs to a Muslim man and is located along a public road. I am sending out this cry for help not to incite public opinion. We simply want justice. You cannot come, beat me, shoot Father Justus, then pressure both me and Father Lucas. We were explicitly told: ‘You will not leave until you sign the statement that has been prepared for you.’

«God will restore our rights. Remember Christ, and remember the Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel. I do not accept this reconciliation. Please remember the Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel in your prayers.”

Here ends the testimony of Monk Azer Al-Naqlouni. It indicates, without ambiguity, that the road guards who assaulted the monks of Abu Khashaba Monastery (the Monastery of the Archangel Gabriel) on a public road had been dispatched by one of Egypt’s security agencies, which then ensured their protection, pressured the monks into bargaining away their rights, and compelled them to withdraw their complaint in exchange for bringing the case to an end. It is but one recurring episode in a long and familiar pattern.

I say it at the top of my voice, and with complete clarity, addressing the entire world: Come to the aid of Egypt’s Copts. Intervene before it is too late. What is happening today cannot be dismissed as isolated incidents. Rather, they are grave warning signs pointing toward a deeply troubling trajectory that threatens the future of pluralism in this country.

If this course continues without genuine reassessment or accountability, it will open the door to an exceedingly dangerous reality and raise profound questions about the future of the Coptic presence in Egypt, and whether it is being deliberately and gradually driven toward extinction.