Christians and Muslims march together against Islamist hegemony
Cairo (AsiaNews) - "There is no division between Christians and Muslims, both communities are for the unity of all Egyptians", says Magdi Mina, 27, spokesman for the human rights organization Maspero Youth Union, that works in the country speaking to AsiaNews. To the cry of "Muslims and Copts hand in hand to build a new dawn" and "Copts and Muslims are sons of Egypt," more than 5 thousand Egyptians demonstrated April 9 against the attack on the Cathedral. The activist, one of the organizers of the march, speaks of the recent violence that took place on April 7 in front of the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mark, and the critical articles that have appeared in recent days accusing the Copts of having attacked first, forcing the police to intervene .
"The attack - he says - was launched by some people who infiltrated the funeral procession for the four Christians killed in a previous clash in the al-Khosoos suburb. These thugs began throwing stones and petrol bombs against us. The police responded by firing tear gas into the Cathedral, but some even fired on the crowd and killed two people". Mina Magdi maintains that the Muslim Brotherhood, chief among them President Morsi, continue to lie saying that they are completely extraneous to the facts and declaring their moral support for Christians.
"We know - the activist continues - that many of their members have written articles that say that the Christians attacked first. I was there and it did not go at all the way some newspapers are trying to make people believe." In protest against the regime, on the 9th of April, Christian deputies resigned from the Islamic majority Shura Council.
Beginning at five in the afternoon in downtown Cairo, the march made its way to the Coptic Cathedral square. The event was organized by the Maspero Youth Union and other movements that have arisen after the revolution. The event was also attended by many ordinary people, mainly Muslims. They have chosen to take to the streets to show their solidarity with their Christian friends, colleagues, neighbors. One of them, Hisham el-Shazly, a Muslim, said: "I swore to myself that I would march today. My neighbors are Copts so I could not let them down." He declares that "there are no issues that divide Christians and Muslims, we are all inhabitants of this country. Christians are not allies of the Muslims, allies come and go, the Christians - just like us - are people of Egypt. But this regime is trying to divide brothers and sisters, fathers and sons. " According to el-Shazly the regime wants to pit communities against each other to gain power and maintain control over the country: "These days I told my friends to open their eyes because there is no difference between Christians and Muslims." (S.C.)
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