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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Rallying around the president
By Nevine KhalilJimmy came to the United States with 28 other Egyptians on a government grant three years ago to pursue his studies. On Tuesday, he stood waving the Egyptian flag outside the White House and singing the national anthem, as Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Bill Clinton met inside.
Three of his classmates stood on the other side of the road, holding up pictures of the Christian victims of the Kosheh clashes that took place on New Year's Eve in Upper Egypt.
"I am so surprised at my colleagues. We're all Christians. I just don't understand how they can do this after all Egypt gave us," Jimmy said. "Shame on them; that's not the right thing to do."
He was referring to a small crowd of demonstrators who were calling for equal treatment of Copts and Muslims and protection of Christians back home.
Such "bilateral" demonstrations are common enough outside the White House when a delegation is in town, but on this drizzly day the pro-Mubarak rally effectively drowned out the shouts of a few expatriate Coptic picketers demonstrating against what they view as the plight of Egyptian Christians. This year, the anti-government demonstrators were fewer and quieter than on previous occasions.
"Why can't they have priests as well as sheikhs speaking to the people on Egyptian television when broadcasts begin in the morning?" asked Morris Sadik, president of the US-based Egyptian Human Rights Centre for National Unity, from one side of the fence.
On the opposite side, from beyond a line of mounted police officers, Mubarak supporters shouted, "Long live the crescent with the cross!" and, "Egyptians are united in loving Egypt."
The centre piece of the pro-government rally was the appearance of two Christian clerics alongside a Muslim sheikh. They stood silently facing the anti-government protesters. "We are here to support Mubarak in all his good work for our beloved nation," Bishop Stephanous of Egypt's Coptic Church told Al-Ahram Weekly. Asked what message he would like to convey to the other side, Stephanous said: "There is no other side. We are all one body in Egypt, both Muslims and Christians. And we ask God to reconcile everyone."
The pro crowd, who came from New York, Boston, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Ohio, draped the Egyptian flag over their clothes, mingled with curious onlookers and emphatically denied allegations that their demonstration was organised by the Egyptian embassy in Washington.
"It took us two and a half months to organise this," Karem El-Nokrashi told the Weekly. "The embassy had nothing to do with it." Approximately 400 pro-government demonstrators made an appearance at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- numerous enough to steal the show from the anti-government protesters, numbering some 20 to 30 people.
Badr Zohni, a US-based businessman and one of the organisers, said that he felt sorry for the killings which took place in Al-Kosheh, but believes that such events could occur in both Muslim and Christian communities because of the tradition of blood vendettas in Upper Egypt. "It's unfortunate that the Copts lost so many lives, but let's not forget that Egypt is our country," Zohni said.
"I'm not coming here against Christians; they are all very dear brothers to me," he stressed. "I wouldn't mind crossing over to talk to them, but I don't know if they would allow me to get to the other side."
Zohni, who was later one of those invited to attend Presidents Mubarak and Clinton's meeting with the Arab-American community, prefers to see disputes and problems resolved "within the Egyptian family. It doesn't have to go outside the house." He added that all Egyptians who "drank the water of the Nile and grew up in Egypt should be loyal to their country."
Zohni's view was shared by one dismayed Egyptian who stumbled upon the two rallies by chance. "This really shouldn't happen in such a public way," he commented. "There's no need to hang our dirty laundry out in front of everybody."
Jimmy, the Christian student who has one more year to go in college, has pledged to turn up at the same spot next year if Mubarak should visit before the young man leaves the US. "I'll be here to support our president," he promised.
