 ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARDS MEN": Tomorrow, Friday, Egypt's Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas, which, since last year, is also a national holiday. Coptic Christmas celebrations this year are marred by sectarian tensions, and unfortunate expressions of bigotry and intolerance in some of the media. Yet as we at Al-Ahram Weekly, both Muslims and Christians, join the Egyptian Coptic community in marking the birth of Jesus, we renew our determination to fight all forms of intolerance and to reassert the great slogan of the 1919 Revolution: "Religion is for God. The Homeland is for all." The icon above goes back to the 10th Century, and is from Al-Mu'allaqah Church in old Cairo. parent page (6 - 12 January 2005, issue #724) |