Drs. Cornelis Hulsman, Editor in Chief of Arab West Report [Reviewer's Note: Newspaper mentioned it as East West Report], said that Copts are "discriminated against" not "never persecuted" in his interview to al-Watan.

Al-Watan had interviewed Hulsman in which he attacked late Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III and Bishop Bīshūy, Secretary-General of the Holy Synod. He then denied saying that.

From our belief that everyone has the right to respond, we published Hulsman's response on the interview published earlier in al-Watan. Al-Watan also has the right to comment or response. This is the original text of his response:

Dear Editor in Chief of al-Watan, 

 

Accuracy and transparency are requisite for better Muslim-Christian relations.

I was interviewed by al-Watan about my lecture on Muslim-Christian relations in the European Parliament. Here is my response to the publication of the interview:

I know Metropolitan Bīshūy Bishop of Damietta, Kafr al-Shaykh and Secretary-General of the Holy Synod well, and have met with him on several occasions, including last week in a meeting about this interview. I respect Metropolitan Bīshūy greatly and would describe him as very knowledgeable, friendly, and protective of Coptic Orthodox faith and tradition.

I disagree with the word “aggressive” that was used in the text and that is not mine. Metropolitan Bīshūy is open and has granted me several interviews in the past, the publishing of which has never been problematic. I agree with the Metropolitan that he has played a major role in dialogue between different churches. This is a fact that must be acknowledged.

With this background I certainly do not agree with the use of the descriptor “sectarian,” but of course one should understand that at times being protective of one’s church community and faith can be seen by others as being opposed to dialogue, which is, in the case of Metropolitan Bīshūy, not true. I have seen a great deal of media reporting about Metropolitan Bīshūy (see press articles translated by AWR) and I believe that he has often been portrayed unfairly. In the year 2002 he gave a most brilliant interview to Arab-West Report which we have recorded, transcribed word-for-word, showed to him before publication, and then placed online. This is the only way to do justice of the opinion of any Egyptian leader on whatever sensitive issues. In sensitive issues one must be careful to adhere to the original text of the interview.

I do not like writing about (the late Coptic Orthodox) Pope Shenouda III being “double-faced” as the article does. As with any human being, we may agree on some points and disagree on others. I know Pope Shenouda and I met him in different occasions. I appreciate his personality and I said that many times. Metropolitan Bīshūy is upset about the use of the word “nonsense.”  When I disagree with Coptic Orthodox clergy about statements on statistics I would state that I disagree, but never that I find their views to be “nonsense.”

I did state that Coptic Christians are often discriminated against, but I did not state that they were “never persecuted”. My objection is to the word “never.” I also did not blame Israel only for Islamophobia. I believe Islamophobia is, unfortunately, widespread in the West and also a substantial number of Israelis and Zionist Jews are a party to this, but I would never blame one category only. That is too simplistic.

I deeply regret that this interview has caused so much grief among people who I consider to be my friends. I hope this explanation clarifies my position.

Read original text in Arabic