On September 30, 2013, Bishop Makarios of al-Minya came under attack while on a visit to the village of al-Siriū in the district of Abū Qurqās, Minya province.  It is widely believed that this was an assassination attempt, but further research into this incident shows that it appears to be an attempt by the bishop to draw the attention of the Egyptian security forces to a highly unsafe situation for Christians in al-Siriū.

According to Mary Abdelmassih of Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), unknown assailants shot continuously at the Bishop’s vehicle for 90 minutes and called it an assassination attempt.[1] Coptic human rights activist and investigative reporter, Rā’id al-Sharqāwī, however, reported that not a single bullet had hit his car. They had been shooting over his car to send the bishop “a message indicating they were in control and he should submit to that,” al-Sharqāwī explains.  Al-Sharqāwī, who visited the village, further points out that “they could have easily killed the bishop if they had wanted to do this, but also knew that killing of a bishop would have had tremendous consequences for them and thus these armed villagers focused on a tactic of scaring Christians only”. 

Bishop Makarios   Source: Reuters

There were no police in the village. They only arrived an hour and a half after the shooting.[2] The dubious nature of the shooting poses a number of questions as to the reasons for the lack of security presence in the village, as well as the motives behind the 90-minute shooting.

Without hesitation, a number of Coptic groups and activists dubbed the shooting an assassination attempt,[3] giving culpability to Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups. Sources from Minya police, however, stated that this was a mere “shooting in the air”.[4]

Indeed in the aftermath of Morsi’s ouster we have seen a number of calls to punish Coptic leaders, such as Pope Tawadros.[5] Nevertheless, to see this particular event as an assassination attempt would be largely inaccurate.

The Background

Bishop Makarios had come to visit the village of al-Siriū to offer condolences to the family of Karīm Samīr Lam’ī, a Christian resident of the village who had sold his property to donate to the church and was consequently killed.[6] Such large donations to churches can be seen by Islamists as an infiltration.

In addition, the village’s only church, St. Michael's Church, was closed 10 years ago for security reasons,[7] leaving a Christian community without a place of worship. Yet, this began long before the Muslim Brotherhood came to power in Egypt.  Bishop Makarios stated that there are about 140 villages in Minya without (functioning) churches for the same security reasons.[8]

Coptic human rights activist, Mark ‘Ubayd, stated bluntly that some Muslim groups “were angry because of the presence of a church in the village and the police do not want any trouble with them, and therefore Copts have to go without prayers just to appease (them)”.[9]

Long-term Insecurity

The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of al-Minya made an official statement on September 30, 2013 in which it made clear that the inhabitants of the village of al-Siriū lived under the threat of armed gangs who extorted them. They stated that half of the (Christian and Muslim) community have had to flee the village as a result. It is not unusual, then, for outbreaks of violence to take place in that village.[10]

The Bishop was infuriated by the lack of security in this village and the supremacy of extremist groups, which had left its Christian inhabitants with no access to a church for 10 years. Bishop Makarios stated after the shooting, “We are all exposed to danger in Minya, but say, I erred, who should correct me? The security or those who are law breakers?”[11]

An Assassination Attempt?

Despite this background of long term insecurity, a number of Coptic activists and groups insisted that it was an assassination attempt. The Maspero Youth Union was on the forefront of statements that blamed Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups for the incident.[12]

Rā’id al-Sharqawi offers a different view. He visited the village immediately after the incident and reported that Christians in the village told him that the Bishop had left the car at the house of Karīm Samīr Lam’ī, which was on the outskirts of the village. He ordered his driver to continue with the car to the center of the village after which the shooting started. He was not in the car then. Al-Sharqawi added that it was clear that the bishop was aware of the dire security situation before he visited the village. It appears the bishop visited the village and expected the shooting, which he used to get security to enter the village. The media and a number of different political factions who have called this a deliberate assassination attempt overlooked the severity of the prolonged security vacuum in the village.[13]

Bishop Makarios responded to a question on whether he believed this was an assassination attempt saying, “Some considered that this incident is a test for the government on how to respond to attacks on religious or public figures” in what seemed to be an urge to the government to act.”[14]

The incident in al-Siriū followed a widely published security campaign to “liberate” the village of Delga in Minya,[15] which suffered numerous church burnings after Morsi was ousted. There seems to be many more villages praying for security after long periods of extortion and violence, but with much less media exposure. The attack on Bishop Makarios brings these forgotten villages to the fore.

Yosra El Gendi

Researcher

Arab-West Report

[1] Mary Abdelmassih, “Coptic Bishop Escapes Assassination Attempt in Egypt” AINA, September 30, 2013, http://www.aina.org/news/20130930173527.htm.

[2] Abdelmassih, “Coptic Bishop Escapes Assassination Attempt in Egypt”.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Author not mentioned, “Egyptian bishop targeted by gunmen,” The Tablet, October 2, 2013,http://www.thetablet.co.uk/latest-news/5709.

[5] Author not mentioned, “Qā’imah Al Matlūbīn Lilmahkamah Al Shar’īyah [List of Wanted People for the Shar’īyah Court],” Al Makrizī Center, July 13, 2013, http://www.almaqreze.net/ar/infusions/hsgallery_panel/photogallery.php?album_id=2.

[6] Basil El-Dabh, “Minya bishop escapes assassination attempt,” Daily News Egypt, September 30, 2013, http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/09/30/minya-bishop-escapes-assassination-attempt/.

[7] Abdelmassih, “Coptic Bishop Escapes Assassination Attempt in Egypt”.

[8] Abdul Wahāb Sha’bān, “Al Anba Makarios Uskuf Al Minya Muhāwalit Ightiyalī jas nabd lilhukūmah [Bishop Makarios of Minya: The Attempt to Assassinate me is a Test to the Government],” al Wafd, October 3, 2013. Read original article in Arabic.

[9] Abdelmassih, “Coptic Bishop Escapes Assassination Attempt in Egypt.”

[10] Jirjis Safwāt and Mīnā Salāh, “Narsud rudūd Af’āl Al Asakifah wal Nushatā, al-Aqbāt [We Monitor the Reactions of the Bishops and Coptic Activists],” al-Fagr, October 1, 2013,http://new.elfagr.org/Detail.aspx?secid=61&nwsId=436006&vid=2.

[11] Sha’bān, “Al Anba Makarios Uskuf Al Minya Muhāwalit Ightiyalī jas nabd lilhukūmah.”

[12] Abdelmassih, “Coptic Bishop Escapes Assassination Attempt in Egypt”.

[13] Interview with Cornelis Hulsman.                                                            

[14] Sha’bān, “Al Anba Makarios Uskuf Al Minya Muhāwalit Ightiyalī jas nabd lilhukūmah”.

[15] Yusrī Al Badrī, “Najahnā fī Tahrīr Daljā Min alirhabiyīn [We Succeeded in Liberating Daljā from the Terrorists],” al-Masry al-Yawm, September 17, 2013, http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/2123961.