According to al-Yawm al-Sābi’ the sectarian clashes in Khusūs and the following violence at the Cathedral are not comparable with earlier fights between Muslims and Copts. They represent a warning, since calls for a citizenship cannot be heard this time.
The coptic writer and researcher Sulaymān Shafīq demands to file a complaint to the International Criminal Court, because to his mind the crimes committed in Egypt are crimes against humanity. His research findings reveal that between April 2011 and April 2013, 59 Copts died a martyr and 714 were wounded. This shows the rate of two martyr and 18 injured each month. Furthermore, Shafīq reveals facts that Copts in Egypt are suffering from collective punishment, burning and pilferage of properties. This discrimination forces more than one hundred thousands Christians in Egypt to leave their homes. More than a half of them migrated to Georgia. Raids on 24 churches have been reported, of which four were burnt and completely destroyed.
Shafīq says for him as a researcher, these results show that Islamic movements try to reduce the number of Copts living in Egypt. He encourages the Egyptian citizens to stay in their homeland, since migration to Georgia or Israel also contains dangers. For his part, he is convinced to stay in Egypt (Author not mentioned, al-Yawm al-Sābi’, Apr. 9, p. 9). Read original text in Arabic.
