Mahmūd Hāmid, spokesperson for Egypt’s Shia (Shī'ah) Youth Movement, warned that churches could be targeted during the Coptic celebrations of the Holy Week and Easter after an increase of attacks from extreme Islamist streams. In a statement to al-Wafd, Hāmid stressed the necessity of protection of Christian holy places and that this falls under the government’s responsibility. If any attack does occur, the movement will blame the government and consider it to be part of a plan to divide Egypt among sectarian lines. Mahmūd Jābir, a Shī'ah activist, indicated that repetition of the announcement of Salafī shaykhs that Christian celebrations are forbidden, and that Muslims are forbidden from taking part in the celebrations, increases the sectarian tension, which directly incites violence. The Shī'ah activist holds the Prime Minister and the President responsible for the attacks on Coptic holy places. He says that authoritarian governments always seek to overthrow the law by igniting a civil war in order to stay in power for as long as they can. He added that the crisis is not just limited to minorities in the countries, but that it stretches to a disaster that is destroying the state. He indicates the need for unity to oppose the scheme to divide the country (Du’ā’ al-Bādī, al-Wafd, May 3, p. 5). Read original text in Arabic.