ALEXANDRIA - Under the glare of neon lights that illuminate the facade pierced by a shower of splinters, the Church of the Two Holy seems unreal place. Inside, the seats are still upside down. On the high altar a crucifix wrapped in a blood-stained shroud extends his head toward the empty aisle. An army of riot police had completely sealed off the building.No one can enter: "It 's dangerous," said one official. But I understand that the "danger", rather than by another kamikaze, should come from the chorus of protesters calling for revenge. Will be a thousand, mostly young, the Coptic cross tatuala arms, but we do not even try to attack the wall of shields and helmets blacks that blocks all access.
"You see - ironically one of the ringleaders - having failed to prevent the massacre, police Mubarak is defending the church from its own faithful." In fact, the cord of agents and also defends the island mosque that stands opposite the church and whose minarets shining in the night of green light.
In the tension caused by the attack, a hostile group of Christians has penetrated the mosque doors and smashing windows, but without causing much damage. The intention of the authorities is, however, to avoid clashes between two communities here in Alexandria, even more than in Cairo, urban living in the same pot, the 70's overcrowded districts that arise entirely left behind the seafront tourism, the large hotels, the surviving vestiges of a great ancient civilization.
It 's always sad to see the terrorist win the stage. But it is especially in this city that was for centuries the capital and cradle of many cultures, and that only recently, after decades of decline, is trying to raise his head. Here, in the district of Sidi Beshr, a network of roads that stretches from the so-called Jihan square, the square named after the wife of Hosni Mubarak, violence against the Copts is not new.
No more than a mile as the crow flies from the church of the Two Holy stands another church, dedicated to Saints Maximos, Diomedios Musis and against whom, in November, has run a suicide bomber threw a knife, a dead and a dozen injured. This episode is now living in the Coptic community as a terrible warning of what would have happened the night of the first year and, with regard to the authorities, a sign of culpable inefficiency.
"We knew we were in the crosshairs - Arweis says the archbishop, on the stairs Coptic Hospital where he went to visit the wounded - and we have sought protection. But what did the police? He sent three officers and one officer who, on the evening of the attack was as if there were. "Among the relatives who crowd the corridors of the intensive care unit, to which the Archbishop holds out to kiss the cross that stands on black tunic, Mary Addas is the one that most want to talk.
"To my brother are about to amputate a leg next to his bed is a girl of 18 who might not make it and you know why this is happening? Because we Christians do not listen anyone. Use us and leave us. If that had happened in a mosque in what happened in November and be our authorities (she says "powerful", ed) they would definitely have something.
"Then there was the claim of Al Qaeda, the terrorist network of Bin Laden which gave rise to the carnage of Baghdad to the Cathedral, more than 50 dead across as punishment against the Copts of Egypt, whose church hierarchy would take two segregated Muslim women who, after having converted to Christianity, would like to return to Islam, returned to them prevented because they would be married to two Coptic priests.
"According to them - to deny Issa Khoury, a pharmacist from Sidi Beshir, who escaped the massacre because he was on duty that night - we are the ones who drink alcohol and hide weapons in the monasteries. In the longer we keep them locked up, and we urge our women to dress up half-naked.
Usually, there is also accused of being the cause of the corruption prevailing in this country. Know what all this means? That in a moment of crisis like this, Christians are the ones that try to download all the blame. "As if that were not enough to claim the Al Qaeda, two weeks ago on an Islamic Web site appeared in a document which called for chilling hit the Coptic churches and, in particular, the church of the Two Holy of Alexandria, during the ceremonies of Christmas, "when the churches are crowded with the faithful." "Although we believe that the mind of the attack is foreign - tells a a group of journalists, police officers who directs the block near the church - the terrorists have been shown to be fully aware of their goal.
If it was not a massacre even more severe because the suicide bombers who carried the bomb exploded five minutes before it ended the function. Most people were not out yet. "Which, from the perspective of the victims, the serious responsibility of the system in what the Archbishop Arweis calls" an absolute negligence towards us.
"But there's more. The Copts complain of a discriminatory attitude by the government. It cited the case of the two churches in Cairo, whose works were stopped due to lack of permits. This resulted in demonstrations repressed with an iron hand and an excessive amount of blood (two deaths and dozens of arrests).
"Just look at the mosque built in a hurry before the church of the Two Holy - is indignant Dr. Issa - They made three months and no one is going to ask permission." In the hospital comes the news that the authorities have decided to open the gates. The church, in minutes, will be back and ready.
Addas Mary almost falls down the stairs, barely restrained by other relatives. Would you go to pray. "Where you going?" Maybe it's really dangerous, "a firm friend. "I'm not afraid of anything - she said - I only fear the police."
- POISONBLACK Part Ways With Guitarist (16/11/2010)
- When Egypt battled over bare knees | Amira Nowaira (13/11/2010)
- Support Grows for Rabbinical Letter (09/12/2010)
- Conference on Higher Gauge Theory, Quantum Gravity, and Topological Field Theory (18/12/2010)
- !BANG! TV Report - New Year's Eve, All Matches Inside a Steel Cage (23/12/2010)
No comments:
Post a Comment