Egypt parties, activists decry forced Christian evictions

ICC Note:
“A number of Egypt’s political parties and movements issued a statement decrying the forced eviction of Coptic families in the al-Nahda village of the al-Ameriyah area of Alexandria. It comes as the incident has raised widespread controversy within the Egyptian Parliament, as a group of Coptic Youth movements marched on the Parliament Sunday to protest the ongoing forced eviction of Coptic families,” Bikya Masr reports.
By Mohamed Abdel Salam
2/13/2012 Egypt (Bikya Masr) – A number of Egypt’s political parties and movements issued a statement decrying the forced eviction of Coptic families in the al-Nahda village of the al-Ameriyah area of Alexandria. It comes as the incident has raised widespread controversy within the Egyptian Parliament, as a group of Coptic Youth movements marched on the Parliament Sunday to protest the ongoing forced eviction of Coptic families.
Their protest led to a hearing held by Parliament’s Human Rights Committee and number of inquiries submitted by several MPs to the Speaker of the Parliament.
Member of the Parliament Emad Gad confirmed on Sunday the continued efforts to address the “scheme” to displace Christian Egyptian families in al-Ameriyah, and stressed on his official Facebook page that he “discussed the issue with a number of human rights activists and will address the crisis at different levels so as to put an end to this crime.”
Gad, one of the founders of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, confirmed that the liberal and left-wing political forces are considering all possibilities, “including mass resignations from parliament if it fails to lay the foundations of citizenship and equality in a civil state that prevents discrimination amongst all of its citizens.”
The crisis erupted when a Coptic man was alleged to have had an affair with a married Muslim woman, which led to clashes between the two families, and resulted in the torching of Christian houses.
A “customary hearing” to achieve reconciliation among the disputing parties was then held, and a decree was issued by an ultra-conservative Salafist sheikh in the village to deport Coptic families from the village and sell their property.
Political forces have condemned the eviction and issued a statement, describing the ruling of the informal hearings as “collective punishment without any legal basis and would stir sectarian strife.”
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