Anti-Islam Movie Taps into Fears of Egypt Christians

Anti-Islam movie taps into fears of Egypt Christians
ICC Note:
Coptic Christians in Egypt are afraid of being blamed for the production of an anti-Islamic film that they did not participate in or endorse. While Coptic Christians living in the US and Canada were involved in making the film titled ‘Innocence of Muslims’, the Coptic Church in Egypt has strongly condemned it. Yet Egypt’s Christians—who are often associated with the West because of their religious convictions—fear the film will lead to further persecution.
By Haitham El Tabei
09/23/2012 Egypt (Middle East Online)- Egyptian Christians, who have long complained of discrimination, say they fear that an anti-Islam film produced by Copts in the United States will lead to further persecution at home.
Egypt’s churches were among the first to condemn the low-budget Internet film that portrays the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) as immoral and which sparked violent and often deadly protests throughout the world.
On September 11, demonstrators breached the wall of the US embassy in Cairo in protests that served as a catalyst for clashes between youths and police in the centre of the city.
The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the highest authority of the Coptic patriarchate, issued a statement slamming the film’s release as a “malicious plan aimed at defaming religions and causing divisions among the Egyptian people.”
But the condemnations did little to stop hardline Islamists blaming Egypt’s Christian community. One preacher, Sheikh Abu Islam, called for burning the Bible during demonstrations outside the US embassy.
“Egyptian Christians’ fears have increased because of violent reactions by some extremist Islamists,” said Mona Makram Ebeid, a Christian former MP and member of the National Council for Human Rights.
“We were afraid that the reaction would be mainly against the Christians,” she said.
“Innocence of Muslims” was apparently produced by a Coptic Christian film-maker and has triggered violent protests around the world.
“Those behind the film are a small group of Copts in the diaspora. The issue should not be linked to Egypt’s Copts at all,” she said.
Last week, the public prosecutor ordered the trial of seven Egyptian Copts living in North America over their alleged role in the film.
They are accused of “insulting the Islamic religion, insulting the Prophet (Mohammed) and inciting sectarian strife.”
“I’m upset about the film and of course Muslims have a right to protest against it,” said Christine Ashraf, a Coptic employee at a marketing firm in Cairo.
But “linking it to us and to the Bible also upset me and could inflame sectarianism, particularly among the uneducated,” she said.
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