About 10% of Egypt is Christian. Not only the Copts, but also our 300,000 Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters in Egypt suffer sporadic persecution, discrimination, and harassment, and as we see so often, frequently Egyptian officials do little or nothing to alleviate their plight. Converts to Christianity suffer particular difficulties.

“Three Christian men hospitalised after stabbing,” CSW, November 8, 2024:

Three Christian men were hospitalised after suffering multiple stab wounds in an attack on 5 November.

The attack took place in Ashruba village in Bani Mazar, Minya province in Upper Egypt, the region where most sectarian attacks occur.

CSW’s sources report that four Muslim men attacked the three Christians with knives and machetes inside a local pharmacy. The three men were taken to the University Hospital in Minya, while some of the attackers were arrested by the police.

Christians in Ashruba village report living in a constant state of fear as sectarian tension is high and incidents of intimidation are now a regular occurrence following similar attacks on people and properties in the last year.

Following such incidents of sectarian violence, members of the Christian community are generally obliged to accept the ad-hoc outcomes of ‘customary reconciliation sessions’, which tend to deprive victims of justice, preventing them from seeking effective redress via legal means, and thereby contributing to a culture of impunity. According to the news outlet Copts United, local Christians have demanded long term solutions to this violence through implementation of the law and holding perpetrators accountable, rather than through such sessions.

In other news, CSW has learned that Julia Atef, a 21-year-old Christian girl, disappeared on 26 October while on her way to attend a church function at St Mark’s Church in Shubra Al-Khayma. Ms Atef’s family reported her disappearance to the police, who are currently investigating the incident….