The Coptic villagers of al-Qesheri in Abu-Qurqas, Minya, some 250km south of Cairo, have been pressured into ‘conciliating’ with the Muslim villagers who attacked them on 22 October. The Muslim extremists had protested against Copts holding religious rites inside a building commonly known as the church of Anba Moussa (St Moses). The attackers attempted to break into the building, the first floor of which houses a pre-school nursery and reception hall. When they could not get through they set the main iron gate on fire and broke the CCTV camera on top of the gate. The mob smashed the car of Fawzy Labib, a Copt, and hurled stones at the houses of Copts, inflicting minor injuries on Atef Shafiq, Boctor Nadi Yassa, and Ibrahim Ishaq Yanni.
As soon as the violence erupted, the police cordoned off the village and restored security but caught no culprit, and closed down the church for fear of further unrest. The church is the only one in the village which is home to some 1000 Copts.
A local Copt who required to remain anonymous told Watani that the Copts had received messages from unknown persons that the police intended to catch a number of Copts and Muslims who they suspected had aroused the violence. This brought on threats from the Muslim villagers that the Copts would be violently attacked if any Muslim were caught, and that they had better ‘conciliate’.
Conciliation is a term used to describe the traditional out-of-court process through which two disputing parties reach a settlement, and it pre-requires that all involved should relinquish all legal rights. In case the dispute involves Copts, who are overwhelmingly the wronged party, the terms of the settlement are extremely unjust to them, which is why they never of their own accord agree to conciliation; more often than not they are pressured, threatened, or forced to agree.
In case of al-Qesheri, the Copts said they feared for their children’s safety, especially given that they were never accorded support by the police. On the eve of the intended conciliation, the village Muslims made a show of force by gathering in large numbers in front of the mosque near the church. Even though they did not attack the Copts, the local source said, the antagonism was palpable.
The following day, the conciliation agreement was signed: the Copts relinquished their legal rights, and the church remains closed.
