On November 19, MiddleEastVoices.com published on its website an excellent article by Nervana Mahmoud VIEWPOINT: Egypt’s Copts – Yearning for Tolerance of a Bygone Era. Nervana, who also tweets under @Nervana_1 , tells us, in her Twitter account biography, that she is “Doctor, political blogger and analyst. Liberal and open-minded. Passionate about world affairs and politics.” She also adds that her opinions “can be provocative.”
I have known Nervana on Twitter, and I am confident that she represents one of the finest personalities of all those who tweet about the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It was, therefore, not surprising that I found her viewpoint this time around again interesting and refreshing. However, while there is no denial about her noble intentions, I had to disagree with her on a central point.
The article, which had evidently some editorial input into it that might have altered Nervana’s emphasis portrayed Copts as yearning for tolerance of a bygone era [the title was chosen by us; the text was edited for style but not substance – MiddleEastVoices editors] – the era of Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser (1952 – 1970). While everyone seems to agree that the current political situation is the worst in Egypt’s and Copts’ modern histories, it will be misleading to represent Nasser’s era as a golden age of equality for Copts, and as one to which Copts look back with nostalgia.
The relationship between Nasser and Copts was complex. One aspect of Nasser’s rule from which Copts benefited was his control of the Islamists, mainly the Muslim Brotherhood. This happened as a result of his own power struggle with the Brotherhood. And, this gave Copts some respite from the continuous onslaughts perpetrated by Islamists.
But the negative aspects of Nasser’s rule when it comes to Copts are many and more significant:
1. Nasser ended Egypt’s first and only liberal era (1922-1952). During that democratic period, which was ushered in by the 1919 Revolution, Copts flourished, even though towards its ends the rise of Islamism dented their hopes and limited their participation.
Egyptians rally beneath a giant portrait of former President Gamal Abdel Nasser (AP image).
2. Nasser’s socialist policies, contrary to what many think, did not help Copts but destroyed much of their collective economic power. The nationalization of big businesses and the redistribution of large lands hit Copts severely. Copts worked hard and honestly to reach the state of wealth they had achieved, and even though the majority of Copts remained poor, wealthy Coptic families worked through internal charities and relationships with those in power to help and protect their less fortunate brethren. This has always been the case with the Coptic nation – Coptic dignitaries have always worked to ameliorate the sufferings of their poor.
3. The Arabist policies of Nasser hit hard at the Coptic identity and helped undermine the identification of Egyptians with Egypt only. Unlike Syrian Christians, Copts never regarded themselves as Arab. Their sense of belonging to Egypt was the only general identity which could tie them to their Muslim compatriots. Arab nationalism was undoubtedly much better than Muslim nationalism as far Copts were concerned but it held no appeal to Copts unless they could be induced to forget about their long history and distinct identity. Nasser also commenced a campaign of brain-washing in Arabization for which he used all his propaganda outlets, including media and schools.
4. Nasser got Egypt into unnecessary wars with the West and Israel. This had the impact of distancing Egypt from the democratic and liberal political culture of the West and held Egypt hostage to a never-ending status of war, which delayed any talk about democracy and human rights in the country and stunted Egypt’s economic revival. This fourth factor had a general negative impact on all of Egypt, and Copts were affected negatively by it like all Egyptians were.
No, Copts do not wish to go back to Nasser’s years. However detrimental the current affairs in Egypt are to them, it is not Nasser’s era which they root for (even though it was by far better than the present). They would much rather see themselves in Egypt’s first and only liberal and democratic period (1922-1952). Or even going back in time to the post-1854 years: an Ismail Pasha (1863-1879), for example, would be much, much better.
It is a tell-tale of Egypt’s current status of human rights that Copts miss the past rather than look forward to the future. They may soon even become permanent non-believers in Egypt ever becoming democratic or liberal again. This will reshape their choices and actions for the future. But does anyone in Egypt seem to listen, apart from a few people that remain?
The viewpoint expressed here is the author’s own and is not endorsed by Middle East Voices or Voice of America. If you disagree with the author of this post, you may use our democratic commenting system below.
Dioscorus Boles
Dioscorus heads the Coptic Nationalism Project. The choice of avatar, which is associated with the project, was his own.
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