1997 — Three masked gunmen entered St. George Church in Abu Qurqas and shot 8 Copts dead at a weekly youth group meeting. As the attackers fled, they gunned down a Christian farmer watering his fields. 2000-01 — El Kosheh attacks. February 2001 — A new Coptic church and 35 houses belonging to Christians were burned.
2006 — One person attacked three churches in Alexandria, killing one person and injuring 5–16. May 2010 — In Marsa Matrouh, a Bedouin mob of 3,000 Muslims tried to attack the city’s Coptic population, with 400 Copts having to barricade themselves in their church while the mob destroyed 18 homes, 23 shops and 16 cars.
August 2013 — Following the 3 July 2013 coup and clashes between the military and Morsi supporters, there were widespread attacks on Coptic churches and institutions in Egypt. USA Today reported that “forty churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged.”
These are just some of the few tragic events that have happened throughout the past years, on top of what happened yesterday morning. When will we realize that the Coptic minority is targeted in Egypt? When will we realize that until we are a secular state that defends, protects, and represents its minorities, they will continue to be targeted.
It’s not enough to say we are with you, we need to defend their right to a place in government, to freely build churches, to educate our youth to be tolerant, and to not simply dismiss this as just a random terrorist attack. People need to realize the deep rooted issues that affect this very frightened minority.
WE SAID THIS: My sincerest condolences to all the families that lost loved ones yesterday.