Det hviler noe skjebnessvangert over kopterne og Egypt. Skulle kopterne bli drevet ut, vil det ha konsekvenser for hele regionen, og det vil også berøre Vestens forhold til den muslimske verden.

Hilste de muslimske erobrere velkommen

Walter Russell Mead bemerker at kopterne hilste muslimske erobrere velkommen i det 7. århundre, fordi de bysantinske keiserne så på dem som kjettere.

Egypt’s Copts welcomed Islamic forces as liberators in the 7th century AD; the Orthodox Church considered the Copts to be a heretical sect and under the Byzantine emperors the Copts faced persecution.

Since then, relations with Muslims have had their ups and downs and in recent centuries Copts have been outsiders in Egyptian society: prosperous enough to have influence, but not populous enough to demand equal treatment as a matter of right.

They depend on the ruling establishment for protection but are also convenient scapegoats for governments which rule by playing competing factions against one another.

Kopterne har fristet en tilværelse som minoritet, og aldri blitt tallrike nok til å oppnå likeverdig behandling.

Et land som har levd under et autoritært styre i årtier og aldri kjent frihetens frukter, vil ha store problemer med å omstille seg når den store far faller fra eller styrtes. Mange har behov for en syndebukk hvis revolusjone går dårlig.

Religious tension has grown as the Egyptian ‘revolution’ stagnates. Rising economic problems stir up anger against a religious minority many Egyptians feel benefited from special treatment during the Mubarak years.

Competition over land and water in the south often pits Muslim and Christian villages and villagers against one another. Some of the Islamists reaching for political power in Egypt today are less sympathetic to the concerns of the Copts than others are.

Konsekvenserne

Skulle kopternes stilling bli truet vil det få større konsekvenser enn feks. fordrivelsen av kristne fra Irak. Det vil være en tragedie av historiske dimensjoner, som da grekerne ble fordrevet fra Lilleasia etter 3.000 års historie.

Bare muligheten for at så gamle bånd kan rives over, synes utenkelige for oss i Norden. Men det er realitetene i verden og har vært det i århundreder, også i moderne tid.

But the Copts are more than a significant demographic presence in Egypt; they are an important pillar of the country’s economy — and of its embattled liberal tradition in politics.

An Egypt without Copts, like so much of the Middle East that has steadily been losing the cultural and social diversity that once so enriched it, would be a narrower, poorer, more radical and less hopeful place.

If the chief legacy of the Egyptian revolution is the destruction of this historic minority, future historians will likely judge it a step backward. A picture of former President Mubarak in a cage may make the front pages, but the destruction of the Copts will do more to define Egypt’s future.

 

Hans Rustad er redaktør af Document. no, som Sappho har indledt et redaktionelt samarbejde med.