News

Egypt: Copts’ homes attacked after they protest Muslim men swimming naked in front of them

June 30, 2018

As Egypt has gone through its wave of uprisings and instability, and even as the political scene there has stabilized, the country’s Coptic Christian minority has been uniquely vulnerable to targeted violence and terrorism. Many Copts report ongoing harassment and violent outbreaks over relatively trivial incidents, as in this case.

“Copts’ homes attacked after they protest Muslim men swimming naked in front of them,” World Watch Monitor, June 15, 2018:

Coptic houses were attacked in a village in Upper Egypt last week, after Copts objected to a group of young Muslim men swimming naked in a canal in front of their homes, as Coptic women sat outside.

The incident took place on 4 June in the village of Tarshoub, in Beni Suef governorate.

“A Muslim mob gathered around the homes of Christians across the canal and began pelting them with bricks and stones, while shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ [Allah is the greatest] and chanting slogans against Copts,” local Coptic resident Nashaat Ezzat told World Watch Monitor. “They broke the windows and doors of some houses, looted and destroyed some properties.”

Six Copts were injured and required stitches to their heads. According to Ezzat, police arrived at the scene three hours after the attack, arresting seven Copts and two Muslims. They were all released five days later, on the morning of 9 June….