14 July 2005

Declaration on Egyptian Inter-Religious Issues

A group of Egyptian-Americans from the Greater Chicago area met under the auspices of the Egyptian-American Society (EAS)* to discuss issues affecting Muslim Christian relations in Egypt and abroad.

The basis of the Chicago Group’s discussions is their shared Egyptianhood and their belonging to a common historical and cultural legacy (Intima’a), irrespective of their belonging to the Muslim or Christian religious communities. Moreover, the participants share the belief that fundamental human rights, which include freedom of religion and freedom of expression, also guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution, should be a unifying basis for all Egyptians.

Nationalism has been all-inclusive in contemporary Egyptian history, but there are growing tensions in Egypt between the Muslim and Christian communities, and these tensions are reflected in the Egyptian communities in the United States and elsewhere in the world.

Concerned about this situation, the Group believes that there is a need to assess these issues and to start a process, with the participation of a broader community of concerned Egyptians in Egypt and elsewhere, to counteract the negativism of religious polarization.

Conscious of the array of issues involved in inter-religious relations and the varying significances of these issues, the Group concluded that a growing divide exists between the Muslim and Christian communities in Egypt. While persons of goodwill in both communities seek to prevent the divide from being enlarged, there are also those in both communities who take extreme or radical positions that widen the gap between these two communities.

In a society where the overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim, and where religious distinctions permeate the social climate, the Christian minority feels the pressures of marginalization, intimidation, and even exclusion. This social climate causes a reaction within the Christian community, which in turn increases the polarization of these two religious communities.

The Group recognizes that expressions of intolerance and prejudice in Egyptian society are not only attributable to religious factors but that they also derive from social and educational factors. Ignorance and suspicion, as well as indifference towards issues of religious intolerance, contribute to the overall problem.

The Group notes the interest of President Mubarak in these issues, and the positive steps adopted by the Government, such as recognizing the Coptic birth date of Jesus Christ as a national holiday, allowing church bells to ring three days a week, and giving greater discretion to governors to approve church repairs. Nevertheless, the Coptic community perceives a climate of intimidation by certain government agencies reflected in many minor vexations, as well as more significant policies and practices evidencing unequal treatment of their community and its members. The Government and the Muslim community feel that these perceptions are exaggerated and unfounded and that the Coptic community does not sufficiently acknowledge the progress that has been made in the last decade to respond to their concerns. Thus, a gap exists in the respective perceptions of the two communities as well as in the government’s perception.

On the basis of what precedes, the group believes that the elaboration of certain policy principles and a set of implementing guidelines addressing some of these problems should be developed in order to create a better climate of understanding between the two communities.

The purposes of the Basic Principles and Implementing Guidelines which follow are to assist in resolving real issues as well as to reduce the perception of conflict which exists within the two communities.

The Basic Principles and Implementing Guidelines are not all-inclusive nor all-encompassing, and they are not likely to be entirely satisfactory to all concerned. They are also not intended to direct blame. The spirit is to bring about a better inter-religious understanding in Egypt, enhance national unity, and advance the cause of equality and human rights for all in Egypt.

A) Basic Principles

1. Egypt is a nation for all Egyptians, irrespective of differences in religion or ethnicity.

2. All citizens must be allowed to enjoy and exercise equal rights, including freedom of religion and its practice, in accordance with the Constitution and international human rights legal obligations; and, nothing in policy or practice should abridge these fundamental rights.

3. Egyptians should be called upon to set aside religious intolerance, reinforce the unity of the nation, and advance social harmony, based on the dignity of each and every individual and respect for individual and collective human rights.

4. The Government, senior public personalities, and institutional representatives, including religious authorities should assume a greater visible role in reaffirming and disseminating the values of religious tolerance and national unity throughout the different sectors of society.

5. The phenomenon of religious discrimination and the disparity in treatment between Muslims and Christians which have given rise to a feeling of alienation by the Christian community should be confronted in a decisive and effective manner by the Government, the two religious communities, and civil society.

6. Egyptians abroad and their descendants who bear dual citizenships should be treated by the Government and by law as equal citizens, and their concerns should be taken into account.

7. Institutional mechanisms should be developed to address inter-religious issues and be given the authority to provide solutions.

B) Implementing Guidelines

The propositions made below respond to existing problems, and their aim is to fulfill the Basic Principles embodied in this declaration. They include but are not limited to:

1. Building and repair permits for places of worship, whether mosques, churches, or temples and synagogues (all of which belong to the three monotheistic faiths), should be issued on an objective basis and without the discretionary prohibition by national security services, allowing also for a right of review for permit denials.

2. Official documents and government papers should not contain the religious identification of persons, except where there is a demonstrable and valid purpose.

3. Intolerant religious messages, including implicit or subliminal messages which are disparaging to Judaism, Christianity and Islam contained in educational materials, media programs, and religious sermons should be prohibited, and the prohibition should be enforced through the promulgation of a law against the dissemination of “hate” material.

4. Government-sponsored media programs describing Judaism and Christianity should be produced using materials originating with these faiths and prepared and presented by persons of these faiths, provided they do not contain material disparaging to Islam.

5. The Coptic Church and the Coptic community in and outside of Egypt should desist from publishing materials disparaging to Islam, and highly exaggerated and out-of-context stories about Muslim-Coptic relations in Egypt.

6. The Coptic Church should undertake efforts to eliminate the dissemination of unfounded information concerning discrimination, intolerance, and the Government’s failure to address grievances.

7. An urgent and significant effort should be undertaken by the government to sensitize Egyptian youth to the values of religious tolerance and integration of all religious communities within the overall sense of Egyptianhood.

8. Coptic history should be made part of Egyptian history in the public curricula at the high school and university levels.

9. The number of appointments and access to leadership positions for Christians in government, military, police, universities, regional and local councils, should be increased, as should a law for affirmative action be considered to guarantee a percentage of non-Muslims in governmental and institutional positions (provided they meet required qualifications).

10. The administration by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of Coptic Church lands and trusts previously seized should be transferred to a similar waqf for Copts, and be predominantly administered by Copts. The property rights of Christian churches and Jewish temples should be respected.

11. The Government should establish a committee of Egyptian scholars to determine compatibility of the Constitution’s affirmation of Islam as the main source of law with other clauses of the constitution and with international human rights law treaties which Egypt has ratified with respect to the equality of rights of Egyptian citizens, in order to insure such rights as equality and freedom of religion.

12. Al Azhar and the Christian denominational churches should establish committees to review their curricula and monitor their teachings to ensure that no intolerant or distorted religious material is being conveyed to their students.

13. The Coptic Pope, Sheikh Al Azhar and the Minister of Islamic Waqf should set up a council of inter-religious affairs to discuss on a regular basis issues which affect the relations of the Abrahamic faith religious communities in Egypt.

14. The Coptic Church should establish a special body to receive grievances and complaints from its members, to investigate them, and to submit their findings to the appropriate governmental authorities for the purposes of resolving factual issues and addressing legitimate grievances and claims.

The Group, having reached these conclusions has decided to circulate this text to a wider audience of Egyptians, in and outside the country, with a view to develop a broad constituency capable of taking their views to governmental and religious leaders in Egypt, as well as to Egyptian civil society. In the meantime, the Group has decided to communicate this text to the Egyptian Commission on Human Rights through its President and Vice-President, respectively H.E. Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali and H.E. Dr. Kamal Aboul-Magd, with the request that they undertake whatever is necessary to advance the process of inter-religious tolerance and understanding and to reduce existing feelings of discrimination, marginalization, intimidation and exclusion by Egyptian Christians.

On behalf of the Chicago Group,

Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni and Dr. Refaat Abdel Malek

Done in Chicago, July 14, 2005.

*The members of the Group include: Refaat Abdel Malek, M. Cherif Bassiouni, Mohammed Eissa, Taha Elghawaby, Kamal Ibrahim, Mohamed Ibrahim, Omar Khalil, Ahmed Meligi, Wagih Nessim, Dina Rashed, Ahmed Rehab, Medhat Tannous, Fouad Teymour. M. Cherif Bassiouni and Refaat Abdel-Malek, respectively President and Vice President of the EAS, co-chaired the meeting.