The law that the elders of Islam bequeathed to Egypt’s Muslims, holds that all conquered indigenous inhabitants — in Egypt, the infidel Christians — must not be permitted to build churches, must not complain or ask for equal rights, and must be grateful merely for being allowed to live.
In short, not only has nothing changed for Egypt’s Christians; the deadliest church attack in modern history has now just taken place, not under Mubarak or Morsi, but under President el-Sisi. What does he propose to do about it?
The worst attack on Egypt’s Christian minority in recent years occurred yesterday, Sunday, December 11, 2016. St. Peter Cathedral in Cairo, packed with worshipers celebrating Sunday mass, was bombed; at least 27 churchgoers, mostly women and children, were killed and 65 severely wounded. As many of the wounded are in critical condition, the death toll is expected to rise.
As usual, witnesses say that state security was not present, and that police took an inordinate amount of time to arrive after the explosion. Preliminary investigations point to a bomb placed inside an unattended woman’s purse on one of the rear pews of the women’s section.
The interior of St. Peter Cathedral in Cairo, after the bombing of December 11, 2016. (Image source: AP video screenshot)
Mutilated bodies were strewn along the floor of the cathedral. “I found bodies, many of them women, lying on the pews. It was a horrible scene,” said one witness.
“I saw a headless woman being carried away,” said Mariam Shenouda.
“Everyone was in a state of shock. We were scooping up people’s flesh off the floor. There were children. What have they done to deserve this? I wish I had died with them instead of seeing these scenes.”
In death toll and severity, this attack surpasses what was formerly considered the deadliest church attack in Egypt: a New Year’s Day bombing of a church in Alexandria that killed 23 people in 2011.