EDITOR'S NOTE--NEW IMAGE GALLERIES AT THE BOTTOM, SCROLL DOWN.
I recently had the great pleasure of attending the 2nd International Coptic Conference in Washington, D.C.
The issues were controversial, the discussions exhilarating, and the sheer number of influential and well-known speakers--simply amazing!
The conference, whose focus last year had been on the “Coptic problem” in Egypt, this year expanded its vision to include all Egyptians; Officially titled “Democracy in Egypt for Muslims and Christians,” the conference’s new focus was endorsed by such renown Muslim thinkers and writers as Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Dr. Wafa Sultan and Mona Eltahawy, all of whom spoke animatedly as they championed the rights of Egypt’s native Coptic Christian minority.
Other, more obvious, attendees and speakers at ICC 2005 included Michael Meunier, president of the U.S. Copts Association; Magdi Khalil, political analyst; and Youssef Sidhom, editor of Watani, an Egyptian weekly dedicated to Coptic issues. This is, of course, not to mention the two-hundred-plus other Egyptians and friends who attended, most of whom either counted themselves as Coptic activists, or vehemently denied the allegation (whilst proving it true during one or more of the several heated discussions that took place at various points in the conference).
While most of the attendees seemed to enjoy the mix of lectures presented, one presentation in particular ended up making a bigger splash than I had counted on seeing, especially on the first evening; Nadia Ghaly’s “No Choice,” which discussed several cases of kidnappings and forced conversions, drew the ire of one spectator in particular, a Muslim claiming to have devoted his life to the protection of Copts. It should be noted that, while Mrs. Ghaly’s report was detail-laden and horrifying, such cases are common knowledge in Egypt (and in the Diaspora), and well-documented on such websites as those belonging to U.S. Copts Association (www.copts.com), American Coptic Association (www.amcoptic.com), and Copts United (www.copts-united.com). The sentiment behind the attendee’s outrage is, however, understandable; all one can say is that tolerating one another’s faiths doesn’t mean we have to (or could!) agree on every point of difference. Or contention, for that matter.
Other speeches covered persecution, ideas for an effective and permanent turn-around, and inspirational messages meant to shake the more silent members of our society into action. Some of the distinguished guests included Kathryn Cameron Porter, Fred Barnes, and Congressman Rothman (D-NJ).
High points of the conference included the rousing speeches by Muslim thinkers Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Abdel Aziz Abdel Aziz, as well as every word out of conference benefactor Adly Abadeer’s mouth.
A great achievement of the meeting wasn’t the fact that various Arabic and English-language print and broadcast outlets had covered the event, though that did happen; the fact that most attendees agreed upon seven resolutions at the end of the day was quite enough for one year, I thought.
Maybe next year we’ll see the resolutions embraced and enforced by the powers-that-be…?
All we can really say about that is ‘inshallah.’
11/29/05
Some photos from the conference... (email sally.bishai@xculturemag.com with any corrections..)
Dr. John Eibner (Christian Solidarity International) and Youssef Sidhom, Watani
Writer Mona Eltahawy
Michael Meunier, President, U.S. Copts Association
