Where is the #Coptic Counter-Revolution? & What You Can Do to Stop It?

The #Coptic Christian protests the last few days have sparked the long suppressed and hidden concern of many supporters of the #Jan25 uprising that the destabilization or removal of the regime would inevitably lead to an all out sectarian war between Muslims and Christians in #Egypt. Amidst this weeks protests/events, many people are nostalgically reminiscing the moments in #Tahrir when Christians and Muslims stood undivided as one. #Coptic protests have been accused of creating a division to the beautiful Muslim and Christian unity that had inspired the world in #Tahrir. So, the question is are #Coptic Christian protests the new and improved, albeit expected form, of the counter-revolution?


The answer simply is NO, they are not the counter-revolution. Coptic Christians have over the last 3 decades been to a large degree marginalized and discriminated against politically and in both the private and public sector. While the subject of this post is not the nuances of religious discrimination in Egypt, I will suffice with the fact that religion is displayed on national Id cards which creates a division in identity on the basis of religion. For decades the Mubarak regime has instigated and inflated sectarian issues, in the same way they did with islamists, Mubarak and his government promised a middle ground and created this idea that Egypt was either on the brink of an Islamist Taliban-style take over or a sectarian war like no other between the cross and the crescent. Naturally the many injustices faced by #Copts in Egypt were silenced like every other movement whether it was workers, Bedouins or human rights activists, and naturally now that people have finally been able to express their demands certain groups should rightfully have their demands made and addressed. This is not a counter-revolution this is part of the ongoing #Jan25 revolution that calls are made by different groups who have encountered certain circumstances that allow them to make specific demands.


So then the question becomes Where is the #Coptic counter-revolution?

The #Coptic counter-revolution is not one perpetuated by the #Coptic protests, it is the one that has disguised itself as those who fear for #jan25. The counter-revolution is that one that claims that #Coptic protests ARE the counter-revolution, that #worker's protests ARE the counter-revolution and that these movements are all part of one big conspiracy to undermine the great achievements of #Jan25. The counter-revolution is using the idea of counter-revolution and branding all things necessary for the continued advancement of justice and equality as counter-revolutionary in a desperate attempt to delegitimize #Jan25. Including criticisms of #IWD events in #Tahrir today, #Worker strikes, continued demonstrations to ensure that demands are met and#Coptic Christians protests.


What can you do Stop this Counter-Revolution?

1. Stop falling for/spreading the counter-revolutionary rhetoric that is delegitimizing #Copts rights to ride the #Jan25 wave of social justice

2. Join and support these group be they #Copts or #Women or #Workers, your presence will counter these ideas of division