Some Protestants in the area who asked not to be named assert that the Copts may have unwittingly helped stoke the flames of communal tensions. They cited an award given recently by the Washington-based Freedom House Center for Religious Freedom to Bishop Wissa for his human rights and religious freedom efforts. They also pointed to the fresh construction of an Orthodox church in Al Kosheh. Church building in Egypt requires permission from the country s governors and is not easily obtained. Joseph Assad of Freedom House, who led a congressional delegation to Egypt last month, disagrees, arguing that international attention has improved conditions for Coptic Christians.
People are able to repair churches.
More permits are being given. President Mubarak told the delegation that Christians would no longer have to get repair permits. That s a big change in a policy. Members of the delegation sent a letter to President Mubarak on Monday asking him to dispatch troops trained in controlling mobs and to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks, including police officers who reportedly escalated the violence by wounding three Christian farmers passing by the shop on Friday. Milad Hanna, a Coptic advocate for religious tolerance, and others contend that the role of the police in Al Kosheh is the pivotal issue the government must tackle to redress Egypt s communal discord.