By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Monday, February 07, 2011

Egypt’s Coptic Christians held a mass in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Sunday afternoon as a sign of Muslim-Christian unity.
“God bless the dead. God bless the dead,” recited a Coptic priest wearing a crucifix. By his side, a Muslim sheikh stood holding a Koran, as the faithful chanted “A single hand. A single hand” in inter-faith solidarity.

In addition to solidarity, another theme was honor to the martyrs. People held up photographs of them and said special prayers for their souls.

Christians flocked the square Saturday to join protesters calling for the swift resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. “Too many Christians died in Mubarak’s era. Leave Egypt now!” read the banner of Nader, a 23-year-old Copt.

“The persecutions against the Christians increased in the last 10 years,” said Nader in a reference to the suicide bomber who killed 23 people outside a church in the northern city of Alexandria on New Year’s Eve.

“The only thing that Mubarak is doing is to try to hide what happened and this is not the solution,” added the young Copt, whose community accounts for up to 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million people and is the biggest Christian minority in the Middle East.

Pope Shenuda III, Egypt’s top Coptic Christian, told demonstrators Friday night to take into account “the concessions” made by the government after more than a week of demonstrations at Tahrir square.

“He told us we should not go to protests” against the president, which kicked-off January 25 and have drawn hundreds of thousands out to the streets and left more than 300 people dead, according to U.N. estimates.

“But we come to the demonstrations regardless because we want it to be recorded that Christians were here,” said Ihab, 41, returning from the square.

“Jesus will grant us a better life. Leave now, Mubarak, so we can enjoy it,” read his banner.
Nader and Ihab joined the crowd at Tahrir square which has become a mirror of the country’s diverse population running the gamut from secularists to Islamists crossing over the Christians.

The banner of another Coptic protester returning from the square took a stab at Mubarak’s son in a bid to shatter the widespread notion that Copts generally support the president who has gripped onto power for 30 years.
“Gamal, tell your father that the Copts hate you,” read the sign.

Some Muslim demonstrators at Tahrir square showed solidarity with their Christian brethren. Ahmad Shimi, 47, raised a banner adorned with a Christian cross, the Islamic crescent and the declaration “Muslims plus Christians equal Egypt.”

“We don’t want differences between Muslims and Christians. We believe we are all Egyptians,” Shimi said.
“Mubarak wants to sell the idea to the United States and Europe that we have a problem in Egypt with the Christians and that he is the right guy to address it. But it’s not true.”
A blast followed by a fire Saturday was reported at a Coptic church in Rafah bordering the Gaza Strip, although a local official denied an explosion was the cause. – AFP, Reuters