Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood protects churches for Coptic Christmas

by Jayson Casper
10th January 2012

The Coptic Orthodox Church and the Muslim Brotherhood celebrated Christmas together in churches throughout Egypt on Saturday, in a display of national unity.

Christmas, celebrated in Egypt on January 7, has in recent years been a holiday of sorrow and worry, with attacks on churches and an intensifying politics of religious identity.

Many Copts are fearful over a parliament dominated by Islamists, who are poised to claim around 75% of the seats following a third round of elections.

Two Christmasses ago a church in the town of Nag Hamadi witnessed a drive-by shooting that killed six Christians exiting mass.

A church in Alexandria was bombed last New Year’s Eve, killing twenty-three.

Yet this year, Christmas passed off without violence, in a show of national unity by both church and Brotherhood. the rest