From her home in a labyrinth of stonewalled alleyways, Samia Ramsis holds a key chain bearing the face of the Virgin Mary as she sits in her yellow pajamas on the morning of Orthodox Christmas.
Sunlight pours in through a window. Outside, visitors come to look upon the spot where Egypt’s Christians ”” most known as Copts ”” believe the Holy Family found refuge after fleeing Bethlehem and assassins sent by King Herod to kill the baby Jesus.
Once crowded with Christians, Cairo’s Coptic quarter where Samia lives with her husband, Mounir, and two children is home to fewer than 50 Christian families.
Similarly in Syria, where the Christians have flourished under the baleful Assad regime. They were left alone, basically, although it was recognised that they made a good PR case for the government and this was occasionally used. Now they fear for their future.
All this makes me wonder at the critics within the West who say that we should not have supported or befriended authoritarian regimes. But what was the alternative? I don’t mean that as a rhetorical question. Back authoritarian regimes and you back some unsavoury practices. Turn away from them, boycott them, and you encourage not a liberal opposition but an Islamist one. Is there any third way?
My advice for Christians in Egypt and possibly Syria is to GET OUT! Egypt is turning to fundamentalist Islam. As bad as it is, it is only going to get worse.
Terry Tee,
Not only are their third and fourth ways, but you also seem to be forgetting the times when western support for autocractic regimes led to the worst possible result. Where did western support for the Shah of Iran lead?
Learning from history is great, but let’s learn from ALL her lessons. If you look closely at the history of the Middle East, you will find many different lessons, including some finely nuanced approaches.