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What The Media Didn’t Tell Me About Egypt While I Lived Abroad

July 16, 2015
A Muslim holding the Koran (top L) and a Coptic Christian holding a cross in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the period of interfaith unity on February 6, 2011. Credit: Dylan Martinez

There is no doubt that the past four years have been a roller coaster ride for the Arab World. They have brought about the very best and the very worst in people. Prior to the events of 2011, Egypt to me was a haven of religious coexistence. Having been abroad for the past 10 years, I have witnessed and experienced religious tolerance but never the deeply ingrained acceptance and almost equal coexistence between the different religious groups as is prevalent in Egypt. However, when in 2011, on New Year’s Eve a bomb went off in front of al-Qiddissin (All Saints) Church in Alexandria, killing 21 people and injuring many others, that beautiful image I had of Egypt was deeply shaken. At the time, a very close friend of mine furiously claimed, “that’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it will always be. Coexistence is a Utopian ideal that doesn’t exist and even if it did, then definitely not Egypt.” Given my distance from Egypt, I started to take his word for it. It’s no secret how the media coverage at that time was clearly inclined towards exaggerating…


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