Here’s an example of what real discrimination entails. It is common for Christians to be forced to conduct burial for their loved ones in the streets of Egypt because it is so hard for Christians to have churches there.
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For instance, two Coptic Christian clergymen recently officiated their father’s funeral right in the middle of a busy street ( image here ), as opposed to the Copts ‘ church, which Egyptian authorities had been keeping a secret since 2006 ( image here ).
According to a report from Egyptian Solidarity,
In front of more than 40 clergy and hundreds of people, the priests had no choice but to pray over their family’s body in front of their home in a state of great sadness because the church had not yet opened, despite receiving numerous promises over the years that it would resume, but to no avail. The two priests expressed their grief over the death of their father, as well as the lack of action to honor him inside, in a scene described as not in line with the principles of citizenship and the president’s [Sisi’s ] directives, the most crucial of which is the establishment of a church for Copts in areas where there are no churches.
The town where this sad scene took position is Samita, in Samalout, Egypt. It holds more than 150 Christian families ( which probably translates into some 800-1, 000 Copts ). Although they have a completely decent temple building in their community, the government have forbid them from holding meetings there. Instead, they must either congregate in their homes ( in very small numbers, because it’s “illegal” to pray without authorization ) or travel ( on foot ) several miles to the next-nearest church.
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After noting that there are  , some other finished churches , in the villages of only Samalout, the report adds,” Despite promises made over the past years to start the churches, nothing has been achieved, leaving the Copts in these villages to continue to suffer, searching for a place to exercise their legal rights to pray, and suffering from moving to another villages, especially in the changing weather”.
And what justification do the authorities offer for closing down and censoring numerous churches throughout Egypt? because they “present a security risk“. This pretext is based on a familiar and well-entrenched dynamic: first, Muslims of this or that village rise up and riot against a church ( not due to anything it had done but because it simply exists and is an affront to extremist Muslim sensibilities ), then the authorities swoop in, and,  , to achieve piece, seal off the church, thereby appeasing the Muslim protesters. At that point, the church is presented as a” security risk” that must remain inoperative.
There are currently reportedly more than 50 churches in Egypt shut down based on the dreckless claim that they pose security threats, or that some Muslims are upset about their existence.
Nor is this recent street burial an aberration. Six years ago, a report from 2018 noted that” Coptic Christians in various parts of Egypt have been left with no choice but to hold funeral services in the streets as a result of the closure of their churches. It gave several similar examples, including pictures.
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Not just the most egregious rituals are pushed out of Egypt’s streets, but also Christian funerals. A church was forced to celebrate Easter in an alley in 2015 due to the circumstances. After waiting for 44 years, the Christians of Nag Shenouda, in Sohag City, had finally received a permit to build a new church. Muslims rioted and even burned down the tent that the Christians had set up to worship under when they learned of this. The Christians of Nag Shenouda, according to legend, celebrated Easter in the street ( picture here ). And he and his family were attacked by a Muslim mob when one of them attempted to hold a worship service in his home.
In all of these situations, the authorities punished the victims and punished the perpetrators.
Sisi rants about the “equal rights” of Christians in Egypt, while the Egyptian government shows such contempt for its Christian” citizens” as even the burial of their dead must be conducted with disrespect and humiliation.
