Silencio sobre Ameriya o por qué no se cuentan las cosas

Joaquín Mª Aguirre (UCM)

La queja de Karima Kamal en Egypt Independent es doble: por las cosas que ocurren y porque se silencien. Y su queja sobre el silencio, que titula "Obscurity", se refiere a los conflictos sectarios que se están produciendo en Egipto y que se están escamoteando de la prensa. Los conflictos sectarios se refieren a los que se plantean entre cristianos coptos y musulmanes.

Señala Karima Kamal:

What is happening in Ameriya? You will not find the answer in any newspaper. You will only find stories on social networking sites.

But the more important question is why do newspapers ignore incidents of sectarian strife? This is not the first time, and it will not be the last time, for us to know about such incidents from Facebook and Twitter, rather than from the newspapers.

Is it the editorial policy of the newspapers not to cover sectarian incidents? Do they believe that by ignoring them they would trigger no public reaction and would thereby put an end to them? Do they want to say such incidents do not occur in the first place? Perhaps they are not interested because every time the houses and churches of Copts are burnt the perpetrators are not punished.*

Tiene razón Kamal al separar las dos preguntas, qué ocurre y por qué se silencia. La primera pregunta se refiere a los acontecimientos, a los hechos, orígenes y consecuencias. La segunda en cambio es una pregunta sobre el poder. El poder se manifiesta por la voz monológica y la voluntad de verdad, pero también por la capacidad de acallar las voces.

Si hace un par de días nos preguntábamos aquí sobre el sentido de la proliferación de artículos bajo la forma "Al-Sisi y..." (el parlamento, los jóvenes, etc.), la pregunta por lo que no se manifiesta es igualmente lícita y reveladora. Qué ocurre, pues, en Ameriya y por qué no se cuenta. ¿Por qué los periódicos guardan silencio sobre estos incidentes?

Lo ocurrido lo encontramos (únicamente) en la publicación "Copts United" en dos noticias. La primera es del 28 de septiembre, es escueta:

Ramy Qashwa, coordinator of the Maspero Youth Union in Alexandria, said he was an eyewitness to the events of Amiriya. He explained that the fanatics stoned the church as the police were trying return a piece of land to a Christian man that was seized by a Muslim family.

He added that the litigation was turned into a sectarian strife using the microphones of the mosque. They are still controlling the land refusing to respect the law and threaten to force the Copts out of the village.**

Ameriya (o Amiriya o al-Amiriya o Al-Amreya) es una pequeña población cercana a Alejandría. Es una población tan pequeña, controlada prácticamente por los salafistas, uno de los grupos radicales del islam. Es en ese contexto donde se han dado los ataques a las familias y  las iglesias coptas

Hay una noticia más el 29 y finalmente el 30 de septiembre, con el titular "Coptic family in Ameriya waits for law enforcement", Copts United señala algunos datos más:

Coptic family that was subject to attacks of the fanatics in America village, Alexandria, told Copts United that the situation is currently stable.

The Coptic family added that they are waiting for law enforcement by returning their land back to them.

Fanatics in Amiriya village, Alexandria, stoned the church of St. Mary and the Church of St. George as the police were trying return a piece of land to a Christian man that was seized by a Muslim family.

The litigation was turned into a sectarian strife using the microphones of the mosque. The Muslim family is still controlling the land refusing to respect the law and threatening to force the Copts out of the village.

It’s worth mentioning that the Muslim family tried to attack security forces. A member of the family was killed in exchanging fire with police, but his family claims the Christian family is responsible for his death!***

El conflicto comienza por una ocupación de tierras y acaba extendiéndose al apedreamiento de las iglesias de Santa María y San Jorge, con llamadas sectarias desde las mezquitas. Hay un muerto en el enfrentamiento de los fanáticos salafistas con la Policía y la responsabilidad se echa sobre la familia copta, que es la forma de radicalizar el odio contra ellos y extenderlo.

La pregunta sobre los acontecimientos es tratar de entender este fenómeno histórico en el que se considera a los coptos como invasores o ladrones de algo que pertenece de forma natural a otros vecinos musulmanes. Las más increíbles historias son aceptadas para justificar los ataques y el odio sectario. Es fácil manipular sectariamente a las mayorías para conseguir lo que se quiere, en este caso, expulsarles y quedarse con sus bienes.

El pequeño artículo de Karima Kamal denuncia la oscuridad informativa respecto a lo ocurrido en Ameriya con la muerte de un manifestante, la llamada desde la mezquita a la violencia, etc., y señala:

In fact, obscuring such news makes the victims of sectarian strife suffer more because they feel the papers are in complicity with what is going on.

It is the duty of the newspapers to inform people of what takes place. And if the minute personal or religious inclinations determine what should be published and what should not, the credibility of the newspapers will fall. They should know that they are no longer the only source of information.*

La acusación de Karima Kamal al resto de la prensa por su silencio en el caso hace ver que la prensa misma se hubiera vuelto sectaria y ocultara el hecho del ataque por realizarse contra coptos. Los medios coptos se han hecho eco de lo ocurrido prácticamente solos. ¿Solo les interesaba a ellos la denuncia del ataque?

No creo que la totalidad de la prensa egipcia se haya vuelto sectaria, en el sentido que Kamal le da. Pudiera ser más bien que, faltando apenas diez días para las elecciones parlamentarias, no interese a algunos caldear demasiado los ánimos con este tipo de noticias. No interesa que vuelvan a aparecer estos conflictos para ser utilizados por los islamistas y mostrar cómo se "respalda" a los coptos en detrimento de los musulmanes. Es decir, en sus términos, la traición del gobierno.

Para entenderlo un poco mejor, debemos retroceder en el tiempo apenas unos años. En 2012, la pequeña localidad de Ameriya fue escenario de unos graves incidentes en el mismo sentido. Entonces nos los contaban así:

(AINA) -- National and international rights groups have consistently criticized the recourse to the so-called "reconciliation meetings" -- dubbed "Bedouin sittings" -- that take place between Copts and Muslim assailant after every attack on Copts. The meetings are conducted under the auspices of state security. Last week a series of meetings were held by radical Muslims to decide on the fate of the Copts in a village in Alexandria, and Muslims insisted that the whole Coptic population of 62 families must be deported because of an unsubstantiated accusation levied against one Coptic man.

Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat (El-Ameriya), Alexandria, were attacked on January 27 by a mob of 3000 Muslims led by Salafi leaders, who looted and torched homes and shops belonging to Copts. The violence was prompted by allegations made by a Muslim barber named Toemah that a 34-year-old Coptic tailor, Mourad Samy Guirgis, had on his mobile phone illicit photos of a Muslim woman. Mourad denied the accusation and surrendered to the police for fear for his life. Muslims looted and torched his workshop and home after he surrendered to the police, and his entire family, including his parents and his married brother Romany, were evicted from the village. He is still in police detention. (AINA 1-28-2012).

Three "reconciliation meetings" were held at the El-Ameriya village police headquarters. They were attended by Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood representatives from neighboring villages, as well as church representative. Muslims demanded the eviction of all Coptic inhabitants from the village because "Muslim honour had been damaged."

Many believe that the mobile phone story was fabricated as an excuse to start violence against the Copts. According to the police, the woman in question denied the story and no photos were found on Mourad's mobile phone, according to Ihab Aziz, a Coptic-American activist who is presently in Egypt.****

Con estos terribles precedentes, la idea de que la proximidad de las elecciones tenga algo que ver con la situación o con su difusión informativa no parece descabellada. ¿Es mejor no recordar aquellos incidentes llevados a cabo por los salafistas y Hermanos musulmanes? El gobierno de Mohamed Morsi había comenzado el 30 de junio de 2012 y el sentimiento de impunidad islamista era bastante acusado. Los primeros incidentes, ataques a iglesias, se registraron el día 1 de agosto. No esperaron demasiado.

No creo que le interese al actual gobierno egipcio que se desencadene una ola de incidentes que los islamistas son maestros en provocar y sacar rendimiento.

La absurda historia del cristiano que tiene fotos de una musulmana en su teléfono móvil nos muestra el nivel arcaico y de fanatismo en el que se mueven estos incidentes. El motivo es lo de menos, se da crédito a cualquier cosa, Pero funcionan a la perfección; lo que a nosotros nos parece completamente absurdo, se esgrime allí porque funciona. El objetivo de entonces es el mismo de ahora: la deportación de las familias coptas de la población. Se quemaron sus tiendas y casas y se echó de la ciudad a todos los que se pudo. Pero eso no fue lo peor. El acuerdo que se impuso a los coptos mediante un "comité de conciliación" llevado por los radicales islamistas fue terrible y tuvieron que aceptarlo:

The terms of the agreement which resulted were:

·       eviction of eight Coptic families, namely three of the Mourad families, in addition to five Soliman families.

·       selling of the assets of the wealthy Abeskhayron Soliman family within three months by a committee, under the supervision of Salafi shaikh Sherif el Hawary. Soliman has no right to get involved in the sale or even accompany a prospective buyer.

·       the Committee is to collect any money accrued from the sale of his land, properties, businesses as well as collect promissory notes pending from business transactions by the Soliman-owned chain of stores.

·       in case of non-implementation of this Agreement, all Copts in the Kobry-el-Sharbat village will be attacked, their homes and property completely torched.

Abeskhayron Soliman signed the agreement, which most Copts viewed as "humiliating."

Father Boktor, who attended the meeting, described the reconciliation agreement as "utter injustice."

Wissa Fawzi, member of the Maspero Coptic Youth Union in Alexandria, said that Soliman has nothing at all to do with the Mourad story, but signed the agreement to save his family and the Copts in the village, "otherwise there would have been a massacre of the Copts on that Friday." He said that Security authorities pressured Soliman into accepting the terms of the agreement by threatening him with refusal of police protection for him and his family. "What constitutes the real crisis is the complicity of security officials in the process of displacement," said Fawzi.

Copts in Kobry-el-Sharbat were stunned after hearing the news of the eviction of the "top Copt" in their community, whose wealth is estimated at more than 20,000,000 Egyptian pounds. "There is a feeling of humiliation and being completely under the mercy of the radical Muslims," said Rami Khashfa of the Alexandria Maspero Youth Union "they are terrorized and are scared of the future. Copts in the neighboring villages are also scared." He said that Copts in the village are thinking of moving elsewhere.

Speaking on US-based Christian TV channel Al-Karma, Magdy Khalil, head of the Middle East Freedom Forum, said that reconciliation meetings made up of Salafis and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and arranged by security officials are illegal and forced eviction is one of the crimes under international law. "Who gave them the right to form a committee headed by a Salafi to sell Christian property? This is thuggery and blatant targeting of Copts."

Khalil called on the Coptic Melli Council, which is the civilian body that represents Copts in the Egyptian State, to protest this agreement and ask for the return of the Copts to their homes. "If we accept it, this will open the door for an avalanche of forced evictions." He believes that radical Muslim have a bigger plan they hope to achieve by terrorizing the Copts, namely displacing and dispersing them from places with high Coptic population density, taking their property and weakening them economically.

Ihab Aziz, like many others, believes that "Coptic capital" is targeted everywhere in Egypt. He said that members of the Egyptian parliament have been made aware of the El-Ameriya forced displacement, and the issue will be brought before parliament shortly.****

Lo que se hizo con los coptos en 2012 quería tener su continuidad ahora. El objetivo, como señalaron, es desplazarlos de las poblaciones y quedarse con sus tierras. Los islamistas buscan actuar de nuevo en las proximidades de las elecciones, calentar a sus sectores y hacer ver que el estado defiende a los cristianos y no a los musulmanes, una creencia que para ellos, partidarios de un "estado islámico", es un signo de perversión política, de faraonismo. Así se las gastan cuando tienen el poder los "demócratas" salafistas y hermanos musulmanes, tan considerados por algunos como alternativa política moderada. 

Los salafistas estarán en el próximo parlamento, pese a los movimientos por tratar de sacarlos de la carrera de las elecciones por ser un partido religioso, algo que ellos, con toda naturalidad niegan.

Sea por el motivo que sea, la queja de Karima Kamal queda sobre la mesa. Como bien señala la autora, en estos tiempos de redes sociales que hacen circular las noticias antes de que salgan las ediciones impresas es absurdo tratar de mantener cercos de silencio. Por eso la pregunta más pertinente es por qué se intenta escamotar la noticia.

* Karima Kamal "Obscurity" 03/10/2015 http://www.copts-united.com/English/Details.php?I=1475&A=20485

** "Eyewitness gives the account of attacking Copts of Ameriya" Copts United 28/09/2015

*** "Coptic family in Ameriya waits for law enforcement" Copts United 30/09/2015 http://www.copts-united.com/English/Details.php?I=1477&A=20521

**** " Muslim Council in Egypt Evicts 8 Christian Families, Seizes Their Property" Assirian International News Agency AINA 02/09/2012 http://www.aina.org/news/20120208194830.htm

[Para una versión más detallada de los hechos en otro medio copto, Watani: http://en.wataninet.com/coptic-affairs-coptic-affairs/sectarian/amreya-copts-threatened-leave-or-well-kill-you/14729/ ]