Egypt's glass house

Grand Mufti Ali Goma'a has attacked the Swiss decision to ban minarets, but Christians in Egypt aren't allowed to build churches

Joseph Mayton
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 December 2009 00.20 GMT

The Swiss made a bad call by voting to ban minarets in the country. It was xenophobic, racist and not necessary. The result has been a backlash from Muslim leaders worldwide, who have said it is an "insult" to Islam.This is to be expected, as Muslim leaders know the importance of condemning a ridiculous attack on Islam. However, these leaders, notably Egypt's Grand Mufti, Ali Goma'a, should know better than attack a vote to ban minarets when in his own country, the construction of churches has been curtailed by the government for many years. As the saying goes, "those in glass houses …"

While the Swiss vote was yet another sign of Europe's growing anti-Islamic sentiments, here in Cairo, activists and leaders have missed the irony they have created by their condemnations.

Yes, they are right, the move is an insult to Islam. At the same time, though, they are forgetting the injustice that persists in their own backyard. Christians have complained for years over the inability to build their own houses of worship.

When Egyptian Christians look at what Goma'a said, they see flaws and hypocrisy. And they are right. When Goma'a said "it is considered as a humiliation for the Muslim community in and out of Switzerland", Christians had to be laughing. They have lived with this kind of humiliation for years.

So when Naguib Gobrail, a Coptic lawyer, said that statements from the Muslim world were an "insult to Christians" he highlighted the reality of what is going on. Egyptians failed to see that their own actions are no better than those of their Swiss counterparts.

It is easy to condemn with words, but harder to take action. The Arab world has long avoided looking inward at its own problems, blaming Europe, the United States and Israel instead. The governments, especially the one in Cairo, love this. People don't see the facts on the ground as they are too preoccupied by the wrongs and injustices dealt abroad. This time it is no different.

As Muslims attacked Switzerland for the ban, they didn't bother to look at the minorities in their own country who daily have been subjected to a similar fate as Muslims in Switzerland and across Europe.

Taking a closer look at Egypt, one could argue that if the government held a referendum on the construction of church steeples in the country, a vast majority of Egyptians would approve a ban.

What Islamic leaders such as Goma'a should have done was argue that countries should support their religious minorities by giving them the ability to construct and worship, as they deem suitable. He should have talked about the ban as an insult, but added that all minorities, including the Christian one in Egypt, need to be supported in their efforts to construct houses of worship.

For too long Christians have struggled and complained that the government is attempting to force the minority group to the background of the country. Goma'a could have set a precedent, one that would have spread the message of tolerance and understanding. He could have said: "The Swiss vote is an insult to Islam and Muslims worldwide, but at the same time, we should all take a closer look at how we treat our own minorities then we have a place to talk." But he didn't. Instead, he chose the easy way out.

His country is in the midst of ongoing sectarian strife and much of it is related to the ability to build churches. Permission for churches is controversial in Egypt, where by law the president must give the final approval in the use of a certain space for religious purposes. Rights groups argue that because the president delegates authority in the matter to local officials, Copts have been forced to use illegal places for worship.

Goma'a and other prominent Muslims failed to grasp the hypocrisy of their attacks on the Swiss population. Calls for a boycott of Swiss banks – which haven't picked up much steam – show how lost the Arab world is at times. They can lash out at a decision made in a foreign country, but they have yet to stand up for the rights of their own people in their own country. Until they do so, the glass house they live in will continue to be chinked away piece by piece until all semblance of authority has dissipated.