The Role Of The Copts In The National Movement In Egypt Until The 1919 Revolution

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - Islamic Studies, grade: 1,3, Ben Gurion University (Middle East Institute), course: Religious and Ethnic Minorities/ Communities in the Modern Middle East, language: English, abstract: During the 1919 revolution, under the slogan "Egypt for Egyptians", the Copts fought hand in hand with their Muslim brothers for national independence of Egypt from Britain. The banner of the revolution was a cross within a crescent, the ancient incompatibility of Christianity and Islam seemed to be abolished. Only one decade earlier this unity seemed impossible, after the assassination of the Copt Prime Minister Butrus Ghali, the mob in the streets of Cairo had been praising the murder with slogans, such as: " Wasrani (the name of the killer), Wasrani, who killed the nasrani (Christian)". And the Coptic newspaper Al-Watan had stated in 1908 that "The Copts are the true Egyptians and the Islamic conquest of Egypt was oppressive". The role of the Copts in the national movement is as complex and ambiguous as the national movement itself. We have to weight and consider various factors together in order to understand the different roles of the Copts in the movement during this period. We also have to differentiate between Coptic Clerks, fellahin and urban Copts as well as between the Muslim mob and the Muslim leaders of the national movement, latter often influenced by ideas of western enlightenment. This paper will examine the factors that determined the role of the Coptic minority in the Muslim-dominated national movement between its emergence in 1879 and the 1919 revolution from different perspectives. This includes a discussion of the role of the British policy, the question of social integration and juridical equality/ exclusion as a distinguished religious community from the (Muslim) majority, the degree of Islamisation or secularisation of the national movement and the role of sectarian strife between Muslims

The 1919 Egyptian revolution was the founding event for modern Egypt's nation state. So far there has been no text that looks at the causes, consequences and legacies of the 1919 Egyptian Revolution. This book addresses that gap, with Egyptian and non-Egyptian scholars discussing a range of topics that link back to that crucial event in Egyptian history. Across nine chapters, the book analyzes the causes and course of the 1919 revolution; its impacts on subsequent political beliefs, practices and institutions; and its continuing legacy as a means of regime legitimation. The chapters reveal that the 1919 Egyptian Revolution divided the British while uniting Egyptians. However, the “revolutionary moment” was superseded by efforts to restore Britain's influence in league with a reassertion of monarchical authority. Those efforts enjoyed tactical, but not long-term strategic success, in part because the 1919 revolution had unleashed nationalist forces that could never again be completely contained. The book covers key issues surrounding the 1919 Egyptian Revolution such as the role played by Lord Allenby; internal schisms within the British government struggling to cope with the revolution; Muslim-Christian relations; and divisions among the Egyptians.

This book examines the Egyptian nationalist movement following the First World War and focuses its attention on the passive stage of the revolution of 1919 associated with the boycott of Lord Milner's commission of inquiry. By analyzing the respective roles of the Central Committee of the Wafd, Muslim and Coptic religious leaders and institutions, Egyptian women, and Egyptian students in the boycott movement, McIntyre shows that the Milner Mission, which was sent to Egypt in order to seek a method of preserving the British protectorate, actually stimulated the further development of Egyptian nationalist sentiment and strengthened the concensus in Egypt demanding complete independence.

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