On July 5, shortly after Egypt’s then-President Mohammed Morsi had been forced from power by a union of protestors, military and various religious authorities, some disturbing news came from the village of Adabiyah in the Luxor province. There a Muslim man, Hassan Sidqi, had been murdered after a quarrel with three Coptic Christian men. Local police described the incident as resulting from “disagreements between neighbors”.

On July 5, shortly after Egypt’s then-President Mohammed Morsi had been forced from power by a union of protestors, military and various religious authorities, some disturbing news came from the village of Adabiyah in the Luxor province. There a Muslim man, Hassan Sidqi, had been murdered after a quarrel with three Coptic Christian men. Local police described the incident as resulting from “disagreements between neighbors”.

However the incident soon caused shockwaves throughout the village and led to what was best described as sectarian violence. The clashes that ensued later that morning and during the next day eventually claimed the lives of four Coptic Christians and injured three, as well as leaving around two dozen houses burned, damaged or robbed as well as a number of number of stores looted.

One of the deceased Coptic Christians was Emil Nasim, 40, an activist who just happened to be part of the Tamarod, or Rebel, movement that was behind the ousting of President Morsi.

A day before the sectarian violence erupted, Nasim had returned home, exuberant and happy that the Tamarod movement had, along with military support, managed to overthrow the Egyptian government, which was headed by Morsi, a member of the Islamic political party, the Muslim Brotherhood. In a victorious gesture, Nasim raised the Egyptian flag over his house. He was unaware that he had just become a target for supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, another local activist Safwat Samaan explains.

Samaan suspects that the incidents in the village were manipulated so that Nasim could be murdered – not because he had anything to do with the murder but because he had been part of the Tamarod movement. The family of the Muslim man who was murdered had already said they wanted no harm done to the village’s Coptic Christians. They only wanted justice after the death of their son.  Additionally Nasim didn’t know either the Coptic Christian who murdered the Muslim man, nor did he know the victim. 

Samaan says Nasim called him a few hours before he died, telling him he knew he had been targeted. “You should accuse everyone,” Nasim told him.

Samaan says the local police are to blame because of the way they handled the incident. “The police could have stopped the shedding of more blood had they intervened at the right time,” Samaan says. “But they chose to stand at a distance and watch what was happening. All they did the next day was arrest 16 Muslims, some of whom had nothing whatsoever to do with the incident. That just led to more tensions,” Samaan explains.  

Luxor security chief Khaled Mamdouh said the whole thing started because of disagreement between Sidqi and his friends and that this disagreement didn’t have any sectarian or religious dimension. News reports say that police were dispatched to the area to protect the Coptic Christians and they had used tear gas on those who were rioting.

Today there is a cautious calm in Adabiyah. Some of the Coptic Christian families have returned to their homes, others are still staying in neighboring villages after their residences were burned or destroyed. Some are staying in the local church, which is still guarded by police.

One local, Georos Foad, appealed for calm, saying that he and his Muslim friends had lived together here in love and peace for many years. He says he was amazed at the wave of destruction the incident unleashed.

As for Nasim’s wife, she had no comment to make, saying only that she was awaiting divine justice.