“Down with Tawadros,” and “Egypt is Islamic in spite of Christians,” were phrases written by Muslim Brotherhood supporters and their allies from other Islamic groups on the walls of churches, their related buildings, and residences of some Coptic Christians, in many neighborhoods after the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

Despite the targetig of Chrisitians, including the burning of about six churches and a Coptic civil society in Fayoum, the scribbled words have not led to any confrontations between Muslims and Copts in Fayoum Governorate.

“Down with Tawadros,” and “Egypt is Islamic in spite of Christians,” were phrases written by Muslim Brotherhood supporters and their allies from other Islamic groups on the walls of churches, their related buildings, and residences of some Coptic Christians, in many neighborhoods after the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

Despite the targetig of Chrisitians, including the burning of about six churches and a Coptic civil society in Fayoum, the scribbled words have not led to any confrontations between Muslims and Copts in Fayoum Governorate.

A wedge-driving faction

Pastor ofSt. Mina Church in Fayoum, Mina Aziz, believes that such words do not provoke the Copts or rouse them against their Muslim brothers. He believes that the Brotherhood is foreign to Egyptian society and only seeks to drive a wedge among the Egyptians. “Copts do not heed such behaviors, nor are they influenced by them. This is evidenced by the fact that the acts of arson against many churches have not provoked them, in compliance with what Pope Tawadros II said in his comment, ‘all churches can be sacrificed for Egypt’s redemption.’”

Aziz says he expects that the pro-Morsi demonstrators and protestors passing by his church might attempt to storm and burn it, as they did to other churches. “We were prepared for such an eventuality and I alerted the church youth not to expose themselves to danger because material damage can be compensated, while loss of young lives is irreparable,” says Aziz.

Unaffected countryside

Pastor of St. George Church in the city of Tamiya in Fayoum Governorate, Raphael Sami and also a columnist at Watani newspaper believes that the abusive graffiti by pro-Morsi supporters is viewed by many as meaningless, uncivilized and abhorrant behavior.

“This abusive language may affect the relationship between Christians and Muslims in urban areas where people are well-educated and can understand the provocative implications of the graffiti, while in villages, the impact is less, given the poor educational levels there,” he says. Despite their seriousness and the likelihood of causing a sectarian strife in the country, says Sami, the graffiti has not had any such consequences.

Sami’s own residence in Tamiya was burned in the aftermath of breaking up sit-ins in Rabia and Nahda neighborhoods. A number of pro-Morsi supporters threw Molotov cocktails at his villa and set parts of it on fire. Muslim neighbors managed to extinguish the fire and formed neighborhood watches, comprised of Muslims and Copts, who then cordoned off the church to prevent pro-Morsi supporters from storming and burning it, as they did to the church in the village of Dar Salam near Tamiya.

“People have understood”

Mustafa Eshri, the owner of a mobile phone shop near the St. Mina Church in Fayum, believes that such graffiti, given its offensive nature, is likely to impact Copts. “He who writes them,” says Eshri,” is trying to incite sectarian strife between Christians and Muslims, but people will not be influenced by such behavior.”

“The danger of this abusive language lies in the belief that cursing other people will guarantee  a retaliatory action. Fortunately, no aggressive reaction has come from the Copts,” he stresses, suggesting that every time the graffiti is cleaned up, it is rewritten whenever Brotherhood demonstrators gather in that street.

“Abhorred phrases”

Hussein Ali, the owner of another mobile phone shop opposite St. Mina Church says he always sees young boys writing such abusive phrases on church walls. “Once, however, some adult demonstrators tried to dissuade those boys from doing so, but to no avail,” Ali says. “These phrases are likely to incite sectarian problems. I would not accept such statements being written on mosque walls.”

Ali says he pray for the stability, security and welfare of the country, especially since the curfew has brought business to a standstill.

“Burn, destroy, and we will rebuild”

A campaign has been set up to confront this widespread phenomenon in Fayoum. Entitled ‘Burn, destroy, and we will rebuild,’ the campaign is comprised of young people, including members of the Tamarod Movement. It started its activities with painting church walls to remove the graffiti, says Ahmad Abduttawwab, a member of the campaign’s executive office.

Abduttawwab stresses that the offensive language written on the walls incites sectarian violence because a phrase like ‘Egypt is Islamic’ means that the Copts are no longer homeland partners, which he says is totally unacceptable. The campaign, says Abduttawwab, has managed to remove graffiti from the walls of the Local Council building and Central Avenue, and painted the walls with colors and with Egypt’s flag.

Despite these efforts, pro-Morsi supporters write over the painted walls again during their demonstrations in Fayoum streets. Among the new graffiti written on the painted walls are ‘Congratulations for the new paint, you slaves; paint the walls, and we will write again.’ Other abusive graffiti also targets the Egyptian army leaderships, the interior ministry, and some national figures, like ‘The Pope of Al-Azhar,’ an expression used to insult Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam because of his agreement with Pope Tawadros II to support the roadmap drawn up by the armed forces.