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Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) indicated that local security services in Alexandria were largely to blame for allowing violence to occur. "Egyptian officials have been at best lax and, at worst, criminally negligent in the October 21 riots," Wolf said in a November 9 press statement.

Was the video offensive to Muslims?
On October 31, Christianity Today visited Christian leaders in Alexandria and obtained the video CD from a Muslim journalist after police had confiscated and destroyed most of the CDs, ordering Christians not to show them to anyone.

I viewed the video, while an interpreter provided an English translation. The play chronicles a Copt youth who leaves his Christian heritage behind to follow Islam, guided by a Muslim friend. But after his conversion, the youth discovers the local sheik consumed with a lavish lifestyle of eating and pursuit of pleasure.

Later on, the youth is thrown into a spiritual crisis and wonders whether he made the right choice of rejecting Christianity. He questions fellow Muslims, but is met with great hostility. After the youth declares his rejection of Islam, Muslim radicals chase him down and shoot him. But he is not killed. At the end of the video, the youth is shown as an old man. He warns Coptic children to learn from his example and stay within the Christian fold. At the end of the production, church members applaud enthusiastically.

The play is loosely based on a popular Egyptian film, "The Terrorist." In the church video, Muslims are depicted as concerned with material prosperity and aggressive toward those who question their commitment to Islam. In the wake of the rioting, Coptic Orthodox leaders have taken both priests out of St. Girgis church. It's unclear how long their temporary suspensions will last.

In my interviews with church members, they denied any harmful intent. They believe the video was only for in-church use, not for evangelism, but for education of their youth. "We don't think we did anything wrong," one staff member told me.

But other Christian leaders in Alexandria question whether the play's producers took into account what would happen if Muslims viewed the video. A prominent Coptic Orthodox leader in Alexandria, Father Tadrous Malaty, told CT that the production of the play and video "lacked wisdom." Some Coptic leaders believe the play could easily be misinterpreted as a general critique of Islam, but that in no way justified violence of any kind.

Political tensions
The riots and the video are influencing local politics. This week, Egyptians are going to the polls for the first time since 2000 to elect members to the national parliament.

Religious tensions are higher because the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical group banned for decades, has several candidates on the ballot as independents.

The Muslim Brotherhood remains committed to remaking Egypt into a fundamentalist Islamic state by gaining control of the political process. For years, the group's slogan has been: "Islam is the solution" (al-Islam Houwa al-Hall).

There were two Christian candidates in Alexandria on the November ballot: Maher Khella of the ruling National Democratic Party and George Gabra, an independent. Some Christian leaders believe that political opponents of Khella (from Muharram Bey) played a role in stimulating the riots.

The only way Khella could win a seat in parliament is with a meaningful number of Muslim votes. The Christian vote by itself would be insufficient to elect him. Others suspect that state security was behind the rioting to discredit the Muslim Brotherhood as violent agitators, thus undermining their popular support.

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November (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49