Media celebrates Sisi’s Christmas greetings, but analysts say it’s not enough

Egyptian and regional media have devoted several pages to celebrating President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s landmark attendance at Christmas Eve mass on Tuesday, but some analysts remain skeptical as to whether the visit was merely symbolic, or if the government would take real steps to counteract the country’s endemic sectarian violence.

Ahmed Garallah, editor-in-chief of the Kuwaiti national newspaper Al-Seyasa, proclaimed Sisi as “the leader of the national Sunna [traditional Islamic law],” and declared that “the historic leader has returned to Egypt its civilized vision.”

He went on to compare Sisi to the seventh-century Arab military commander Amr Ibn al-Ass, who reinstated the Coptic patriarch Benjamin after he had been banished by the Romans, and ordered the restoration of Egypt’s historic Wadi Natrun monasteries.

In the Coptic newspaper Watani, editor Youssef Sedhom described Sisi’s visit to the cathedral as “grand in all meanings of the word.”

Sedhom told Mada Masr that Sisi shared the Copts’ happiness and prayers, and showed he believed in absolute equality.

"The visit is a strong response to the fundamentalist fatwa that prohibits Muslims from exchanging Christmas greetings with Christians," he said. According to Sedhom, former President Gamal Abdel Nasser had visited the premises of the cathedral in 1965 and placed its corner stone, but Sisi’s visit was the first time an Egyptian president actually attended the Christmas Eve mass.

Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher on freedom of religion and belief for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), told Mada Masr that Sisi’s visit was deeply important as a symbolic response to Salafi demands barring Muslims from giving Christmas greetings.

"The visit is a strong message on the national and international fronts," Ibrahim stated.

However, the visit would serve no purpose if those guilty of committing sectarian acts of violence continue to remain free, if Christians are not treated as full and equal Egyptian citizens, and if Christians remain marginalized by state institutions, he argued.

"It is a great step that needs to be followed by many other steps on the ground," Ibrahim said. “The problem of sectarian violence is a dangerous one that needs immediate action, and the state needs to send the urgent message that it is capable of protecting all its citizens and their rights.”

Ibrahim also pointed to a new bill on church construction that was drafted by the three main churches in Egypt, which is expected to be discussed and approved in the to-be-elected parliament’s first legislative session.

"This is another important issue that needs to be attended to," Ibrahim concluded.

Pope Tawadros II, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Christian Church, had described Sisi’s visit as a pleasant surprise and kind gesture. The pope stated that Egypt is about to embark on a new era where all Egyptians build their future and the future of their children together.