The Maspero Massacre initially started as demonstrations in October 2011 by a group dominated by
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian
Copts
Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are C ...
in reaction to the demolition of a church in
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient ...
claimed to be built without the appropriate license.
The peaceful protesters who intended to stage a sit-in in front of the
Maspiro television building
Maspero ( ar, ماسبيرو ) is the name of the huge building on the bank of the Nile river in Cairo, Egypt. It is the headquarters of the Egyptian television, Egyptian Radio and Television Union (formerly the Arab Radio and Television ...
were attacked by security forces and the
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, resulting in 24 deaths, mostly among the Coptic protestors, and 212 injuries, most of which were sustained by Copts.
Demonstration
The peaceful protesters gathered in peaceful chants, angered by a statement made publicly by Aswan's governor, Mustafa Kamel el-Sayyed, who, after the destruction of the church in Aswan, denied the existence of the church, and then later retracted his statements, and claimed instead that the construction of the church was illegal. It was later revealed that extremist followers of the
Salafist
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...
Islamic sect had pronounced threats and made demands for Aswan's Christian congregation not to have any loudspeakers in the church and to limit the visibility of any Christian symbols such as crosses on the church structure. In order to defuse tensions, the Aswan governorate organized a meeting between Salafist and Coptic leaders, wherein the Copts refused the latter demand of eliminating crosses and steeples. The threats eventually escalated to actual destruction of the church by the extremists, and to the subsequent statements by the Aswan governor. It was this incident that led to the protest, which is presented in the following details based on a number of credible sources.
The march set out towards Maspiro from the downtown poverty-stricken neighborhood of
Shubra
Shoubra ( ar, شبرا, ; Coptic language, Coptic: '; also written Shubra or Shobra) is one of the largest districts of Cairo, Egypt and it is administratively divided into three areas: Shubra (administrative region), Shubra, Road El Farag, and E ...
, densely populated by both Muslims and Christians. Reporters agree that it was a sizeable demonstration comparable to the numbers at the 28 January protest, the day when
Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...
sent army vehicles to confront protesters. Protesters were also angry about an injury sustained by a Christian priest during the violent confrontation by army and police at Wednesday's demonstration at Maspiro, when a smaller group had been demonstrating against the situation in
Aswan
Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...
.
![Maspiro October 9 victims](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Maspiro_October_9_victims.jpg)
When the protests started, Egyptian state television anchor Rasha Magdy, urged "honorable" citizens to go "protect" the military.
Clashes
Reports suggest that the army began using violence even before the protesters reached Maspiro. Gunshots were heard from the end of Shubra Street and rocks were thrown from a nearby bridge. The protesters responded in chants against the Field Commander. The attacks suddenly stopped as the protesters proceeded on Galaa Street. As they crossed the
Al Ahram
''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...
headquarters, one rock was thrown at the building. Reports suggest this was in response to Al Ahram's poor coverage of violence against Copts in a recent issue.
Army attacks resumed when the protesters turned the corner at Ramsis Hotel and reached Maspiro. Witnesses saw two armored personnel carriers crushing protesters to death, and soldiers firing wildly at the congregation, followed by riot police throwing tear gas. These incidents have been documented by video and later broadcast on
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
. Reports count between 24 and 27 deaths, mostly Coptic civilians, and over 300 injured.
State television within minutes of violence first reported the death of three soldiers and requested that all noble Egyptian patriots protect the military against the "violent crowd of Copts," also alluding to "foreign infiltrators" inciting violence. That evening, state television continued to broadcast a manipulated version of the story claiming the protesters were armed and that a "conflict" had broken out between civilians and military personnel with riot police, leaving deaths and injuries on both sides. Later, the Department of Health released another statement indicating that there were no military deaths and associating all bodies with deceased civilian protesters.
Response
According to an official statement by the
Egyptian military
The Egyptian Armed Forces ( arz, القُوّات المُسَلَّحَة المِصْرِيَّة, alquwwat almusalahat almisria) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egypti ...
, it was the protesters who first attacked the army resulting in the death of three police officers. They claim to have responded by firing blank cartridges, and that military personnel were being pulled out of their armoured vehicles and attacked by rioters, which they claim caused other military personnel to panic and "mow down" some protesters "accidentally" as they drove off.
Human rights organisations have dismissed the Army's response as partial.
Several international media outlets, including
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
and CNN, picked up this version of the events. Egyptian state television later retracted the claims when it broadcast a mild report on the events the following day but continued to exhibit a reluctance to condemn the actions of the army. Egypt's Minister of Information Osama Heikal blamed the reports on the "emotional distress" the states news anchors went through over reports of copts attacking the Egyptian army.
Public figures, including prominent Muslim and Coptic leaders, demanded the prosecution of army generals. The military council then called for the civilian Prime Minister to investigate the incident and identified 15 suspects to be tried in military courts. The military council and state television remain targets of heated criticism from prominent activists and journalists. The representatives at the state television have not issued any statements, but a newscaster has publicly expressed feeling "ashamed" to be working for an institution that proved "itself to be a slave for whoever rules Egypt".
Activists also blame state television for provoking sectarian tensions.
Governor Mustafa Kamel El Sayyed reportedly said that the demolition of the Church was agreed to by the local Coptic community and absolved himself of any responsibility in the tragic events at Maspiro. The Ministerial Cabinet announced it will amend laws pertaining to the construction of houses of worship and toughen the anti-discrimination laws, but local human rights activists doubt the effectiveness or follow-through of the Cabinet's approach.
Identical promises have been made following other similar incidents (recently and in the more distant past) without any amend the archaic laws that require only non-Muslims to receive permission to build houses of worship. In addition, the Egyptian military, which is responsible for these deaths, has taken over the investigation, prompting Human Rights Watch to issue a statement which concluded that "official denials suggest investigation will be flawed".
See also
*
2011 Alexandria bombing
The 2011 Alexandria bombing was an attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, on Saturday, 1 January 2011. 23 people died and another 97 were injured as a result of the attack, which occurred as Christian worshipers were leaving a New Ye ...
*
Ostankino Technical Center
Ostankino Television Technical Center (russian: Телевизионный технический центр Оста́нкиноMoscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
*
National Day of the People's Republic of China
National Day ( zh, s=国庆节, t=, p=guóqìng jié, l=national celebration day, links=yes), officially the National Day of the People's Republic of China (), is a public holiday in China celebrated annually on 1 October as the national da ...
*
2011 Imbaba Church Attacks
The 2011 Imbaba church attacks were a series of attacks that took place in Egypt on 7 May 2011 against Coptic Christian churches in the poor working-class neighborhood of Imbaba in Giza, near Cairo. The attacks were blamed on Salafi Muslims,
*
U Thant Funeral Crisis
The U Thant funeral crisis or U Thant crisis ( my, ဦးသန့် အရေးအခင်း) was a series of protests and riots in the then-Burmese capital of Rangoon triggered by the death of U Thant, the third Secretary-General of the ...
, in
Socialist Burma (''Today
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
'')
*
National Salvation Front (Romania)
The National Salvation Front ( ro, Frontul Salvării Naționale, FSN) was the most important political organization formed during the Romanian Revolution in December 1989, which became the governing body of Romania in the first weeks after the co ...
, during the
Romanian Revolution
The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...
in
Socialist Republic of Romania
The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian People ...
, (''Today
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
'')
*
*
List of massacres in Egypt
The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Egypt (numbers may be approximate):
Notes
References
{{Egypt topics
Egypt
Massacres
*
Massacres
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especial ...
References
External links
*
* Blair, Edmund
"Egypt’s Mubarak sends in army, resists demands to quit"Reuters. 28 January 2011.
* Mackey, Robert
"Social Media Accounts of Violence in Cairo Challenge Official Narrative." The New York Times. 10 October 2011.
* El Gundy, Zeinab
"Outrage over state TV’s misinformation and anti-Coptic incitement" Ahram Online. 10 October 2011.
* Fahmy, Heba
The Daily News Egypt. 11 October 2011.
* Human Rights Watch
"Egypt: Don’t Cover Up Military Killing of Copt Protesters" HRW. 15 October 2011.
* Yassin Gabe
Reconstructing Maspero's Bloody Sunday: An Ahram Online investigation Al-Ahram
''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...
-Online. 1 November 2011.
* Nada Hussein Rashwa
Reconstructing Maspero's Bloody Sunday: An Ahram Online investigation - Part 2 Al-Ahram
''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...
-Online. 2 November 2011.
{{Religious persecution
Religiously motivated violence in Egypt
2011 in Egypt
2011 protests
Persecution of Copts
Protests in Egypt
Egyptian revolution of 2011
Religious riots
2010s in Cairo
Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014)
Copts in Cairo
October 2011 events in Asia