Today, an Egyptian student sent me an urgent message on Facebook. I had just returned from a semester abroad at the American University in Cairo, and had taught English on the side. She had belonged to this class of 15 Egyptians that included male and female college students, Muslim and Christian, veiled and non-veiled. A member of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, this student was asking me for help in protecting her community. The bombing at a Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve had shaken her already-weak faith in the safety of Christians in Egypt.
Owing to numerous ongoing conflicts, the meddling of outside powers, and the rapid growth of religious fundamentalism, sectarian violence in the Middle East has, sadly, become something of an expectation. Yet Egypt has ever been an example of stability; it has never been torn apart by civil war like Lebanon or had its demographics changed through the mass migration and exchange of whole communities like Iraq. Egyptians have always considered themselves a model for the Middle East in their tolerance for each other, which is why the current rise in sectarian tensions there is so disturbing.
According to official figures, Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt's total population of 80 million. Despite their substantial numbers, Copts are feeling increasingly marginalized by the government. In the most recent parliamentary elections, the ruling National Democratic Party only selected 11 Copts to run, out of some 800 contested seats; in the 2005 election, only one Copt survived the electoral process to become an MP.
With an indifferent political system and no clear alternative, many of Egypt's youth, Muslim and Christian, have become more and more frustrated, turning to Facebook, one place where they can more freely express their thoughts, fears, and opinions.
Both the American election of 2008 and the Iranian election of 2009 demonstrated that social media can be a powerful tool for youth and civil society. Immediately after the attack in Alexandria, many of my Egyptian friends changed their profile pictures to reflect their solidarity with the victims-a solid black picture, the word "mourning," or even one with an interconnected Christian cross and Muslim crescent. This last symbol is particularly powerful, and its ubiquity on my Egyptian friends' profiles, Christian and Muslim alike, says something important about the Egyptian people. Taking cab rides through Cairo last semester, I was just as likely to find a Christian driver as a Muslim one. Both groups largely consider themselves one and the same-Egyptians, above all else. That feeling is truly remarkable in a region infamous for its ethnic, religious and political divisions.
It would be quite sad indeed if all the interfaith tolerance that has lasted for thousands of years in Egypt devolved into just another ongoing sectarian conflict in the Middle East. It would ruin the fragile hopes that the Egyptian youth have for a brighter future and better world.\nSo what could I say to my friend to assuage her fears? I could call a human rights group to bring attention to the situation, or call my congressman to encourage President Mubarak to increase security around churches. But as America has learned the hard way, lasting change must come from within.\nWhile Egyptians deserve better, the only hope they can truly rely on is within themselves. So I will encourage my friend to reach out to her classmates and friends of both faiths, despite her skepticism. Unity in the face of the forces that hope to tear them apart is the best weapon to banish the threat of ignorance and help them realize that the future of Egypt is in their own hands. My friend's father expressed doubt that many Copts would attend church last Friday, the Coptic Christmas, fearing another attack. But this philosophy will only strengthen the extremists' resolve and encourage their behavior. Instead, Egyptians of both faiths must work with each other to increase security around churches during these Coptic festivals, remaining vigilant and demonstrating to their nation that the ties that bind them together are stronger than those that divide them.\nEdmund Burke once said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Now is the chance for all Egyptians, Christian and Muslim, to stand together against terrorism, to take action to shape their own future and to ensure that attacks like this do not happen again. By watching out for one another's safety, they can strengthen the bonds of common culture and common goals. Only together can they defeat this evil. The answer is in their hands.\nJacob Kohn is a third-year\nCollege student.
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