The Rights (and Wrongs) of Egypt's Coptic Christians
The fall of President Hosni Mubarak unleashed a diverse set of attempts to redress old wrongs, including pushing for the rights of the country's Coptic Christians, who make up 10% of the population but have been regarded as pariahs and second-class citizens for decades. But the fall of the old dictator did not mean that the old tactics had vanished, particularly in the way the regime — still run by the military — deals with minority groups in predominantly Sunni Muslim Egypt. An October protest in Cairo by Copts over the destruction of churches was violently put down, with more than a score dead. One positive note: the substantial number of Muslims — both secularized and religious — who came out in solidarity with the Copts after the crackdown.