Brotherhood adopts a double standard by lecturing Coptic pope

The relationship between Copts and Egypt's Islamist authority requires good will on both sides, a commentator says. Other topics: the US presidential election and Sinai.

Last Sunday morning, Egypt's Coptic Church elected its new pope in a transparent and televised ceremony. Bishop Tawadros became the 118th pope of the Coptic Church, the largest Christian church in the Middle East.

Following the initial congratulatory messages, the Muslim Brotherhood took it upon themselves to offer suggestions for the new pope on how to manage his church. They recommended that he calls upon his congregation to "support Islamic law", "forsake secularists" and "put an end to the church's role in politics", said the columnist Elias Harfoush in the pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat.

"For the Brotherhood to urge the new pope, who, by definition, is a Christian religious leader, to support Islamic law, isn't only an attempt to sidetrack the man from the original mission his fellow devotees selected him for, but also exposes the Brotherhood's perception of Egyptians," said the writer.

"This reveals the group's inability to accept their fellow Egyptians as they are, whether they be Christian or Muslim, secular or religious. The agenda they are offering the new pope showcases the role that the Brotherhood are expecting all Egytpians, Muslim and non-Muslim, to adhere to at this phase," he added.

The Islamist group's suggestion seems bizarre especially because since his election, Pope Tawadros has clearly stated that he would prefer to separate the church from politics. What's more, the statement comes from a group whose only job seems to be mixing religion with politics to such a point that they assess patriotism on basis of religious affiliation.

In view of the new political climate in Egypt after the revolution, the election of Pope Tawadros II should set the stage for a good beginning in the relationship of Copts with the new Islamist authority.

"But that requires good will on both sides. More importantly, it requires a sense of safety and certitude under a government capable of protecting all of its citizens equally, away from notions of majority and minority," commented the writer.

Approximately eight million Copts live in Egypt, making up close to 10 per cent of the country's 84 million-strong population. Since the fall of the Mubarak regime and the rise of strong Islamist currents in Egypt, they have been increasingly apprehensive of the nation's new rulers who seem to be unwavering in their quest to implement Islamic law as the main source of legislation for Egypt's new constitution.

When the government assumes its responsibility towards its citizens and guarantees their rights without discrimination based on religion or creed, the church will have to get involved in political affairs as a way to safeguard the rights of its followers. Only then, would the pope be expected to adhere to his purely religious role.

Arabs fail to wield influence in US politics

As millions of Americans head to the polls to elect a US president, with opinion polls suggesting a close contest between the incumbent Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, Arabs are just sitting on their hands doing nothing, wrote the pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi in an editorial yesterday.

"We feel bitter about the Arab world, which despite oil and trillions of dollars of cash deposits invested in the West and the US in particular, remains inactive and powerless … while the Israeli lobby plays a decisive part in the presidential election," noted the editorial.

There are four influential lobbies in the US: oil companies, arms companies, retired people and the pro-Israel lobby.

"The irony is that the two biggest lobbies - oil and arms - have direct interests with Arabs," the paper said. "This year, Washington sold weaponry and aircraft worth billions of dollars to the Arabian Gulf."

It is also ironic that most US oil companies operate in the Arab region, both in North Africa and in the Arabian Gulf and Iraq, earning colossal profits, part of which goes to the debt-ridden US treasury, but still the Arab region gets very little in return.

And so, no wonder the Middle East has an insignificant role on the platforms of US presidential candidates who share unwavering support for Israel in total disregard of Arab issues.

Sinai's Islamist groups must explain their view

The events unfolding in Sinai have reached a tipping point that threatens the country's national security, wrote columnist Emad Eddine Hussein in the Cairo-based newspaper Al Shorouk.

"Every day that goes by without a real solution to the crisis portends the worst," he warned.

The insurgents who are taking up arms against the government in Sinai say they belong to a Salafist movement, and claim that the "secular state" led by President Mohammed Morsi prevents them from fighting Israel.

Salafist and Islamist groups must make their position clear on Sinai by answering a simple question: are they with or against the gunmen fighting the government?

Most Egyptians opposed the Mubarak regime that marginalised Sinai, and most of them now criticise the current regime that continues to use the old methods, particularly in dealing with the issue from an exclusive security perspective.

But criticising the regime is one thing, condoning the use of weapons against it is another, he said. Unfortunately, those who fight the government using snappy slogans do not know that they are serving Israel, misrepresenting Islam, and forming a true spearhead of Egypt's counterrevolution, even if they have good intentions, he continued.

* Digest compiled by The Translation Desk