There was news on Facebook about referring three Copts to prosecutors and later releasing them on a bail of LE10,000 on charges of proselytizing by handing out dates to fasting Muslim passers-by to eat after they break their fast.
What is painful here is not the reaction to an act intended to spread love between the sects of this country. It is that it was not an individual reaction by some fanatic, but rather an official one by the very state itself.
The state must act as a state and not as an individual. Prosecutors and policemen are symbols of the state and not individuals governed by tribal traits. They must not treat citizens like this just because they have a different religion.
There are other examples where the state does not act as a state. The way the police handles lawyers is one, and the way the judiciary handles journalist is another.
The state hides in the background of an image of its "tribe", only to appear at the forefront, where it acts for the benefit of its own interests and affiliations.
And so, we should not be provoked by the way the state handled those Copts, for they belong to a minority that has suffered for long from sectarianism. Actually, what we should be more concerned with is our state behaving like a tribesman.
It brings to mind the way the state liquidated the Brotherhood elements in the 6th of October City, as to whether it was acting as a state and not as an individual influenced by emotion and a desire to take revenge, even though it has lost many of its men in attacks from inside and outside.
That is why the wise among us condemn the fascist talk we hear in the media and the laws that pretend to be merciful but are actually vengeful.
Sometimes he who opposes is more patriotic than he who supports because he puts into consideration the future of the country and its stability.
In the end, what is important is to preserve the state as a state that applies the law regardless of religion or any other consideration, and as a state that acts like one.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
