Imbaba's rage

I just got off the phone to a friend... she lives on the same street as the current fighting in Imbaba that have seen 6 killed and 94 injured today and 2 churches burned.

Seemingly a christian woman went to the church with her family... and the church held her there against her will. This woman had expressed interest in converting to Islam (she is married to a Muslim man) and this was how her family and church responded to it- to lock her up! Seemingly, the husband tried to rescue her..but wasn't able to.... and then it all got ugly with the 2 largest churches in the area being set ablaze and fighting between christians and muslims in the street. The police and army were called in... and my friend was telling me that the TV's all say the army are all there and its under control but she said that wasn't that case, that they had come and the people were fighting them and they left. Although right now there are reports of special army forces being in there and a massive gun battle going on with one particular building....

Imbaba is a relatively poor, local area (not so far from Mohandiseen - but there has been no troubles anywhere else in the city) where many Muslims and Christians normally live peacefully side by side. Even if you look at the story which started all this... the Christian woman was actually married to a Muslim man in the first place... and the problems only arose when she wanted to convert. My friend was most frightened for her brothers, in case they were tempted to go and see what was going on and got involved in anyway. She also felt that the official death toll doesn't even come close to the actual one, although i guess time will tell on that one.

Its a sad sad day in Egypt. The overwhelming ignorance needs to be educated. As one of my facebook friends here just wrote as his status;
 " Tear gas, black smoke and the smell of burning wood & construction material fill the sky of one of the blackest nights. What happened and continue to happen is further proof to one thing and one thing alone: Education is the solution, not Islam or a revolution..."


The majority of people i know happily socialise with others no matter what their religion... but those are mainly the educated ones... and these problems of course are more likely to get out of hand when no one really is in control... not the police or the army. At the moment, everywhere else in Cairo is safe and quiet- although sad and angry at these recent events... what the next few days will bring we dont yet know. 'God willing' inshallah- it will be calmed by tomorrow and remain in the one small area it has been in today... without more people being injured in the process.

As a foreigner... I can honestly say i have at times been picked on because of my job, beacuse of my gender, and because of my nationality(if they know i am 'British' that is - being Scottish has always bridged any divide!)... but ALWAYS the religion has been actually a point which has pulled me together with Muslims here. If you believe in the 'one God' then you're ok is kind of how it goes... (although that is not extending to jews unfortunately!).

As the fighting continues tonight, Lets hope people tonight can remember the 'love your neighbour' (literally) aspect of their religions rather than the 'eye for an eye' ......... too many people already have suffered....

praying for peace in imbaba tonight....