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The Role of Media in Alleviating Sectarian Conflict: an Exploration of Peace Journalism in Egypt

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The Role of Media in Alleviating Sectarian Conflict: an Exploration of Peace Journalism in Egypt The Role of Media in Alleviating Sectarian Conflict: An Exploration of Peace Journalism in Egypt by Aya Sharaby B.A. (Journalism), Misr International University, 2013 Extended Essays Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the School of Communication Faculty of Communication Arts and Technology © Aya Sharaby 2018 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2018 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legisla Approval Name: Aya Sharaby Degree: Master of Arts The Role of Media in Alleviating Sectarian Title: Conflict: An Exploration of Peace Journalism in Egypt Program Co-Directors: Yuezhi Zhao, Adel Iskandar Adel Iskandar Senior Supervisor Assistant Professor Yuezhi Zhao Program Director Assistant Professor Date Approved: August 28, 2018 ii Abstract Through looking at Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt, this research delves into the dynamics that showcase media’s complicity in violence committed through denial of existing sectarian problems and the reinforcement of status-quo inequities. It explores how the model of Peace Journalism can be applied to foster more inclusion, as well as mitigate conflict. Keywords: sectarian conflict; Peace Journalism; Muslim-Christian relations; Egypt iii Dedication To my mother Hala Shaker; To my supervisor Adel Iskandar; To my mentor Amr Khalifa; and To those who accept the “other”, no matter how different they may be. iv Table of Contents Approval Error! Bookmark not defined. Abstract iii Dedication iv Table of Contents v Introduction 1 Tolerance, Citizenship, and Religion 2 A Brief History of Sectarianism in Egypt 5 Representation of Copts and Christian-Muslim Relations in the Media 9 Diversity 9 Understanding Alienation 11 Strategies for Media Reform and the Peace Journalism Model 13 Media’s Cognitive Effect on the Public 17 Research Methodology 18 Case One: The Dragging of Souad Thabet in Upper Egypt 19 Al-Ahram’s Coverage 19 Youm7’s Coverage 22 Case Two: The Displacement of Copts from Sinai 26 Al-Ahram’s Coverage 26 Youm7’s Coverage 29 Peace Journalism and Sectarian Conflict in Egypt 32 Language 32 Content 34 Pockets of Peace Journalism 40 Limitations of Peace Journalism in Egypt 42 Conclusion 43 References 46 v Introduction In May 2016, tens of men in the Upper Egyptian village of Al-Karm attacked seven Christian houses, and burnt them down. They went into one specific home, dragged a 70-year-old woman out and paraded her through the streets, ripping her clothes off. The mob attack is said to have resulted from a rumour that the grandmother’s son had an affair with a Muslim woman (The New Arab, 2017). Egypt is home to several marginalized ethnic and religious communities that are often forgotten both by the state and the general public. Although they came into the limelight more following the January 2011 Revolution, these communities have been suffering exclusion and oppression under all regimes. The groups of Nubians1, Copts2, Bedouins3, as well as religious minorities such as Baha’is4 and Shiites5 altogether form around 20 percent of Egypt's population (Salah, 2013). Egypt’s Christians get more media exposure than other marginalized groups. However, it is still limited, and mostly in relation to negative events. Living in a Muslim-majority country, the number of Egypt’s Christians, called Copts from the country’s ancient name, has been a source of controversy and politicization over the years. Between 8 and 15 million people, estimates have served either the Coptic camp, the Islamists, or the state6. At times regarded as “siblings” to the Muslim majority, or at times referred to as “visitors” to the country, they are driven into their own communities, away from the public sphere and its media. Concurrently, Islamist policies--the notion that public and political life should be guided by Islamic principles--have effectively pushed them out of these realms. It is of importance to note that state media not only lack sufficient representation of Copts, but also ignore injustices committed against them. Egyptian state television ignored the crackdown on a mostly Coptic Christian group of rights protesters outside its own Maspero building in October 2011. Most of the dead had been killed by live ammunition or crushed under the army’s armoured vehicles. State television then called upon “the 1 People living in southern Egypt who are descended from an ancient African civilisation (The Economist, 2016). 2 The largest Christian denomination in Egypt 3 The native inhabitants of Egypt’s desert domains (Ellis, 2018) 4 Those who belong to the Baha’i faith. See http://www.bahai.org/ 5 A branch of Islam which holds that Prophet Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law Ali is his rightful successor (Momen, 1985). 6 See Playing the Numbers Game: Copts and the Exercise of Power (Malak, 2013) 1 good citizens of Egypt” to go down to the streets and “support the Egyptian army against the Copts.” While the state is one party to the maltreatment, the media forgo the role of remedying the deeply rooted sectarianism in Egyptian society. Society itself is also deeply complicit in this discrimination. In Egypt, media have always been a tool for the ruling power to enhance its gains, barely giving a platform to the general public, let alone to marginalized communities. This paper explores how the Peace Journalism model can be applied within the Egyptian context to foster more inclusion, as well as to mitigate conflict. It takes Muslim-Coptic relations as a case study, looking into how media are complicit in the violence through the denial of any existing sectarian problem and thereby reinforcing the status-quo. Tolerance, Citizenship, and Religion In current day politics, particularly in Western national contexts, commonly held ideas of citizenship are derived from the theoretical framework of liberalism. The theory of liberalism is based on two main pillars: the protection of each citizen from tyranny and according equal rights for all. Liberals believe in religious tolerance, that religious differences should not be a cause for discriminatory treatment (Spinner, 1994). For the purposes of this paper, tolerance is defined in the liberal sense as "respect for people as human beings, that is, respecting their choices freely (so long as they do not harm others)” (Makari, 2007). Makari distinguishes between legal citizenship and social citizenship, defining legal citizenship as how citizenship is determined from a juridical perspective; it has merit with respect to the courts and entitlement from the nation. On the other hand, social citizenship is concerned with members of society including or excluding others and allowing others to enjoy the rights to which they are entitled. In Egypt, Christians citizens are unequal to Muslim citizens, whether legally or socially, as will be discussed below. Dating back to the Ottoman rule of Egypt, the state has relied largely on “a millet system” to determine social and political rights and legal status which "limits the right of individuals to revise their conceptions of the good" (Kymlicka 1996). The term “millet” was “traditionally used to refer to the confessional group to which one belonged… [that] 2 slowly came to incorporate the modern sense of minority to refer to nationally protected religious groups” (Mahmood, 2012, p.425). This millet system has set up a structural relationship between different communities of faith in the country and organized the state’s patronage of each on that basis. In addition to the millet system, for decades, unquestioned Islamic fundamentalism has shaped Egyptians’ worldviews emerging from Al-Azhar,Egypt’s premier Islamic institution for legal jurisprudence (sharia) and the oldest Islamic university in the world, as well as radical groups and sheikhs (locally and regionally) belonging toto extremist Salafi7 orders. This trend has resulted in deeply-rooted misconceptions and beliefs, used to navigate through everyday lives, and manifested in daily interactions. Refusal to accept the “other,” anyone having a different faith (or lacking one), has become pervasive. One of the biggest societal conflicts resulting from this is an entrenched sectarian divide between Muslims and Coptic Christians. The vast majority of Egyptians rely heavily on religion in identifying themselves. Lisa Schirch (2001) highlights three points with respect to identity and its role in conflict situations. First, people have a human need to define themselves in relation to others. Second, people are prepared to kill and die in defence of particular sociocultural identities. Third, people’s understanding of the self is usually formulated upon how they perceive an adversarial “other.” Schirch adds that "individuals and groups search for cognitive consistency by ignoring or rejecting information that contradicts their worldview [...] in shaping perceptions of [...] the 'other'" (p.150). Contemporary Egyptian thought is characterized by non-violent bigotry and religious supremacism, whereby “the normalization of notions of second-class citizenship, even through non-violent ideologies or practices, creates a more permissive environment for sectarian violence” (Hanna, 2016, para. 4). Every year, people reach out to Islamic scholars for fatwa (edicts and rulings according to Islamic law) to make sure that it is not sinful to extend holiday greetings to Copts. It is not uncommon to hear the phrase “mseehy bas kowys” (“A Christian, but nevertheless a good person”), on the assumption that Christians are an alien group of people whose intentions are unknown. Acceptance of the choice of faith, if one wishes to convert from Islam, is almost non-existent. One 7 A more conservative Muslim movement. The name Salafi comes from as-salaf as-saliheen, the ‘pious predecessors’ of the early Muslim community (Stanley, 2005). 3 instance found a woman who chose Christianity over Islam slaughtered by her own family (Abdel Rahman, 2017). The discovery of romantic involvement between a Christian and a Muslim spirals into violence, in many instances leading to the burning down of homes and churches.
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