Listen to the Copts of today, talk to them, read their writings in order to find what they demand exactly from Egypt’s successive governments which are dominated by the Arabs and Muslims, and you will be astonished by the low ceiling of their demands: they want to build some new churches; they want to repair old churches, for example a window pane, a leaning wall, a falling roof, or a broken toilet; and they want a job here or there, for example a university faculty dean, a consul or ambassador, or something like that. They may also want to live safely and be secure but there end their demands. Pathetic expectations that rather speak of how they see themselves – not as a people that should live in dignity and freedom. A dimmitude position in which the Muslim Arabs, be it a Nasser or a Sisi, protect them from a worse situation.
Thankfully, not all Copts are like that. Many reject that humiliating position and set their ceiling of demands high. We do not accept less than the complete rights citizens are entitled to in a democratic government; and we demand more, in our capacity as a distinct cultural nation: we want a consociational type of democracy where power is shared by Egypt’s three nations, the Arabs, Nuba and Copts, as in Lebanon and many other states; and we demand the institution of a Coptic national cultural autonomy (non-territorial autonomy) arrangement, enshrined in the constitution, whereby we govern ourselves, as a unique cultural nation, in all our cultural affairs, including education, language, arts, etc.