"We started to chant, 'We don't want the church to be destroyed and burnt,' 'We need a law to guarantee the minority's rights,' 'We want the Christians to live with dignity in their country,'" Viviane Magdy, an activist for the full rights of Egyptians, told ICC about the crowd that gathered outside the Egyptian Radio and Television (Maspero) Building on October 9, 2011.
The protest in front of the Maspero building was sparked by the destruction of a church in Aswan. It was the largest of many protests Christians had organized to raise attention to the abuses they were suffering.
This protest rapidly turned deadly in a day that is remembered as "Bloody Sunday". Vivian recounted for ICC how at first a huge number of soldiers who had been monitoring the protests started to attack the march.
"We started to retreat back and the protesters too, but the soldiers did not stop attacking the march so the protesters started to defend themselves."
"It was like a war scene," Vivian said.
Then, without warning, the engines on the military vehicles started up. They drove into the crowd and hit a number of protestors.
Viviane was there with her fiancé Michael. They crossed the street and hid from the military vehicles. Then one of them did a U-turn and came back at Vivian and Michael.
"Michael told me 'don't leave my hand.' Then the vehicle crashed into him. He pushed me away and it hit my arm and moved Michael away from my side," Vivian recalled.
"I looked back to find him lying down on the street and he was bleeding from his leg. I tried to help him but the soldiers came and started to beat us again."
Michael would never get up. He was one of the 27 protestors killed that night.
Hundreds more were wounded by the military vehicles, the soldiers with batons, and the live ammunition that was fired into the crowd. Wagih Yacoub, a close friend of ICC, was shotwhile filming the protests.
The massacre at Maspero remains a symbol of the struggle of the Egyptian Christian community to secure their rights as full citizens of Egypt.
Two Years Later: Christians Still Remember
The activities commemorating the Maspero incident were solemn as hundreds gathered at candle light prayer vigils across Egypt, at the site of the attacks in Cairo, and even at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington DC.
The Maspero Youth Union (MYU) organized a vigil in Alexandria, Egypt. MYU was founded following the 2011 incident, spokesman Tony Sabry told ICC. "This movement defends the rights of the Christian minority, and it is against religious and racial discrimination,"Sabry continued.
The Mina Daniel Movement, named for one of the martyrs killed that day, was one of the leading organizers of the memorial in Cairo. In an ICC video taken hours before Mina was killed he expressed some of the values that had so many Egyptians out in the streets. "The revolution is very beautiful; the revolution is very sweet when you are with me, when we gather together in the revolution against the oppression," Mina sang.
Unfortunately, the "revolution against oppression" that Mina, Michael, and the others who were at Maspero on October 9th were part of is still ongoing.
Two Years Later: What Has Changed?
Two years have passed since "Bloody Sunday" in Cairo. Again, the country is under the control of the military. Again, there have been churches burned to the ground. Again, attacks are taking place on Christians with almost total impunity.
In 2011, October 9th came just a few months after the overthrow of long-time President Hosni Mubarak. In 2013, October 9th came just a few months after the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, after just one year in office.
The goals and objectives of the original revolution in January, 2011, have failed to be realized. "Egypt's revolution has not achieved any of its objectives yet. Even the simplest demands of the people have not been met," Mary Danial, sister of Mina Danial who was killed at Maspero, told MCN, at events to commemorate the second anniversary.
Even the investigation into the perpetrators of the attack on the protestors has been with only minimal results. Three low-level soldiers were sentenced with "involuntary manslaughter" in September 2012, as ICC reported.
The trial, which was handled in a military court, has not brought any resolution, and many of the responsible parties have never been tried. A number of politicians and civil rights groupshave spoken out to call for a more thorough investigation.
"We want the government to make an investigation into those responsible for the killings and make arrests of those individuals," Sabry told ICC on behalf of MYU.
Vivian told MCN that she will submit a request calling for the government to re-open the case and carry out a full investigation into the incident. She is hoping the new government will do more than the government of former President Mohamed Morsi.
If the past two months are any indication, not much has changed concerning the status of Christians in Egypt. The sectarian divides that have pushed the country into violence continue to run deep. The growth in influence of radical Islamists had terrible results for Christians and for most Egyptians as well.
The chants from October 9th, 2011, for an Egypt where "Christians live with dignity in their country" are still being heard today. The country is in need of political leaders and political will to turn the desires of the Maspero martyrs into reality.
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