The Coptic  Information Center©

Introduction to the proposed center:

At the beginning of this new millennium, the Copts, both in Egypt and in the Diaspora, are faced with great difficulties in their lives and uncertainty about their future. In Egypt, the Copts are faced with massive amounts of discrimination resulting in financial hardship and loss of identity. Outside of Egypt, the Copts are not well organized as a community and lack both the organization and mass effectiveness in their communities, resulting in the fact that the Copts are "invisible" in the countries in which they live. In fact, it seems that the majority of the Copts in the Diaspora lack even the desire to become involved in community affairs. These symptoms are attributed to the lack of leadership and the overwhelming role of the Church leadership in non-spiritual aspects of the community. This atmosphere has created a generation of inactive Copts who would rather sit on the sidelines and watch, than take an active role in claiming their rights and shaping their future.

It is ironic that the plight of the Copts inside Egypt is now tied with their brothers and sisters outside of Egypt. In fact, it seems that the only hope the Copts have now, in surviving inside Egypt, is the Copts outside Egypt. If the Copts outside Egypt fail to organize and create powerful communities in their countries, especially in the US, then the future for Copts in Egypt is quite bleak, especially given the wave of violence, forced conversions, employment discriminations, financial hardship, religious discrimination, increase of Islamic fanaticism inside the Egyptian Government and the general intolerance of the Muslim society in Egypt toward Copts.

Therefore, an effort to organize the Copts and create a grassroots movement outside of Egypt that is effective and powerful is imperative in order to preserve our heritage and alleviate the suffering of those in Egypt. . Such efforts will have to work on many fronts such as:

• Educate the Copts in the Diaspora about the great need for collective effort.
• Promote the Coptic identity and sense of belonging among the Copts, especially the youth.
• Promote the Coptic culture, history and problems of Copts to the rest of the world.

Faced with great challenges, we must make an investment in identifying and carrying out the various restructuring and organizational needs required to map our future. This can be done through a dedicated center that becomes the driving force as well as a central headquarters for directing all these operations. The proposed Center will serve as a strategic center to organize and carry out efforts aimed at benefiting the Coptic community in Egypt and in the Diaspora.

Expected benefits for the community from the Center:

• Assume responsibility in organizing political activities for the Copts:
  While many ideas can be exchanged around this subject, the fact is we lack the simple organized presence at both national and local levels of government. If the center can generate enough funds, the best approach will be that we hire a professional lobbying firm to promote the Coptic issue with US policy makers. The fact is, no matter who gets elected for the presidency or regardless of whether the republicans maintain the majority of the House and Senate, the Coptic issue is going to face a very rough road ahead. As we can see, Egypt has been treated by the US government as a repentant son who keeps getting second chances despite proven bad behavior. The reason, as we all know, is Egypt's role in the Middle East peace process, the cow used by the Egyptians to drain $33 billion dollars from the US. So, this fact is not going to change, that Egypt will always have a strong favorable position with any US administration. The key here is that we must make our rights stand out so that they are not disputed and cannot be ignored by US policy makers. That only comes from what power our community will have and how strong a lobbying effort we can generate and how many friends we can make inside Washington.
  
  
• Promote the Coptic history, culture and identity, through various activities.
  This can be done through publishing materials, holding seminars, starting Coptic sections inside various libraries of universities and colleges.
  
  
• Start a Coptic Voter drive to register the Copts in the heavy populated areas like NJ and CA and then Identify and nurture potential leaders in the Coptic community that can get involved in the political life.
  This key point drives directly into the heart of what we are trying to do here. Getting the Coptic people involved in their local and national politics will be most rewarding in showing off our power. The more mayors we have, the more city council positions we hold, even for small cities, the more power we have. In Washington, you are most heard when you say, "congressman, I have 15,000 voters in your district", that will do it.
  
  
• Identify governmental and non-governmental resources available to the Coptic community in the US.
  Our community can use a lot of help in identifying and going after available programs that can help all Copts achieve better lives and careers. There are many grants and funds for education or starting businesses that many people do not know about. Summing up the most beneficial of these programs together in some publications will be the most helpful.
  
  
• Provide assistance to new immigrants to the US and other countries.
  We all know how hard it is to come into a new country and have no idea where to turn. Publishing a guide with the best resources in each area will be extremely helpful. A guide of Coptic businesses that offer work or Coptic-friendly cities that offer shelter and help getting started, can be extremely helpful.. (ie, we in DC are considered a friendly city, since we offer free housing for new comers and help them get a bank account, drivers license, rent them an apartment and help them get a job, etc.)
  
  
• Create Coptic network of professionals worldwide
  Sharing experiences is extremely beneficial for new comers as well as young graduates. Grouping together the doctors or engineers under an association or a professional Coptic society will provide channeling of the experience and sharing of information. We all can imagine the result of such efforts, where job vacancies can be shared, and the older generations can provide professional development tips for younger Copts.
  
  
• Documenting and exposing all Human Rights abuses against the Copts worldwide, especially in Egypt.
  Achieving and documenting the atrocities committed against our people in recent years must be a top priority on our list to stand as a witness for these crimes committed against humanity. The international communities as well as the media crave credible and reliable information about the Copts that can be verified. I have had few discussions with many religious figures inside Egypt who will help us achieve this goal. We will discuss this at length during our meeting. One effective proposal for achieving this goal is the creation of a Coptic News Service to offer regular information about the Copts. It is imperative that the Coptic News Service be viewed by the rest of the world as an un-biased, objective news reporting service in order to increase its credibility among the world media and especially among the decision makers throughout the world.
• Establish a business development center that helps the community in their business needs.
  The center should be able to perform research and create documentation advising the Copts on various business needs such as, how to start a business, how to obtain a business loan, how to write a business plan, etc
• Sponsor ambitious projects such as Coptic bank, TV, Radio and schools.
• Coordinate media campaign to educate the public about who the Copts are and what hardship they face.
• Develop a sense of belonging and identity among the Copts through various activities, social functions and volunteer programs.
• Create a strong bond between the Copts in foreign lands with those in Egypt
  
• Empower the Copts in Egypt by producing publications in Arabic that educate the Copts in Egypt about their rights under the Egyptian laws and encourages them to participate in the political process.
  
• Sponsoring project such as a census to the Copts outside Egypt (in the US, Europe and Australia)
• Provide assistance in Asylum cases through providing expert testimonies and preparation of information packages to courts
• Creating legal clinics to advise Copts about their rights as citizens of the various countries in which they live. Initially, these clinics can be staffed by volunteer attorneys from within the Coptic community.
  

Support the Center:
Your financial support is pivotal for allowing the center to open its doors and hire its first employees. Please pledge a monthly payment to the center and make your dontation directly on the web by clicking here.