The Copts of Egypt: "State Discrimination and Exclusion"

This paper looks the factors which gave birth to a common Coptic identity in opposition to the state. Have the Copts been compelled to adopt this common identification to resist the state's policies towards them as a group? Is it really true that the state has, since 2000, pushed the Copts away as a group, thus driving them towards a more insular self-identification? Did this increasingly insular attitude supposing it exists - have an impact on the otherwise calm and cordial relationship between the Coptic Church and the Egyptian state? Or was the change in this relationship merely a reflection of a normal fluctuation, in response to extraneous factors? Is it also true that the Copts see in Pope Shenouda III a political figure who can present all of the grievances of Coptic Egyptians to the authorities? What contributes to the overall context of the discourse whereby the Copts adopt a Coptic identity? This paper will attempt to respond to these questions.