策劃、編譯■李威撰、謝雯伃

儘管去年已有36個人權團體聯合遊說埃及政府，希望訂定公平的建築法規，

但今年11月下旬，仍因教堂興建工程受挫而引發暴力衝突事件。

除了宗教場所的興建外，改變信仰及通婚議題也經常引發衝突。

過去大多數有關穆斯林處境的討論，都是放在西方社會的脈絡下，

然而在阿拉伯世界居少數的基督徒，其處境較少人聞問。

■鎮暴警察與科普特教徒發生衝突的同時，一名教徒正腳踢瓦斯彈筒。（圖文／路透）

埃及政府日前勒令開羅境內一座正在興建的新教堂停工，引發千百名基督徒走上街頭抗議，與鎮暴警察發生衝突。數十名穆斯林24日加入衝突，將衝突導向宗教衝突的局面。

Clashes between riot police and hundreds of Christians protesting after the authorities halted construction of a church in Cairo took a sectarian （1） turn on Wednesday when dozens of Muslims joined the violence.

事發當時，埃及科普特正教會的信徒湧上街頭，對站在封鎖線的警方丟擲石塊，有些警員則回擲石塊。部分穆斯林則在安全封鎖線後對基督徒丟擲石頭。整起衝突在當天造成一名基督徒死亡，數十人受傷。

One Christian was killed and dozens were wounded in scuffles when Orthodox Copts （2） hit the streets and hurled stones at police lines. Some officers threw stones back. Muslims also lobbed rocks at the Christian protesters from the security cordon.

在人口以穆斯林為主的埃及，這種大規模的基督徒抗議相當罕見；不過埃及境內的宗教緊張情勢的確有持續增加的跡象。分析家表示，埃及法律對建造清真寺的規定比建造教堂寬鬆，這讓許多基督徒心生不滿，埃及政府應該要聆聽這些聲音，以避免宗教對立越演越烈。

Christian protests on this scale are rare in Muslim-majority Egypt, but sectarian tensions have risen. Analysts say the state must address grievances （3） such as those over laws making it easier to build a mosque than a church to prevent an escalation.

這次基督徒示威活動發生在11月28日國會選舉前，隨後埃及各地都出現零星暴亂事件。

The protest erupted four days before Sunday's parliamentary election, which has also led to scattered unrest.

金字塔政治與策略研究中心分析師阿布杜法塔表示：「層出不窮的衝突事件反映的是，埃及社會中特定宗教長久被壓抑而生的挫折感。這些挫折感因為選戰而更為激烈。」

"These events reflect pent-up sectarian frustrations in Egyptian society that have become more inflammatory because of the election battle," said Nabil Abdel-Fattah, an analyst at al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

埃及衛生部表示，這場衝突中有一名19歲男子死亡，另外有35人受傷，其中包括13名安全人員。先前醫療和安全單位則是表示，45人在衝突中受傷。埃及內政部表示，埃及首都的吉沙地區至少有112名示威者遭拘留。科普特教會表示，儘管他們已取得政府的建築許可，但當地政府仍禁止教堂的建造。

The Health Ministry said a 19-year-old man was killed and 35 people were wounded, including 13 security men. Medical and security sources had previously said 45 people were hurt. The Interior Ministry said at least 112 protesters were detained （4） in the Giza area of the capital, where the authorities had halted construction of a church although the Copts said they had an official permit.

「我們要蓋教堂，我們要蓋教堂。」示威的基督徒高呼著口號。埃及7千9百萬人中，基督徒約佔10％。有部分基督徒在教堂附近抗議，另外一些人則是在吉沙市市長辦公室外抗議。埃及國營的《中東通訊社》表示，共有超過3千人參加示威。

"We will build it, we will build it," Christians chanted. Some Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's 79 million people, demonstrated near the church and others near the Giza governor's office. The state news agency MENA said up to 3,000 people had been involved in the protest.

《路透》所拍攝到的一張照片上顯示，示威者正在對警方投擲汽油彈。其他照片捕捉到警方在街上打掉一個可以成為投擲武器攻擊目標的磚板。眾多警察封鎖了該地區，並對群眾發射催淚瓦斯。

One Reuters picture showed a demonstrator hurling a petrol bomb （5） towards police. Other images showed police breaking up brick slabs on the street into a size that could be thrown. Scores of police sealed the area and fired tear gas.

30歲的伊布拉欣指著一名在尚未竣工的教堂附近丟石頭的警察，他說：「你看，這就是我們的政府，竟然對我們丟石頭。這全都是因為一間教堂的緣故。」

"Look, this is our government throwing rocks at us. All this because of a church," said 30-year-old Samuel Ibrahim, pointing to police throwing rocks near the site of the unfinished church.

由埃及國家資助的愛資哈爾清真寺和愛資哈爾大學，是埃及最高階的伊斯蘭教義學習和執行權威，它們對這起警民衝突表達了「深切遺憾」。它們表示：「愛資哈爾呼籲所有埃及民眾支持國家團結，尊重法律，並避免動搖國家安全的任何事物。」

The state-funded Al Azhar mosque and university, Egypt's highest seat of Islamic learning and authority, expressed "deep regret" over the clashes. "Al Azhar calls on all Egyptians to stand by national unity, respect the rule of law and steer clear of anything that touches national security," it said.

開羅大學政治學教授賽義德表示，這並不是埃及境內第一樁演變成暴力事件的宗教爭議。他說：「埃及在處理這個問題時相當遲緩。」

Mustapha al-Sayyid, political science professor at Cairo University, said it was not the first time such disputes had led to violence. "The state has been slow to deal with it," he said.

吉沙市市長阿布杜阿齊茲表示，抗議的基督徒似乎濫用政府所發放的社會中心建築許可，轉而建造一座教堂。

Giza governor Sayyed Abdel-Aziz said the Christians appeared to have misused a permit for a social centre to build a church.

他向《中東通訊社》表示：「我完全願意幫助基督教宗教領袖取得興建教堂的許可，不過他們必須要先停止在沒有政府許可的狀況下，興建教堂。」基督徒則表示，他們已取得了正確的許可證，將會持續建造這棟3層樓高的圓頂建築。

"I am completely willing to help Christian leaders get the permit for a church, but they have to stop turning it into a church without authorisation," he told MENA. The Christians said they had the right permit and would continue to build the three-storey domed structure.

埃及基督教和穆斯林神職人員則強調不同教派間需和諧相處，但雙方的緊張情勢有時會演變成暴力衝突，這些衝突的起因往往是土地糾紛或跨宗教戀情所致。人權倡議人士巴加說：「我們曾做出警告，政府長期以來未能妥善處理基督教社群上升的不平感受，這是一極為惱人的發展。」

Egypt's Christian and Muslim clerics emphasise sectarian harmony, but communal tensions sometimes erupt into violence, often sparked by land disputes or cross-faith relationships. "We have been warning about the government's failure to deal with the rising sense of injustice by the Christian community for a long time. This is an extremely disturbing development," said rights campaigner Hossam Bahgat.

巴加所屬的團體是「埃及個人權利倡議」，它們在今年4月所做的報告指出，宗教衝突所造成的暴力事件數量，由2008年的24起，增加到2009年的53起。報告中表示，許多案件不是沒有充分調查，就是遭到忽略。檢察官表示，調查人員已完成24日衝突現場的鑑視。

His group, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, reported in April that the number of violent sectarian incidents had risen to 53 in 2009 from 24 in 2008, saying many cases had been insufficiently investigated or ignored. The public prosecutor said investigators were on the scene of Wednesday's clashes.

巴加說：「我們現在談論的是，在面對這些要求信仰自由憲法權利的和平示威者時，維安人員使用了過度的警力。」

"Today we are talking about security forces using excessive forces with peaceful protestors demanding their constitutional right to freedom of worship," said Bahgat.

（Reuters 路透）

關鍵字詞Key Words1. sectarian

(a.) 教派的，派性的

2. Copt

(n.) 科普特人、信奉基督教的埃及原住民

3. grievance

(v.) 不滿、不平

4. detain

(v.) 拘留、扣押

5. petrol bomb

(n.) 汽油彈

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