Religious persecution masked by possible pandemic

With the current pandemic threat of H1N1 or 'swine flu' that has erupted out of Mexico, many people are turning toward desperate measures to keep this virus from entering their countries. Britain is handing out masks, educational materials, and quarantining people with suspected/confirmed cases; the US is administering travel advisories and social education strategies; and Egypt is slaughtering pigs.

Muslims according to the Koran are not allowed to eat pork; they are seen as unclean animals and this mostly has to do with their omniverous nature, since Muslims can only eat herbivores. So you could extrapolate that by Egypt, being a Muslim country, eliminating pigs this would eliminate any potential pandemic threat.

However, my understanding is now that H1N1 is being successfully being transmitted person to person, the real threat is now a human one not a zoonotic one. I also find it interesting that the US, who has some of the largest swine operations in the world and is closest in proximately to Mexico, is still not slaughtering pigs. WHO's acting assistant director-general, Keiji Fukuda, even said that it had yet to be proved that pigs were spreading the flu to humans. So why would Egypt be doing this?

While the Muslims of Egypt cannot eat pork, Coptic Christian can. Approximately ten percent of the Egyptian community in Cairo is Coptic Christian. They are primarily surrounded by a predominant Muslims community, culture, and government. In my experience last summer, working with these people I gained an understanding that life was no so easy for them. They had told me stories of past religious persecution the Copts had received not only from citizen but from the government.

As a citizen of Egypt, you are required to list your religion on government documents and once you are listed as anything other than Muslim you can never change that back. Many feel this documentation is a way that the Muslim government can keep track of other religions and discriminate against them. The fact that there used to be a thriving Jewish community in Cairo shows this possibility. When living there I heard about stories of violent measures that over time eventually pushed the community out. There is now only one 'working' synagogue in Cairo and it stands as more of a museum for visitors that a site of worship.

Coptic Christians inhabit several communities throughout Cairo, one in particular is the Manshiet Nasser. The people that live in this district are called the Zabaleen or 'trash collectors' and their livelihoods depend on cleaning up Cairo and recycling waste. They use pigs in this process to eliminate all the organic matter. In an NPR interview with people from Nasser, they revealed that their pigs and handlers had all been tested for the virus and were negative. They also stated that if the pigs were slaughtered it would be devastating for Cairo's streets (and them as a people).

With the current situation regarding H5N1 - where infected poultry have been implicated in the spread, infection, and death of 26 people in Cairo; it is surprising to me that inner city poultry operations have not been eliminated if this is the governments new approach.

In my opinion, this is religious persecution and the Egyptian government is using public health as a means to destroy these peoples lives.


More on the topic:
the Australian
Medical News Today
MSNBC World Blog
BBC video (always good and unbiased)
NPR - about the Zabaleen