Egypt: Ruling on Easter holiday appeal set for Feb 10

January 24, 2009: The Administrative Court of Egypt will deliver on February 10 its ruling on an appeal by two Coptic human rights activists seeking to declare Easter as a national feast and an official holiday for all the Egyptians, officials said yesterday.

“All the parties to the suit Lawyer Mamdouh Nakhla, the chairman of el-Kalema (the word) Human Rights Society, and Lawyer Naguib Gubrael, have been notified that the court will deliver its ruling on their appeal on February 10,” a senior court official said.Nakhla and Gubrael are asking the Administrative Court to announce Easter, which the Egyptian Copts celebrate on April 19 this year, as a national feast and official day off in Egypt.The two lawyers argued that their request was a concrete move towards deepening friendly and brotherly bonds between Muslims and Copts in Egypt.Egypt’s Copts - the largest Christian community in the Middle East - account for an estimated six to 10 per cent of the country’s 80 million inhabitants. Tensions often run high between Egypt’s Muslim and Christian communities in a society dominated by Sunni Muslims.Easter is without rival the most important religious event in the Coptic Christian calendar.

Source: US Copts Association