Coptic Youth International

The Coptic Youth International is a charity set up by Coptic Youth in Britain to support their Christian brethren in Egypt and Sudan. By increasing awareness of the plight of persecuted Christians in these countries we aim to help them in their material and spiritual needs.

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WHO ARE THE COPTS?

The word "Copt" is derived from the word Egypt in the original version of the Egyptian language. The Arabs pronounced it Gypty and referred to bleached broadcloth imported from Egypt as Gyptia. The Arabs, however, had a proclivity to exchange similar-sounding letters for one another as a way of adapting a word for prose or poem embellishment. Thus the word Gypty became interchangeable with the word Kypty, which was also pronounced as Kopty for the singular and Kopt for the collective plural. The latter was then adopted by the Anglos as Coptic or Copt.

The word - originally - had no religious connotation. It simply identified a nationality, or national origin; Egyptian or from the land of Egypt. However, after the Arab invasion of Egypt in the seventh century, the content of the word was narrowed to distinguish only those Egyptians who were elected to pay the annual jizia - a punitive tax - in order to be able to practice their faith, Christianity, for the following year without harassment. Consequently, the word Copt acquired its current connotation to distinguish Christian Egyptians from other Egyptians.

When the Arabs invaded Egypt in 641 A.D., the number of Christian Egyptians who paid the jizia to the Moslem rulers was 6 millions (males 15-55 years old), according to Arab historians. Accordingly, the estimated number of all Christian Egyptians (Copts) was conservatively estimated at 25 millions. After many series of holocausts, murder by the sword, and forced conversion to Islam, their number was greatly reduced to under 1 million in the beginning of the 19th century.

During the French and British Colonialism, the Copts enjoyed relative security and freedom. At the beginning of the 20th century, they numbered approximately two million. They flourished and prospered under free enterprise and security. Before the revolution in 1952, they owned 75% of all companies and 50% of the land.

However, after the 1952 revolution, a conspiracy was designed to either reduce these people to an insignificant minority or covert them to Islam. President Anwar Al-Sadat, when he was the general secretary of the Islamic Council, stated in Saudi-Arabia in 1956 that the Copts will be transformed to beggars and shoe shiners or converted to Islam after 10 years. The Copts' companies and lands were confiscated by the government. They were excluded from political activities and leadership positions in government, business, education, the military, police, and judiciary.