Ra’fat talks about last Wednesday’s church riots and asks what went wrong, given that the Giza Governorate announced its approval of the building to be turned into a church. A leading ecclesial figure answers that security forces arrived at the building sight with bulldozers ready to demolish the building on the morning after the announcement, claiming it to be illegal. He says when Copts refused to leave the sight, security forces threatened to push them out using tear gas, hence starting the violence. He also said that rumors of security forces killing young Coptic builders spread throughout the area, causing more Copts to rush to the sight and clash with the security forces. Ra’fat then suggests that there might be a “hidden hand” behind the fitnah tā’ifīyah and that the government's reluctance to issue a unified law for places of worship may have contributed to the events.

Key Words: ‘Umrāniyyah – Giza