At the heart of a reality dripping with injustice where persecution, oppression, discrimination, exclusion, marginalization, and systematic sidelining continue to intensify against no fewer than twenty-three million Egyptian Copts inside Egypt at the hands of the ruling authoritarian military regime, a regime that is Daesh in its very disposition Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, made one of the most astonishing public statements in recent memory. He declared that “following Egypt’s national team in the World Cup is not merely about supporting a football team; it also carries profound human and spiritual meanings.”

The statement left broad segments of the public bewildered, because the national team to which he referred is commonly nicknamed “The Prostrators” a designation that, in practical terms, conveys the message that there is no place on the team for any Christian player. Beyond that, the nickname itself carries an exclusionary and discriminatory message, one that appears deliberately crafted to instill despair and hopelessness in the hearts of Coptic athletes.

The Pope’s remarks immediately ignited widespread controversy. That controversy intensified even further when Israeli scholar and researcher Idit Bar, a specialist in Arab affairs, entered the debate. In a video lasting no more than a minute and a half, she explained with remarkable precision and clarity the implications of the nickname “The Prostrators.” The reaction was explosive. Heated discussions erupted across social media, prompting a number of Egyptian Copts to share personal testimonies that laid bare, with striking clarity, the reality of the conditions under which they live. These testimonies should alarm every person who still cares about Egypt’s future a future that increasingly appears headed toward the same fate as countries that have collapsed into ruin and, to this day, have never recovered.

For that reason, I have chosen to present the reality of Egypt’s Copts today through three testimonies. The first appeared as a comment on a Facebook post in which I criticized the Pope. The second circulated widely on social media. The third comes in a different context altogether: it concerns the shooting of monks at the Angel Monastery (“Abu Khashaba”) in Egypt’s Fayoum Governorate. It is the testimony of one of the monks, revealing how Egypt’s justice system, in this particular case, donned the robes of Daesh. As usual, while I was writing this article, the defendants were released.

Because human testimony is often more truthful than any analysis or commentary, I will allow the witnesses to speak in their own words, without interference or editorial rewriting, so that their message reaches you exactly as they intended it.

((The First Testimony)) The first testimony originally appeared as a comment on my Facebook post........

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