"Our attitude towards the Copts is completely different from what people are saying, " he adds.
They kept around, checking the hands of protestors, because most Copts put crosses on their hands.
And now the Copts and seculars, moderate forces, moderate Muslims, are on the other.
The incident prompted activists in America to accuse the Egyptian government of persecuting Copts.
The Copts, Egypt's main Christian minority, comprising about a tenth of the 85m-odd population, particularly fear the Salafists.
And their opinions of the Copts go straight back to what I was discussing from fourteen hundred years ago.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Raymond Ibrahim: Shariah, Dhimmitude & the Copts
The fate of the Copts under Egypt's former leader Hosni Mubarak was interesting.
While Israel fears for its peace treaty with the Arab world's biggest country, Egypt's Copts face a more immediate crisis.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: In Egypt, Christians endure their 'Kristallnacht'
Copts there still account for around a quarter of the population, compared to one-tenth in the rest of the country.
The largest Christian population in the Middle East is the Egyptian community of Copts - Christians descended from the ancient Egyptians.
The weekend clashes between Muslims and Copts were Egypt's worst in months.
BBC: Egypt: Pope Tawadros rebukes Morsi over Cathedral clash
Iraq also has communities of Syrian Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Copts, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics, as well as Anglicans and Evangelicals.
At the moment Egypt is something of a stronghold - about 10% of the population are Copts - descendants of the ancient pre-Muslim inhabitants of the country.
And there are people in this room, there are Copts in this room with crosses in their hands who wouldn't have passed this test of the military.
When secular Muslims and moderate Muslims and Copts are getting death threats, how are we going to spend - how are we going to spread our ideas?
The first challenge for the new leader of the Church will be to reassure Copts of their place in a country whose largest political party is now the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, our correspondent adds.
Where do the Copts fall into that?
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Adel Guindy: Islamism & the Facade of Egyptian Democracy
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Adel Guindy: Islamism & the Facade of Egyptian Democracy
And he, again, while you read it and you see that he's a very faithful Muslim and he has no great sympathy for the Copts, he is so objective and he declares all of these points that we are talking about today.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Raymond Ibrahim: Shariah, Dhimmitude & the Copts
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Raymond Ibrahim: Shariah, Dhimmitude & the Copts
The world must be able to choose to encourage - for the sake of Egypt, for the sake of the world, for the sake of the security of the area, to encourage the liberal, secularist forces in Egypt, which do include the Copts, the Copts are part of that.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Adel Guindy: Islamism & the Facade of Egyptian Democracy
The fact that only a few weeks after the Alexandria attack, Egyptian Copts could hold public prayers in the streets of Cairo, in an overwhelmingly Muslim crowd of protesters, protected by ranks of volunteers from the Muslim Brotherhood at the entrances to the square, may indicate a shift in the atmosphere in Egypt.
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