Christians In Egypt Unable To Attend Referendum Due To Islamists’ Intimidation

In this Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012 photo, children attend a class in a church in the village of El-Aziyah near the city of Assiut, southern Egypt. After a campaign of intimidation by Islamists, most Christians in this southern Egyptian province were too afraid to participate in last week’s referendum on an Islamist-drafted constitution they desperately oppose, residents say. Some of the few who dared try to reach polls were pelted by stones. The disenfranchising hikes Christians worries over their future under Egypt’s empowered Islamists, but some young members of the community are starting to push back. <AP Photo/Petr David Josek>