We asked Egyptian Christians if they feel safe in their country

In the wake of an alarming uptick in terrorist attacks on Egypt's Christian minority, many feel insecure and unprotected by their government.

"We are at risk. It's not safe for us to live a normal life as Christians," Malek Awed, an Egyptian Christian told StepFeed.

On Sunday, which was the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday, two Coptic churches were attacked in Egypt, one in Alexandria and one in Tanta, leaving at least 49 dead and hundreds of others wounded.

The attack follows a similar one in December on Cairo's principle Coptic church, Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral. Some 25 people died in the blast, and more than 40 were injured. 

This week's bombings and the December attacks were claimed by the terrorist organization ISIS. The extremist group has also reportedly targeted Christians in other parts of Egypt. 

Many Christian families fled Egypt's North Sinai province in February after a string of killings. ISIS vowed to carry out more.

"We know that they will bomb one of our churches every now and then, but we never know which church and when, which makes us unsafe," Awed said.

He said more security is needed to protect churches. At the same time, Awed was careful to disassociate the terrorist attacks from Islam. 

"We need to stop saying Christian and Muslim because at the end we are all Egyptians," he said.

Several Muslim police officers died during Sunday's blast, as they attempted to prevent the bomber from entering the church. Similarly, solidarity messages and initiatives poured in from Muslims, in the wake of the attack.

Egypt's government has declared a state of emergency for three months and has promised to protect Christians, which make up 10 percent of Egypt's population. But Christians have become accustomed to the insecurity and don't see things changing soon.

"These incidents have been happening since a long time ago, which means that the government is not doing enough to stop these explosions," David, an Egyptian Christian who preferred to only give his first name, said. 

"I feel that I am not welcomed in my own country," he said, adding that he wants to find a safer place to call home.

"I wanted them to do half of what they did to secure Messi when he came to Egypt and to start arresting the people who kill us," Nour Al Masery, an Egyptian Christian woman, said.

"You always feel that you are ready to be killed or kidnapped, just being a Christian with no hijab," Masery said. "I always feel discriminated [against]."

Talat Fahmy, a young Egyptian Christian man echoed these thoughts as well. 

"I'm afraid one day my family or I go to church and never come back," Fahmy said. "Every time my family goes to church, I get so scared that they may not return."

While it has become customary for Muslims to show their solidarity with Christian Egyptians following such attacks, some have said this is not enough.

"Egyptians will mourn this event and they will mean it, but many of them will also fail to recognize the fundamental challenge of religious discrimination that rests as the foundation of Sunday's violence," Timothy Kaldas, a non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, wrote in an op-ed for CNN following the attack. 

"The widespread perception of Christian Egyptians as lesser citizens with lesser rights creates fertile ground for those who seek to incite violence against them," he wrote, explaining that Christians suffer from "widespread everyday discrimination, both legal and social."

A citizen's religion is marked on his or her official identification card, and some Christians think removing this would be a step toward fighting discrimination.

"Having my religion put on my ID is discrimination," Talat Fahmy said, saying he believes this should be removed.

Although Egyptian Christians appreciate the calls for unity and support from Muslim friends and neighbors, it doesn't appear to be changing their lived reality. At the same time, many still dream of a truly unified country, without the insecurity and discrimination.

"I really wish that Egypt becomes the best country in this world. I wish that people would understand that we are all in one boat, and when it sinks we will all go down together," David said.