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Tents Return To Tahrir: Muslim Brotherhood Faces Mass Resistance

By Countercurrents.org

28 June, 2013
Countercurrents.org

Tahrir Square

Protesters carrying a sign reading "Leave" (Photo: Mai Shaheen)

Anti-government protesters began sit-in in Cairo 's Tahrir Square before mass street protests on June 30 to demand president Morsi's removal, said media reports from Egypt .

Some 32 tents were pitched in the middle of the square on June 27- morning and four others were set up near the Egyptian Museum .

The planned June 30 protests are being spearheaded by the Rebel campaign, a mammoth anti-Morsi petition drive. President Morsi's Islamist backers have geared up counter-demonstrations.

Angry protesters chanted against the president and the Muslim Brotherhood. Others held aloft shoes and red cards as a sign of their contempt.

Meanwhile, dozens of people hold anti-Morsi rally in Sharqiya.

Two hundred and forty-three were injured in Daqahliya governorate, 53 in Sharqiya and two in Gharbiya in clashes between supporters and opponents of Morsi.

Dozens of Brotherhood supporters were trapped inside Mansoura's Al-Gamieya Al-Sharaiya Mosque by angry residents who besieged the building on June 26, 2013 afternoon. Police failed to disperse the protesters.

In the Nile Delta's Menoufiya governorate opposition supporters locked horns with around three thousand pro-Morsi protesters in Shibin Al-Koum city.

Thousands of angry protesters went on several mass marches in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate after the president's speech, which lasted almost three hours and ended after midnight.

In the canal city of Suez , hundreds of protesters from youth and revolutionary movements took to the streets in the early hours of June 27 to voice their anger at the speech.

In Cairo , thousands gathered outside the defense ministry and in Tahrir Square .

Some protesters in Tahrir Square held their shoes aloft in a sign of contempt during the speech, while others held up red cards in reference to mounting demands for the president to step down.

A divided police

An Ahram Online report said:

Egypt 's frustrated police apparatus appears divided regarding the planned demonstrations to demand Morsi's ouster and early presidential elections.

With nationwide mass protests planned on June 30 to oppose Morsi, the role of the police during the protests remains uncertain.

Since the January 2011 uprising, the police have been on the receiving end of public attacks, owing to torture practices during the Mubarak era and the killing of hundreds of protestors during the revolution.

Recurrent police excesses have been identified as one of the primary triggers of the 2011 uprising, leading to the torching of approximately 90 police stations since the revolution.

Considering widespread fears regarding planned anti-Morsi rallies on June 30 and the possibility of military intervention or civil war, the security apparatus is in a quandary in terms of its response to the planned demonstrations.

Minister of interior Mohamed Ibrahim was pressed to take a stand, albeit a shaky one.

On June 10, he declared: "Police officers will not be present in protest areas, enabling peaceful protesters to convey their opinions freely."

The contentious statement was widely criticized. Dalia Youssef, security expert and vice president of the Risk Free Egypt consultancy, like many, highlighted "its absurdity and obvious paradox."

The announcement was followed by a contradictory statement just days later on June 12. "Police forces are legally committed to securing the June 30 protests to ensure the safety of all citizens irrespective of political allegiances," said Ibrahim.

Experts say the shift was influenced by pressure from high-ranking security officials and opposition forces, such as Egypt 's anti-Morsi 'Rebel' campaign.

'Rebel' is a signature drive instigated in May aiming to "withdraw confidence" from the president. It has received support from members of the police apparatus, who have been seen signing the petition, as reported by various media sources.

Moreover, police discontent concerning the lack of justice and accountability in relation to policemen killed in the line of duty since the revolution appears to be another factor influencing the minister's revised standpoint on the June 30 protests.

Hesham Saleh, Egyptian Police Officers Club spokesman, recently spoke on satellite channel ONtv, expressing police dissatisfaction with the Islamist regime's disregard for what he estimated at 205 police casualties.

Saleh also cited the kidnappings of seven soldiers last month and the lack of accountability for the perpetrators, despite government pledges to the contrary.

Angered Egyptian police went so far as to close the Rafah crossing to Gaza to protest the kidnapping of their colleagues and demand guarantees that attacks on them would not be repeated. Even though the kidnapped men were released, the kidnappers have not been arrested.

The increased anti-Morsi and anti-Muslim Brotherhood sentiment on the part of the police was further illustrated by numerous soldiers' funerals, which were transformed into anti-government demonstrations.

During the funeral of Captain Mohamed Abdel-Aziz Abu Shakra on June 10, a 30-year-old officer killed by unidentified militants in North Sinai , mourners, including police, called for Morsi's ouster.

Angry officers at the Al-Shorta Mosque in Cairo 's Al-Darassa district where the funeral was held forced Ibrahim and senior ministry officials to leave the funeral following prayers.

Videos of high-ranking police officials verbally insulting the president and the Muslim Brotherhood at Abdel-Aziz's funeral, and at other police funerals, are posted all over the internet.

Moreover, the unexpected shift in the minister's statement further illustrates what observers describe as "the fickle nature of state security," which is also reflected by the diverging opinions of security officials.

The Police Officers Club, the acting body for officers which recently held elections for the first time in history, held a meeting on June 15 to determine the security apparatuses' strategy for 30 June.

The conference clarified the role of officers on duty who will be in uniform, along with those who plan to participate as civilians.

"On June 30, the police will remain neutral, defending demonstrators, the interior ministry and state property," said police spokesperson.

Despite pledges during the conference to protect protesters and state property, police officials declared that they would not guard Muslim Brotherhood offices and the group's headquarters in Cairo 's Moqattam district.

And even though the minister himself made it clear that the police would not protect the headquarters of any political party, conference attendees said that protecting the Brotherhood's offices would not amount to maintaining neutrality between different factions.

The Brotherhood's famed campaign slogan "Islam is the solution" was central to police's critique, alluded to as "a farce" owing to the country's ongoing socio-economic decline.

Away from official declarations and events, in the streets, the deep divisions between and within higher-ranking officers, as well as in the middle and lower ranks, is patent.

Different attitudes among low-ranking officers are indicative of this. Some low-ranking officers like Shafiq, who cautiously refrained from giving his full name, said he was against participating, emphasizing the police's responsibility to remain apolitical and detached from political events.

Others refused to talk to the media and some announced that they would simply adhere to ministerial instructions and work on 30 June, yet also suggested that participation ultimately was the choice of each individual officer.

Conversely, numerous young soldiers, advocates of the 'Rebel' campaign, voiced their intention to demonstrate with the people irrespective of orders from the controversial minister of interior.

"We will be with the people on June 30, wearing t-shirts expressing our support," explained Ahmed, a young soldier sporting a black Central Security Forces uniform.

Many of these young underpaid and overworked Central Security Forces soldiers support and sympathize with the sentiments and demands of the protesters, many of whom include members of their own families.

Though, admittedly, reasons to participate vary, one of the main motives relates to the police's historic dislike and distrust of the Islamists.

According to security expert Ihab Youssef, ex-police officer, secretary-general of the People and Police for Egypt NGO and president of the Risk Free Egypt consultancy, the newfound power of the Brotherhood has been traumatic for the police.

Amir Salem, security expert, renowned lawyer and author of 'The State of Police in Egypt ,' also cites sentiments of guilt on the part of some officers, concerning their involvement in torture and corrupt practices, as another possible reason for participation.

Opponents pick holes in Morsi's speech

Morsi's long Wednesday-speech was badly received by Egypt 's opposition figures along with swathes of the public who protested across different cities in the early hours of Thursday against his address

Prominent writer Alaa Al-Aswany slammed the speech as "miserable".

Al-Aswany took a swipe at how Morsi perceives the current political deadlock as a mere "conflict" with old-regime figures and thugs aiming to ignite chaos, while turning his back on the opposition, the people it represents, and their demands.

"Are the 16 million who signed the Rebel [petition] thugs and remnants [of the old regime]?" Al-Aswany, a leading member of the opposition Constitution Party, wrote on Twitter.

Rights lawyer Gamal Eid, for his part, slammed the president for "bragging that he knows thugs by name, while ignoring the murder of Shia Egyptians by his supporters."


 

 




 

 


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