THE timing of the attack late on Saturday on peaceful protesters holding a sit-in outside Al-Itihadiya Palace raises some big questions.In the wake of society's polarisation after the assaults on protesters last November, the different political powers, the Islamists and the opposition should have prevented such acts of violence, that threaten to drive the country to the brink of civil war, from happening again. However, for no clear reason, some people decided to disrupt the protest being held by some revolutionary powers near the presidential palace, ahead of the second anniversary of the January 25 Revolution. The attackers meant to set fire to the protesters' tenets, forcing them to leave. They left 15 people, six of them policemen, injured. This time, the security forces have managed to arrest three of the attackers. They must establish the identity and political affiliation of these suspects, pinpointing the body behind the violence that has not only targeted peaceful demonstrators but also the image of the President, who has been calling for reconciliation and national dialogue with the different political powers. Some analysts see this assault as one of a series of attempts to disrupt the protests being held near Al-Itihadiya Palace and in Tahrir Square, ahead of the anniversary. Some revolutionary powers have been calling for big protests and demonstrations on January 25, in order to achieve goals of the revolution. Others want to use this anniversary to express their opposition to Islamist rule and the Islamists' attempts to monopolise power in various ways, including the endorsement of a constitution that does not serving their ambitions of creating a civil, democratic state. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood's plans to celebrate the revolution should not prevent the other political powers from celebrating the same event in their own manner, especially as they are convinced that the goals of the revolution have yet to be achieved. Regardless of the political differences over the controversial Constitution, the ruling powers should not deny civil powers the right to organise demonstrations expressing their opposition to the ongoing policies. The presidency and the Government should condemn the repeated assaults on peaceful demonstrators. No party should employ violence on the forthcoming anniversary to achieve the revolution's goals.
