If you're behind the violence, please raise your hand “Who is responsible for the clashes and violence? Who stands to gain the most?” said Ghada Hani on her Facebook page. Hani was not the only one asking; many Egyptians on social networks stopped commenting on everyday current events and started instead to debate who wanted Egypt to be unstable: foreign powers or domestic forces, and why. Abdallah Amr argued that the Muslim Brotherhood wants to brainwash the Egyptian people and persuade them that there is a conspiracy against the country and that the Brotherhood understands the dangers of this conspiracy and can protect the country from it. “They teach their fellows in the MB that Islam is in danger and train them to spend all their life fighting the non-Islamists. Now they want all Egyptians to be like them, but they cannot do it,” Amr said. Rana Gaber believes that the MB is implementing a foreign agenda in Egypt to implement a universal agenda. “Now we are serving the interests of Hamas, Qatar and Iran and our national security is in danger and our borders have been infiltrated. I do not feel safe in this country anymore,” Gaber said. Mohamed Amir asked why the military, followed by Mohamed Morsi, withholds information about “the third party” which they consistently accuse of being behind all this security instability. “Every day they tell us that there are foreign and internal powers which seek to destabilise Egypt,” Amir wrote. “Why don't they reveal information about it or fight it?” Syrian refugees expose racism in Egypt Ahmed Awadallah discusses in his blog “Rebel with a Case” the Egyptian perception of the increase in Egypt of Syrian refugees who have fled the bloody uprising against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. “A refugee is a person who fled their country for fear of prosecution, conflict, disaster, etc. Syrians have been fleeing the violence to neighbouring countries. The response to Syrian refugees has shown Egyptian chivalry towards Syrians as well as deeply held racism against migrants from African origins like Sudan. There are many examples that support my argument: First: numerous civil society groups have stepped in to assist Syrians whether with medicine, food or shelter. Most of these groups have not done the same for African refugees who get limited access to aid. Second: while this closed aid system of African refugees limits their integration into Egyptian society, Syrians find it relatively easy to access various service providers alongside other Egyptians, facilitating their integration into the community. Third: African refugees report racist slurs and comments on the Egyptian street every day. This comes in addition to persistent police harassment and abuse. While one cannot claim that life has been easy for Syrians here, their situation is significantly different. I recall the brutal massacre of Sudanese refugees in Mustafa Mahmoud square in 2005 when security forces violently broke up their protests in front of a UN refugee agency office, killing dozens of protesters including women, children and the elderly. Fourth: what African migrants go through on a daily basis is not limited to them; it is also an ordinary occurrence with Egyptian Nubians. Their dark skin is easily seen as a reason to immediately perceive them as non-Egyptians, as many report that people usually assume they're Sudanese or African-Americans. Fifth: women refugees from African origins typically find it more difficult as sexual harassment is combined with racism. Since a big part of African refugee women work as maids, they face the long litany of exploitation domestic workers usually face whether sexual or otherwise. We all know that sexual violence is not limited to any certain gender or race. There have been an increasing number of reports of exploitation of African women married off without their consent in order to get her family supported by the husband. Also, the issue definitely runs deeper than this. The historic relationship with Syria makes us see Syrians in a special light. This is at odds with the African relationships which once were strong but deteriorated steadily particularly after Mubarak's assassination attempt in Addis Ababa. In any case, our society continues to be in deep denial about this problem, hindering any action to be taken in this regard.” Tweets “If Morsi can stop this sectarian clash and didn't, then he shouldn't be president. And if Morsi cannot stop this then he shouldn't be president.” @Iyad El-Baghdadi “Morsi plunged Egypt into chaos to pass a sorry constitution; we witness the daily realisation of chaos in events such as yesterday's.” @Salama Moussa “More than ever, I am proud to be an Egyptian woman and I know Morsi is going down in no small part thanks to Egypt's women.” @Nagla Rizk “It will be remembered that the Coptic Cathedral was attacked under Muslim Brotherhood rule.” @Wael Eskandar “The greatness of the people of Egypt is that they're in the process of laughing Morsi and the Brotherhood out of office.” @Mona Eltahawy “Why isn't anyone taking Morsi to court yet? He committed the same crimes that Mubarak is jailed for. This must be done.” @Alfred Raouf
