Rasha Sadek searches for the invisible hand "Unseen forces", "the invisible hand", "foreign fingers" and "the third party": they fomented sectarian strife, persuaded peaceful demonstrators to turn violent and somehow managed to be present whenever protesters and security forces were in one place. Three days after the revolution began Hosni Mubarak addressed the nation, warning of "infiltrators" intent on spreading chaos and burning public buildings. Soon after, state television broadcast a warning against "elements heading to Tahrir Square in possession of 'fire balls'". The next big story was that the headquarters of the National Democratic Party were aflame. The "third party" was a refinement on previous excuses -- the "infiltrating minority", or "thugs" who were blamed every time elections were forged or a deadly clash erupted between Muslims and Christians. Assuming that the third party has two hands, the left one is the foreign provocateurs who, according to media reports, were sent from Israel, Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas to infiltrate Tahrir Square during the 18-day revolt with the aim of spreading chaos and bringing down the state. Farid El-Deeb, Mubarak's defence lawyer, subscribes to this particular conspiracy. Last week, in an attempt to clear Mubarak and his interior minister, Habib El-Adli, of murder charges, he accused Hamas and Hizbullah of killing both protesters and security forces in Tahrir. Another strong supporter of this theory is Mustafa Bakri, chief editor of the weekly Al-Osboa. He believes that "many players want to bring the country down and incite civil war in order to divide and eliminate the institutions of Egypt." The West is in the game, Bakri says, in addition to a number of Gulf countries that "want to inherit Egypt's role in the region". Political analyst Hassan Nafaa nods in agreement. "Many countries," he says, "have reservations about a strong Egypt." The third party's right hand is commonly referred to as fulul, or remnants of the old, decadent regime. These are businessmen and politicians who grew fat on corruption and whose demise was correlated with the downfall of the Mubarak clan. On 2 February ruling party loyalists orchestrated an attack by thugs on camelback on Tahrir Square in a futile attempt to abort the revolution. Investigations into the incident, known as the Battle of the Camel, proved the fulul's implication in the event. On the night of 9 October, during a mostly Christian march that ended at Maspero, demonstrators found themselves sandwiched between "thugs" and soldiers. They found themselves attacked by soldiers armed with batons and live bullets. They responded by throwing rocks. Video recordings show an army vehicle ploughing through the crowd at high speed, soldiers setting cars on fire and protesters torching army vehicles. Meanwhile, in a live broadcast, state media urged "citizens to head to Maspero to protect the army from Copts". State news anchors falsely claimed that the demonstrators had killed several soldiers. Bands of armed Muslims began to assault Christians in the streets of Cairo. Around 27 Copts were killed that night. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the government rushed to blame the entire incident on the ever more ubiquitous third party intent on derailing Egypt's transition to democracy. "Instead of moving forward to build a modern state based on democratic principles, we are back to seeking stability and searching for hidden hands, both domestic and foreign, that meddle with the country's security and safety," the then prime minister Essam Sharaf said in a televised speech. As footage of the armoured vehicle crushing protesters began to circulate, SCAF claimed that it, too, was driven by the invisible hand, after first being stolen by unidentified third parties. After a short break the diabolical hands reappeared in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, off Tahrir Square. On 19 November clashes broke out after security forces attempted to evacuate the square by force. The fighting lasted five days, resulting in the death of 42 protesters and the injury of hundreds who were attacked with tear gas, clubs, rubber bullets and live ammunition. During the clashes SCAF announced that "those in Tahrir are thugs, not peaceful protesters." "There is an invisible hand in the square causing a rift between the army and people," intoned one general. The credibility of SCAF's narrative was undermined by videos showing armed men in plain clothes emerging from the lines of the security forces to assault demonstrators. On 21 November Mohamed El-Baradei, ex-chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), posted a question on his Twitter account: "They don't stop talking about domestic and foreign conspiracies, and invisible hands and fingers being responsible for what is happening. Isn't it time for them to show us at least one finger for the sake of credibility?" Typically, having demanded proof of the relentless assertions, El-Baradei was himself identified as being an invisible finger. Former senior IAEA official Yousri Abu Shadi attacked El-Baradei on his Facebook page, writing: "[His] comments are an invitation to international forces to impose sanctions on Egypt like in Iraq. El-Baradei is a conspirator and an invisible hand manipulated by the United States to weaken and divide Egypt." Mustafa Bakri believes that puppeteers are stage-managing the scene from behind the bars of Tora prison. Political analyst Hassan Nafaa sees a less convoluted narrative unfolding, with SCAF plagiarising dark chapters from the former regime's own manual. "It is clear that SCAF is playing by the same rules as the old regime. Egypt's generals are intent on staying in power." The fact that SCAF, which claims to protect the revolution, actually comprises men hand-picked by Mubarak to protect his regime has led many critics of the ruling military to suspect that the invisible hands are firmly ensconced in the military's own pockets. Abdel-Rahman Youssef dismisses the third party theory altogether. In his column in Al-Masry Al-Youm on 10 January Youssef wrote that the alleged third party "raises arson, kills demonstrators, burns churches down, sells drugs and incites workers' strikes. It shoots at demonstrations only to hit the noble ones, but has no impact on the elections in any governorate. It hits those who oppose the government and is unaware of Abbasiya Square [where pro-SCAF rallies are held]." "The truth of the matter is that the third party is in fact the second party. There are only two parties in Egypt: the revolution and the counter-revolution." ****** In the course of the past year other fingers have been more visible. On 19 March a referendum was held on a set of constitutional amendments. It was a fresh experience for Egyptians. The process was fair and orderly, the mood jubilant. For the first time the public felt that votes counted and they kept the memory by taking photographs of themselves, their pinkies coloured with phosphoric ink. When, on 28 January, the army was deployed in the streets of the country, a sense of patriotism swept the nation. It brought back memories of the 1973 War victory -- the main reason Egyptians are sentimental about their army. Until mid-February army tanks were positioned across the country, giving many people the opportunity to celebrate the fall of the Mubaraks by posing for the camera, making a V sign with a tank in the background. But not all raised fingers marked happy occasions. SCAF member Major General Mohsen El-Fangari stirred the emotions of the nation when, on 12 February, he saluted the revolution's martyrs during a televised communiqu��. In July, however, he addressed the nation in a different tone, warning that in light of the threats endangering the country SCAF would not allow demonstrations to shake Egypt's stability. His five-minute speech contained an inordinate amount of finger wagging at the camera.
