Tensions in Sinai reached boiling point last week then quickly subsided. But, writes Serene Assir, the underlying problems continue Intense though it was, the unrest Sinai witnessed over the past week was brief. "The violence is over," said Selim (real name undisclosed), a Bedouin resident of Al-Manayaa village near Arish, North Sinai's capital. "But Bedouin families fear that this incident may herald more trouble to come." Following an argument between young members of the urban Fawakhiriya and the Bedouin Tarabeen tribes, members of the latter went to speak with elders of the Fawakhiriya tribe. An unnamed security officer accompanied them, Selim told Al-Ahram Weekly, "to help them negotiate". Whatever their intentions, the Fawakhiriya took the fact that the Tarabeen were armed and were accompanied by a member of the security forces as evidence of aggression. "They beat the group and smashed the windows of their car," says Selim. "When the fight grew, and the police failed to arrive, the Fawakhiriya took this as a sign that the police were on the Tarabeen's side." On the morning of 7 September thousands of North Sinai residents -- most of them young -- took to the streets of Arish, breaking shop windows and burning tyres to block roads. "The protest was prompted by the Fawakhiriya tribe who were upset that the authorities were late to intervene in a fight that broke out between them and the Bedouin Tarabeen," Mohamed Gad, public relations director of the North Sinai governorate, told Al-Ahram Weekly. The following day the protests escalated into a fully fledged riot as government offices and infrastructure were targeted. The local National Democratic Party headquarters was attacked. "Arish's urban residents wanted to send a clear message to the authorities saying if you don't control the Bedouin, who flash their weapons wherever they go, then we'll take security into our own hands," said Salah El-Bulk, a resident of Arish. At the time of writing, up to 40 protesters had been arrested. The violence is a result of years of tension between Sinai's tribes, especially between urban and non urban dwellers. The Bedouin have carried arms for years to protect themselves from random shoot-outs by state security personnel, says Selim. "They would never want to use their weapons against fellow residents of Sinai." What appears to have tipped the balance is a relaxation in the long-standing hostility between the state authorities and the Bedouin. "Since the end of April, when we reached an agreement with the authorities to ease police pressure on the Bedouin and release those jailed unfairly life had been much better for us," says Selim. "You can see how checkpoints are easier to cross. Travel has become possible once again." But the urban residents of Arish view recent developments as evidence of official bias towards the Bedouin and, by extension, against them. Hostility towards the authorities has been compounded by rumours of government plans to demolish hundreds of Arish homes along the Egyptian border with Gaza in an attempt to clamp down on cross-border smuggling. Anger at the plans led to clashes on 30 July in Rafah that left scores injured and one Arish resident dead. "We just want the law to be implemented," El-Bulk told the Weekly. "Every time there is a national holiday now we face problems in Sinai. And every time the same question emerges -- where are the security forces?" As Egypt celebrated Armed Forces day on 6 October 2004 the Taba Hilton resort and a nearby tourist camp in Ras Shitan were bombed leaving 34 people dead, most of them Israelis. A year later, on 23 July, the day marking the commemoration of the revolution, a triple bombing struck Sharm El-Sheikh killing 88 people. The following year, and coinciding with the holiday to mark the liberation of Sinai, 23 people holidaying in Dahab were killed. Bedouin view Fawakhiriya calls for law enforcement to be strengthened with suspicion. "It seems to us the Fawakhiriya are directing their anger about the poor conditions from which we all suffer against the wrong target," says Selim. "It is up to the authorities now to choose whether or not to be even-handed with us all." Rights activists have long called for an improvement in the services provided to residents of North Sinai. The authorities' response to Bedouin pressure by cutting down the number of random arrests and releasing scores of North Sinai Bedouin jailed without trial or charge following the attacks on resorts in the south of the peninsula has been hailed by many as a step in the right direction. But residents of the peninsula are still waiting to see if plans to demolish Arish homes will materialise, and whether the government will live up to its long-standing promises to help improve living standards in what is one of Egypt's most economically deprived regions.
