CAIRO: There are worrying developments on the ground in Egypt over the past week that foreigners may be becoming targets of the Egyptian military and police, with at least one dozens reports pointing toward a crackdown. While it has not reached the levels of xenobophic fear that persisted for days during the 18 day uprising that eventually ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, we are witnessing an eerily similar patter emerge. My own arrest by the military over the weekend has been greatly detailed, but one of the root reasons for my arrest was the local “committees” allegedly set up to “protect” areas around the Cabinet building by local residents. These were the first people to question why I was there, taking pictures. On Twitter this morning, one foreigner reported police coming to his flat and interrogating his wife, an Egyptian, over the person's reasons for being in the country. This reminded me of when a police officer asked me questions at a cafe last summer, wondering why I was married to an Egyptian and “not one of your own kind.” The US Embassy confirmed that a number – they would not be specific – of American citizens have been arrested over the past few days and interrogated as to why they were in the country. Taxi drivers were seen being handed a flyer detailing the “foreigner conspiracy” against Egypt, blaming the United States, Israel, Masons and even leading Egyptian figures Mohamed ElBaradei and Alaa al-Aswany as having a “hand” in the ongoing unrest. One troubling story emerged on Tuesday of a group of some two dozen plainclothes police officers going from houseboat to houseboat in the Kit Kat neighborhood, asking questions and attempting to search homes of foreigners. One friend of mine told me that he was fearful of going onto the streets after his own detention. While these could all very well be isolated incidences, the fact they are happening does instill fear into the expat population who currently call Egypt home. In January and February, before the fall of Mubarak, a large number of foreigners were abducted from the streets, blindfolded and interrogated. Egypt's state television even showed Egyptian “protesters” – likely state agents – delivering messages to viewers that they had been paid by Israel or the US to foment unrest against Mubarak. Today, with the Egyptian military firmly entrenched in the country, and attacking and killing protesters on the street, the reality is that foreigners must be wary when they walk on Cairo's streets. It may be too early to start a panic of fear, but the truth we are beginning to see emerge does point in the direction that something is happening and foreigners are facing attacks. Journalists are being detained and forced from areas that had been safe only weeks before by “concerned” citizens. In the end, one must begin to question what, foreign governments, and specifically the US government, is doing to end this turn toward xenophobia. Washington delivers $1.3 billion of aid to the Egyptian military annually. If that money is now being used to kill, injure and crackdown on activists, doubled with the emerging reports of foreigners and American citizens being targeted, what is Washington doing? It is time for a change. Egypt's revolution is a truly Egyptian affair, and by targeting foreigners, the military is attempting to steal the bravery and just cause that the protesters have in demanding their country be set on the path begun on January 25. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/uewHv Tags: Foreigners, SCAF, Tahrir, Targeted, Xenophobia Section: Egypt, Op-ed
