CAIRO: Egypt's embattled Bedouin community in the Sinai Peninsula have threatened they could take up arms against the military junta and the newly elected parliament if their demands for greater representation are not met. Speaking at a meeting last Friday in South Sinai, Bedouin leaders accused the ruling military junta of treason and warned armed conflict could arise. In a report in CNN, the tribal leaders said that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) – in power since February 2011 – has “forged parliamentary elections” in order to create a political system that the military desires, and which marginalizes and continues decades of Bedouin repression. “We will not allow a parliament without Bedouin representation (as determined by) elections … forged through the alliance between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and a certain Islamic party,” Ahmed Hussein, a member of the Kararesha tribe, was quoted as saying by CNN. A prominent Bedouin blogger, Musad Abu Fajr, took to the stage to proclaim: “All our framed prisoners in Egypt will be released.” “The military junta has committed treason against Egypt. They forgot how we assisted them against the Israelis in the 1973 war for Sinai,” he added. “But we will regain our rights peacefully.” Ahmed Ayoub, a Bedouin leader of the Northern Sinai Alliance of tribes, told Bikyamasr.com on Tuesday morning that the idea of armed conflict is not new, but should only be seen “as a last resort.” The Bedouin community, he said, “has faced oppression and government violence for years, and the military is no different. “Now they are putting into power a group of leaders for parliament that are not going to think about our community and who are going to continue to push us away,” he added. In Sinai, the Bedouin community largely runs and directs local tourism along the Red Sea coast, but they have repeatedly been the target of government crackdowns in recent years. Following a series of bombings in 2005, 2006 and 2007, hundreds of young Bedouin men were arrested, allegedly tortured and beaten by police and female relatives were threatened with rape if their male relatives did not confess to the attacks. Now, as the military moves into Sinai, their worries have been heightened further that their voices will be silenced. Moving toward armed conflict would not be necessarily new for the tribes, who have on occasion battled government forces in towns across Sinai. “We don't like to see violence become a means for our voices to be heard, but what we have been facing and what we are still facing means alternatives must be looked into,” said Ayoub. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/xsMEQ Tags: Armed Conflict, Bedouin, featured, SCAF, Sinai Section: Egypt, Latest News
