Clashes erupted in front of Itihadiya presidential palace early December 2012, between pro- and anti- Morsy demonstrators (Photo by Ahmed Al Malky/DNE) Two protesters were injured on Wednesday evening in an assault on Mohamed Mahmoud Street. Mohamed Al-Masry, 19, and Ahmed Tork, 18, were stabbed by unknown assailants, who allegedly belong to the Islamist current, said Mahmoud Belal, a lawyer defending Mohamed Mahmoud protesters. Both men are in a stable condition and Al-Masry has been discharged from hospital. Belal said the attack “appears to be an action of revenge from Islamist activists." He said that on Tuesday, Abdel Rahman Ezz, a supprter of controversial Salafi figure Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, was attacked by a number of anti-Morsy protesters on his way out of Al-Helal hospital, where he was visiting Mohanad Samir—another protester attacked Monday by unknown assailants in Tahrir Square. “As Ezz entered the hospital to visit Samir, activists wanted to attack him, but Samir's mother prevented them from doing so inside the hospital," Belal said. Anti-Morsy protesters waited outside the hospital and attacked Ezz. “It seems that Ezz's friends targeted Al-Masry and Tork to retaliate for this attack in front of the hospital," said Belal. The Muslim Brotherhood activist Ahmed Al-Mogheer had tweeted that he would target five activists, which included Al-Masry and Tork, in response to Ezz's attack. Hostility against Ezz began during skirmishes that took place early in December in front of the Presidential Palace. Belal claims that Ezz ignited violence against anti-Morsy protesters and targeted certain activists by pointing a green laser at them. Amid claims that Ezz was attacked for supporting Abu Ismail's campaign, Ayman Ilyas, spokesperson of the campaign, confirmed that Ezz is supportive of the Salafi political group, but “all attacks are condemned and deemed unacceptable." “We do not have much information about the incident. However, even if the attacked person was an infidel we still do not accept any sort of violence against him," Ilyas said. Those who were assaulted in Tahrir have filed police reports. Ilyas said that Abu Ismail has been exposed to a “fierce media campaign that aims at tarnishing [his] image."
