Jingoism came into a protest outside the Press Syndicate in central Cairo Sunday by the journalists of the influential Islamic website Islamonline.net, as they expressed fears that political rivalry between Egypt and the natural gas-rich Gulf emirate of Qatar might be behind their ordeal. The journalists braved the sweltering heat of the Egyptian capital and stood outside the independent professional union to chant slogans against the government of Qatar and express sorrow at their inability to provide content for the website from Egypt again. “Politics is an important component in what has happened to us,” said Ayman Qenawi, the English Desk editor at the website. “Just check the performance of the government of Qatar before and after the crisis and you'll get to know this,” he told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview Sunday. The Qatari company owning Islamonline.net decided more than a month ago to dismiss all 340 employees in the website, citing professional reasons for its action. Company officials say the Egyptian journalists, who used to provide content from Egypt to the hundreds of thousands of website readers, did not do their job properly. The website's journalists, however, say political envy on the side of the Qatari government was behind the decision. They add that Qatar wants to hush the moderate tone of the Egyptian journalists, which used to be the signature of the website for years, and replace it with a more radical one. This has been the cause of the numerous shows of discontent staged by the workers over the past weeks, the last of which was a protest outside the Qatari Embassy in Cairo a few days ago. Amidst the fury of the journalists of the website, not everything was about media professionalism and politics. Stories of human suffering were told too. Working for the website was the bread and butter for many Egyptians, and this makes them ache all over. “I'm not concerned about the very big things some people talk about here,” said Osama Sayyed who used to work as a receptionist at the premises of the website. “I'm only concerned about how I'll feed my children. Where can I go now?” Website workers said they would launch a parallel website soon, but are seeking financiers for it. The new website will have a different name, but will seek to accommodate all 340 workers in the old website.
